Lindsi Dec

Lindsi Dec is from Fairfax, Virginia. She trained at Washington School of Ballet and on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2001 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2002, soloist in 2009, and principal in 2014. Ms. Dec retired from Pacific Northwest Ballet in July of 2020, and founded and opened their ballet school DeCruz Ballet, with her husband, former PNB Principal, Karel Cruz in San Antonio, TX in September of 2020.  Ms. Dec has taught master classes, workshops and privates for over 20 years, She is PBT (Progressing Ballet Technique) certified. 

 Ms. Dec has performed leading roles in George Balanchine’s Agon, Apollo, Concerto Barocco, Coppélia (Discord and War, Prayer), Emeralds, The Four Temperaments, Emeralds, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® (Sugar Plum Fairy, Coffee, Dewdrop), Prodigal Son, Rubies, Serenade, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, and Symphony in C; Peter Boal’s Giselle (Myrtha); Trisha Brown’s Spanish Dance; Val Caniparoli’s The Bridge and The Seasons; David Dawson’s Empire Noir and A Million Kisses to My Skin; Ulysses Dove’s Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven, Red Angels, Serious Pleasures, and Vespers; Nacho Duato’s Jardí Tancat and Rassemblement; William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated and New Suite; Kiyon Gaines’ Sum Stravinsky; Paul Gibson’s Sense of Doubt; Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty (Lilac Fairy, Gold and Silver pas de trois, Queen); Jiri Kylian’s Forgotten Land and Petite Mort; Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette (Lady Capulet); Benjamin Millepied’s 3 Movements; Mark Morris’ A Garden and Pacific; Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Cylindrical Shadows; Justin Peck’s Debonair; Crystal Pite’s Emergence and Plot Point; Yuri Possokhov’s RAkU (Princess); Alexei Ratmansky’s Don Quixote (Kitri, Mercedes, Piccilia) and Pictures at an Exhibition; Jerome Robbins’ The Concert, Fancy Free, Glass Pieces, In the Night, and West Side Story Suite (Anita); Kent Stowell’s Carmina Burana, Cinderella (Stepsister), Hail to the Conquering Hero, Nutcracker (Clara, Flora, Peacock), and Swan Lake (Black Swan pas de deux, Pas de trois, Persian Dance); Susan Stroman’s TAKE FIVE…More or Less; and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, Nine Sinatra Songs, Opus 111, and Waterbaby Bagatelles. She originated leading roles in Andrew Bartee’s Dirty Goods, Kiyon Gaines’ M-Pulse, Paul Gibson’s Mozart Pieces, Victor Quijada’s Mating Theory and Suspension of Disbelief, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Tide Harmonic. She has been featured in Balanchine’s La Valse; Robert Joffrey’s Remembrances; Todd Bolender’s Souvenirs; William Forsythe’s In the middle, somewhat elevated; Stowell’s Carmina Burana, Silver Lining, and The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet; Richard Tanner’s Ancient Airs and Dances, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Variations Sérieuses.

Ms. Dec has performed as a guest artist with Ballet Hawaii, California Ballet, Corpus Christi Ballet, Dance Arts Theatre, Grand Rapids Ballet, Lafayette Ballet, and Mid-Columbia Ballet. She has toured with PNB to Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, and France and Italy along with many national tours.

Karel Cruz

Karel Cruz is from Holguin, Cuba, and received his training at Cuba’s Escuela Nacional de Artes. He joined Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1996 and left in 1998 to join Ballet Clasico de Camara in Venezuela. From 1999 to 2000, he danced with Teatro Teresa Carreno, also in Venezuela. After coming to the United States, Mr. Cruz spent a year at the Rock School joining Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2002. He was promoted to soloist in 2007 and principal in 2009. Mr. Cruz retired from Pacific Northwest Ballet in July 2018. He joined The University of Oklahoma as a ballet instructor for the dance department in 2019.

Mr. Cruz has danced leading roles in George Balanchine’s Agon, Apollo, Concerto Barocco, Coppélia (Discord and War) Diamonds, Emeralds, The Four Temperaments, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® (Cavalier), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Divertissement pas de deux, Theseus, Cavalier), Prodigal Son, Serenade, Symphony in C, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and La Valse; Peter Boal’s Giselle (Albrecht); Val Caniparoli’s The Bridge; David Dawson’s Empire Noir; Ulysses Dove’s Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven and Serious Pleasures; Nacho Duato’s Jardí Tancat; William Forsythe’s Artifact II and New Suite; Paul Gibson’s The Piano Dance and Sense of Doubt; Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow and The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Florimund, Gold and Silver pas de trois); Jiri Kylian’s Forgotten Land and Petite Mort; Edwaard Laing’s Für Alina; Stacy Lowenberg’s Rushed Goodbye; Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette (Friar Laurence); Benjamin Millepied’s Appassionata; Mark Morris’ Pacific; Margaret Mullin’s Lost in Light; Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Cylindrical Shadows; Justin Peck’s Year of the Rabbit; Toni Pimble’s Two’s Company; Crystal Pite’s Emergence and Plot Point; Yuri Possokhov’s RAkU (Samurai); Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH, Don Quixote (Basilio, Espada), and Pictures at an Exhibition; Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, Glass Pieces, In the Night, and West Side Story Suite (Bernardo); Kent Stowell’s Carmina Burana, Cinderella (Prince),  Firebird, Nutcracker (Prince), Swan Lake (Prince Siegfried), and The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (Tybalt); Richard Tanner’s Ancient Airs and Dances; Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s Mercury; Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs, Opus 111, and Waterbaby Bagatelles; and Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain pas de deux and Polyphonia. He originated leading roles in Val Caniparoli’s The Seasons, Kiyon Gaines’ M-Pulse and Sum Stravinsky, Paul Gibson’s Mozart Pieces, and Price Suddarth’s Signature.

In 2013, Mr. Cruz performed as a guest artist with Royal New Zealand Ballet. Mr. Cruz has taught master classes, workshops and privates for over 20 years, creating small group summer course and winter workshops with Ms Dec. He is PBT (Progressing Ballet Technique) certified. Mr. Cruz started Solu, their dance wear line in 2017 with Ms. Dec.