Meet the Artists

Isabella Rubietta, (Bella), is an artist, dancer, and choreographer from Lakeville, Minnesota. Bella started dancing at the age of three at Metropolitan Dance Alliance, where she danced & competed in ballet, tap, jazz, & musical theater. At 10, Bella dedicated her training to classical ballet, enrolling in the academy of Ballet Royale of Minnesota. While dancing there, she also appeared in countless productions with Twin Cities Ballet (TCB). She appeared in A Minnesota Nutcracker eight times, Pink Floyd's The Wall: A Rock Ballet four times, Cinderella 1944: A Love Story twice, & Narnia: The Ballet twice, as well as one-off appearances in other productions, including Beauty & The Beast, The Ruby Slippers: A Wizard of Oz Ballet, Coppélia Nouveau, & Giselle. While dancing with TCB, Bella was given the opportunity to play many featured corps and soloist roles. Her favorite roles include Snow, Flower Seller, & Spanish Doll in A Minnesota Nutcracker, Giselle's Friend & Willi in Giselle, & Life Influence in Pink Floyd's The Wall: A Rock Ballet. Outside of her time at Ballet Royale & TCB, Bella completed many summer dance programs, including the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive in 2021 and the Kansas City Ballet Summer Intensive in 2022 & 2024. Currently, Bella is a student at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, majoring in Biology and minoring in Dance. She looks forward to continuing her dance journey with Minnesota Ballet Collective!

Born and raised in Minnesota, Lea began her dance training at the age of 7 and went on to dance competitively at On Your Toes School of Dance, Studio 4, and Hopkins Dance Center. She has degrees in comparative literature from New York University and osteopathic medicine from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. She currently works as a geriatrician. All the while, dance has been her heart and soul. She has performed works by Mike Esperanza  of BARE Dance Company, Julia Ehrstrand of The Next Stage Project, and  Jacqulyn Buglisi of Buglisi Dance Theatre, and worked with BalaSole  Dance Company, Erin Pryor Dance Theatre, Dance to the People, Collective Motion, and Eclipse Dance Company. Since returning  to Minnesota, she has continued her dance education in ballet, modern,  and contemporary throughout the Twin Cities. Outside of dance and  medicine, she spends her time adventuring with her husband, son and dog. This year marks her second season with Minnesota Ballet Collective.

Réka Leeaphon is starting her first year with Minnesota Ballet Collective and she is thrilled for the opportunity to learn from and to dance as part of the company. Her dance journey began at the age of three with ballet classes at École de danse Louise Lapierre in Montréal, Canada. After moving to Fargo, Réka briefly studied ballet at another studio in the FM Area before finding her home with Gasper’s School of Dance and Performing Arts. There, she studied ballet, modern and jazz under the mentorship of Kathy Gasper and her son Matt Gasper. She later joined the Fargo Moorhead Ballet, rising to the rank of principal dancer at age 17. Her favorite roles include Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, the Mouse Queen and the Arabian Dance in The Nutcracker, and the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. After graduating high school, Réka earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. While completing her degree, she attended ballet class at the UMN dance department under the tutelage of Penelope Freeh, Abdo Sayegh Rodrigo, and Eve Schulte. Most recently, Réka was a member of the hip hop group ‘Seven Wonders’, led by Karen Yang. They performed an original piece at the Homies Showcase hosted by the Workroom studio.