Reach. Grow. Achieve.

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 the New York City Ballet—and remained there for three years. She joined New York City Ballet’s corp 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, dancing with the New York City Ballet for 17 years.

Stacey began teaching full time in the dance department at the University of South Carolina in 2003. She held the positions of Distinguished Artist in Residence, Associate Artistic Director for the USC Dance Company, and Director of Curriculum for the after school program at USC. Stacey is now on faculty at Ballet Academy East in New York City. She is also a répétiteur for the George Balanchine Trust as well as a master teacher.

Cynthia Birdwell is originally from Houston, Texas, and began her training at the Asbury School of Dance. She then joined the Margo Marshall School of Ballet, and was a member of their student company. Cynthia attended High School of the Performing and Visual Arts as a Dance major, and spent her summers at School of American Ballet.

Cynthia took a break from ballet and pursued a successful modeling career. She has been on the faculty of the BAE Pre-Professional Ballet Division since 1998.

Antonio Carmena has taught dance in leading universities, ballet companies and schools thought the United States and Europe while appearing as Soloist for twelve of his nineteen years with New York City Ballet.

Mr. Carmena is a faculty professor teaching ballet for Barnard College’s Dance Department as well as teaching company class for New York City Ballet. He taught in New York City Ballet’s Outreach Program giving master classes in Australia, Ireland, France and throughout the United States. He has been a master teacher for institutions as Pacific Northwest Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Royal Danish Ballet Summer School, The School of Ballet Arizona, Ballet Hispanico, Ballet de Barcelona, the New York State Summer School, the University of Southern California’s Gloria Kaufman School of Dance, SUNY Purchase, Temple University, BODYTRAFFIC, the Marin Ballet, the Laguna Ballet, the Real Conservatory in Madrid, , Art of. Summer intensive and Stage de Danse in Liege, Belgium.

During his time at New York City Ballet, Mr. Carmena worked with the New York City Ballet Young Patrons committee for several years which is designed to bring young audiences to ballet and encourage their financial support of the organization. His enthusiasm and involvement helped the program double in size. He was immersed in fundraising goals, marketing and event planning, and the financial parameters associated with Young Patrons programs. In 2018, Mr. Carmena participated in shadowing Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal and was essentially participating in an administrative intensive with PNB’s management team. Through these experiences he has gained valuable insights into the complexity and many moving parts of every ballet company

He demonstrated ballet classes for a very popular series of instructional videos by the master teacher Finis Jhung. In addition, in 2017 The Columbia University Ballet Collaborative invited him to choreograph his first work, “Los Cuatro.” In 2019 he choreographed his second ballet for Ballet de Barcelona, “Together”, in collaboration with Marcus Salazar.

Mr. Carmena received his training at the Royal Conservatory of Professional Dance in Madrid, Spain. Awards include the Gold Medal in 1996 at the Third International Competition, Havana, Cuba; the 1997 Gold Medal at the Prix de Lausanne as well as the “Prix des Telespectateurs,” an honor voted on by television viewers of the Competition; the Grand Prix at the Seventh Eurovision Competition for Young Dancers and the “Most Outstanding Young Dancer” in the First International Dance Competition in Zaragoza, Spain.

After winning the Prix de Lausanne Scholarship, he was invited to study at the School of American Ballet, the official School of New York City Ballet. He was named an apprentice to the Company in 1998, joined the full Company the following year and was promoted to Soloist in 2006. He retired from the New York City Ballet in 2017.

Mr. Carmena’s repertoire with the Company included leading roles in classical ballets and works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, August Bournonville and Peter Martins. He originated roles in creations by Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, Mauro Bigonzetti, Liam Scarlett, Susan Stroman and Douglas Lee.

He appeared as a guest artist with numerous companies in the United States and Europe including the Laguna Ballet, The Hartford Ballet, the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi di Salerno, the Festival di Spoleto, and the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater.

In addition to his dance career, Mr. Carmena is an accomplished chef. With a scholarship from Career Transition for Dancers, he studied at the French Culinary Institute, taking the “La Technique” course under the direction of Chefs Ryan Orkus and Jessica Botta. He has several videos on YouTube demonstrating favorite recipes from “The Ballet Cookbook” by ballerina Tanaquil Le Clercq.

Olga Dvorovenko is a former principal dancer and ballet mistress with the Ukrainian State Academic Dance Ensemble. She was honored by the President of the Ukraine for outstanding artistic achievement. She is a faculty member at American Ballet Theater Studio Company and JKO school. In 2002, Olga was invited by ABT to dance the role of “Madame” in Antony Tudor’s Offenbach in the Underworld, and in 2006 the role of “Madam” in Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon. She has been a faculty member at BAE since 1998.

Joseph Malbrough is a former principal dancer with Chicago City Ballet, Ballet Chicago, and L’Opera de Lausanne. He also performed with Makarova and Company, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Fort Worth Ballet. Joseph is a former ballet master and teacher, Jeunne Ballet in Lausanne, Switzerland. He has taught at BAE since 2005.

Tara Mora was raised in Queens, New York. Her ballet training began with Donja Joseph at Studio E School of Dance and continued, on scholarship, with The School of American Ballet, and at LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts. Ms. Mora has enjoyed a professional career dancing in ballet companies throughout the United States including The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Carolina Ballet, where she was a founding member, Cincinnati Ballet, and Alabama Ballet.

Among the highlights of her fourteen year career was the opportunity to perform soloist and principal roles in Balanchine classics such as Serenade, Square Dance, Who Cares?, Monumentum/Movements, Diamonds, Concerto Barocco, and Scotch Symphony. Ms. Mora has also had the pleasure of dancing soloist and principal roles in the work of esteemed choreographers Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Robert Weiss, Kirk Peterson, Christopher Wheeldon, Wes Chapman, and Roger Van Fleteren. She is thrilled to be a member of the BAE faculty.

Daniel Ulbricht was born in St. Petersburg, Florida and began his dance training at the age of 11. At age 15, he attended the School of American Ballet. In 2000, he became an apprentice with New York City Ballet and in November 2001 he joined as a member of the corps de ballet. In 2005, Mr. Ulbricht was promoted to soloist and principal dancer in 2007. He has danced featured roles in Balanchine, Robbins, Martins, Peck, Ratmansky, Wheeldon and Tharp works. Mr. Ulbricht is also on guest faculty at Ballet Academy East and Steps in New York City. Mr. Ulbricht is also founder and director of Stars of American Ballet. Mr. Ulbricht is also on the faculty of Yale University. Mr. Ulbricht is also the co-founder and co-producer of “Dance Against Cancer” and is also on the board of the NDI.

Elizabeth Walker’s ballet training began in South Carolina with Don and Patricia Cantwell in Charleston, S.C. and continued with Ann Brodie in Columbia, S.C. Following two summer courses at the School of American Ballet in New York, Elizabeth was invited to stay for full time study on scholarship at the age of 15. She received a Princess Grace Foundation-USA Award Dance Scholarship and Nancy Davis Reagan Award in 1988, and a scholarship in the name of Alexandra Danilova and the Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise in 1990.

At the age of sixteen, Elizabeth was invited by Suki Schorer and Merrill Ashley to take part as a demonstrator in “Balanchine Essays,” a video series cataloguing Balanchine technique produced by the George Balanchine Trust. Elizabeth was offered an apprenticeship with the New York City Ballet in 1990 and joined the corps de ballet in 1991. Among the dozens of roles she danced, many were featured or principal roles in ballets by George Balanchine, Peter Martins, Jerome Robbins, Lynn Taylor Corbett, and David Parsons.

In June 2009, Elizabeth retired from performing after 19 years with NYCB. Elizabeth taught on the faculty of the School of American Ballet, the official school of NYCB, from 2001-2007. Since 2009, Elizabeth has served as senior faculty at the New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) School of Ballet. Elizabeth joined the faculty at Ballet Academy East in 2007, teaching for the Pre-Professional Division and adult open classes.

Cheryl Yeager received her early training at Maryland School of Ballet, performing with the Maryland Youth Ballet. She went on to receive scholarships to study at both the School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre School. Cheryl joined American Ballet Theatre in 1976, was promoted to soloist in 1981, and then became a principal dancer in 1986.

During Cheryl’s eighteen years at American Ballet Theatre, she performed leading roles in all the great ballets including Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Coppélia, Cinderella, La Bayadère, Giselle, Études, La Sylphide, Raymonda, Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, Firebird, Gaite Parisienne, Graduation Ball, Flower Festival, Bournonville Pas de Trois, La Fille Mal Gardée, Napoli, Grand Pas Classique, Le Corsaire, Diana and Acteon, Anthony Tudor’s Leaves are Fading, Undertow and Fandango, Merce Cunningham’s Duets, Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes To Shove and Bach Partita, Frederick Ashton’s Rendez Vous and Les Patineurs, George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, Donizetti Variations, Apollo, Bourrée Fantasque, Harliquinade, and Sylvia Pas de Deux.

Cheryl originated leading roles in ballets including Twyla Tharp’s Brief Fling, Clark Tippet’s Bruch Violin Concerto, Lynne Taylor Corbet’s Great Galloping Gottchaulk, and Michael Smuin’s Peter and the Wolf. Cheryl has toured throughout the world with Alexander Godunov, Rudolph Nureyev, Peter Boal, Julio Bocca, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. She has been seen on television and video in Live From Lincoln Center: Raymonda, Giselle, Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, and Billy the Kid, as well as Baryshnikov with Twyla Tharp, Baryshnikov’s Nutcracker, and Don Quixote with Julio Bocca. Cheryl is a summer faculty member at American Ballet Theatre and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.

She is also a well known private teacher and coach. Cheryl has been a much-loved senior faculty member in the Pre-Professional Division at Ballet Academy East since 2002.

“The quality of the training a dancer receives has an enormous impact on their future. BAE’s meticulous and comprehensive syllabus develops technically strong, expressive ballet dancers, who ultimately can adapt to any style.”

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 Ms. Hoover 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 Robbin’s Fanfare. Upon retirement, a full schedule of guest appearances throughout the United States and Europe further expanded her repertory experience.

Ms. Hoover now focuses her attentions on teaching and staging ballets, including positions as the Artistic Director of Ballet Academy East’s Pre-Professional Division in New York City, and Artistic Director of Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, where she also directs a nationally recognized Teachers Workshop that instructs fellow dance educators on the syllabus and methodologies developed by Marcia Dale Weary. Ms. Hoover guest teaches all over the world, and has been invited to share her successful techniques at distinguished companies such as New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, New National Theatre Tokyo, and Royal Danish Ballet.

As a répétiteur, Ms. Hoover regularly stages works for the George Balanchine Trust. Recent stagings at major ballet companies such as the Stanislavsky Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, New National Theatre Tokyo, and Dance Theatre of Harlem have included George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Raymonda Variations, La Source, Serenade, Scherzo à la Russe, Divertimento No.15, Valse Fantaisie, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brillante, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Stars and Stripes. Ms. Hoover was invited to stage George Balanchine’s Raymonda Variations at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. This performance marked the first time the esteemed Academy had ever performed a work by Mr. Balanchine.

Amos Machanic, Jr. (Miami, FL) is currently a Teaching Artist with Ailey Arts In Education & Community Programs. Mr. Machanic also teaches at The Ailey Extension, Ballet Academy East, and for the American Ballet Theater Kids Summer Intensive Program. Mr. Machanic studied dance at The New World School of the Arts and continued his training at The Ailey School where he was a fellowship recipient. Machanic was a member of Ailey II and Joined The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1996. During his 15 years with the company, Amos had the pleasure of traveling and performing across the globe. In 2010, he performed at the White House tribute to Judith Jamison and now enjoys being a freelance artist and teacher.

Adriana Pierce (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and director based in New York City. After training at School of American Ballet, Pierce began her dancing career with New York City Ballet and Miami City Ballet, continuing onto Broadway, film, and TV (2018 Broadway Revival of Carousel, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, Fosse/Verdon). As a choreographer, Pierce is equally at home creating works for ballet, theater, and film. The lack of lesbian representation in ballet led Pierce to start #QueerTheBallet, an initiative with the mission to widen the scope of classical ballet by producing queer work by queer dance artists.

Pierce created her first ballet works for the School of American Ballet’s Student Choreography Workshop, and was twice selected to participate in New York Choreographic Institute’s Choreographic Sessions. Pierce’s choreographic work features movement and partnering that allows dancers of all genders equal agency, dismantling the traditional gender dynamics of dance. Today, Pierce’s choreography has been performed by American Ballet Theatre, Carolina Ballet, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Ashley Bouder Project, and featured in festivals and galas such as Hamptons Dance Project, Kaatsbaan Fall Dance Festival, Fire Island Dance Festival, Mainly Mozart Festival, and Adrienne Arsht Center’s Annual Gala. She has completed residencies with Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU and Bridge Street Theatre. Pierce was recognized by Dance Magazine as one of “25 to Watch” in 2022.

Pierce’s work with #QueerTheBallet has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Fjord Review and more. In 2021, the Joyce Theater presented #QueerTheBallet’s film Animals and Angels, and The New Yorker deemed Pierce’s choreography in the film a “velvet revolution.” In April 2022, The Joyce produced #QueerTheBallet’s first full evening of work at The Chelsea Factory, which featured works by Pierce and other queer artists.

Alexandra (Allie) Smith is a physical therapist specialized in orthopedics and performing arts. She earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Columbia University. Her clinical expertise was refined through training at the NYU Langone Harkness Center for Dance Injuries, and she honed her manual therapy skills though Active Release Techniques® (ART) certifications.
Beyond the clinic setting, Dr. Smith provides backstage care for Broadway performers in productions such as Buena Vista Social Club and SMASH helping them stay healthy through the rigorous demands of rehearsal and performance. She is also dedicated to nurturing young dancers; she developed a four week comprehensive course on anatomy and injury prevention, which she brought to Ballet Academy East. Her commitment to advancing dance medicine extends to research: she presented at the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting, earning the Performing Arts Special Interest Group Student Scholarship Award, and her publication, Considerations for Treating Dancers in High Heels, was published by the APTA Performing Arts Special Interest Group as a clinical resource for healthcare providers.
Prior to becoming a physical therapist, Allie received a BS in Rehabilitation Sciences and a BFA in Ballet Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. With over 20 years of dance experience, she has performed with American Ballet Theatre and Oklahoma City Ballet.

Dr. Nancy J. Kadel, MD is a fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeon specializing in musculoskeletal injuries, with a renowned expertise in the unique needs of dancers and performing artists. A graduate of the University of Washington School of Medicine and Harvard’s Orthopaedic Surgery residency program, she is a recognized leader and Past-President of both the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science (2019 ~ 2021) and the Performing Arts Medicine Association (2014 ~ 2016). Previously, Dr. Kadel was associate professor of orthopedics at the University of Washington and at the University of California, San Francisco. In addition to her extensive academic and research contributions, she is a certified instructor in the Zena Rommett Floor-Barre Method™. Currently based in New York City, Dr. Kadel continues to serve the arts community as an international speaker and multi-state “Top Doc” recipient.

Erica Pereira was born in Northport, New York. She began studying ballet at the age of 8 and enrolled at Ballet Academy East from the age of ten.

In 2005, Ms. Pereira began studying at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet. She attended summer programs at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Ms. Pereira became an apprentice with New York City Ballet in December 2006.

While an apprentice, Ms. Pereira danced the role of Juliet in Peter Martins’ Romeo + Juliet as part of the 2007 spring season. She joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet that May.

In December 2009, Ms. Pereira was promoted to soloist.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA), Charles began his dance training at the age of five with Loyce Houlton and the Minnesota Dance Theatre. He continued his studies in Minneapolis until the age of 16, spending one summer at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in 1983. Mr. Askegard joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in 1987, and was promoted to soloist in 1992. His repertoire while at American Ballet Theatre included leading roles in Giselle, La Bayadere, Manon, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Etudes, Voluntaries, The Rite of Spring, Symphonic Variations, Rodeo, Fall River Legend, The Other, The Red Shoes, Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, and Apollo.

In 1997, Mr. Askegard left ABT to join New York City Ballet as a soloist. He served as Principal Dancer from 1998 until 2011. In 2002, he appeared in the nationally televised Live from Lincoln Center broadcast, “New York City Ballet’s Diamond Project: Ten Years of New Choreography” on PBS, dancing in Them Twos. And in May of 2004, he appeared in the Live From Lincoln Center broadcast of “Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100,” dancing in Vienna Waltzes. In addition to his appearances with New York City Ballet, Mr. Askegard has been a guest artist with The Dutch National Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Etudes of South Florida, Bavarian State Opera Ballet, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Philippine Ballet Theatre, The Daring Project, and the Stars of American Ballet. He performed the leading roles opposite Barbie in the “Barbie” 3-D animated videos, dancing in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and the Twelve Dancing Princesses.

He can also be seen in the documentary Ballet, directed by Fred Wiseman. Since joining New York City Ballet, Mr. Askegard has danced featured roles in works by several key choreographers of the 20th and 21st century, including George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Apollo, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (Fourth Movement), Concerto Barocco, Coppélia (Frantz), Cortège Hongrois, Firebird, The Four Temperaments, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™, “Diamonds” from Jewels, Ivesiana, Kammermusik No. 2, Liebeslieder Walzer, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Monumentum pro Gesualdo, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, Orpheus, Robert Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertänze”, Scotch Symphony, Serenade, Stars and Stripes, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Swan Lake, Symphony in C, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 (Theme and Variations), Union Jack, Vienna Waltzes, Walpurgisnacht Ballet, Western Symphony, Who Cares?, Peter Martins’ Barber Violin Concerto, Fearful Symmetries, Morgen, Naïve and Sentimental Music, The Sleeping Beauty (Gold), Swan Lake (Siegfried and Russian), The Waltz Project, Harmonielehre, River of Light, Swan Lake, Them Twos, Thou Swell and Viva Verdi, Jerome Robbins’ The Four Seasons (Fall), Glass Pieces, In Memory of…, In the Night, Ives, Songs In addition to Eliot Feld’s Intermezzo No. 1, The Unanswered Question, Organon and Robert La Fosse’s “Rockin’ in Rhythm” from Duke!, Helgi Tomasson’s Prism (2000 Diamond Project ballet), and Christopher Wheeldon’s Carnival of the Animals. Charles Askegard is the Associate Artistic Director of Minnesota Dance Theatre.

A lifelong advocate for the arts, Alan Hineline delivers a rare blend of business acumen and artistic expertise with a proven track record of motivating organizations to achieve their artistic and strategic missions.

As Chief Executive Officer of Ballet San Jose, Hineline led all aspects of the organization’s mission fulfillment – working closely with trustee and artistic leadership on strategic initiatives, board development, financial stewardship, institutional marketing and fundraising campaigns, and artistic programming. Hineline served as CEO for Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) from 2009 to 2014. His strategies to expand the CPYB profile and develop financial support of the organization’s mission put CPYB on a path toward long-term sustainability and viability for future generations of students and audience members. Previously, Hineline lead Ballet Philippines, in Manila, as Chief Operating Officer and Artistic Director. In his role, he oversaw a complete rebranding of the organization including repertoire expansion, artistic development of the company artists, and a heightened institutional profile.

Hineline returned to the CPYB faculty with a broad range of international teaching credentials. He is a sought-after choreographer/ballet master and has created more than 25 works for Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. His body of work can also be seen in the repertories of American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, Pennsylvania Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, and The Juilliard Dance Ensemble, among many others.

Hineline sits on the national advisory board of Regional Dance America. He is the founder of Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s choreographic initiative, ChoreoPlan. Among his many awards is the Choo-San Goh Award for Choreography from the Choo-San Goh and H. Robert Magee Foundation, as well as multiple National Choreography Awards from Regional Dance America.

A native of Cali, Colombia, Juan Carlos Peñuela began dancing at the age of 12 with Incolballet, a ballet-centered secondary school. After graduation, Mr. Peñuela was invited by Artistic Director, Gloria Castro to join Ballet de Cali, Colombia’s National Company as a soloist, where he performed in a variety of leading roles in contemporary works as well as classical pieces. Mr. Peñuela has danced with Ballet Arizona, Dance Theater of Harlem, Pennsylvania Ballet, Maximum Dance Ballet Gamonet, Chamber Dance Project and Ballet NY.
Juan Carlos has served as guest Ballet Master and Repetitur with Compania Colombiana de Ballet – Incolballet in Colombia, Chamber Dance Project, Lexington Ballet, The Ajkun Ballet Theatre in New York City, Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theatre, Ena Ballet Company in Japan & Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts International Summer Intensive in Kent, CT. In 2011, he was invited to Malaysia where he taught at their international festival, restaged Don Quixote, and coached artists from all over the world for their International Gala of the Stars.
From 2014 to 2018 Juan Carlos held the position of Ballet Master with Ballet Hispanico company in New York City as well as Senior Ballet Teacher for the School of Dance. He has served as a faculty member at Joffrey Ballet School, Marymount Manhattan Collage, Ballet Academy East in New York city, Alvin Ailey, a guest teacher at The Juilliard School and Dance Theatre of Harlem’s professional company.
Mr. Penuela holds a Romana’s Pilates certification and teaches Pilates designed for dancers. In 2011 he became certified in The American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum. During the summer of 2013 he was invited to teach in Italy as a faculty member of Alvin Ailey School. Since 2017 he has been teaching at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet summer program. In 2014 and 2017 he attended the CPYB teacher’s workshop and 2017 was featured in the August edition of Dance Teacher Magazine. For the last 7 years he has been invited to Panama City as guest teacher and as adjudicator to Danza Activa Competition and Ecuador Danza Ciad competition.

Ariel Rose is a Peruvian-American native of New York City. He graduated from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and the Performing Arts. Receiving his early dance training at Ballet Academy East, he continued on to the ABT/Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Ballet School and completed his training at the Boston Ballet School on full scholarship. Rose danced with Boston Ballet II in 2008, where he had opportunities to perform with their main company, and originate a role in Jorma Elo’s One Concerto. In 2010, He performed as a Guest Soloist with El Ballet Municipal de Lima, in Peru, dancing the principal role of Franz in Alicia Alonso’s Coppélia. Rose then went on to join the Richmond Ballet where he performed works by many notable choreographers such as Ma Cong, Val Caniparoli, William Soleau, Salvatore Aiello and Jessica Lang. He joined Miami City Ballet in 2013, where he has since danced a wide variety of the company’s Balanchine/Robbins/Paul Taylor/Tharp repertoire and worked closely with many world renowned choreographers such as Alexei Ratmansky, Justin Peck and Ricardo Amarante. He retired in 2023 at the rank of soloist.

Additionally, Rose is a freelance choreographer. He first began choreographing in 2002 through student choreographic projects and in 2015, was a recipient of the choreographic fellowship from Jennifer Homan’s Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University. Rose has been commissioned to create new works by many professional companies, including the Miami City Ballet, Cia De Ballet do Rio de Janeiro, Medanza, Ballet Metropolitano, The Skylar Campbell Dance Collective, Revolve Dance Project, Sanctuary for the Arts, Men Who Dance Festival, Stars of American Ballet, Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami to name a few. His choreographic works have been performed in cities all over the Americas, and at estimable theaters such as, Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, Massachusetts and the Joyce Theater in New York City. He has also created works for distinguished schools including Miami City Ballet School, Boston Ballet School, and Ballet Academy East.

Born in Miami, Florida, Craig Salstein began his training at the Ballet Academy of Miami at the age of eight and continued his training with the Miami City Ballet. In 1995, he was the Grand Champion of Ed McMahon’s Star Search. Salstein joined American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company in 2000 and joined the main company in April 2002, and in 2007was promoted to soloist. He is also one of a set of triplets. Salstein’s repertory with the Company includes Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, the Bronze Idol and the Head Fakir in La Bayadère, Birbanto in Le Corsaire, Gamache in Don Quixote, Puck in The Dream, the first sailor in ancy Free, the peasant pas de deux and Hillarion in Giselle, the Champion Roper in Rodeo, the Neapolitan Dance inSwan Lake, Eros and in Sylvia, the Devil in Three Virgins and a Devil and leading roles in Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, Gong, In The Upper Room, Sinfonietta and Symphonic Variations. He was an ensemble member and dance captain of the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel on Broadway. Salstein was the associate choreographer to Justin Peck for West Side Story movie directed by Steve Spielberg.

Andrew Veyette was born in Denver, Colorado. He began his dance training at the age of nine with Betty Downs at Dance Arts in Visalia, California, continuing his studies at Westside Ballet in Santa Monica, California with Yvonne Mounsey, where he was personally coached by Nader Hamed. Mr. Veyette entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in the fall of 1998. In the spring of 2000, Mr. Veyette became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and later that season he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet. In March of 2006 he was promoted to the rank of soloist, and he became a principal dancer in May 2007.

Since joining New York City Ballet, Mr. Veyette has danced featured roles in numerous ballets by George Balanchine, Mauro Bigonzetti, August Bournonville, Eliot Feld, Pontus Lidberg, Lauren Lovette, Peter Martins, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, Liam Scarlett, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Twyla Tharp, Peter Walker, and Christopher Wheeldon. At NYCB, he has also originated featured roles in ballets by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Warren Carlyle, Mr. Martins, Alexey Miroshnichenko, Mr. Peck, Richard Tanner, Troy Schumacher, and Mr. Wheeldon.

Outside of NYCB, Mr. Veyette has performed as a guest artist with American Ballet Theatre in George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, as well as in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and Balanchine’s Slaughter on Tenth Avenue with Pennsylvania Ballet. Additionally, he appeared in the 2010 film adaptation of Jerome Robbins’ N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz. Mr. Veyette was a 2000 Mae L. Wien Award recipient and studied under the Janice Levin Scholarship at SAB.

Francis Patrelle serves as the Artistic Director for Dances Patrelle. He holds a BFA from The Juilliard School. Mr. Patrelle is a former resident choreographer at Berkshire Ballet, a part of the faculty of Manhattan School of Music, and former chairman of the dance division at USDAN Center for the Creative and Performing Arts. Mr. Patrelle has choreographed on such illustrious dancers as Cynthia Gregory, Merrill Ashley, Judith Fugate, Lourdes Lopez, Jennifer Ringer, John Meehan, Donald Williams, Peter Boal, and Jock Soto. As resident choreographer, Mr. Patrelle has encouraged and guided the development of many young choreographers. Francis Patrelle has been a faculty member at BAE since 1979.

Anne Kelly’s experience in ballet includes performing, teaching, staging, and choreographing. She trained at the School of American Ballet for five years before attending Barnard College of Columbia University. While at Barnard, she studied with Francis Patrelle, Lourdes Lopez, Kate Glasner, and Allegra Kent. She performed works by George Balanchine, Lew Christiansen, Elisa Monte, Karla Wolfangle, Daniel Pelzig, and Lila York. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in English and Dance. Ms. Kelly has danced with New York City Opera in their productions of Semele, Pirates of Penzance, and Candide, and she has performed with Dances Patrelle in Is That All There Is?, Murder at the Masque, Gilbert and Sullivan, The Ballet!, and The Yorkville Nutcracker, for which she also serves as Ballet Mistress. In 2012, Ms. Kelly founded her own company K/M•D/M, which is an elegantly modern ballet company that performs to live music. As Artistic Director and Choreographer, she has produced 5 Seasons for K/M•D/M in NYC. She has been on faculty at Ballet Academy East since 2005, teaching in the Pre-Ballet, Primary, Pre-Professional, and Adult Open Class Divisions.

Courtney Abernethy is a dance educator and artist with a B.A. in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College where she concentrated in Body, Science, and Motion and minored in Arts Management. Trained in ballet, modern, and contemporary techniques, she combines her background in kinesiology and yoga with a passion for creativity to help students grow both technically and artistically. Courtney has taught young dancers at Ballet Academy East for the past five years and loves creating a supportive, joyful classroom where movement and expression thrive.

Lily is a recent graduate of Marymount Manhattan College, where she completed her BA in Dance with a concentration in Teaching in the Arts and a History minor. She is originally from Richmond, Virginia where she trained at West End Academy of Dance and began teaching young dancers during high school. During her time at Marymount, Lily had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Earl Mosley, Jessica DiMauro, Michael Fielder, Amber Sloan, Kendra Ross, and Nancy Lushington. Lily also participated in several teaching classes in which she studied teaching styles such as early-childhood Creative Movement, Ballet, and Musical Theatre dance.

Isa began her dance training in her hometown, Little Rock, Arkansas, where she performed alongside the Ballet Arkansas Company. She moved to New York City in 2022 to pursue a BFA Ballet degree and BS Biomedical Studies degree with an Environmental Studies minor at Marymount Manhattan College. Since moving to New York, she has been honored to work with many various choreographers such as Pedro Ruiz, Nathalie Marrable, Adesola Oskakalumi, and Alberto de Salz. Alongside her studies, she enjoys sharing her love for dance with the young students at Ballet Academy East and is ecstatic to be both assisting and teaching in the Youth Dancer Division.

Originally from Connecticut, Maddie started dancing at the age of three and grew up training with Dance City & the Arts, The Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, and The New England Ballet Theatre. Maddie is a current student at Marymount Manhattan College. She is a dance major with an arts management minor and is on track to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, upon graduation in the Spring of 2026. She has performed repertoire by Gus Giordano and Martha Graham, and performed original works by Jennifer Weber, Jimmy Locust, Rennie Harris, Sekou McMiller, Danielle Diniz.

Lauren Cadle, born and raised in Tampa, Florida, is a dancer, singer, and actor with several years of dance training, teaching, and performance experience. Lauren is an honors graduate from Howard W. Blake High School, where she received her masters certification in dance arts, and debuted her first choreographic work. She also studied dance at the University of Florida as well. Over the course of her dance training, she has studied various styles including Ballet, Modern, Tap, Clogging, Jazz, West African, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre, and Contemporary. Lauren has worked with choreographers such as Dante Puleio, Michelle Gibson, Jennifer Archibald, Carlos Dos Santos Jr, and Rosero McCoy, and has even had the opportunity to learn and perform masterworks from Donald McKayle’s “Rainbow Round My Shoulder”, restaged by Kelly Rayl McCormick, and Jose Limon’s “A Choreographic Offering”, restaged by Dante Puleio. Lauren is currently a freelance artist in NYC and she is so excited to share her love for dance with her students at Ballet Academy East!

Tara trained at Ballet Hispanico, Manhattan Youth Ballet, and Ballet Academy East in New York, and performed in various classical pieces, in addition to works by George Balanchine. She graduated with a BA in Classical Ballet from the Hungarian Dance University. While training abroad, she had the opportunity to dance repertory by Hans van Manen and Jacopo Godani, as well as performed in collaboration with the Martha Graham Dance Company. She has performed professionally, and in soloist roles, with Dances Patrelle and Continuum Ballet, and continues to work as a freelance dancer in NYC. Tara returned to Ballet Academy East in the fall of 2023, this time as a faculty member, and is currently teaching in both the YDD and Primary divisions, as well as assisting in the Pre-Professional and C&T divisions.

Savannah Joy Cobb is a graduate of The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. In 2016 her short dance film, Àme was an official selection of the Philadelphia Screendance Festival. Savannah has now represented the National Tours Number for Gypsy of the Year at the New Amsterdam Theatre and performed in The Hudson Valley Dance Festival for DRA. She has worked with Disney Cruise Line on various Refresh Workshops, was casted in “POWER: A Concept Dance Video,” and has performed in ‘Broadway Bares’ at Hammerstein Ballroom. Savannah has had the pleasure to dance for ‘Good Morning America’ and most recently for the 40th Anniversary of Phish at Madison Square Garden. She has recently worked for Paramount Plus as Associate Choreographer on the latest season of ‘Evil’ and was Assistant to the Director of Broadway Bares for 2024. Savannah is currently on Faculty at Steps on Broadway and Ballet Academy East in New York City. Savannah recently completed her training in ‘The Raising the Barre for Mental Health’ Dance Teacher workshop series and is happy to travel the country doing various workshops.

A New York native, Ava Desiderio is a mover, educator, and choreographer. In the past, they have danced with Alabama Ballet and Eglevsky Ballet, working with choreographers such as Gabrielle Lamb, Dennis Nahat, and Garrett Smith. Since coming back to New York, Ava has participated in stage and film productions with Sarah Marazzi-Sassoon, Lavy/Verbal Animal, and Dances Patrelle in addition to her own self produced work. They are also a company dancer with Sheep Meadow Dance Theater, led by Billy Blanken. Past choreographic residencies include NYC Emerging Artist Project (dir. Anabel Alpert) and Kaatsbaan Cultural Park. Most notably, Ava has had choreography shown at Miami City Ballet School, Renversé Ballet, Steps on Broadway, and Columbia University. Ava is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. They are currently on faculty at Edgewater Performing Arts.

Early training includes Petrov Ballet School (now Waldwick School of Ballet), continuing her training with Ballet Academy East under Darla Hoover and Miami City Ballet School under Arantxa Ochoa. Ava’s other training includes San Francisco Ballet, The Royal Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre, New Chamber Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Courtney Sauls, Sissa Strain, and Orsolina28 working with Jacob Jonas The Company.

Maria Carmen Falivene is from Salerno, Italy. She started dance at a very early age, attending “Artestudio di Loredana Mutalipassi” where she trained in ballet, contemporary and modern dance. In 2019 Maria Carmen moved to New York City to enroll in the Certificate program at The Ailey School. During her training she had the pleasure to work with choreographers such as Jacqulyn Buglisi, Milton Myers, Max Luna III, Janice Rosario, Levi Marsman, Ronald K Brown, Adrienne Hurd and Hollie Wright.
She has participated in intensives at The Ailey school, Philadanco, Martha Graham school. As a member of the Ailey Student Performance Group, she has learned Ailey repertory works under the direction of Mr. Freddie Moore. Maria Carmen graduated from The Ailey School Certificate Program, class of 2022.

Fiona started dancing when she was three years old and began intensely training in Ballet, Jazz, Modern, and Contemporary techniques at the age of 11. Feil trained with The Dallas Conservatory for and was a part of the Pre-Professional Company there, and then continued her dance career at the Sands College of Performing Arts at Pace University on a 100,000 dollar scholarship which she received from NYCDA Nationals in 2023. Fiona has received multiple awards of recognition over the years when attending conventions such as Protege Winner at Radix, Outstanding Dancer at NYCDA, top ten soloist at NYCDA, a ballet scholarship from NYCDA, and placing in the top 12 at YAGP regionals. In the summer of 2023, Fiona was offered the opportunity to attend The Juilliard School’s Summer Intensive where she worked with outstanding choreographers and faculty members including Morgan Clune from Hubbard Street Dance, Alicia Graf Mack and Mario Alberto Zambrano who is currently the Director and Associate Director of the Dance Division at The Juilliard School.

Sarah Feliciano trained at Eliot Feld’s Ballet Tech New York City Public School for Dance under the direction of Christine Sarry and Daniel Levans. While attending the school, she was given the opportunity to perform at The Joyce Theater. Sarah graduated from Dean College with her Bachelors Degree in Dance with a minor in Psychology in 2015.

She graduated Summa Cum Laude, and was a member of the Golden Key and National Society of Leadership and Success. While at Dean, she trained with Boston Ballet’s Laura Young and performed ballets such as Don Quixote, Napoli, Tarantella, and Coppélia. Sarah has worked at Ballet Academy East’s Summerdance since 2011, and joined the Young Dancer Division faculty in 2015.

Mackenzie Fey began her ballet training at age four at the Performing Arts School of Central Pennsylvania and attended summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre in New York and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. In 2012 she moved to New York City to attend Ballet Academy East. While at BAE, Mackenzie had the opportunity to perform in many new works by choreographers such as David Morse, Charles Askegard, and Emery LeCrone. Following graduation from BAE, Mackenzie was a member of the Colorado Ballet Studio Company for the 2014-15 season. From 2015-2017 Mackenzie was a part of the Graduate Program at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. She performed in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Harald Lander’s Etudes, and Michel Fokine’s Les Sylphides with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, as well as Giselle and The Nutcracker with the main company. During her time at PBT, she was also a teacher in their Children’s and Student Divisions, as well as their Adaptive Dance Program from its inception. From 2017-2019, Mackenzie was a company member with Avant Chamber Ballet in Dallas, Texas, where she performed new works by Michelle Thompson Ulrich, Katie Cooper, and Fernanda Oliveira, as well as George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco. In Dallas, she also was also a teacher at Park Cities Dance and Hathaway Academy of Ballet. In 2019, Mackenzie returned to New York and is thrilled to be a faculty member at Ballet Academy East in the Young Dancer Division. Mackenzie founded BAE’s Adaptive Dance program in 2021 and continues to be the lead teacher.

Ava Gallucci grew up dancing and competing with Artists in Motion in central New Jersey, where she worked closely with studio director Alana Donato. Trained in a wide range of styles, she honed a special focus on the Russian ballet tradition at Petrov Ballet School from 2016 to 2020. Ava is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, with a focus in Musical Theatre with the New Studio on Broadway, and a double minor in Dance and Business, Entertainment, Media, & Technology (BEMT). Ava is grateful to return to Ballet Academy East from Summerdance as a member of the Young Dancer Division faculty.

Emma Garber grew up just outside Boston, MA where she fell in love with dance at an early age. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and is currently pursuing her MA in Dance Education from Hunter College in the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program.
Emma is also a Teaching Artist with the New York City Ballet, where she leads creative movement residencies in public schools throughout New York City. She is thrilled to be joining the Young Dancer Division Faculty at BAE in 2025.

Sara Alessia Giannini was born in Bari, Italy. She trained in “Accademia dello spettacolo Unika” in ballet, Horton, contemporary, hip hop, jazz. Sara, at the age of 17, started to assist and teach some of the classes at her studio. At the age of 20, she moved to New York City to enroll in the Certificate program at the Ailey School and she graduated in May 2023. She has had the pleasure to work with choreographers such as Janice Rosario, Orazio Caiti, Hollie Wright, Adrienne Hurd, Darrell Moultrie, Ronald K. Brown, Earl Mosley, Stephen Hill, Jesse Obremski, Salvatore LaRussa. She has had the amazing opportunity to perform at the opening night at New York City Center with “Festa Barocca” directed by Clifton Brown and for “the Ailey Spirit Gala” choreographed by Hope Boykin. Sara is currently a member of I KADA Dance Company, ChoreoJoey Project and Incanto Productions Corp. Sara is working as teacher’s assistant for the Junior Division at the Ailey School and she’s thrilled to be now a faculty member at Ballet Academy East.

Kaileigh began her dance training in her hometown of Acton Massachusetts when she was 3. In 2017, she graduated Muhlenberg College with a B.A. in Dance and a B.S. in Biology. While studying at Muhlenberg, she performed with many artists such as the Shapiro and Smith Dance Company, Cristina Perrera, Shelly Oliver, Susan Creitz, and Jeffery Peterson.

Kaileigh moved to New York and began teaching the Pre-Ballet classes at Ballet Academy East in 2018. She is also the Pre-Professional Administrative Manager.

Yuki Kittaka received a BFA and MFA from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She has performed with Ei Kasahara Ballet Company and Chubu Festival Ballet Company in Japan. Yuki has been a faculty member at BAE since 1998.

Katie Lohiya, originally from Chicago, IL graduated Magna Cum Laude from Marymount Manhattan College in 2011. Shortly after graduation Katie danced professionally for Lydia Johnson Dance where she was ultimately promoted to Principle originating numerous lead roles and also serving as Rehearsal Director for over a decade. Katie has always had a passion for sharing her love of dance with children. Miss Lohiya has been on faculty at Steps on Broadway, the Lydia Johnson Dance School including serving as Artistic Director of their summer dance camp, Long Island City School of Ballet, and others. She is honored to be a part of the Young Dancer Division at Ballet Academy East.

Julia Ortiz discovered her love for ballet at Connecticut Dance School, her hometown studio in Fairfield, CT. She spent summers expanding her ballet training in summer intensive programs including American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, The Nutmeg Conservatory and Kaatsbaan Cultural Park. At age twelve, she was invited to join ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. Studying there for four years, she performed supernumerary roles in Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, and Harlequinade. In 2021, Julia moved to New York City to train in the Pre-Professional division at Ballet Academy East and attend high school at Professional Children’s School. In the same year, she performed in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. Her love of ballet then led her to the Francis Patrelle’s The Yorkville Nutcracker where she has performed the roles of Snow, Flowers, Doll, Chinese and Lead Russian. Julia graduated from Ballet Academy East in 2024 and began her studies at New York University that fall. She is working towards a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama as she studies Musical Theatre with the New Studio On Broadway at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Drama department. Julia continues to pursue her passion for performing through dancing, singing, acting, choreographing, and more. She is thrilled to be back home at BAE on faculty for the Young Dancer Division.

Angelynn Oyola is a sophomore at Marymount Manhattan College, pursuing a BFA in Jazz Dance with a double major in Business Management. Originally from Orlando, Florida, she has been dancing since the age of three and trained competitively from ages four through eighteen. Her training includes ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, and musical theatre, with performance experience in both dance and theatrical productions. Angelynn has received national recognition through competitions and conventions and has worked with choreographers Jan Ravnik and Josh Assor. She values the discipline and artistry developed through competitive training and is passionate about continued artistic growth while contributing to a positive, supportive learning environment for dancers of all levels.

Originally from Plainfield, IL, Alexa trained since the age of 2 at Inspire School of Dance in Naperville, IL. She is currently pursuing her BFA in Dance along with a minor in Psychology at Marymount Manhattan College. She has performed across the United States at various theaters including The Joyce Theater, The NYU Skirball, and The Auditorium Theatre in Chicago where she was a part of the Dance For Life event. Additionally, Alexa has worked with and performed repertoire by Pascal Rioult and Twyla Tharp as well as original works by Jennifer Archibald, Darshan Singh Bhuller, Hanna Brictson, Anthony Morigerato, and Alberto Del Saz.

Emily started dancing at age 5 and trained in Vaganova technique and contemporary ballet at Ballet New England, University of Utah, and Visceral Dance Center. She was a company member with Esoteric Dance Project, Kelly Anderson Dance Theater, SilDance/AcroDanza, and a guest artist with Chicago Dance Crash, Elements Contemporary Ballet, the Fly Honey ensemble, and freelance artists in one-off projects. In 2016, Emily choreographed and performed in the Emmy award-winning short film, Emergence, in collaboration with Potenza Productions, and in 2019 starred in the short film, If The Mountain Comes via Quaronze Productions. Emily is based in NYC where she is both a company member of Lydia Johnson Dance, and freelance artist. She teaches ballet and creative movement for all ages at Steps Academy, Ballet Academy East, and Manhattan Youth Ballet.

Laura Stile is the Front Desk Supervisor and a Ballet Teacher in the Young Dancer Division at Ballet Academy East. A native of Central New York, Laura grew up traveling frequently to New York City before making it her permanent home.
A graduate of Marymount Manhattan College with a BA in Dance, Laura has delved into a variety of movement styles, always drawn to the storytelling power of dance. She brings the same curiosity, energy, and whimsy to the studio that she does to life, whether she’s guiding young dancers through their first pliés or helping Ballet Academy East run smoothly from the front desk.
When not at BAE, Laura can be found exploring the city, diving into narrative-based art projects, or curled up with a good book. She is passionate about creating spaces where dancers of all ages feel inspired, supported, and ready to leap into their own adventures.

Anne Kelly’s experience in ballet includes performing, teaching, staging, and choreographing. She trained at the School of American Ballet for five years before attending Barnard College of Columbia University. While at Barnard, she studied with Francis Patrelle, Lourdes Lopez, Kate Glasner, and Allegra Kent. She performed works by George Balanchine, Lew Christiansen, Elisa Monte, Karla Wolfangle, Daniel Pelzig, and Lila York. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in English and Dance. Ms. Kelly has danced with New York City Opera in their productions of Semele, Pirates of Penzance, and Candide, and she has performed with Dances Patrelle in Is That All There Is?, Murder at the Masque, Gilbert and Sullivan, The Ballet!, and The Yorkville Nutcracker, for which she also serves as Ballet Mistress. In 2012, Ms. Kelly founded her own company K/M•D/M, which is an elegantly modern ballet company that performs to live music. As Artistic Director and Choreographer, she has produced 5 Seasons for K/M•D/M in NYC. She has been on faculty at Ballet Academy East since 2005, teaching in the Young Dancer, Primary, Pre-Professional, and Adult Open Class Divisions.

Elizabeth Walker’s ballet training began in South Carolina with Don and Patricia Cantwell in Charleston, S.C. and continued with Ann Brodie in Columbia, S.C. Following two summer courses at the School of American Ballet in New York, Elizabeth was invited to stay for full time study on scholarship at the age of 15. She received a Princess Grace Foundation-USA Award Dance Scholarship and Nancy Davis Reagan Award in 1988, and a scholarship in the name of Alexandra Danilova and the Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise in 1990.

At the age of sixteen, Elizabeth was invited by Suki Schorer and Merrill Ashley to take part as a demonstrator in “Balanchine Essays,” a video series cataloguing Balanchine technique produced by the George Balanchine Trust. Elizabeth was offered an apprenticeship with the New York City Ballet in 1990 and joined the corps de ballet in 1991. Among the dozens of roles she danced, many were featured or principal roles in ballets by George Balanchine, Peter Martins, Jerome Robbins, Lynn Taylor Corbett, and David Parsons.

In June 2009, Elizabeth retired from performing after 19 years with NYCB. Elizabeth taught on the faculty of the School of American Ballet, the official school of NYCB, from 2001-2007. Since 2009, Elizabeth has served as senior faculty at the New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) School of Ballet. Elizabeth joined the faculty at Ballet Academy East in 2007, teaching for the Pre-Professional Division and adult open classes.

Stephanie Chun leads Ballet Academy East’s Children and Teen Division where she teaches students ages 7-14 and oversees both the division’s faculty and curriculum. Stephanie also teaches in BAE’s Adult Division and is an Adjunct Professor of ballet at NYU Steinhardt. Stephanie is an ABT® Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 5.

Stephanie has led master classes and workshops at schools and universities across the country, and she had the honor of helping Asian-American choreographer, H.T. Chen set his work on students at New York’s LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. She has also appeared in Mr. Chen’s work on The Kennedy Center’s “Arts Across America” and her dancing in Remy Charlip’s “Twelve Contra Dances” was declared radiant by The New York Times. Stephanie joined Chen Dance Center’s Board of Trustees in the Fall of 2023.

When she is not teaching, Stephanie is a class pianist at American Ballet Theatre and Juilliard. In this capacity, she is fortunate to be a guest lecturer on music and rhythms in dance for the ABT/NYU Masters Program in Ballet Pedagogy. Stephanie can also be seen as a pianist in the upcoming Amazon Prime series, Étoile.

Stephanie received much of her early training from Moscelyne Larkin at the Tulsa School of Ballet, Interlochen, Boston Ballet and Margaret Gray (formerly of San Francisco Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet). She holds a BA in Government from Dartmouth College and an MFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Selina is an adjunct ballet professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is also a dancer with the Metropolitan Opera. She received her early pre-professional ballet training from Chinese teachers who specialized in the Vaganova method. After joining the Hong Kong Ballet, she was introduced to the British style of ballet technique and performance under the direction of Stephen Jefferies, and subsequently the American style under John Meehan. Selina danced to the rank of Junior Soloist with Hong Kong Ballet, where she performed leading roles in the company’s classical and contemporary repertoire, ranging from Sleeping Beauty to The Rite of Spring.
Selina also coaches and choreographs for dancers training toward major competitions in the U.S. and Canada and holds an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Anne Kelly’s experience in ballet includes performing, teaching, staging, and choreographing. She trained at the School of American Ballet for five years before attending Barnard College of Columbia University. While at Barnard, she studied with Francis Patrelle, Lourdes Lopez, Kate Glasner, and Allegra Kent. She performed works by George Balanchine, Lew Christiansen, Elisa Monte, Karla Wolfangle, Daniel Pelzig, and Lila York. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in English and Dance. Ms. Kelly has danced with New York City Opera in their productions of Semele, Pirates of Penzance, and Candide, and she has performed with Dances Patrelle in Is That All There Is?, Murder at the Masque, Gilbert and Sullivan, The Ballet!, and The Yorkville Nutcracker, for which she also serves as Ballet Mistress. In 2012, Ms. Kelly founded her own company K/M•D/M, which is an elegantly modern ballet company that performs to live music. As Artistic Director and Choreographer, she has produced 5 Seasons for K/M•D/M in NYC. She has been on faculty at Ballet Academy East since 2005, teaching in the Young Dancer, Primary, Pre-Professional, and Adult Open Class Divisions.

Elizabeth Portnoy trained at Ballet Academy East, LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, and Studio Maestro. Elizabeth has performed with Dances Patrelle, New York Theater Ballet, K.M/D.M, and Dramastics. She taught in the Young Dancer Division at BAE for 10 years. She graduated from Hunter College with a Masters in Dance Education. Elizabeth has been teaching barre fitness since 2015. She teaches at Equinox Gym and is CPR certified.

“One thing that makes Ballet Academy East exceptional is our dedication to the personal development of each student. While expectations are high, so is our level of caring.”

The founder and director of Ballet Academy East, Julia Dubno began her ballet studies at the age of eight with Edwina Fontaine. She later studied with Francis Patrelle, Dick Andros, and Richard Thomas, and subsequently attended the Juilliard School where she studied with Hector Zaraspe and Afredo Corvino, as well as other noted teachers. Early in her studies at Juilliard, she realized her true interest was in teaching and administration. In 1978, she was asked by her mentor, Christine Fokine, to run the Fokine Ballet School.

That experience led to opening Ballet Academy East in a brownstone on East 79th Street with one small studio in 1979. Today the school has six spacious studios and a world-renowned faculty, and continues to flourish. As director of the school, Julia Dubno continues to oversee the day-to-day operations and is in close contact with the faculty in order to be kept abreast of all areas of the school.

Shirley Bassat studied with Vickie Sheer, Harry Asmus, Barbara Fallis, Richard Thomas, and Dick Andros. She danced with Elena del Cueto, Dover Ballet, and U.S. Terpsichore. Shirley has taught at New York School of Ballet, Harkness Dance Center, Bronx House Music School, BOCES in Syocset, Usdan, and is currently teaching at 92nd St Y. Shirley has been teaching at BAE since 1989.

Maximilien Baud trained at the School of American Ballet for 10 years under the guidance of Peter Martins, Jock Soto, Peter Boal, Olga Kostritzky, and Andrei Kramarevsky. While a student, he performed with the NYC Ballet and was part of the original cast of two world premieres: Organon by Elliot Feld and Scenes de Ballet by Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon.

Mr. Baud began his professional career with the Carolina Ballet under Robert Weiss. There he would work with choreographers such as Lynne Taylor Corbett, Robert Weiss, Damian Woetzel, and Christopher Wheeldon. In 2005, Mr. Baud joined the Pennsylvania Ballet under the directorship of Roy Kaiser and would perform principal roles in ballets by Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, George Balanchine, and many more. In 2009, Mr. Baud had the opportunity to work on the Oscar-nominated film Black Swan, by Darren Aronofsky. In 2010, he joined the national/international tour of Billy Elliot the Musical performing the role of Older Billy, and was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Best Supporting Performer in a Musical. He was in the ensemble of the national tour of Flashdance the Musical (based on the iconic 80’s film) under the directorship of Tony Award-winning choreographer, Sergio Trujillo. Maximilien has reprised his role of Older Billy in regional productions of Billy Elliot with the MUNY, North Carolina Theater, and the North Shore Music Theater company.

Mr. Baud has had the opportunity to teach at numerous dance studios around the country, as well as coach the young Billys from Billy Elliot. Currently, he is on the staff at The Joffrey Ballet School. He helped co-create the Joffrey Ballet School Musical Theater Summer Intensive, where he holds the position of Associate Director. He also serves as a teacher and an adjudicator for Sheer Talent, the international dance competition. While teaching, Mr. Baud enjoys enriching the lives of dancers through discipline and a passion for the arts.

Brigid Boden was born in Ireland and is a member of The Royal Academy of Dance. She began her training at the age of 4 years at The Leinster School of Ballet, Dublin, and later at The Hammond, Chester, England. Ms. Boden danced with the Dublin City Ballet Company, Ireland before moving to The Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York where she was awarded a full scholarship to train under the guidance of Arthur Mitchell, Karl Shook and New York City Ballet’s infamous Tanaquil Le Clercq.

Ms. Boden danced in New York for several years before returning to Ireland to open up her own ballet school. She taught in small towns throughout the countryside, allowing students access to ballet classes which would have been unavailable to them. Ms. Boden’s school was hugely instrumental in the development of Ireland’s thriving interest in ballet today.

Upon her return to the US in 2006 Ms. Boden became a full faculty member at The Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica, where she taught for 14 years. She also introduced and developed their successful pre-pointe program. During this time, Ms Boden managed the dance department at the international French School, Le Lycee Francais in Los Angeles. Ms. Boden has helped in the training of countless dancers, many of whom have joined major companies, including: The Joffrey Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Boston Ballet, The Mikhailovsky Theatre, St Petersburg, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet.

Ms. Boden has taught master classes at
The Paris Marais Dance School, Paris
The School of Russian Ballet, Spain
The National Ballet Conservatory, Malta
Armour Dance Theatre, Miami
The Pineapple Dance Studios, London

Throughout the pandemic, Ms. Boden offered live ballet classes on Instagram @learnballetathome. She also wrote, directed, and produced the acclaimed educational ballet video for children, Learn Ballet at Home.

Ms. Boden is a guest teacher at Ballet Academy East.

Estelle is from Paris, France and trained at the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts where she graduated in 2011. She spent summers training at Boston Ballet School, Colorado Ballet Academy, and the Royal Ballet School. She went on to dance as a trainee with American Repertory Ballet for two years. She joined Connecticut Ballet in 2013 where she was featured as Clara in their Nutcracker alongside Julie Kent and Alexander Hammoudi and spent a year with Manassas Ballet Theatre. In 2015, Estelle moved to Germany to dance with JSLN Dance Company where she spent two years touring Europe performing numerous works of classical and neoclassical ballet. In September 2017, Estelle was featured on French national television in the TV show “Prodiges” on France 2 where she performed with the Winter Palace Saint Petersburg Ballet. Since moving back to New York City in 2017, Estelle performed with Connecticut Ballet, Thomas Ortiz Dance, Ballet for Young Audiences, Lydia Johnson Dance, Jersey City Ballet, Mooney Cooley Dance, Victoria Ballet Theatre and most recently with Chevalier Ballet.

Both internationally as well as in the U.S., Ashley is passionate about her work as a dancer, teacher and choreographer. Primarily trained in New York, she has studied and worked in many different styles from ballet to lyrical, modern, tap, hip-hop, contemporary, and musical theatre. She has had the opportunity to perform and/or choreograph at venues such as Jacob’s Pillow, Teatro Madrid, The Gerald Lynch Theater, The Barrow Street Theater, SummerStage, The Highline Ballroom, Webster Hall, BB Kings and the Ailey Theatre. Ashley is also on faculty at Ballet Academy East, and Joffrey in New York, various schools in Mexico and Spain; former faculty at Peridance, and has taught at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, and Ballet Arts in New York City, Lines Dance Center in San Francisco, Tony Williams Dance Center and Green St Studios in Boston and Tarrytown Dance in Austin.

She can be seen working alongside artists such as Ricky Martin, NeYo, Lady Sovereign, Nicki Minaj, Cam’ron and Mila Kunis, for companies like Pilobolus, Derek Mitchell, Daniel Gwirtzman, Hanna Q Dance, Germaul Barnes/Viewsic Expressions, Ruddur Dance, Momentum Dance Theater, Variations Theatre Group, the Little Opera Theatre of NY, Moochaloo and Balasole, and for brands such as Nike, Athleta, Nokia, Ursus Vodka, Microsoft, Heineken, Yahoo, Ameriprise, the Rachel Ray Show and Lush Cosmetics. She has been seen off-Broadway in shows like West Side Story and 3 to 1. She was invited to Madrid to teach at the Association of Dance Professionals and choreograph for Spanish recording artist Nuria Elosegui. Ashley performed in Sia’s music video “Soon We Will Be Found”, in Central Park Summerstage, in a Boost Mobile commercial, danced in a feature film with Justin Timberlake, and is credited with choreographing independent feature film “The Ride of Tom and Valkyrie”. She has performed with the European show “Compradores de Sueños”, premiered the Legendary Dance Project at the Museo del Barrio and has completed her fourth season of New York City’s Summerstage. Recently, Ashley was featured in the original dance film “Here We Go Again” (dir. Nathan Cohen), has performed two seasons as Fritz/Rat King/Russia in “DIY Nutcracker”, danced in “The Barber of Seville” with the Amore Opera, and worked on a production of “Peter Pan” for Broadway Asia.

Ashley has choreographed several full-length shows for the company DoubleTake Dance (www.DoubleTakeDanceCo.com) that she co-directs with Vanessa Martínez de Baños, and is very proud of DoubleTake’s performance in the City Parks Summerstage festival, Battery Dance Festival, Carnival Choreographer’s Ball, etc. Additionally, with the company, she is credited with directing/choreographing a benefit for Japan and the latest commercial for Fuse TV and Dropps laundry detergent; and routinely traveling to the West Coast, Europe and Mexico to teach contemporary workshops. Recent credits include choreographic commissions for the world-renowned Dancing Wheels Company, HT Chen’s NewSteps, JPAC’s Next Stage Residency, and the Montclair Performing Arts program; choreography for the new musical “Dragula”, and was also a choreography grant recipient from Eryc Taylor Dance.

Selina is an adjunct ballet professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is also a dancer with the Metropolitan Opera. She received her early pre-professional ballet training from Chinese teachers who specialized in the Vaganova method. After joining the Hong Kong Ballet, she was introduced to the British style of ballet technique and performance under the direction of Stephen Jefferies, and subsequently the American style under John Meehan. Selina danced to the rank of Junior Soloist with Hong Kong Ballet, where she performed leading roles in the company’s classical and contemporary repertoire, ranging from Sleeping Beauty to The Rite of Spring.
Selina also coaches and choreographs for dancers training toward major competitions in the U.S. and Canada and holds an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Stephanie Chun leads Ballet Academy East’s Children and Teen Division where she teaches students ages 7-14 and oversees both the division’s faculty and curriculum. Stephanie also teaches in BAE’s Adult Division and is an Adjunct Professor of ballet at NYU Steinhardt. Stephanie is an ABT® Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 5.

Stephanie has led master classes and workshops at schools and universities across the country, and she had the honor of helping Asian-American choreographer, H.T. Chen set his work on students at New York’s LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. She has also appeared in Mr. Chen’s work on The Kennedy Center’s “Arts Across America” and her dancing in Remy Charlip’s “Twelve Contra Dances” was declared radiant by The New York Times. Stephanie joined Chen Dance Center’s Board of Trustees in the Fall of 2023.

When she is not teaching, Stephanie is a class pianist at American Ballet Theatre and Juilliard. In this capacity, she is fortunate to be a guest lecturer on music and rhythms in dance for the ABT/NYU Masters Program in Ballet Pedagogy. Stephanie can also be seen as a pianist in the upcoming Amazon Prime series, Étoile.

Stephanie received much of her early training from Moscelyne Larkin at the Tulsa School of Ballet, Interlochen, Boston Ballet and Margaret Gray (formerly of San Francisco Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet). She holds a BA in Government from Dartmouth College and an MFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Cornel Crabtree was born in Tripoli, Libya. He began dancing at fourteen and trained under full scholarship at both the San Francisco Ballet School and the School of American Ballet. Former teachers include Anatole Vilzak, Stanley Williams, Alexandria Danilova, Andrei Kamarevsky, and Gabriella Darvash, with whom he trained extensively.

Mr. Crabtree was a member of New York City Ballet for ten years, where he danced principal roles in a wide variety of ballets, such as Balanchine’s Serenade, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jewels, Vienna Waltzes, The Nutcracker, and Jerome Robbin’s Dances at a Gathering, In the Night, and Goldberg Variations, to name a few. Mr. Crabtree has performed on television in Bournonville Dances, which was telecast as part of PBS Dance in America series, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream Live from Lincoln Center broadcast. He was also invited to the Stars Shine for the Acropolis in Athens, where he danced Black Swan Pas de Deux. In 1989, he danced the title role of Oscar Wilde in the premiere of the Irish National Ballet’s production of “Oscar,” choreographed by Domy Reiter-Soffer.

In 1990, he danced Swan Lake at the National Theater in Taiwan. From 1990-92 he was a principal with Miami City Ballet, where he performed in Balanchine’s Bugaku, Square Dance, Glinka Pas de Trois, Jewels, Scotch Symphony, Concerto Borrocco, Pas de Dix, and Stars and Stripes Pas de Deux, as well as Petipa’s Sleeping Beauty. Mr. Crabtree has appeared as a principal quest artist with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Festival Ballet Providence, Ballet Austin, and The Daring Project. With these companies he performed in Paquita, Romeo and Juliet, Carmen, Esmerelda, Flower Festival, and La Sylphide. From 2000-01 he was a principal with Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, where some of his repertoire included Flemming Flint’s The Lesson, Ashton’s Monotones, and Arpino’s Kettentanz. A few of the new ballets created on him were Lambros Lambrou’s Byzantium, Remembrances, The Rite of Spring, and Stanton Welch’s Orange.

In 2004 he performed John Clifford’s Casablanca, which premiered in Beijing. Mr. Crabtree has performed the roles of Slavemaster/Solo Dancer for the Broadway and National tour productions of Phantom of the Opera. Mr. Crabtree has been on faculty at Marymount Manhattan College, Broadway Dance Center, Ballet Arts, and Fieldston School of Ethical Culture.

Stephanie Godino was born and raised in New York City, and received her Ballet training from M. Craske; V. Pereyslavec and at the Joffrey Ballet School. She danced with companies including Kansas City Ballet; “Lotte Goslar’s Pantomime Circus”; Joffrey 2 Dancers; New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. Stephanie has taught Ballet and Character Dance at Broadway Dance Center (Children and Teen program); Peridance (core program); La Guardia H.S.; Ethical Culture Fieldston School; Leggz Ltd. on Long Island and currently at
the Joffrey Ballet School in NYC where she has taught children through adults since 1999. Stephanie held a position as adjunct professor at Molloy College in 2018-2019 teaching ballet in the Musical Theater program for Cap 21. Ms. Godino has a BA in Theater and Dance from
Empire State (SUNY) College, and was recently granted certification with BPSS. Stephanie currently teaches ballet in the open program at the Joffrey school and Character dance in Stamford Connecticut.

Phoebe Higgins, PMA GOLD CERTIFIED, studied and performed with the School of American Ballet, Simonson technique of Jazz Dance, Kevin Wynn Collection, among others. From 1967-68 Phoebe also attended ballet classes taught by Romana Kryzanowska, who also taught at the Pilates Studio. Phoebe was reintroduced to Romana in 1976 at SUNY Purchase and began studying the Pilates Method to help strengthen a spine weakened by scoliosis. In 1980 Phoebe went to work at the Pilates Studio under Romana’s guidance. When that studio closed in 1989 she began work with Dr. Howard Sichel in his chiropractic office. That work evolved into Power Pilates. In 1998 and 2005 respectfully, Phoebe was asked by the School of American Ballet and Ballet Academy East to organize programs for their teenage professionally geared students. The success of these programs is evident in the infrequency of injuries and dancers’ continued strength. 2006, Phoebe left Power Pilates and became a freelancer for both individual sessions and workshops. With the international recognition of the work of Joseph Pilates ever widening, Phoebe would like to see everyone taking sessions and making the world a better place through the freedom of the body.

Anne Kelly’s experience in ballet includes performing, teaching, staging, and choreographing. She trained at the School of American Ballet for five years before attending Barnard College of Columbia University. While at Barnard, she studied with Francis Patrelle, Lourdes Lopez, Kate Glasner, and Allegra Kent. She performed works by George Balanchine, Lew Christiansen, Elisa Monte, Karla Wolfangle, Daniel Pelzig, and Lila York. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in English and Dance. Ms. Kelly has danced with New York City Opera in their productions of Semele, Pirates of Penzance, and Candide, and she has performed with Dances Patrelle in Is That All There Is?, Murder at the Masque, Gilbert and Sullivan, The Ballet!, and The Yorkville Nutcracker, for which she also serves as Ballet Mistress. In 2012, Ms. Kelly founded her own company K/M•D/M, which is an elegantly modern ballet company that performs to live music. As Artistic Director and Choreographer, she has produced 5 Seasons for K/M•D/M in NYC. She has been on faculty at Ballet Academy East since 2005, teaching in the Pre-Ballet, Primary, Pre-Professional, and Adult Open Class Divisions.

Mr. Kelly was recently the Resident Director for the Asia and Paris tour of the Broadway musical ‘An American in Paris’. He had the pleasure of also taking care of the U.S. tour, as well as the Broadway company. This is the third Tony Award winning choreographer he has had the opportunity to work alongside.
Sean is a former Principal dancer and Ballet Master for Houston Ballet. He continues to be a Guest Ballet Master with the company. He danced the leading roles in the company’s full length classical ballets- such as Swan Lake, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Manon, and others. In addition, he had the pleasure of dancing a very mixed repertoire including works by Ben Stevenson, George Balanchine, Christopher Bruce, Paul Taylor, Jiri Kylian, Glen Tetley, and Stanton Welch, among others.
Additionally, he choreographed 2 Ballets for Houston Ballet.
Sean has been involved with numerous musical theater shows. He was in the Broadway company of Twyla Tharp’s “Movin’ Out”. He was also on the tour where he was both a swing and Dance Captain, eventually serving as a Resident Director. He was the Resident Choreographer for 3 companies of “Billy Elliot, the musical”. He was also a swing and Dance Supervisor on “Swing the musical”.

He has worked regularly with Diablo ballet over the years where he was a frequent Guest Artist and choreographer.

Sean was the Associate Director of Rasta Thomas’ Bad Boys of Dance’ where he toured extensively internationally.

Sean staged “Movin’ Out” in London on the West End. He was asked by Mr. Stevenson to set his “Cleopatra” on both the Boston Ballet and Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. He recently staged a Christopher Bruce piece for Sarasota Ballet, and Mr. Bruce’s timeless ‘Ghost Dances’ for Houston Ballet.

Sean won Best Partner at the International Ballet Competition in Helsinki, Finland.
Sean is also a freelance teacher.

Marsha Fay Knight (MFA University of Utah ’83) is Professor Emerita at the University of Wyoming. Primary responsibilities included ballet and pointe technique, historical dance/Baroque and Renaissance, and choreography. Marsha currently teaches at Ballet Academy East/Adult Division as well as at the Dance Theatre of Harlem Upper School.
Marsha’s full-evening productions include A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, NUTCRACKER, COPPELIA, PULCINELLA and INANNA, QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. Her experience also includes choreography for numerous short works and musical theatre productions. Marsha’s contemporary ballet OF A MIND was selected for presentation at the Kennedy Center through the adjudication process of the American College Dance Festival 2006. Academic year sabbatical 2016-2017 in NYC included extensive research at Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, Oral History Library. From this, she conceived and directed SIX SONGS FROM ELLIS, a multi-genre dance/theatre work based on oral histories of immigrants who passed through Ellis Island. SIX SONGS was produced in 2022 by Repertory Dance Theatre, Salt Lake City. She is the recipient of a 2018 Governor’s Arts Award from the Wyoming Arts Council, 2018 UW President Speaker Award, and a 2019 Performing Arts Fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council/NEA. 2016-2017 NYC sabbatical included a month in Moscow and St. Petersburg, observing at the Vaganova Ballet Academy, and actor training at Moscow Art Theatre. Marsha spent spring 2003 and 2012 semesters teaching in London through the University of Wyoming’s Program for Foreign Studies, teaching as well as training in Royal Academy of Dance teaching methodology and furthering her research in Baroque dance. She completed two terms on the Executive Committee for the American College Dance Festival Association with previous service as Northwest Regional Director. www.marshafayknight.com

Josh Kolberg (he/him) received professional training from the director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, renowned Patricia Barker. While at Royal Danish Ballet School in København he studied under Nikolaj Hübbe and Henning Albrechtsen. Most recently Joshua performed for two seasons with the Connecticut Ballet Company where he danced demi soloist and corps de ballet roles. In 2015, Josh traveled the country in the U.S. National tour of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Other credits include: Grand Rapids Ballet, the Orlando Ballet, Central Florida Ballet, Florida Dance Theatre, City Center Ballet, and the Walt Disney Company.
Some teaching credits include: Broadway Dance Center, Ballet Tech (formerly Eliot Feld Ballet), Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Ballet Academy East, Peridance Capezio Center, West Michigan Youth Ballet, New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble, Steps on Broadway, Northwest Florida State College, Ballet Arts, Florida Dance Theatre, City Center Ballet Company and Lebanon Ballet School.
Josh is a certified teacher under the ABT National Training Curriculum, Primary through level 3. Additionally, he is pursuing an ivy league education at Columbia University where he studies neuroscience and psychology.

Francis was born in Melbourne, Australia, and studied with Lorraine Backbourn. He then moved on to the prestigious Australian Ballet School, where he graduated with a Diploma in Dance. His professional career has seen him grace the stages of renowned companies including, the Australian Ballet Company, Grand Rapids Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Francis has showcased his artistry in a diverse repertoire, from classical masterpieces such as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Raymonda, and The Nutcracker, to contemporary works by esteemed choreographers such as George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Twyla Tharp, Jiri Kylian, Jose Limon, Alvin Ailey, Paul Taylor, Ulysses Dove, Glen Tetley, Lew Christensen, John Neumeier, Peter Martins, Olivier Weavers, Mario Radacovsky, Donald Byrd, Darrel Grand Moultrie, Robert Garland, and Andy Blakenbuehler.

His versatility extends beyond ballet; he has performed in four musicals, including the Broadway National tour and Australian tour of An American in Paris by Christopher Wheeldon (Tony winner), New York City Center Encores show, I Married An Angel by Joshua Bergasse (Emmy winner), The Wiz by Gerry McIntyre with Broadway Sacramento, and most recently, West Side Story by Parker Esse with The Muny. Francis has also appeared in two movies, Tyler Perry & Debbie Allen’s A Jazzman’s Blues, and Hallmark’s Sugarplum Twist, as well as a TV episode of Law & Order.

Francis currently works as a freelance artist and dedicated teacher in New York City.

Lisa Lockwood danced with the American Ballet Theatre for ten years, subsequently with Feld Ballet, and was an original cast member of Phantom of the Opera. The choreographers she worked with personally include Anthony Tudor, George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Natalia Makarova, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Glen Tetley, Eliot Feld, and Sir Kenneth McMillan.

She currently teaches at Ballet Academy East and Steps on Broadway in New York. She has been a member of the faculties of Broadway Dance Center, Ballet Hispanico, and Alvin Ailey, and is an in-demand guest teacher at many international institutions such as the Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Ballet School (Denmark), Kaatsbaan Dance Center (New York), Juilliard, Joffrey Ballet, and Edmonton Ballet. Additionally, she teaches and coaches private students who are motivated to bring their ballet proficiency to the highest possible level.

Roni Mahler is a former ballerina who was trained by the renowned Madame Maria Yurieva Swoboda. Ms. Mahler performed principal roles with American Ballet Theatre and the National Ballet of Washington (D.C.), after beginning her career in her teens with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. For over three decades, Roni was the Artistic Associate of Dennis Nahat\’s internationally-acclaimed Ballet San Jose in California, where she taught, coached, and performed “character” roles. A native of New York City, Ms. Mahler\’s teaching credits include Ballet Academy East, The Alvin Ailey School, The Juilliard School, The Joffrey School, Ballet Tech, and School of Dennis Nahat\’s Ballet San Jose. Roni is a former tenured Assistant Professor and director of Dance at Kansas State University, where she initiated the KSU Dance degree program. Kansas State has since honored her with the Roni Mahler Ballet Studio and, for fifteen years, presented an annual award in her name.

Roni choreographed for Cynthia Gregory and Fernando Bujones during their City Center season in New York, and created “Ballet Movement for the Athlete,” a fitness program she customized for the Cleveland Browns. Her 6-DVD collection “The Complete Guide To Teaching Ballet” enables dance teachers to explore training methods for all ages. A certified Pilates instructor, Roni is the author of numerous ballet class CDs and a stretching DVD for flexibility and range of motion. Each year, Ms. Mahler is invited by the prestigious Rancho La Puerta Spa in Tecate, Mexico, to return as a Specialty Presenter for its Ballet Week.

Internationally recognized dancer, teacher, choreographer and co-artistic director of DoubleTake Dance. Vanessa has been trained in Contemporary, Ballet, Lyrical, Musical Theater, Hip Hop, Tap, Modern, Aerial Silks and Acting. Currently dances for Daniel Gwirtzman Company (now celebrating 10 years as a soloist. Some of her favorite shows include Lincoln Center Outdoors, Battery Dance, Rochester Fringe Festival…), Christy Walsh Company and DoubleTake Dance.

Recently seen as “The Queen” in the Contemporary Ballet production of “The Queen of Nöri” by Stoneworks Productions (performed in Oahu, Hawaii) and in the Fashion Magazine BAZAAR Indonesia, dancing/modeling for Fashion Designer Yinglun Zhang. And the show “Planets” as a dancer/choreographer produced by KDA (Oahu, Hawaii).

Honored with a professional development scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Culture Vanessa moved to NYC to pursue her dance career. Credits in Spain include choreographing “Tick Tick…BOOM!” and “I Love You, You’re Perfect …Now Change” produced by Tela-Katola as well as performing with the European show “Compradores de Sueños”.

Vanessa has produced, choreographed and directed several full length shows with her dance company DoubleTake Dance along with co-director Ashley Carter. Featured in Dance Informa Magazine; with shows in festivals & events such as SummerStage; Battery Dance, NY Half Marathon, Ailey Theater; Carnival, NYC Fashion Week, Higher Ground Festival, the ACLU’s 100th birthday celebration, United Palace, Webster Hall; Gerald Lynch Theater, Dixon Place, Teatro la Tea, JCE (NY),Teatro Madrid & SalaTriángulo (Spain). DTD is a proud recipient of commissions such as NY City Arts Grant, Rock that Rolls for Dancing Wheels (Cleveland, OH), HTChen New Steps (NYC); Next Step (JPAC NYC).

Other companies and choreographers include: LLMoves, BalaSole, Noir Tribe Media, Burnt Sugar, Ikada, Germaul Barnes/Viewsic Expressions, Ryan Beck, Derek Mitchell, Guillém Alonso, Gabrielle Lasner, Alan Onickel, Lynn Schwab (Tap City -Symphony Space) and Tony Waag (Career Transition for Dancers Gala at City Center) Featured in “Steel City Rhythm” workshop by RSW & associates; “DIY Nutcracker” (NY), “Rabi Thakur: A ballet on the Life of Rabindranath Tagore” (NJPAC); “The jazz Hip Hop Nutcracker” by Momentum Dance Theater: (Washington D.C ). Other shows include “Mitridate” by The Little Opera Theater in NY; “The Golden Cockerel” & “Aurora’s Wedding” with ABT at the MET, “Arrival” (Theater 80), “LOVEartJAPAN” (Raising funds for Japan and “3 for 1” by DTD with AJR Brothers.

Vanessa is a versatile performer who has worked as an actress, model and dancer for international brands and commercials like: L ́OREAL, Heineken, Ameriprise, Athleta, NYRoadRunners, Tag Heuer, Netflix “Umbrella Academy”, Yahoo, Ursus Vodka, KDDance, Lush Cosmetics/Gorilla Perfumes, El Pais newspaper, channel Tele5, Fuse TV, X-Box/Kinect (Times Square with NeYo and Lady Sovereign) Fashion Center Arts Festival, One Truth, Dru Cutler, Guerilla Toss, The Rachel Ray Show, Dropps, Smartphone Users Guide to Etiquette by Mary John Frank with Ariana deBose. Film credits include “The Ryde of Tom & Valkyrie”, & “Friends With Benefits” with Justin Timberlake (IMDB 2011)
As a dance video director, editor and dancer her latest work “Piel” has successfully premiered in the Festival “Encuentros” (Ciapas, México.)

Currently on faculty at BAE, Ballet Hispánico and BeFit other teaching credits include: Peridance, Joffrey, PMT, Steps, Bridge for dance in NY; Alonzo Lines in San Francisco; LeHigh Valley Alliance in Pennsylvania; Hawaii Univ, Punahou, Mid-Pac, Kailua Dance, in Hawaii; Round Rock Rep, and Tarrytown Dance in Austin; V. Ullate, Arte de Bailar, Luthier, L’atelier, Ross in Spain; PAO Dance in Belgium, T- Stage in México…). Vanessa loves traveling as a teacher, judge and choreographer and is also a Pilates Mat Certified Trainer, with choreography featured in the YAGP NYC finals.

Hope is a ballet dancer, instructor and choreographer. Born in Taiwan, she studied with Chiou-O Chiang and completed her training with Ballet West Academy and Royal Danish Ballet Summer School. She graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts with a Fine Arts degree in Dance and Dance Education. Upon graduation she performed with several dance companies internationally before moving to New York City. Since then she has performed with New York Theatre Ballet, Ballet des Amerique, Ballet Deviare, Upstate NY Ballet, and Lydia Johnson Dance Company among others. Currently she is a freelance artist who lives and works in NYC.
Hope is a highly dedicated ballet teacher with over twenty years experience teaching classical ballet to children, teens and adults. She completed the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) Teachers Workshop 2017 and is certified in the following teaching methods: American Ballet Theater National Training Curriculum Pre-Primary to Level III, Progressing Ballet Technique Teachers Certification and 200 Hours Teaching Certificate for YOGA ALLIANCE® RYT®. Hope is an enthusiastic teacher who currently teaches throughout the tri-state area and relishes the opportunity to introduce ballet to anyone who wants to learn more about it. Her other interests include vegan cooking, traveling and volunteering at animal sanctuaries in Upstate New York.

Born in Florence, Italy, where she started ballet classes at Daria Collin’s School, Ms. Seravalli joined the Joffrey Ballet shortly after her arrival in the U.S. She then moved to American Ballet Theatre, where she spent the next eleven years, attaining the rank of soloist. After leaving ABT, Ms. Seravalli joined the faculty of the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College where she taught, staged, choreographed, rehearsed, and took on other academic responsibilities.

She was invited to Taipei, Taiwan, to work with the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and the National Institute of the Arts. In that same year, she was also invited to teach at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts. She has returned to teach at both institutions many times. Ms. Seravalli has been visiting ballet mistress for Ballet Philippines in Manila, where she rehearsed, staged, and taught classes for the school as well as for the company, with whom she went on a National Tour throughout the islands. Ms. Seravalli was also invited as a guest teacher and ballet mistress for the Ballet Municipal de Santiago and as a visiting teacher at its school.

In addition, she has returned many times to her home country to teach, stage, and consult. Ms. Seravalli has received a SUNY Research Foundation Grant to travel to the former Soviet Union to develop methods for adapting Russian classical training for American dancers. She received a Fulbright Fellowship to Chile, which allowed her to return to Ballet Municipal de Santiago. She has traveled throughout Chile and neighboring countries, giving seminars and master classes. Ms. Seravalli has worked with Guangdong Modern Company in Guangzhou, China, and was invited to teach at the University of Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts and at the Queensland University of Technology’s dance program in Brisbane, Australia. Ms. Seravalli was featured in Dance Magazine in an article entitled “Rosanna Seravalli: Teacher’s Wisdom.” Ms. Seravalli has choreographed and taught master classes for the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore, and has been invited to teach at the school of the Houston Ballet and in Nagoya, Japan.

She is currently a member of the faculty of American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive Program in New York City, and is certified from levels Preliminary through Five in ABT’s National Training Curriculum. In addition, she teaches regularly at a number of schools in New York City and throughout the country. In the fall semester of 2014, Ms. Seravalli was on a leave of absence from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase to accept an invitation to work in Taipei, Taiwan, where she taught at the Taiwan National University of the Arts (TNUA), gave master classes to Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s school, and taught, choreographed, and staged for the Lan Yang Youth Catholic Center in both Taipei and Luotong. In January, 2015 Ms. Seravalli returned to her position as Professor of Dance at Purchase College.

Justin Sherwood is an international dancer and choreographer. His training at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London, England, which encourages individuality and innovation in its curriculum, has shaped Justin’s extremely versatile and eclectic career. He is a recipient of the Choreographic Award of Prominence by the Central St. Marten’s School of Art and Design and Cochrane Theatre in London, and he has choreographed critically acclaimed productions both across the U.S. and in places as far away as Hong Kong and Albania.

As a performer, he is in his ninth season with the Metropolitan Opera, having appeared in numerous productions on their stage. Highlights include working with some of today’s best Film and Broadway directors like Julie Taymor, Robert LePage, Anthony Minghella, and Mary Zimmerman. In addition to his ballet and contemporary experience, Mr. Sherwood is also a gifted gymnast who has performed with crossover companies, incorporating elements of acrobatics and dance.

As an educator, Justin is an ABT® Certified Teacher and has completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7, as well as Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. He teaches at many recognized dance schools and resident companies, including New England Academy of Dance, Princeton Dance and Theater Studio, and Marymount Manhattan College.

Ginger Thatcher has taught ballet for Norwegian National Ballet, Steps on Broadway, Cleveland Ballet, Houston Ballet Academy, Joffrey New School, Minnesota Ballet, USDAN, PeriDance, University of Michigan, Oakland University, Rutgers University, and BAE since 2002. Ginger’s choreography credits include: Billy The Kid, Pinocchio, Verb Ballets, “Swing” for Maine State Music Theatre, Wild Women of Planet Wongo for the NY Music Festival, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg for Two River Theatre Company, the film “Far From Heaven,” and Maury Yeston’s new musical, “Hans Christian Anderson” for Maine State Music Theatre.

Other New York credits include: Syncopation (Stamford Theatre Works), Big (Gateway Playhouse), The Lucky Chance (Jean Cocteau Rep., NYC), The Winter’s Tale and Othello (NYC Shakespeare Project), Barrio Babies (Amas Theatre Group NYC), and TV’s As The World Turns. Broadway Credits, as Associate, Assistant, and Resident Choreographer include: The Red Shoes, Carousel, Big, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Oklahoma!, A Year with Frog and Toad. Other Credits: PBS Othello (San Francisco Ballet, ABT), The Red Shoes (ABT, National Ballet of Canada), A Brahams Symphony (ABT), and Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame (Berlin), all with Lar Lubovitch. She has also worked on “But Not for Me” (Martha Graham Dance Company) and “Take Five” (PNB), with Susan Stroman.

Julie has trained at North Carolina School of the Arts, Pennsylvania Ballet School, and Joffrey Ballet School, among others. She teaches a ballet class based on alignment, strength, and fluidity. Her performing credits include National tours of both Movin’ Out and SWING!. Companies include Dances Patrelle, Donald Byrd/The Group, Jennifer Muller/The Works, Manhattan Ballet, Connecticut Ballet, and North Carolina Dance Theatre. She has been teaching at BAE since 2009.

In addition to BAE, Bill Waldinger is a regular faculty member at The Joffrey Ballet School, Broadway Dance Center (regular guest artist), New York Film Academy, Molloy College\’s CAP 21 Musical Theater Program and the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. He has also taught at The Manhattan Ballet School (Director of Jazz), the contemporary company Cora Dance (Director of Ballet), and Hamilton Dance (Director of Ballet). Bill frequently travels the world as a guest teacher, teaching both Ballet and Jazz. Most recently he taught for the Irish National Youth Ballet and the Phoenix Performing Arts College, both in Dublin, Ireland. In addition, he has developed absolute beginner “Dance Classes For Singers” at The Singers’ Forum. Certified by Luigi to teach the Luigi Jazz Technique, Bill has been interviewed and taught on camera for the recently released feature film Uprooted, The Journey of Jazz which chronicles the history of Jazz Dance. He has taught Luigi Jazz workshops for the New Rising Sun Dance Project at DANY Studios/Joyce SoHo and has coordinated workshops bringing together the techniques of Luigi and Matt Mattox with classic musical theater choreography.
As a performer, Bill has appeared in musical theater, concert dance, commercials, music videos, television and industrials. Highlights include regional and Off-Broadway productions of A Chorus Line (Paul in the first regional production), Carousel (Carnival Boy), Kismet, Drood, Oklahoma! (Dream Curly), A Funny Thing…, Guys and Dolls and Godspell. He was a company member of The David Storey Dance Works and the Labyrinth Dance Theater. He has danced in commercials for Time-Life, music videos for the group Fila-Antoine, was a featured dancer on the television show Soul Alive and appeared in videos for the Theater Dance Workshop.
Bill began his dance training with the legendary jazz master Luigi and studied ballet under Gabriella Darvash, Dick Andros, David Howard, Dorothy Lister and Douglas Wassell.

Elizabeth Walker’s ballet training began in South Carolina with Don and Patricia Cantwell in Charleston, S.C. and continued with Ann Brodie in Columbia, S.C. Following two summer courses at the School of American Ballet in New York, Elizabeth was invited to stay for full time study on scholarship at the age of 15. She received a Princess Grace Foundation-USA Award Dance Scholarship and Nancy Davis Reagan Award in 1988, and a scholarship in the name of Alexandra Danilova and the Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise in 1990.

At the age of sixteen, Elizabeth was invited by Suki Schorer and Merrill Ashley to take part as a demonstrator in “Balanchine Essays,” a video series cataloguing Balanchine technique produced by the George Balanchine Trust. Elizabeth was offered an apprenticeship with the New York City Ballet in 1990 and joined the corps de ballet in 1991. Among the dozens of roles she danced, many were featured or principal roles in ballets by George Balanchine, Peter Martins, Jerome Robbins, Lynn Taylor Corbett, and David Parsons.

In June 2009, Elizabeth retired from performing after 19 years with NYCB. Elizabeth taught on the faculty of the School of American Ballet, the official school of NYCB, from 2001-2007. Since 2009, Elizabeth has served as senior faculty at the New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) School of Ballet. Elizabeth joined the faculty at Ballet Academy East in 2007, teaching for the Pre-Professional Division and adult open classes.

Lorna received her training at the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theater School. She performed with many companies, including NYC Opera, Philadelphia Lyric Opera, New Haven Ballet, Bridgeport Ballet, Wolfe Trap Theater, Radio City Music Hall Ballet, The Liberace Show, and with her own company, Zawacki Ballet. She worked with illustrious choreographers, including Genia Melikova, Gemze De Lapp, Hector Zeraspe, Peter Gennaro, Tommy Andrews, and Jordan Fife Hunt. Lorna participated in The Bolshoi Project, directed by Jeff Calhoun at Tisch School of the Arts. In addition to her classes at BAE, Lorna coaches ballet dancers, ice skaters, and ballroom dancers on Long Island. Lorna’s classes focus on strong use of the core muscles, meticulous attention to footwork, and the ability to combine strength and fluidity.

Born in Osaka, Japan, Naoko Aita began piano and composition studies at the age of 7. She received her Associate of Arts degree in composition at Kobe Yamate Women’s College, where she trained with composer Yoshinao Nakada. After graduation, Naoko became a Yamaha music education system instructor and a jazz pianist.
Originally majoring in composition at Queens College in New York, upon arriving in America, Naoko switched her focus to Piano Performance. She has studied with Julie Jordan, Liz Huang, Gary Hammond, and Madeline Bruser.
Naoko received her Bachelors of Music and Masters of Arts degrees from Hunter College in New York City. During her studies, she won the Aria and Concerto competition in 2008 and received numerous awards and prizes.
Naoko is currently a staff accompanist at Hunter College, where she accompanies the students of Susan Gonzalez, Maria Arygros. Not only working for voice studios, she also has accompanied classes such as The Hunter College Choir, Chamber Singers, and Art Song Class.
Naoko served as the Musical Director for the MedndelsSongs Concerto Project, performed at the Hebrew Tabenacle in Washington Heights, was a staff accompanist at the Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet, and an assistant for the conductor Cesare Civetta for his non-profit company, Beethoven Music Festival. In 2014, she participated in Nico Castel’s New York Opera Advantage as a pianist apprentice and later became an intern pianist for the Opera Company of Brooklyn and in Joan Dornemann’s IVAI. In 2016, she joined Sing For Hope as a volunteer artist to perform and visit public schools and hospitals throughout New York City. Naoko had been accompanist for the voice studio of Francisco Casanova, Denes Striny, and Ira Siff and is currently working for the voice studio of Ron Raines. Naoko performs as a collaborative pianist throughout the New York City coaches singers, and teaches piano. She also serves as an adjunct accompanist at Hunter College and the music director at Japanese American United Church in NYC.

Adrià Barbosa has been working as a professional musician: writing original music for media, theater and concert music; arranging/orchestrating for shows and concerts; music directing; and playing piano for ballet (Ballet Hispánico, Complexions…). His music has been performed by orchestras and choirs around the globe (Spain, USA, Poland, Chile,…). He has won a few international music composition contests and has taught at prestigious colleges and universities such Brown University and Berklee College of Music. Off Broadway: Only Human (arranger/orchestrator/music director). Original works: Ànima, La Chamaniña y el viejo lobo de mar, Pacis Visio, O Magnum Mysterium… www.adriabarbosa.com @BarbosaAdria

Aaron Benham is an award-winning music director, conductor, arranger, and composer. Credits include: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (National Tour), An American in Paris (National Tour), The Book of Merman (Off-Broadway), Second City, Chicago Opera Theater, Writer’s Theater, Transcendence Theater, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. Aaron has taught at NYU, Northwestern, Roosevelt, and AMDA Hollywood. His original compositions and arrangements have been performed all over the country. BFA, Emerson College

Zane Bridwell is a composer, pianist, arranger, music director, and occasional playwright. He is passionate about the intersection of music and narrative storytelling in all artistic mediums, including theatre, film, and dance. He studied music composition and piano performance at the University of South Carolina and musical theatre writing at New York University. His works for stage include The Whisper (musical), The Monster Within (short opera), and The Things That Keep Me Up at Night (stand-up cabaret). His compositions and musicianship have been featured at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, Lincoln Center, 54 Below, and Rockwood Music Hall.
Zane has had the privilege to play for several organizations, including The Young People’s Chorus of NYC, A Class Act, and Theatre Now. He has been a Ballet Academy East musician since 2021. He is particularly fond of the Young Dancer Division and is proud to participate in the earliest artistic development of its students.

Mark Ceppetelli (he / him) is a pianist, theater music director, composer, and music copyist in the NYC area. A graduate of The Hartt School of Music, Dance, and Theatre, Mark studied piano with Margreet Francis and composition with Ken Steen, David Macbride, Robert Carl, and Larry Allan Smith. Passionate of music serving a cross-disciplinary function, he works regularly as a theater musician and music director — recent selected favorites include The Wedding Singer (Cortland Repertory Theatre), A Bronx Tale (Seven Angels Theatre), and White Christmas (Arizona Broadway Theatre). In addition to Ballet Academy East, Mark plays ballet classes at Joffrey Ballet School and Peridance Center.

Michael Cherry has been associated with Ballet Academy East as a staff pianist for more than 20 years. He has also served as Company Pianist and Soloist for Dance Theatre of Harlem from 1996 through 2004. He has also extensively performed as a piano soloist for The Limon Company. He has recorded five CDs of Music for Ballet Class. Michael holds a Masters Degree in Composition from the Manhattan School of Music, and was a recipient of the BMI Young Composers Award.

Joe Cross has been a collaborative artist for over 50 years. His associations include American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Academy East, Ballet Hispanico, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera, Paul Taylor Company. Steps on Broadway, Dancespace, and Broadway Dance Center. He has composed and conducted for dance and has recorded numerous CDs for Roper Records with David Howard and Mary Carpenter. He currently resides in New York City.

John-William Gambrell is a NYC-based composer and music director creating bold, imaginative work for theater, dance, and film.
His original musicals—Syzygy: A New Musical (FABnyc 2025) and Toothy’s Treasure: A Musical Comedy (The Theater Center 2023, SoHo Playhouse 2024)—showcase his knack for fresh storytelling and genre-blending sound.
John-William has collaborated with Broadway talents like PigPen Theatre Co., Marc Bruni, Carey Perloff, Mark Bennett, Christopher Jahnke and plays regular classes at Joffrey Ballet School, The Ailey School, Ballet Hispanico, Ballet Academy East, and Ballet Arts Center for Dance. He also regularly subs for Peridance, Gibney Company, New York Theatre Ballet, Marymount Manhattan College, Molloy University and others. As an accompanist, he has experience in ballet for multiple levels including professional, pre-professional, adult and children’s divisions.

Barbara Gayny studied composition as a scholarship student with Lee Kraft at the Aaron Copeland School of Music. She has been playing piano for Ballet Academy East for 25 years. Barbara has also worked with the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Elliot Feld, Joffrey II, New York University, Princeton University, City University of New York, and the 92nd Street Y. Barbara was the Polish translator/lyricist for Pope John Paul II’s musical play, Jeweler’s Shop, performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the United Nations. She performed and recorded with composer Mieczslaw Litwinski’s ensemble in the the mid-to-late ’80’s.

Barbara’s vocal music has been performed and recorded by Libana on Night Passage, Sbanachie label, and Singing the Stories of the West, Hal Leonard Publications. Barbara has performed with her husband, nationally acclaimed singer/songwriter and western entertainer Ernie Sites, in the US and Great Britain, including the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah. Barbara’s focus is on integrating music with dance, storytelling, and audience participation in a variety of musical styles. Her primary instrument is piano, but Barbara also loves to sing and play the vibraphone and riqq, the Arabic tambourine.

Peter Groch holds a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma, and a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a faculty member at the New School for Music Study in Kingston, NJ, where he teaches piano lessons and group repertoire classes. Outside of teaching, he serves as an administrative assistant for the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy and works for Piano Magazine.
During his time at the University of Illinois, Peter competed in several competitions and received first place in the ISMTA Collegiate Piano Competition. His interest in world music led him to become a member of the Gamelan Ensemble and the Balkan Ensemble. Between degree programs, Peter spent several years in Chicago, Illinois where he was an active accompanist, teacher, and performer.
Upon admittance to the University of Oklahoma, Peter was awarded a teaching assistantship through which he taught group piano classes and applied piano lessons. He spent his summers in Oklahoma as the assistant music director for the Cimarron Opera Theater Camp. In the summer of 2018, he was selected as a performer for the 43rd annual Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria, where he performed in master classes with Alan Chow and Ralf Heiber.
After graduating from the University of Oklahoma, Peter was awarded the Post-Graduate Teaching Fellowship at the New School for Music Study. As a Fellow, he worked closely with several faculty members and visiting pedagogues to refine his teaching skills, develop a personalized curriculum to encourage full musical growth, and devote time to composing pedagogical pieces for his students. In addition to private teaching and observations, Peter participated in the New School’s rich history of teacher education and pedagogy courses––including several sessions led by notable pedagogue Marvin Blickenstaff.

Ludmilla Halfen, pianist and piano teacher, is a St. Petersburg Conservatory graduate. She toured with the Moscow State Concert Association, Mosconcert. Ms. Halfen was a faculty member of Bela Bartok School of Music and Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary. She played for Briansky Saratoga Ballet Center summer program for 16 years, and has been a faculty member at BAE since 1990.

Rich Klessig has been a dance accompanist for over 20 years. His ballet “Don Juan” has been performed by Ballet Oklahoma and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, and he has an album entitled “Quiet Jazz for Solo Piano.” Mr. Klessig holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance from the Berklee College of music in Boston, and currently plays piano and percussion for Ballet Acadamy East, Alvin Ailey, and the 92nd Street Y.

Kai Lovelace is a musician and writer born and raised in New York City. He studied composition at SUNY Purchase and composes original music and film scores, frequently performing jazz, blues, bossa nova, funk, and lounge music when not accompanying ballet, modern, and tap dancing classes.

Hannah Mayer is a pianist and composer from El Cerrito. A 2024 graduate of Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD, Hannah has had the honor of performing alongside notable musicians including Melissa Aldana, Sean Jones, Gary Thomas, Etienne Charles, Warren Wolf, Charenée Wade, Tim Green and Sharel Cassity. Hannah has played internationally in Shijiazhuang, China and São Paulo, Brazil, and has performed around the country at venues/festivals including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Small’s, Keystone Korner, the Jazz Showcase, BopStop, Yoshi’s, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Tri-C Jazz Festival, and the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. Hannah has been a member of Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead (Kennedy Center), NYO Jazz (Carnegie Hall) and the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars, and was a YoungArts winner in jazz piano and jazz composition. Hannah’s debut album was released in 2023, paying tribute to the Broadway composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim (“Hannah Mayer & Friends Play Sondheim”) which captures their passion for bridging improvised music and theatre. Outside of performing, Hannah enjoys accompanying ballet classes and teaching music to middle school students.

Lali Mirry was born in Tbilisi (now Republic of Georgia). She graduated from the Georgian State Conservatory, and received her M.D. at Livonian State Conservatory (Vilnius, now Livonia). Lali was a soloist with the Georgian State Philharmonic. She has been living in New York since 1994, and has accompanied classes at BAE since 1996. Lali has also accompanied dance classes at the Juilliard School, American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Tech, and City Center.

Alana Murphy is a pianist,scholar, soprano, writer, and balletomane based in NYC. She holds a B.M. and M.M. in piano performance from Indiana University, as well as an M.Phil. in musicology from the CUNY Graduate Center. A native of Carmel, CA, Alana grew up training in both ballet and music, with one foot in the dance studio and the other foot on the sustain pedal. Ultimately, she conceded that she didn’t have the feet for ballet, but she did have the heart [yes, that’s a “Center Stage” reference]. During her piano undergraduate at Indiana, she began playing for the university ballet department and immediately got hooked on this creative fusion of her two favorite art forms. Since then, Alana has worked as a dance pianist for Boston Ballet School, Gelsey Kirkland Ballet, the 92nd Street Y, Juilliard, Kaatsbaan Ballet Intensive, and Russian Masters Summer Course (Alicante, Spain); she is currently a staff pianist at the Joffrey Ballet School and Ballet Academy East. She also plays for vocalists, sings professionally with the early music ensemble Polyhymnia, and works as an assistant editor for RILM, a database of musical scholarship. Alana lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Arthur, and their two rescue coonhounds, Layla and Charlie.

Miho Nozawa is from Niigata city, Japan and holds a B.A. in Music from Berklee College of Music in Boston. As a Jazz performance major, she has released several Jazz CD’s both in Japan and US. She started playing for ballet class for Dr. Cara Gargano, Chair of the Dance department at Third Street Music School Settlement and the Department of Theatre, Film, Dance and Arts Management at Long Island University.
After playing several years for ballet classes, she became the Music Director at Joffrey Ballet school in NY from 2010-2013. She currently plays for SAB (School of American Ballet), Ballet Academy East and Steps, also she plays for children’s rehearsal at New York City Ballet.

Sean P. Pallatroni is an EMMY® Award-winning composer, songwriter, music director and pianist. Originally from Bedford NH, Sean completed his undergraduate degree in Music Composition at the Hartt School of Music and holds his MFA from the Tisch School’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, NYU. Sean has written for musical theatre, classical ensembles, jazz bands, choir, and orchestra, and regularly musically directs and arranges for Broadway performers and actors across New York. Sean currently teaches at Pace University’s Musical Theatre and Commercial Dance departments.

Mary Beth has been a ballet accompanist with BAE since 1990. She has also worked at New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, School of American Ballet, Eliot Feld Ballet, Steps, Broadway Dance, Eglevsky, Alvin Ailey, Ballet Arts, and The Metropolitan Opera. Mary Beth was a scholarship student at The Oberlin Conservatory, where she received her degree in Piano Performance. She also studied with Herbert Stessin and Nadia Reisenberg from The Juilliard School.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Junko Sakai is a pianist now based in New York. She was trained in classical piano from the age of four. She switched to playing and singing original material in pop bands as a teenager. While attending Waseda University, Junko discovered jazz and began transcribing the music of Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson. By graduation from university, she was working in jazz bands around Tokyo and Kanto direct.
In 2012 she recorded her debut album “In the Crowd” for T-toc Records and toured throughout Japan. Later that year, she moved to New York to study with Jean Michell Pilc. She has performed at many venues including Kitano, Something Jazz Club, and Tomi Jazz. Junko has accompanied ballet classes at Ballet Academy East for the last three years. She also accompanies for NYU, Steps on Broadway, American Ballet Theatre School and Gibney Company.

Rosanne Soifer was born in New York City. Her music career encompasses many areas, including composing, arranging and production, and playing piano. She has lectured extensively on music business and life skills at the Institute of Audio Research (IAR) and the School of Audio Engineering (SAE Institute), and is now an adjunct at Touro College, all in NYC. Her music career began when she was fifteen, playing in a local youth dance band, and for dance classes and talent shows.

She received a BS in Music from Indiana University’s renowned School of Music. Rosanne has worked as an accompanist for American Ballet Theater, and continues to play at many professional studios, schools, and college dance departments around the New York City area, including Ballet Academy East, SAB, Marymount Manhattan, Steps, and Peridance. She also works as a music director in the field of Jewish music. Other work experience includes dinner theater, single engagements, and as a road musician based in Nashville. In the 1980\’s, she was the first female business agent hired by Musicians Local 802 in NYC. In 1994, Rosanne Soifer and Steve Danenberg arranged and published the CHANUKAH SUITE for pops orchestra. It continues to receive numerous performances each year by over 30 orchestras around the country.

Their pops vocal piece PUT OUT THE DARKNESS was premiered by the Tacoma Symphony and chorus in 2007. Her articles have appeared in many music industry publications such as Sound & Video Contractor, The Music Paper, and Pro Sound News. She also wrote the book Music In Video Production, published by Focal Press. Rosanne is a member of Musicians Local 802, ASCAP, and National Music Publishers Association. She lives in NYC.

Noriko Sunamoto is a NYC based award-winning composer, orchestrator, music director and GRAMMY® Voting Member who’s worked for Broadway shows such as Aladdin, Chicago, Hell’s Kitchen, The Great Gatsby, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Funny Girl, Almost Famous, Paradise Square, for colored girls… (Associate Conductor) and Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Her original musicals include OMOTENASHI Journey (performed at Carnegie Hall and Central Park), and The Journey of the True Colors performed at Tokyo Rainbow Pride. Website: www.norikosunamoto.com. It’s been such a treat and an honor to be part of the BAE community with a lot of generous and talented artists.

A Japanese native Katsuko Tanaka moved to New York City in 2008 to immerse herself in the culture and traditions of American jazz music. Since then, she has been privileged to share the stage with internationally acclaimed jazz musicians, leading her bands locally and abroad that have showcased artists like Victor Lewis, Lonnie Plaxico, Gene Jackson, Essiet Okon Essiet, and many upcoming young stellar in New York. In 2009, she recorded her debut album BEYOND INTERSECTION, featuring Willie Jones III, Danton Boller, and a guest appearance by Antonio Hart.
Katsuko had taken classical piano lessons, sight reading, and ear training from the age of three at YAMAHA music school in Japan. Continuing classical piano studies at acclaimed Osaka College of Music, an invitation performing at JAPAN EXPO in California with Japanese jazz-fusion group Doppo & Azoth ignited her desire to live in the States. She was honored with a Rotary International Foundation scholarship to pursue her study at California State University, Long Beach.
While her classical piano performance was further awarded Jean Louise Boggess Scholarship, Mary E. Israel Scholarship, and State Paid Lessons, a chance meeting live jazz changed her musical direction. Katsuko started to take private jazz lessons from Brad Mehldau, Kei Akagi, and Kenny Garrett. After received her BA, she returned to Japan and started her jazz career.
In 2008 she relocated to New York City. Her debut album BEYOND INTERSECTION, features her original compositions, was released in May 2010, the same month she received an MA in jazz piano performance from Queens College CUNY.

Daniel Townsend is a composer, pianist, and educator living in New York City. He holds a PhD in Music Composition from the University of Florida. His recent works explore the intersection of composition and improvisation by blending traditional music notation with graphic scores and text-based instruction. This method invites performers to engage creatively during live performance while maintaining both structure and interpretive freedom.
Since graduating, Daniel has taught private lessons in piano, theory, and composition, while also working as a dance accompanist at leading institutions across New York City. His accompaniment style blends jazz, Broadway, and classical influences, creating a rich and cohesive musical voice. He also composes original works specifically for the studio, offering dancers a fresh and engaging sonic landscape.

Whitney Wallace is a collaborative pianist, music director and educator in NYC. In addition to playing for ballet classes, Whitney subs in the pit on Broadway’s ALADDIN, maintains a studio of private piano students and runs a non-profit collective of music teachers: In The Pocket NYC. www.WhitneyWallaceMusic.com

Adam Young is a versatile performer specializing in the cello and viola da gamba. While majoring in viola da gamba at The Juilliard School under Sarah Cunningham, he performed principal roles in several opera productions, including Dido and Aeneas with Avi Stein, Hippolyte et Aricie under the direction of Stephen Stubbs, and he was featured on a European tour with performances at London’s Opera in the Park and the Palace of Versailles. This year, Adam has performed with several distinguished ensembles, including Abendmusik, Academy of Sacred Drama, American Baroque, Canterbury Choral Society, Christopher Street Collective, House of Time, and Salon Sanctuary. Recent opera credits include Commet/Poppea with American Modern Opera Company at Lincoln Center, Agrippina at Brooklyn College and Blood Moon at Baruch College.

Annie Lebeaux has been a professional pianist since 1970, when she graduated from Boston Conservatory in her native New England. In addition to serving as musical director for over 60 regional shows, she’s had a wide range of experience both behind the scenes and as a performer. Some favorites include 5 years with the New York Renaissance Faire, touring with orchestras, playing Broadway shows in Europe, 9 years performing on the Delta Queen Steamboat, and 5 years performing on the American Orient Express train. For the last several years she has been playing for ballet, finally using the classical music she learned at the conservatory so long ago.

A celebrated figure in dance accompaniment, Steven Mitchell has accompanied and performed with some of the most esteemed dance institutions. He is currently the ballet rehearsal pianist for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Steven holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Houghton College, NY, a Master of Music in Piano Performance, and a Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX.

From 1992-1998 he was a staff pianist for Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education; while there he performed as soloist and with Boston Ballet Orchestra. From 2000-2002 he held the position of Company Pianist for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre; from 2000 – 2004 he held the keyboard chair for the Pittsburgh Ballet Orchestra.

In the 2010 and 2011 seasons, he was the rehearsal pianist for Dutch National Ballet, the Netherlands.

He was class pianist for the Columbia Pictures film Center Stage, his music can be heard in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and he was also heard during the ballet class scenes of the TV series Flesh and Bone on the Starz network.

In New York City he has played for most of the major companies and schools, and he holds a special place in his heart for Ballet Academy East and its director Julia Dubno.