Faculty

Charlene Campbell Carey  Artistic Director

Charlene Campbell Carey’s long and vibrant career in ballet and choreography began in 1976 and branched into entertainment and diplomacy. Born in Chicago she began her ballet studies with Walter Camryn, Bentley Stone and her mother, Elisabeth Gillette Campbell. Ms. Campbell Carey trained on scholarship throughout high school at the National Academy of Arts with Lupe Serrano and Michael Maule. This led her to American Ballet Theatre where she also became a member of the faculty and assistant to Director Patricia Wilde. Ms. Campbell danced at Radio City Music Hall following in her Mother’s footsteps, who danced at Radio City for thirteen years after World War 2. Charlene became choreographer for Chicago’s “Light Opera Works” and served on the faculty for Lou Conte and the Hubbard Street Dance Company for 7 years.

Ms. Campbell was a leading dancer or choreographer for hundreds of ballets, operas, night club acts, and industrials, including the Macy’s Parade Coleco floats, the Los Angeles Japan-America conference with Ronald Reagan, Beverly Hills events such as the Christmas Show with Whoopi Goldberg, “Murder, She Wrote” starring Angela Lansbury, “Indestructible People,” for ABC-TV; and “On My Toes,” with Katya Artyushkina from the Bolshoi Ballet. Ms. Campbell choreographed the film “Desire” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1988 and showcased many of the world’s top ballet dancers. She made her on screen acting debut in “Desire” co-starring with Johan Renvall, principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. She also produced the feature film “Season of Change” starring Michael Madsen, and served on the faculty of Yvonne Mounsey’s Westside Ballet School, Stanley Holden’s Ballet School and coached celebrities in Los Angeles for ten years.

In 1998, Ms. Campbell founded Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre in Missoula, Montana. RMBT has over 50 original ballets in its repertoire and began touring internationally in 2002. RMBT dancers were cast in “The Flying Dutchman” starring Rod Steiger and Eric Roberts shot in Darby, MT and also in“Kismet” and “Candide” productions with Light Opera Works in Chicago. She has continued to teach and choreograph commissions across the United States, Europe, South America and Asia.

In 2008, prior to the Olympic Games, Ms. Campbell led the RMBT delegation to Beijing, Guilin, Yangshou, Shanghai, and Suzhou China. The tour was a diplomatic and artistic success leading to an immediate invitation to return to China October 2008 to participate in the Beijing Dance Academy International Ballet Competition as a master teacher and coach.

RMBT began a tradition of offering command performances in Montana for former Senator Max Baucus, visiting Ambassadors and diplomats from China, Peru, Vietnam, Colombia, Morocco, Panama, Chile, South Korea, Australia, Tajikistan, the Russian Federation, Japan, New Zealand, Bahrain and many more. RMBT established an Affiliation with the University of Montana International Programs, The Mansfield Center and the Center for Southwest Asia Studies. Ms. Campbell has continued to create ballets with topics relevant to Montana, including the " Going Viral " series that included film backdrops and scientists from the Level 4 Lab in Hamilton, Montana to showcase and inform the community about the facts of Ebola, Polio, HPV, Dengue Fever , West Nile , and Influenza. The Gates Foundation utilized the Polio Ballet as an educational tool internationally.

RMBT has toured Europe numerous times and was invited to participate in an official Trade Mission with Senator Max Baucus to both Brazil and Colombia in 2011. RMBT was thrilled to represent the USA & Montana in Gala performances and opening ceremony events for the prestigious Salzburg Music Festival & in collaboration with the Salzburg Ballet in Austria. RMBT enjoyed a three-month European tour in 2014. Major highlights included a residency in Ischia, Italy with Master Violinist Henry Gronnier & participating in the Wien Welt Wettbewerb during the Impulstanz Festival with Gregor Hatala, Evelyn Teri and under Vladimir Malakov’s Direction. This success led RMBT to our current partnership with The Vienna International Ballet Experience (VIBE) International, and to become VIBE’s USA Director and official host.

In 2014, RMBT embarked to China on an official USA State Department tour of the Henan and Guangxi Provinces. RMBT was presented in Beijing by the National Ballet of China at the Tianquio Theater and participated in cultural exchanges throughout the three week tour including a memorable day with the Chinese Disabled Performance Troupe as facilitated by USA Ambassador to China Max Baucus and accompanied by his wife Melodee Hanes Baucus.

RMBT currently has an active, unprecedented and successful partnership with Lizt Alfonso in Havana, Cuba. Both USA & Cuba arts organizations are working in harmony via the arts and people to people global understanding projects. The next BBB Festival will be in Cuba January 2025 . BBB also has a feature film in development titled “Rain Balls” which celebrates love and the process of living and dying through a Mother and Childs experience with cancer and chemotherapy.

Karen Carreno Musical Director/Associate Director

Ms. Carreno received a BFA from the University of Wisconsin.   She worked for the Milwaukee Ballet Co. under Jean Paul Comelin and Ted Kivitt and accompanied ballet and modern classes for the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee where she taught Music for Dancers.  After moving to Los Angeles in 1986 she worked at California Institute of the Arts, Stanley Holden Dance Center, and Westside Ballet.  Summers she accompanied the Lewitzky Company for their workshops in Idyllwild CA.  In 1990 she worked on an episode of “Murder She Wrote” with Charlene Campbell.  Her collaboration with Ms. Campbell in TV and dance in Los Angeles led Ms. Carreno to move to Missoula MT.  Ms. Campbell opened the Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre in 1998. 

At RMBT, Ms. Carreno accompanies classes, works with guest artists, performs with the company, teaches Music for Dancers and works as the associate director of the school with Ms. Campbell.  As Associate Director, Ms. Carreno is involved in all aspects of administration from planning to implementation.  She writes grants, prepares budgets, and reports directly to the board of directors. Performing on programs in Missoula and throughout MT, Ms. Carreno also traveled to Austria with RMBT as a part of the International Dance Festival Tanzsommer in 2002.  She recorded a group of tangos for performances in Innsbruck, St. Johann, and Vienna.  The school then toured to Italy in 2005 and 2007 and Ms. Carreno played for classes at the Balletto di Roma.  In May of 2008 RMBT toured to Beijing, Guilin, Suzhou, and Shanghai China.  Ms. Carreno played for class at the National Ballet of China in Beijing.  In 2010 she returned to China for cultural exchanges in Liuzhou and Nanning, Guangxi, to the World Expo in Shanghai where RMBT performed at the USA pavilion.  In 2014 she wrote a State Deptartment grant that took RMBT to 6 cities in China. Since then, Ms. Carreno has toured with RMBT to Russia, Pakistan and Cuba and the World Expo 2020 Dubai. She is an integral part of the four day festival “Ballet Beyond Borders” produced by Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre in Missoula, MT and Los Angeles CA.

The RMBT school, Ms. Campbell and Ms. Carreno were featured in Dance Magazine’s January 2006 issue.  Ms. Carreno has music for dance class available on the streaming service Idancemusic.com

Julia Lauany Duarte Jackson/Faculty

Julia Lauany Duarte Jackson is an internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer from São Paulo, Brazil. Starting in ballet, she expanded into contemporary, lyrical, and Afro-Brazilian dance, gaining recognition at Ballet Beyond Borders (BBB), where her solo works like "Dandelion" and "Baianá" earned Gold and Silver Medals. Her performances, including tributes like “Still I Rise,” highlight her ability to blend cultural identity with powerful social themes.

Julia has performed worldwide, including at the Islamabad Art Festival and Havana’s BBB Gala. Her dance short films, co-directed with her brother, have also won awards. She holds a BA in Dance with an emphasis on choreography from the University of Montana, and certifications in Dance Wellness and yoga. Julia has taught at Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre since 2021, where she mentors young dancers and leads master classes in Afro-Brazilian dance, fostering global cultural exchange through her artistry.

Walter Barrera/Faculty

Walter Barrera is a dancer and choreographer born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Morelos, México. He began his training as a Salsa and Latin dancer under La Academia de la danza Mexicana dirigida por Antonio Silva. In 2005, Walter traveled back to Los Angeles, California to finish his studies and pursued his dreams of being a professional dancer. In 2012, He joined the Dance department at Los Angeles City College where he obtained an AA in Psychology and a Performing Arts Certificate in the specialities of Dance, Choreography and Theater. In 2013, He started his connection as a dancer with Rocky Mountain Ballet Theater under the Direction of Charlene Carey. In 2014, He traveled to Salzburg, Austria with Rocky Mountain Ballet theater to an Intensive Dance Training under the Direction of Peter Breur, Artistic Director of the Salzburg Ballet.Where they trained in technical classes such as Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Gaga, Nacho. In 2015, Walter began his professional Career as a Commercial Dancer and an Actor with Representation of Talent agencies such as S Dance Agency and 1826 Commercial Agency. In 2016, he began as faculty, Choreographer and Assistant to Director Charlene Carey. He began teaching and traveling with Rocky Mountain Ballet to different places such as Italy where he worked as a Performer, choreographer, instructor at a Summer Dance training of La Compagnia della Danza under the Direction of ballet Master Guy de Bock and Barbara Castagliuolo. In 2017, Walter’s group choreography competed at the Vienna International Ballet Experience USA where it won 1st place at the Essumble Group Category. Walter also worked at the 2017 Cecchetti International Summer Dance Competition Florence, Italy, as Artistic Director’s assistantand Dance Couch under the direction of Charlene Carey. Walter also worked the summer of 2017 as Choreographer and instructor at the Compagnia della Danza in Ischia, Italy and La Danza va in Vacanza in Calabria, Italy. Walter has trained in Salsa, Latin Dances, Hip hop, and Contemporary.

Kathy Wildberger/Faculty

Kathy Wildberger has been teaching, performing, and choreographing nationally and internationally for dance and theatre since the early 1970’s. In New York her choreography has been produced by Dance Theatre Workshop, DIA Foundation, The Museum Of Modern Art, The Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, Movement Research, Joyce Soho, White Wave, and the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center. Kathy has been reconstructing the repertoire of Jeff Duncan since his death in 1989. It is through this connection Kathy developed storytelling through dance. Her professional credits include: founding and directing the PATH Dance Company in Baltimore for 12 years, touring internationally as a founding member of the Toronto Dance Theatre, and choreographing and performing with Sean Curran in NYC. She has been awarded several choreography fellowships as well as a First Light Grant from the Jerome Foundation. Kathy is a Master Teacher of the Jose Limon Technique and improvisation. Recently retired from 20 years as Senior Lecturer at Vassar College and Assistant Director of Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre, she now joyfully is a contributing choreographer and instructor for Rocky Mountain Dance Theatre.