-
Nicholas Ade is principal of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Eastside School. He joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a company member in 1996. He trained at San Francisco Ballet and attended summer courses at School of American Ballet, Houston Ballet School and Boston Ballet School. He began teaching in the school in 2005, teaching Men’s Division and Open Program classes. He is from Los Angeles, California.
-
Laszlo Berdo was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he began dancing at the age of five. At age 11, his mother gave him a pair of tights and threw him into an audition for a local Nutcracker production. Initial resistance turned into a life-long passion as Berdo performed onstage for the first time. Berdo later intensified his studies at the National Academy of Arts in Champaign, Illinois. Upon graduation he first joined Ballet Austin and then the Louisville Ballet under Alun Jones and Helen Starr. He was later hired by Ivan Nagy first as a guest artist then later as a soloist with the Cincinnati Ballet. Berdo joined the Boston Ballet in 1990 as a corps de ballet member under Bruce Marks. He was promoted to soloist in 1993 and became a principal dancer in 1995. As a principal, he has danced numerous roles in ballets by Cranko, McMillan, Balanchine, Bournonville, Hynd and Stevenson. Berdo also excelled in contemporary works by Tharp, Taylor, Feld, Butler and York. Berdo is honored to be the first to perform the lead role in Cranko’s Eugene Onegin in the United States. He began choreographing in 1993, creating the pas de deux Eternal Being which later was performed for a Boston Ballet gala. In 1997, Berdo was commissioned to create a new work for Boston Ballet. Four Hands premiered in March of 1998 and was performed in many venues such as the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, and at a summer festival in Biarritz, France. In 1999 Berdo created Below Down Under which premiered at the Schubert Theatre in February 1999. In March of 2001 he created Sanctuary for the Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo. He choreographed Bass Elements for the Boston Conservatory and participated in ChoreoPlan 2001 in which he created Concertante for the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Berdo staged Four Hands for the Finnish National Ballet in Helsinki which premiered in October 2002. From 2000 to 2003 he was a faculty member for the Boston Conservatory and Harvard University. In 2003 he joined the faculty of CPYB full time. In 2008 Berdo choreographed Snow White and premiered Peter Pan in the fall of 2009. He was most recently commissioned to present The Nutcracker for the Eglevsky Ballet, which premiered in December 2010. Berdo teaches in the United States and Europe for ballet companies, summer intensives and colleges.
-
Stacey Calvert was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina and began her ballet training at the Calvert-Brodie School of Dance, studying with her mother and godmother. In 1980, Ms. Calvert entered the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet—and remained there for three years. She joined New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet in 1983. In 1992, Ms. Calvert joined William Forsythe’s Frankfurt Ballet. She returned to New York City Ballet in the winter of 1993. Ms. Calvert was promoted to the rank of soloist in 1994. Since joining the company, she has danced numerous featured roles including George Balanchine’s Apollo, Ballo della Regina, The Four Temperaments, The Nutcracker (Hot Chocolate), Stars and Stripes, Symphony in C, Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, Western Symphony, and Who Cares?, as well as Jerome Robbins’ The Four Seasons (Winter) and Interplay. In addition, she has been featured in Peter Martins’ Ash and Barber Violin Concerto as well as William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman. During the inaugural season of NYCB’s Diamond Project in 1992, Ms. Calvert originated a principal role in John Alleyne’s Bet Ann’s Dance. During the Company’s 1994 Diamond Project, she originated principal roles in Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s Chiaroscuro, John Alleyne’s The New Blondes, Trey McIntyre’s Steel and Rain, and Kevin O’Day’s Viola Alone...(with One Exception). For The Diamond Project in 1997, Ms. Calvert originated principal roles in O’Day’s Open Strings and Angelin Preljocaj’s La Stravaganza. In addition, she originated principal roles in Mr. O’Day’s Huoah, Dvorak Bagatelles and Badchonim. Ms. Calvert has danced in Europe with a touring group, and has travelled extensively in the United States and abroad with New York City Ballet. In the spring of 2006, 2007 and 2008, she presented, for USC, Ballet Stars of New York, with principal dancers from the New York City Ballet including Wendy Whelan, Albert Evans, Nilas Martins, Tom Gold, Nikolaj Hubbe, and Yvonne Borree and the USC Dance Company. The 2006 star-studded evening included Apollo, Agon, and Tarantella, all works by the legendary choreographer George Balanchine. This gala evening has become an annual event for the USC Board of Dance.
-
Theresa Crawford has more than 40 years of experience teaching classical ballet to children. She was trained as a teacher by Marcia Dale Weary, Founding Artistic Director of Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. While still a student, Ms. Crawford was encouraged to begin studying Marcia’s original and highly successful teaching methods. She founded and managed her own schools as well as a non-profit children’s ballet company in Michigan. Most recently she was the principal of Orlando Ballet’s largest feeder school in Orlando. Her background includes 12 years on CPYB’s faculty and over 30 continuous years of teaching in their nationally renowned summer program. Several of Ms. Crawford’s students have or are currently performing with well-known companies in Europe, Canada and the United States. She is certified as a Pilates instructor, privately coaches all levels of ballet students, and has been a guest instructor in Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
-
Natalie Desch, a Doug Varone and Dancers company member since 2001, is a native of New Castle, Pennsylvania, where she began her dance training under the guidance of Deborah Parou. After receiving her BFA and the Martha Hill Prize from the Juilliard School (under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy), she joined the Limón Dance Company where she performed from 1996-2001. She has also had the pleasure to dance with Ariane Anthony, Daniel Charon, Toshiko Oiwa, Jonathan Riedel and for Varone at the Metropolitan Opera. She has taught at Limón Dance Company summer workshops, Doug Varone and Dancers summer workshops, the Bates Dance Festival, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet summer workshops and at numerous colleges and universities around the country. As well as being a faculty member at Hunter College, Natalie also teaches at the 92nd Street Y, Dance New Amsterdam, and the Limón Institute in New York City. Additionally she has staged the works of Doug Varone, José Limón and Jiri Kylian on various companies and universities, both domestically and abroad. Natalie’s choreography has been presented at the Juilliard Theater, Alice Tully Hall, the Clark Studio Theater, SUNY Purchase, the Limón Dance Company Choreography Project, the Dumbo Dance Festival and at Regional Dance America festivals.
-
Julie Diana, originally from Summit, New Jersey, began taking ballet at age seven with the New Jersey Ballet in West Orange, New Jersey, where she trained for five years before moving on to study at The School of American Ballet for four years. Her training was also supplemented with summer intensives at the Joffrey Ballet School and the San Francisco Ballet School. Ms. Diana joined San Francisco Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 1993, was promoted to soloist in 1997 and to principal in 2000. Her principal roles in the classical repertoire include the titles roles in Giselle and Romeo and Juliet, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Sugarplum Fairy and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Odette in Helgi Tomasson's Swan Lake, and Odette/Odile in Christopher Wheeldon's Swan Lake. Her leading roles in Balanchine ballets include Symphony in C, Theme and Variations, Western Symphony, Slaughter on 10th Avenue, Allegro Brillante, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Jewels, Symphony in Three Movements, Serenade, Apollo, Who Cares? and The Four Temperaments. She has performed Kenneth MacMillan's Elite Syncopations and The Girl in The Invitation, in addition to Frederick Ashton's Thais Pas de Deux, Symphonic Variations, and Lise in La Fille Mal Gardee. Ms. Diana's contemporary repertoire includes, among others, Jerome Robbins' In The Night, Fanfare, and Glass Pieces; William Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; Peter Martins' The Waltz Project; Christopher Wheeldon's Continuum, Polyphonia, Sea Pictures, and Rush; Nacho Duato's Without Words; Twyla Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs and Push Comes to Shove; Matthew Neenan's 11:11, As It's Going, Carmina Burana, andKeep; and Mark Morris' A Garden, Sandpaper Ballet, and Pacific. She received the Isadora Duncan Award for her performances in Robbins' Dances at a Gathering and Kenneth MacMillan's The Invitation. Ms. Diana joined Pennsylvania Ballet as a principal dancer in September 2004 and was featured in the August 2006 issue of Dance Magazine. Ms. Diana has also performed throughout Spain with Angel Corella's Foundation and traveled to Beijing and Shanghai in 2006 to appear with Nilas Martins' Dance Company in Don Quixote and Peter Martins' A Fool For You. In January 2009, she danced the role of the Waltz Girl in Serenade with the New York City Ballet.
-
Tanya Doporcyk began her formal training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary. She went on to teach at the School of Music and Dance in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Shortly after Ms. Doporcyk founded The Walnut Bottom School of Dance, which she owned and operated for 19 years before returning to CPYB to teach young children and adults for Marcia.
-
Karen Eriksson-Lee received her Bachelor of Science for dance from Shenandoah University in 1987. Shortly after she founded The Northern Virginia Academy of Ballet in Front Royal, Virginia, which she has directed for the past 21 years. Ms. Eriksson-Lee has modeled for sculptor Frederick Hart for the Vietnam War Memorial and Ex Nihilo at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. in his pieces Celebration and Awakening. She has been with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet for 24 years, first as a student and now as a teacher.
-
Ann Fields is an alumna of Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in ballet from the University of Utah and has danced with Lake Erie Ballet in conjunction with Mercyhurst College and with the Utah Ballet. Ms. Fields has attended the Governor's School for the Arts on full scholarship, Ballet Iowa's summer program on full scholarship, and the School of the Washington Ballet. She has certifications in New York City Ballet Workout and Pilates Mat. Ms. Fields is an adjunct professor at Messiah College where she teaches ballet.
-
Sara Gelbaugh, originally from Buffalo, New York, is an alumna of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She first studied the Cecchetti Method of Ballet, and is I.S.T.D. certified for levels 1 through 4 and elementary work. Mrs. Gelbaugh has performed with the Buffalo Ballet Theater, the 1000 Islands Festival Ballet Company and the Lake Erie Ballet. She has also participated as a dancer in the Carlisle Project Choreography Workshops. She is certified by the New York City Ballet to teach the New York City Ballet Workout. In addition to teaching for CPYB, Mrs. Gelbaugh was formerly on the faculty of the Cincinnati Ballet and Tanze Performing Arts Center while living in Ohio.
-
Alecia Good-Boresow has been the director of the Kansas City Youth Ballet for the past 11 years. Ms. Good was formerly a principal dancer with Kansas City Ballet for 13 years. While performing with KCB, she danced numerous principal roles in The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Firebird and many Balanchine ballets. Ms. Good has been featured in several Hallmark Ballerina calendars and is listed in the book of “Who’s Who in America’s Teachers.” Ms. Good is an alumna of Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and has taught in Carlisle for the past 19 years. She is currently on faculty with the Kansas City Ballet School.
-
Rafael Grigorian trained at the Baku Choreographic Institute and at the Kirov Ballet School in Leningrad under the instruction of A.I. Pushkin. For 20 years, he was a principal dancer with the Baku Theater of Opera and Ballet. In 1980 Grigorian was awarded Laureate of the State of the USSR, and he received the prestigious title of the People's Artist of Azerbaijan, SSR in 1982. Grigorian has toured extensively in Europe and Asia with the stars of the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballet theaters. He served as instructor of the Moscow Ballet Festival under the leadership of Bolshoi Ballet soloist S. Radchenko. From 1986 until 1991, he held the title of choreographer for the Moscow School of Ice Dancing. Several of his students are Olympic and World competition gold and silver ice dancing medalists. In 1991, Grigorian opened Rafael Grigorian's School of Classical Ballet in Corning and Elmira, New York, and has since opened a branch of his school in Binghamton, New York. He is also the Founder and Artistic Director of the Rafael Grigorian Ballet Theatre. In 1996 Grigorian received the prestigious Arts Partnership Award for the Arts of the Southern Finger Lakes for his outstanding contribution to the arts of the Southern Tier communities.
-
Christina Hampton's career as a dance instructor has included associations with such prestigious schools as Chicago City Ballet School, School of Minnesota Ballet, Hartford Ballet School, Miami Conservatory, Academy of Ballet Florida, Palm Beach Ballet Center and Jeanne's School of Dance. For 11 years, Ms. Hampton has been honored to be a guest teacher for the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Summer Program. Over her 20-year professional career she was a company dancer with Tampa Ballet, Hartford Ballet and was principal dancer with Minnesota Ballet and Ballet Florida. She performed works by world renowned choreographers and coaches, including Glen Tetley, Val Caniparoli, Daniel Ezralow, Lar Lubovitch, Sean Lavery, Ben Stevenson, Jerome Robbins, Gelsey Kirkland, Mauricio Wainrot, George Balanchine and Twyla Tharp.
-
Laura Hargrave has danced professionally with ballet companies throughout the United States including Alabama Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Eugene Ballet and Texas Ballet Concerto. Among her many roles, some of her favorites were the leads in Balanchine’s masterwork, Serenade (Russian Girl, Dark Angel and Waltz Girl) and First Regiment Lead in Stars and Stripes. Her additional Balanchine roles include,The Nutcracker as Hot Chocolate Principal, Concerto Barocco and Allegro Brillante. Ms. Hargrave danced principal and soloist roles in many classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, La Bayadere and Les Sylphides, among others. She originated roles in new contemporary works with such noted choreographers as Alan Hineline, Tony Pimble, John Summers, Teri Wexler and Gail Gilbert. Ms. Hargrave has also performed various character roles including the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet and Miss Clavel in Alan Hineline’s Madeline. She last performed with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in Cinderella as the Evil Stepmother. Ms. Hargrave began her ballet training in San Antonio, Texas with Mayra Worthen. She subsequently attended The Alabama School of Fine Arts under the direction of Dame Sonia Arova and Thor Sutowski. Additionally, she received full-scholarship summer intensive training at San Francisco Ballet School and Dance Aspen. Ms. Hargrave holds a Royal Academy of Dance Teaching Certification and has taught ballet at CPYB, Alabama Ballet and Samford University, among other schools.
-
Leslie Hench began her ballet training under Marcia Dale Weary. She continued to dance with the Harlequin Ballet in London until returning more than 20 years ago to the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet to teach for Ms. Weary as a CPYB faculty member.
-
Zachary Hench, originally from Loysville, Pennsylvania, began his training at the age of seven at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, where he studied for eight years. From there, he went on to train at the Kirov Academy in Washington, D.C. Mr. Hench became a member of Boston Ballet II in 1993 and was invited to join Boston Ballet as a member of the Corps de Ballet in 1994. He was promoted to soloist in 1996 and principal in 1998. While there, he danced many principal classical roles including Siegfried in Swan Lake, Albrect in Giselle, Conrad in Le Corsair, Ivan in Christopher Wheeldon’s The Firebird, Cavalier and Snow King in The Nutcracker, and featured roles in George Balanchine’s Symphony in C, Serenade, Who Cares, Tarantella, Divertimento 15, and Valse Fantasie. He also danced leading roles in contemporary works such as Mark Morris’ Malestrom, Merce Cunningham’s Breakers, Christopher Wheeldon’s Corybantic Ecstasies, Twyla Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles, Lila York’s Celts and Ode to Joy, and Eliot Feld’s Contrapose. In 2000, Mr. Hench joined San Francisco Ballet as a soloist, and was promoted to principal in 2003. His repertoire of principal roles grew to include Albrecht in Helgi Tomasson’s Giselle, Tomasson’s Prism, Jerome Robbins’ Fanfare, and Balanchine’s Ballo Della Regina, Allegro Brillante, and "Diamonds" and "Emeralds" in Jewels. His featured roles in contemporary ballets include Wheeldon’s Continuum and Polyphonia, Peter Martins’ The Waltz Project, Robbins’ Glass Pieces, Nacho Duato’s Without Words, and Mark Morris’ A Garden. Mr. Hench joined Pennsylvania Ballet as a principal dcancer in April 2004 and danced the role of Siegfried in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake in June 2004. Mr. Hench has also danced the lead role of Romeo in John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet, Colas in Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardee, Prince Desire in The Sleeping Beauty, Prince Charming in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, James in La Sylphide, Dracula in Stevenson’s Dracula and Oberon in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Additional contemporary ballets include Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room and Push Comes to Shove; Hans Van Mannen’s Five Tangos; Jerome Robbins’ In the Night; and Matthew Neenan’s 11:11, As It’s Going, Keep and Carmina Burana. Mr. Hench has also performed throughout Spain with Angel Corella’s Foundation and traveled to Beijing and Shanghai in 2006 to appear with Nilas Martins’ Dance Company in Don Quixote and Peter Martins’ A Fool For You.
-
Darla Hoover was trained at the renowned Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary and completed her studies on a full scholarship at the School of American Ballet. In 1980, after choreographing a solo for her in the New York City Opera production of Bourgeois Gentilhomme, George Balanchine invited Darla to become a member of his New York City Ballet. From 1980-1991, Ms. Hoover appeared as a featured soloist in ballets such as Balanchine’s La Valse, Chaconne, Harlequinade, Ballo della Regina, as well as Peter Martins’ Eight Easy Pieces, Rossini Quartets, Sonata di Scarlatti, and Jerome Robbins’ Fanfare. Ms. Hoover now focuses her attentions to teaching and staging ballets. In addition to her positions as the Associate Artistic Director of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Associate Artistic Director of Ballet Academy East’s graded children’s program in Manhattan, Ms. Hoover guest teaches throughout the world. Working as a distinguished répétiteur, Ms. Hoover stages works for the George Balanchine Trust and for Peter Martins, Ballet Master-in-Chief of the New York City Ballet. Recent stagings have included George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™, Raymonda Variations, Serenade, Divertimento #15, Valse Fantaisie, Allegro Brillante, Stars and Stripes and Rubies as well as Peter Martins’ Eight Easy Pieces and Fearful Symmetries.
-
Melinda Howe has served on the faculty of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet for more than 25 years, where she began her own training under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The North Carolina School of the Arts and then returned to Carlisle to work with Ms. Weary. Her growth as a teacher led her to choreograph, and her ballets Vivaldi, Esprit and Blue Moon Waltz have been shown at the Northeast Regional Festivals for Dance. In 2000, Andante won her the prestigious Monticello Award for Choreography. At CPYB, along with her teaching, Ms. Howe assists with the 5-Week Summer Ballet Program and the Teachers Workshop. She is proud of the many students she has helped train over the years, and you can see the current future professional in her ballets in June Series.
-
Laurie Jones started dancing in Arkansas and went on to train at one of America’s most prestigious schools and youth companies, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, with Marcia Dale Weary. Miss Jones performed a variety of principal roles with CPYB including the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty and Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco. She continued her studies at the School of American Ballet with Alexandra Danilova, Suki Shorer and Stanley Williams. Ms. Jones has taught ballet extensively at CPYB since 1990, in addition to Ballet Mississippi (with Fernando Bujones), Allegheny Ballet Company, and Ballet Arkansas. She worked at several "Carlisle Project" choreographer workshops both as a dancer and choreographer. Laura has created works for Ballet Mississippi, CPYB, and Ballet Arkansas. She has set ballets for Ballet Omaha, CPYB, and Ballet Arkansas working with Edward Meyers, Fleming Ryborg, Sean Lavery and Violette Verdy. Laura joined the Orlando Ballet School staff in September of 2003.
-
Michelle Lucci, born in Buffalo, New York, received her dance training at the National Ballet School in Toronto, Canada, The Royal Dance Academy, and American Ballet Theatre, under Valentina Paraslavic. Miss Lucci has danced with the Banff Festival and has toured North America as a demi-soloist with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. In 1969 she joined the Pennsylvania Ballet Company, studying under Lupe Serrano, and in 1972 she became a principal dancer. Ms. Lucci joined the Milwaukee Ballet in 1980 as Ballerina of the company. As Ballerina she has been partnered by Ted Kivitt, Patrick Bissell and Fernando Bejones to name a few. In 1992, Ms. Lucci was hired as Dance Captain and swing dancer of Phantom of the Opera. She toured for seven and a half years to every major city in the United States. As Dance Captain, she put over 300 actors and dancers into the show. Ms. Lucci is a highly regarded teacher, currently teaching at Dance Theatre of Harlem Company and School, Coupé Dance Theatre NY, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Summer Program, JCC Westchester NY, Stage Door Minnesota, and St. Paul City Ballet Minnesota, in addition to the Purchase College Conservatory of Dance.
-
Jennifer Miller received her training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under Marcia Dale Weary, as well as at summer intensives at Joffrey Ballet and on scholarship with San Francisco Ballet. She was a trainee with the Milwaukee Ballet and has risen through the ranks to become a leading artist. During her career, Ms. Miller has danced a variety of roles in ballets such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Dracula, Romeo & Juiet, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Giselle. She has also performed in works by Trey McIntyre, Choo San Goh, George Balanchine, Michael Pink, Anthony Tudor and Gerald Arpino, among others. Ms. Miller also teaches with the Milwaukee Ballet School, and for the past 13 years with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s summer program. As a choreographer, four of her ballets have adjudicated for the Northeast Regional Dance of America; one of which earned her the Monticello award for emerging female choreographer. In 2005, Ms. Miller danced in the inaugural season of the Trey McIntyre Project, performing in places such as White Oak, Vail International Dance Festival, and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.
-
Hilda Morales was born in New York City, and grew up in Puerto Rico. Her early training was with Ana Garcia of Ballet San Juan. At 14 years of age, Ms. Morales received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet. She danced as a principal dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet, soloist with American Ballet Theatre, artist-in-residence with the Colorado Ballet and guest appearances with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Albuquerque Ballet and Jacksonville Ballet. During her dancing career, Ms. Morales performed in full-length classic ballets as well as works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, Anthony Tudor, John Butler, Alvin Ailey, and Jose Limon. Ms. Morales was featured in the movie The Turning Point, in the role of Sandra, directed by Herbert Ross. She guest teaches and is on faculty with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet summer programs, and joined The Hartt School faculty in 1998.
-
Kristen O'Neill began her ballet training at the age of five with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, appearing in many productions including Balanchine's The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Coppélia, Sleeping Beauty and Balanchine's Concerto Barocco. She spent summer at Joffrey Ballet School and San Francisco Ballet before training with School of American Ballet in New York CIty, appearing in ballets including Union Jack, Square Dance and Les Sylphides. Ms. O'Neill went on to attend the Pennsylvania State University where she received a BA degree in theare arts. She spent a summer with Allenberry Playhouse as an Equity Member Candidate performing in the shows South Pacific, Anything Goes and Cabaret. Ms. O'Neill became a certified fitness instructor in the fall of 2006 and a certified Zumba instructor in April 2007. She currently teaches Zumba classes at Transformation Fitness in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
-
Re Rabassi-Davis has a Bachelor of Arts in ballet education, trained as an apprentice teacher with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and completed the teacher’s training course with Jacques d’Amboise’s National Dance Institute. Formerly the founder and director of the Gettysburg School of Ballet, she also served on the faculty of Mt. St. Mary’s College and the Harrisburg Arts Magnet School. During this time, she created and implemented the Creative Movement and Pre-Ballet curriculum used at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet from 1985 to 1995 and developed the Foundation for the current CPYB Arts in Education and Outreach programs. Ms. Rabassi-Davis also created the dance curriculum for the Capital Area School of the Arts and the Milton Hershey School. Ms. Rabassi-Davis also holds a M.Ed. from Shippensburg University in counseling and an M.S. in business ethics and leadership from Duquesne University. She currently teaches drama and dance at Milton Hershey School while serving as part-time faculty for both the academic and summer programs at CPYB since 1984. Ms. Rabassi-Davis is also the artistic coordinator for CPYB’s DiscoverDance program.
-
Hazel Sabas-Gower danced with Ballet Philippines as principal dancer and had notable lead roles in Don Quixote, La Fille Mal Gardee, La Bayadere and Carmen, to name a few. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, with a major in performance and choreography. She began her training with the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus under Felicitas Radaic. Having performed internationally since 14 years of age with Dance Theatre Philippines and Ballet Philippines, she worked or studied with world-renowned guest ballet masters and choreographers. She also had the privilege of performing alongside famous dancers Yoko Morishita, Fernando Bujones, Alicia Alonso, Patrick Bissell, Martin Van Hamel, Leslie Brown, Joyce Cuoco, Julio Bocca and Wes Chapman. In 1987, Ms. Sabas-Gower was one of the featured Ballet Philippines principal artists in a gala with Stars of American Ballet Theatre. She was artistic director of Ballet Lubbock and has been ballet mistress with Ballet Memphis where she also choreographed some critically acclaimed works including Dracula, Firebird and Deconstructing Gershwin. When one of her works was entered into the Choreographic Competition Finals in Paris, France, dance critic René Sirvin singled out her work saying, "From the seven competitors, only one showed real invention and originality, Hazel Sabas-Gower, whose six excellent dancers of Ballet Memphis performed the ingenious choreography Deconstructing Gershwin..." Ms. Sabas-Gower has also been assistant professor at University of Masachusetts Amherst, lecturer at UNT and ballet faculty at Texas Christian University and instructor at Texas Ballet Theatre Academy. She has received numerous grants including the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. In addition to teaching and choreographing, Ms. Sabas-Gower has trained in STOTT pilates mat and reformer. Her works are represented at the New York Public Library's Dance Division. Her latest work, Green, was performed by the prestigious Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet at the ChoreoPlan 2011.
-
Barbara Sandonato trained in the School of American Ballet under George Balanchine in New York City. When the Pennsylvania Ballet formed in 1962, she left New York and was the first dancer to join Barbara Weisberger in her new company. She remained principal dancer with Pennsylvania Ballet until 1977 except for a one year stint with the National Ballet of Canada where, as a principal, she performed with Rudolf Nureyev. She has made guest appearances with numerous companies including Wisconsin Ballet, Boston Ballet and the Eglevsky Ballet. She and her late husband Alexei Yudenich won a bronze medal at the Fifth International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria. Ms. Sandonato’s dance roles have ranged from the traditional bravura showpieces to the ballets of the Romantic realm, and from the exquisite but often relentless demands of a Balanchine ballet to the works of modernists like Limon and Butler. Among many roles, Ms. Sandonato has danced the role of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake and principal roles in Balanchine’s Scotch Symphony, Symphony in C, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brilliante and Serenade. She also danced Aurora in Nureyev’s production of Sleeping Beauty and in Fokine’s Les Sylphides and William Dollar’s The Duel. Throughout her career, Ms Sandonato has been a nationally esteemed master teacher. She was one of the founding instructors of the former School of the Pennsylvania Ballet. Most recently, she served as guest teacher at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. She has served as artist-in-residence and adjunct professor of ballet at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City, as well as teaching at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Steps on Broadway, Ballet Academy East, University of the Arts, and numerous other university-level and grade-level schools throughout the country. Many of Ms Sandonato’s former students are now in professional dancing careers, including her daughter Gabriella Yudenich, who is currently a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet.
-
Adrienne Schulte is a CPYB alumna, as well as receiving traning at Paris Opera Ballet School. She is a former English National Ballet first artist and is currently a member of American Ballet Theatre's corps de ballet. Asked which role has tested her the most, she replied a leading role in Anthony Tudor's Dark Elegies because she had to portray it without focusing solely on technique.
-
Bettijane Sills has had an extensive theatrical career. She appeared on the Broadway stage and on television as a child actress, and was invited by George Balanchine in 1961 to join New York City Ballet. She was promoted to the rank of soloist in 1963, dancing principal roles in many works, including Western Symphony Divertimento #15 and The Nutcracker. She also received critical acclaim as the Wife in Jerome Robbins’ 1972 revival of The Concert. Ms. Sills, a tenured professor, has served on the Conservatory of Dance faculty at Purchase College since 1979. She is responsible for staging Balanchine repertory and has choreographed numerous works for the Purchase Dance Corps as well as choreographing for several companies throughout the United States. In 1996, Ms. Sills had the pleasure of staging Balanchine’s Serenade for students at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and in September 2006, was designated by the Balanchine Trust to stage Allegro Brilliante for the Orlando Ballet in Florida. In January 2007, Ms. Sills was back in Asia to stage Serenade for the Taipei National University of the Arts. Since 2003, Ms. Sills has enjoyed being the Artistic Director of the Conservatory of Dance's annual production of The Nutcracker. In addition to co-chairing the Conservatory of Dance for the year 2009-2010, she was also co-artistic director of the 2010 spring concert for which she staged Balanchine’s Serenade. She is currently involved in the filming of a new documentary about George Balanchine called “In Balanchine's Classroom.” Ms. Sills’ summer teaching regularly includes classes for the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She was honored to be asked by Marcia Dale Weary to choreograph a new ballet, Masquerade, in May 2009, which was performed in their June Series at the Whitaker Theatre in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that same year.
-
Suzanne Smith joined the San Angelo Civic Ballet as artist in residence in January 2010 and became the associate artistic director for the 2010-2011 season. A native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, she began her studies at the Harrisburg Academy of Dance. At the age of 15, she began to train at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary. Upon graduation in 2000, Mrs. Smith performed professionally with the International Ballet Theatre in Philadelphia. At the International Ballet Theatre, under Alexander Boitsov's coaching, Mrs. Smith performed classical variations from Le Corsaire,Don Quixote,The Nutcracker,Esmerelda, and Paquita. She joined the Peoria Ballet in Illinois for their 2003 winter season, then became a part of the Rafael Grigorian Ballet Theatre in New York from 2005-2008. She has performed the principal roles in Mr. Grigorian's original full length ballets Baba Yaga, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella,and The Nutcracker. Mrs. Smith has taught for the Rafael Grigorian School of Classical Ballet in Elmira, New York and for CPYB as a full-time faculty member and continues to instruct at CPYB summer programs. She has guest taught throughout the Pennsylvania and New York regions and is grateful to God for the opportunity to teach in San Angelo.
-
Patricia Sorrell has taught ballet in the Hampton-Roads, Virginia, are for 34 years. She has worked at CPYB since 1975 and is on faculty at the Commonwealth of Virginia Governor's School for the Arts.
-
Robert Steele, originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, began his training at the Erie Civic Ballet, and studied on scholarship at the Boston Conservatory of Music and the Boston School of Ballet. As a professional dancer, Robert performed with the Boston Ballet, dancing many soloist and principal roles, and with the Royal Danish Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and the Washington Ballet. Robert has taught at many of the finest schools in the country. Many of his students have received critical acclaim as professional dancers, and several have won medals at international ballet competitions. Robert founded the Lake Erie Ballet Company in 1988. Mr. Steele's talents have been recognized by the PA Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, and he has created ballets for dozens of regional dance companies.
-
Tatiana Tchernova began her dance training in Uzbekistan at the National Ballet College and the Tashkent Institute of Dramatic & Fine Arts. In 1997, she attended the Paris Opera Ballet School at New York University to further her teaching techniques. She has taught at ballet schools and companies throughout Canada and around the world, including the National Company of Korea, Ontario Ballet Theatre, Desrosiers Dance Theatre and Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts. She has also had the opportunity to guest teach extensively throughout the United States.
-
Bruce Thornton received his dance training in his native Seattle, Washingon, at the Cornish Institute and then with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Thornton was most recently a soloist with the Miami City Ballet and danced a range of roles with the company; including: the “Blue” gentleman from Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, the principal "walking” pas de deux from Emeralds, the Elegie principal from Serenade, the principal male in Concerto Barrocco and Elegie, the role of Death in La Valse as well as the “turning” principal in La Valse, the Baron in La Sonnambula, the second pas de trois from Agon, the first and third themes from The Four Temperaments, all by Balanchine. Thornton has a wide variety of experience with other choreographers, including Paul Taylor, Lynn Taylor Corbett, Richard Tanner, Margo Sappington, Sir Frederick Ashton, August Bournonville, Richard Weiss and Edward Villella. He has performed as a guest artist for the Carolina Ballet in their televised performances of Romeo and Juliet, and Lynn Taylor Corbett’s Cabaret at Café Marcovici. He performed for the former president of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton, in a televised performance of The Kennedy Center Honors in honor of the award to Edward Villella. Thornton brings his expertise in the Balanchine repertoire through his work with the great Edward Villella, as well as his 15 years of professional work to Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet as a member of the faculty.
-
Megan Trambley trained with the Lake Erie Ballet School, under the direction of Sharon Filone, and at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. She danced with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre for 6 seasons where she performed such roles as the Spring Fairy in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Elegy in George Balanchine’s Serenade, and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. She also enjoyed performing contemporary works such as The Rite of Spring and Kevin O’Day’s STING/ing Situations. Megan also participated in choreographic and fundraising projects such as The Move and The Dancer’s Trust. Ms. Trambley is on the faculty of New Castle Regional Ballet, and on the summer faculty for the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.
-
Karl von Rabenau, raised in Duluth, Minnesota, had passion for dance that grew out of the need to move during the long winter months. He began his dance training at the age of 13 with the Duluth Ballet (now known as Minnesota Ballet). He continued his training at Minnesota Dance Theatre, the Boston Ballet School, and the San Francisco Ballet School. Mr. von Rabenau began his career as a member of Boston Ballet II and apprentice to Boston Ballet. After a short stint with Omaha Ballet, he danced for five seasons with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. While dancing with PBT, he toured to Taipei, Taiwan, and fulfilled the dream to dance Balanchine’s Tarantella pas de deux. Mr. von Rabenau also danced works by George Balanchine, John Cranko, Bruce Wells, Agnes De Milles, and Alvin Ailey. Throughout his tenure in Pittsburgh, Mr. von Rabenau also was a frequent guest artist with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, where among the roles he performed were Harlequin pas de deux and the lead in Divertomento No. 13. Mr. von Rabenau danced the final 10 seasons of his career as a soloist for the Milwaukee Ballet Company. Some of the highlights from his tenure with MBC were dancing such roles as Iago in José Limón’s The Moor’s Pavane, and the Blue Bird Pas de Deux from Sleeping Beauty. Mr. von Rabenau has also performed the lead roles in Choo San Goh’s In The Glow of the Night and Unknown Territory as well as George Balanchine’s “Rubies,” The Four Temperaments, Tchaikovsky Pas Deux, Serenade, and Allegro Brilliante. Mr. von Rabenau’s second passion in life is teaching ballet. He has had the true pleasure to do this for the past 17 years throughout the Midwest and Eastern United States. He is currently on staff at the Milwaukee Ballet School and Danceworks Studio 1661 of Milwaukee. Each summer, Mr. von Rabenau returns to Pennsylvania where he has been invited to teach at Point Park University’s International Summer Dance Program for the past 11 years, and the world renowned Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet for the past 16 years. As a choreographer, Mr. von Rabenau has created works for Point Park University’s International Summer Dance program for the past 11 years and has had works performed in the Regional Dance of America Festivals in both the Northeast Region by CPYB and Lake Erie Ballet School, and Southeast Region by Classical Ballet of Memphis. In 2002, Mr. von Rabenau was invited to choreograph a pas de deux, Speranza, which was presented by the Milwaukee Ballet at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
-
Gennadi Vosrikov was born in Siberia, Russia and received his early training in Perm. Vostrikov studied with the renowned ballet teachers Plaht and Asaular. He was awarded the first degree diploma in the Leningrad Ballet Competition. Upon graduation, he was asked to join the Moiseyev Classical Ballet Company.
With the the Moiseyev Company he was coached by the legendary ballet masters Igor Moiseyev, Asaff Messerer and Sulamif Messerer. The Moiseyev Classical Ballet Company traveled worldwide. it was during one of their many tours that Vostrikov saw the possibility for freedom and defected while in Mexico. The Mexico Ballet Company prompted him to join their company as a principal and teacher. Nicholas Petrov, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT) director, heard about Vostrikov's defection and requested that he join PBT. While with PBT, he performed numerous principal roles in such ballets as The Nutcracker, Prince Igor, Rite of Spring, Swan Lake, Les Sylphide, Romeo and Juliet, Corsaire Pas de Deux, La Bayadere, and Don Quixote, as well as having performed with the Pittsburgh Opera. Vostrikov was also a principal with Chicago Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet. He was an associate professor of dance with the University of Alabama in Birmingham, Shenandoah University, as well as Director of Ballet Zulia in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Currently, Vostrikov is director of the Virginia Youth Ballet and Vostrikov's Academy of Ballet. He is also a guest teacher and choreographer with Cumberland Ballet, New Castle Ballet, Williamsburg Chamber Ballet, Louisiana Dance Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and master teacher with National and Regional Ballet festivals.
-
Susan Vostrikov received a scholarship to attend the National Academy of Ballet and Theatre Arts high school in New York City at age 14. Upon graduation, she began her professional career as a dancer with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. In 1974, Susan joined the University of Alabama Ballet in Birmingham as principal dancer and teacher at the school. Further engagements with other companies included Chicago Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet Zulia in Venezuela, as well as numerous guest appearances throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo and South America. Her most noted roles as a performer include Juliet, Spectre De La Rose, Red Poppy pas de deux, Clara, Snow Queen, and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. Mrs. Vostrikov is currently artistic director of the Virginia Youth Ballet and Vostrikov’s Academy of Ballet. In addition, she serves as guest faculty with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in Carlisle.
-
Kristen Wenrick received her training from the Boston Ballet School, the Chautauqua Dance Festival Company, the Milwaukee Ballet School, and North Carolina School of the Arts. She performed with Eglevsky Ballet in New York City, the Milwaukee Ballet, and as principal dancer with the Louisville Ballet. Enticed by the world class repertoire of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and its artistic director, Patricia Wilde, Kristen took a position with PBT in 1993. Ms. Wenrick danced with the company for nine years, rising to the rank of principal dancer. Throughout her career, she has performed lead roles in the works of world-renowned choreographers such as George Balanchine, Glen Tetley, Jiri Kylian, Hans van Manen, Paul Taylor, Marius Petipa, Ben Stevenson, Choo-San Goh, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Kevin O’Day, and Dwight Rhoden. She has also had the opportunity to train with some of the world’s most influential teachers. Upon retiring from the stage in 2002, she turned whole-heartedly to the art of teaching. Sought after as a teacher, coach, and choreographer by many ballet schools in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, she has been a full-time faculty member at Point Park University and is currently a summer program member at the nationally recognized Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Kristen’s most recent tenure was as the full-time faculty member of the Louisville Ballet School. While enjoying her time at LBS, she continually felt the urge to establish the training and performing experience she benefited from as a student at the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet in Northern Ohio.