RDA Pacific Regional Ballet
Festival 2008 |
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Festival Sponsor
Faculty and Accompanists (as of May 9, 2008)
Miss Kirkland joined New York City Ballet at the age of 15. She joined American Ballet Theatre in 1975 where she became Baryshnikov's partner of choice. Other male ballet stars, Anthony Dowell, Peter Martins, and Ivan Nagy, also relished the opportunity to dance with America's most astounding ballerina. Miss Kirkland soon graced the covers of magazines, including "Dance Magazine" and "Life Magazine." Her book "Dancing On My Grave" was a national bestseller. Most recently Miss Kirkland made international headlines as she restaged "Sleeping Beauty" for American Ballet Theater and performed the role of Carabosse.
Laura Alonso, the daughter of world famous ballerina Alicia Alonso and famous teacher and coach Fernando Alonso is herself known as a teacher, coach, and expert at staging the renowned classics. During the 1990 Jackson International Ballet Competition, Laura Alonso was honored with an award as the best coach at the competition. Her student, Jose Manual Carreno, won the Grand Prix de Ville, the highest award of the competition. Ms. Alonso has served as a coach, jury member and teacher at the Jackson International Ballet Competition and as a jury member of the Concours International de Dance de Paris, France 1998, the Alicia Alonso International Ballet Competition, and other competitions around the world. Along with her expertise in working with professionals and aspiring professionals, Ms. Alonso is extremely gifted at working with young dancers of all ages and experiences. Students love her and outdo themselves to fulfill her expectations. A very postive teacher, Alonso has transformed students in just a few classes. She is an particularly inspiration to male students. Alonso's mission is to bring the highest quality dance to students everywhere. She is willing to instruct anyone who wants to learn. A teacher of world-class experience, Ms. Alonso has taught for the Cuban National Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Australian Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, the Cleveland and San Jose Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Tokyo Ballet, the Toronto Ballet, the Alberta Ballet and others. She was a member of the faculty at the Regional Dance America's National Festival in 1997 as well as at the RDA/NE Festival 1998 and the RDA/SE 1999. For seven years, she served as the personal coach for international ballerina Alicia Alonso. Ms. Alonso's twenty-five year performing career has included soloist work in all of the traditional classics and today she travels around the world teaching and staging the classics for professional and pre professional companies alike. Awards for Miss Alonso:
Mr. Zhong graduated from the Shen Yang Arts Institute in China and performed for seven years as a soloist with the Classical Ballet of Guangzhou. He was featured as the Golden Idol in La Bayadere Cupid in Don Quixote, the Court Jester in Swan Lake, and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, as well as many other leading roles. His father is a well-known Chinese choreographer and Mr. Zhong has continued in his father's footsteps by choreographing for and competing in several international ballet competitions, finishing in 8th place at the Shanghai International Ballet Competition in 2005. He recently immigrated to the U.S. as a free-lance ballet dancer and joined the faculty of the Long Beach Ballet.
Born and raised in Moscow, Russia, Mikhail graduated from the famous Bolshoi Ballet Academy. He had danced with the renowned Bolshoi Ballet for eight years, during which time he performed full repertory of the theatre. Among his teachers are Asaf Messerer and Boris Akimov. With the Bolshoi, he toured all over the world, particularly such countries as Brazil, Australia, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, France, Morocco, India, Japan, China, and the Unites States. Mikhail is a graduate of the Moscow State Choreography Institute. Under Professor Peter Pestov, he received his M.F.A. in Dance Pedagogy and Choreography. He has served as a Ballet Master and Repetiteur for Colorado Ballet and on the faculty of the Academy of Colorado Ballet. He has taught for the Houston Ballet, Oregon Dance Theatre, David Taylor Dance Theatre, State Street Ballet, Ballet Arlington, Guangzhou Ballet of China, and Galili Dance in Netherlands. He has been a guest teacher in Brazil, Japan, Germany, Netherlands, and Great Britain, and appeared as guest lecturer at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, UK, Colorado College, and Wyoming State University. He served as a judge and master teacher for Youth America Grand Prix Competition as well as other international dance competitions. He taught for the Royal Ballet School in London and is now on the faculty of the University of Utah.
Emmy Award nominated choreographer, Jeffrey Page is not only a dynamic performer but a masterful instructor in the dance field. Jeffrey has worked as a resident artist and on the faculty of such prestigious institutions as University of California, Los Angeles and Irvine; Campion School of Athens; Greece; Pennsylvania Ballet’s, The Rock School of Philadelphia, PA; Peridance International of NYC; The Edge Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles; Koresh Dance Center of Philadelphia, PA; and Lula Washington Dance Theater. He has facilitated master classes for companies and festivals throughout the country and abroad including The 9th Biennial Dance Festival of Grenada; The International Dance Conference of Belize; Dance Africa of D.C. & Brooklyn; Muntu Dance Theater; Cleo Parker-Robinson Dance Ensemble Summer Dance Institute; and The University of the Arts. Jeffrey’s choreography and theatrical works have received awards and national acclaim, and have been commissioned by organizations such as University of Pennsylvania and The American Choreography Awards of Los Angeles. Mr. Page was a featured performer for NYC’s renowned Forces of Nature Dance Theater, under the direction of Mr. Abdel Salaam. As protégé to Mr. Salaam, for 6 years Jeffrey served on the Forces of Nature Arts/Education staff, in which he taught various styles of traditional and neo-traditional West African dance technique. In addition to touring with national recording artist, Beyonce Knowles, Mr. Page (in association with Frank Gatson) choreographed Beyonce’s critically acclaimed performance for the 2006 Fashion Rocks Presentation on CBS, as well as the international 2006 World Music Awards. Currently, Jeffrey’s choreography appears as apart of Beyonce’s 2007 World Tour. Last summer he began working with Cirque Du Soleil as a Master Instructor/ Dance Specialist for Cirque’s line of shows in Las Vegas. He has worked in collaboration with the renowned Taluega Brothers and the cast of “Rize” to choreograph the opening for the 36th annual NAACP Image Awards, which garnered his Emmy Award nomination for “Outstanding Choreography.” Alongside Fatima Robinson he choreographed the opening for the 5th annual BET Awards segment featuring Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, the 2005 Billboard Awards finalle featuring R. Kelly, and assited her in casting the 2006 Hip-Hop Honors awards, which were all televised throughout the U.S. and abroad. As an adjunct professor of dance, Mr. Page has served on the faculty of UC Irvine and is currently in residence at Santa Monica College in California. Jeffrey is developing a movement style, “Funk African,” which is a fusion of various techniques including Afro-American vernacular, West African, Afro-Latin and modern dance styles. Equipped with talent, experience, and tremendous passion, Jeffrey Page is a freelance choreographer in high demand, and moves to make his impact on the world one “eight-count” at a time.
Versatile, cutting-edge, and extremely stylized; only three of the many adjectives used to describe this multi-talented teacher-choreographer. His unique approach to teaching combined with his understanding of the art keeps him in demand all over the country. He has danced in such shows as 42nd ST, CHESS, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and was part of the DIRTY DANCING TOUR. Joe assisted with the West End show HOT MIKADO in London, the Tony nominated Broadway show AIN'T BROADWAY GRAND, and the German version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Most recently Joe worked shopped the show Contact for Lincoln Center choreographed by Susan Stroman. Joe has choreographed shows for the HBO, Midas Muffler, American Express, and Merle Norman Cosmetics. He teaches for many universities, dance companies, and conventions throughout the U.S. as well as at home in the New York area. Look for Joe's own series of videos available at www.joeistre.com.
A former solo artist of The Australian Ballet and The Royal Swedish Ballet Company, Robyn Brawley has toured the world with artistic directors such as Sir Robert Helpmann and Dame Peggy Van Pragg, and guest choreographers including Rudolph Nureyv, Jurgen Schneider, Vera Volkova, and Gillian Lyn. Also the Artistic Director of The Australian College of Entertainment, she choreographed for The Australian Variety Club's "Heart Awards" in Sydney, the Olympic International Soccer Trails in Sydney, ARL 90th Celebration at Sydney Football Stadium, Senior Olympics Opening Ceremonies in Tucson, AZ and the NFL Thanksgiving Game at the Silverdome in Detroit, MI. Ms. Brawley has been a Master Teacher in Classical Ballet in Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore, London and Sweden, and continues to lend her extensive training and talent to her work with the Young Americans sine 1997.
Nader Hamed was Russian-trained in Leningrad. He was a principal dancer with Berlin Opera, La Scala di Milan, and Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires. He was Artistic Manager and Ballet Master at Cairo Opera House. Nader worked with Rudolph Nureyev for four years in Europe.
Originally from Brisbane Australia, Aaron Cash is a multitalented performer and one of the original Tap Dogs. Early in his career, world renowned choreographer Kenny Ortega (Dirty Dancing and High School Musical 1 & 2) cast Aaron in Cher's Love Hurts tour. This opportunity culminated in an impressive 10 year touring relationship as Cher's lead dancer. His amazing talent grew the attention of many high profile artists in the industry. In the early 1990's, Twyla Tharp hand picked Aaron to become her personal Pas De Deux partner and the legendary Mikhail Baryshnikov added Aaron to their world tour. His innovative and creative skills as a performer, choreographer, and artistic consultant are now highly sought the world over. He has consulted in varied mediums, from his work with Wet Design (the company responsible for the Belagio fountain in Las Vegas) on their fountain at Steve Wynn's latest luxury hotel in Macao China to serving as the personal Tango coach for Jolie Richardson on Nip Tuck. Aaron is the face of Johnny Walker's worldwide advertising campaign "Human - Keep Walking" and recently completed the role of the Matador in the Los Angeles Opera's production of La Traviata starring world-renowned soprano Rene Fleming. He has been featured in films such as Titanic and Hook, and the soon to be released Bolden and The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons. His T.V. credits include Scrubs and Nip Tuck and the series debut of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, just to name a few. He travels the world extensively hosting, coaching and teaching choreographic and dance seminars.
Armando Luna has been the principal teacher of the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education since 1996. Armando began his training with Margo Marshall then with Soili Arvola and Leo Ahonen. His professional dance career spans 25 years. He danced professionally with Ballet Austin, BalletMet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Atlanta Ballet. He toured with Ballet Spectacular, performing with Rudolf Nureyev and Alexander Godunov and performed as a guest artist with Irish National Ballet and Ballet Arizona. Mr. Luna has partnered notable Ballerinas Cynthia Gregory and Marianna Tcherkassky. Many of his students have moved on to dance professionally with Atlanta Ballet, New York City Ballet, Houston Ballet, Alabama Ballet and Texas Ballet Theatre. As Artistic Director of the Atlanta Ballet Centre Theatre he has choreographed over 30 works for his students. His works Vim, Fiddlyfeet, and Allegro con Brio were chosen for the Southeast Regional Ballet Association Festival. Mr. Luna traveled to Lisboa, Portugal to stage his Allegro Con Brio for the Escola de Danca do Conservatorio Nacional and Chautauqua, NY where he was invited to create a new work, Undine, for the Chautauqua Ballet. Presently Mr. Luna has recently created works for Emory Dance Company, Pebblebrook High School, Country Day School in Fort Worth, Texas City Ballet of Houston, TX, Agnes Scott College, and the Atlanta Ballet Centre Theatre.
Ron Cunningham is celebrating his 20th anniversary as the artistic director of the Sacramento Ballet. Under his leadership, the Company has gained national prominence and consistent praise for its diverse repertory and high artistic standards. The Company has grown to 21 dancers and 6 apprentices presenting over 60 performances annually during a 34 week season. The repertory includes the major classical ballets, 18 Balanchine ballets, works by Agnes de Mille, Val Canaparoli, Glen Tetley, Trey McIntyre, Septime Webre, Dwight Rhoden, David Parsons, Twyla Tharp, and many others. Mr. Cunningham has produced over 40 original works for the company including his Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, The Tempest, A Mid Summer Night’s Dream, Medea, Alice in Wonderland Bolero, Carmina Burana, Rite of Spring, A Streetcar Named Desire, and A Woman’s Journey: The Tamsen Donner Story to name a few. In May of 2007, the company enjoyed its first international tour to the People’s Republic of China with performances in Beijing and shared performances with the Shanghai Ballet in Shanghai. Ron Cunningham was a principal dancer, resident choreographer and ballet master for the Boston Ballet for thirteen years. His knowledge of the major classics, Balanchine, and contemporary repertory is extensive and he has worked with such notable artists as Rudolph Nureyev, Edward Villella, and Agnes de Mille, to name a few. Mr. Cunningham is a choreographer of distinction in a variety of styles and has created over seventy-five ballets for the international stage. His ballets have received critical acclaim in London, Beijing, Shanghai, Canton, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Milan, Rome, Palermo, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston. Mr. Cunningham’s Cinderella was the first American ballet to be seen in the People’s Republic of China and was televised to over thirty million viewers. He has received two National Endowment fellowships, as well as fellowships from the arts councils of Massachusetts, Maryland, and California, the prestigious Sacramento Mayor’s Award, and has been commissioned to created original works by seven state arts councils. He has participated in Regional Ballet for many years as a guest teacher, adjudicator, and director of the Craft of Choreography Conferences. He holds a B.S. degree from Roosevelt University and is on the faculty at University of California, Davis. He is married to Sacramento Ballet co-artistic director Carinne Binda and they have two children, Christopher and Alexandra.
Mrs. O’Callaghan danced with American Ballet Theater under the direction of Lucia Chase and Mikhail Baryshinikov. She trained on scholarship with the schools of the Louisville Ballet, the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, and the American Ballet Theater. Before joining American Ballet Theater’s main company, she danced with ABT’s Ballet Repertory Company under the direction of Richard Englund and Gage Bush. Mrs. O’Callaghan received a Bachelor of University Studies degree from the University of Utah. She has been teaching ballet for over 25 years and has been a faculty member of the University of Utah, Ballet West, California State Long Beach, California Institute of the Arts, the Stanley Holden Dance Center, Westside School of Ballet, Louisville Ballet and many other nationally recognized schools. For over five years she was the classical dance director for the Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA). And last year was asked to be the interim director for the 2006-2007 school year. She continues her ties with American Ballet Theater as a teacher and choreographer for summer programs throughout the United Sates. In addition she has taught classes for the ABT Studio Company and for the American Ballet Theater Jacqueline Onassis School in New York City. Colleen recently became a certified teacher for American Ballet Theater’s newly developed and nationally recognized training curriculum through level 4. Mrs. O’Callaghan is also co-founder and co-director of American Ballet Intensives, a company dedicated to providing pre-professional training to dance students in a positive and nurturing environment. She is currently artistic director of Ventura County Ballet Company where she lives with her husband and 3 children ages 9, 10 and 12.
Michael Roberts was born in Sussex, England. He began playing the piano at age four. From 1967 to 1975 Michael was production stage manager for Harold Prince in London's West End. In 1970 he was trained and became a dance accompanist for the Royal Ballet School. In 1975 he moved to Los Angeles where he has since worked as a dance accompanist and composer. Formerly senior accompanist Stanley Holden Dance Center and music coordinator dance school, California Institute of the Arts as well as Music Director Pasadena Dance Theater. Currently he is faculty and music coordinator for the Colburn Dance Institute as well as faculty/accompanist for American Ballet Theater summer intensive as well as west coast accompanist for American Ballet Theater company classes. He also accompanies for Alvin Alley, Mark Morris and Los Angeles Ballet companies. Michael has appeared in numerous TV shows and the movie "Six Weeks" with Mary Tyler Moore. Michael has played for Juliet Prowse, who endorsed his original dance record albums. Michael's other compositions include three Music for Ballet Class CD's, one CD of Original music for the Modern Dance Class, one CD of Original Dance Compositions "Dancing Scores", One Classical/New Age CD "Farther than the Sun", Three Theater Musicals and numerous commissioned dance scores. In 2007 his music was featured in the documentary film “Divertissments.Every Day Dancers”. Author Christine Ann Kent has included a special CD of his music in her latest best seller woman’s health book entitled”Saving the whole woman”. In 2004 he was a recipient of a special Lester Horton Award.
Maestro Gary received his musical education in Yerevan, Armenia. He studied music and piano at music school, Musical Pedagogical College, and later, at the Armenian State Conservatory. He graduated in 1979 and received four M.A. degrees as a Concerto Performer, Music Professor, Solo Performer of Chamber Ensemble, and Accompanist. Gary is the achiever of the winning award at the International Musical Competition in Tbilisi, Georgia (1977). He has performed piano concertos by Beethoven, Liszt, Rachmaninov, and Khachaturyan with the State Symphony Orchestra in Armenia, Russia, and Eastern Europe and other masterpieces with many musicians, singers, ensembles, and chorus. From 1992 to 1997 he lived in St. Petersburg, Russia and worked at the Kirov Ballet. In 1997 he was invited to Norway, where he worked at Oslo Ballet Academy and Oslo Opera & Ballet Theater. In 2001 he immigrated to the United States. Maestro Gary currently works at U.C.Irvine, California State University Long Beach, and Ballet Pacifica Ballet Academy.
Daniel has involved with
ballet and modern dance for 35 years. He studied music with internationally
known conductor, Dr. Antonia Brico and with Dr. Paul Parmelee of "The Casals
Trio." As a composer, he has written over two thousand songs, including
some specifically for ballet, and has sold his music internationally since
1987. He studied and taught ballet at the Maxine Williamson School Of Dance
in Denver, Colorado. As a dance musician, he has worked with some of the
top dance companies in the world, including Pacific Northwest
Yoshi Gurwell was classically trained as a pianist in Tokyo, Japan. She is currently on staff of the Dance Department at California State University Long Beach, as well as at Westside School of Ballet in West Los Angeles, Saint Joseph Ballet in Santa Ana, and South Bay Ballet in Torrance. She has accompanied classes for Alexi Moskalenko from the Bolshoi Ballet, Colleen Neary of the New York City, Susan Jaffe and Melissa Hale Cole of American Ballet Theatre, Patricia Barker of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Evelyn Cisneros formerly with the San Francisco Ballet. Yoshi also enjoys taking ballet classes to gain a dancer’s perspective, which was a great help when she recorded the tailored arrangements for her CD, “Music for Ballet Lovers Vol. 1.”
Steve is a classically trained jazz musician. In 1971, while still a student at the Univ. of Missouri at Kansas City, Steve played the Kansas City Jazz Festival and toured the Midwest and Eastern U.S. with Saxophonist/Composer (The Andromeda Strain) Gil Melle (Mellay). Steve was struck with Melle's ground breaking approach to jazz and electronic music. In 1974, Steve met and performed with groundbreaking theatre director, vocalist, Meredith Monk. He was just as amazed at her work as he was with Melle's, and was lucky enough to be able to join her group and tour Europe, Asia, and the U.S. He also appears on three of her records for ECM records: "Dolmen Music" (1980) "Turtle Dreams" (1982) and "Atlas: An Opera in Three Acts" (1992). While in New York, playing jazz with Sheila Jordan, Harvie Swartz, Paul McCandless, Colin Wolcott and many others, Steve began composing for Off-Broadway theater as well as film and dance. In 1983, he moved to Germany where he performed and recorded with Lauren Newton, George Lewis, Ralph Huebner, Gunter Lenz, and the Hessicher Rundfunk Jazz Ensemble. In 1990, he moved to Los Angeles, where he studied composition and film composition with Dick Grove and David Angel. Since then he's produced 2 cd's and leads his own ensemble with Vinny Golia, Kim Richmond, Billy Mintz, Steuart Liebig, Kendall Kaye and many others while writing chamber music and music for dance including his latest "New Orleans Lowdown", a jazz score for an 8 piece band dedicated to New Orleans and set to be premiered at Golden West College this fall with choreography by Nannette Brodie and her company. Steve has been playing ballet classes in Los Angeles since 1994 in professional studios all over the city. He is now a staff accompanist in the Dance Dept. at California Institute of the Arts and still plays at many studios in the city including Westside Ballet.
Mr. Beede is the Senior Musician and Director of Dance Accompanists at the UCI Dance Dept. where he teaches Music for Dancers, plays for ballet and modern classes, composes and produces music for students and faculty. He has been a musician for dance since 1971. He has taught Music for Dancers and accompanied ballet, modern and tap classes at virtually every university and community college in the greater Los Angeles area including UCI, UCLA, Cal-Arts, CSLUB (Cal-State Long Beach), CSULA (Cal-State Los Angeles), Scripps (Claremont), Chapman University as well as the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA). He was on the music faculty at American Dance Festival in 2001 and 2002, ABT (2001) and RAD (2003).
Norman studied classical piano literature with Robert Helps, Bernhard Abramowitsch and James Tenney while at SFCM and Cal-Arts. His private studies have included jazz with Milcho Leviev and and theory, composition and improvisation with William Allaudin Mathieu. He has been a member of several improvisation ensembles. The most notable being The Ghost Opera (1970), Readymade (1982-84), Open Gate Theatre (1991-93) and most recently Wiperfluid (2002). He performed in the 2001 Internet2 and was music director for the 2002 Internet2 concerts that included live music and dance performed simultaneously at UCI and NYU to a live internet audience.
Norman has written over forty scores for dance and theater (L.A. Reader "His arch-suburban style and funky sound arrangement is interesting"; L.A. Times "Beede's period-toned original music gives added resonance"). He has been a keyboard consultant for Fender Instruments (1985) and for the Pasadena Arts Commission (1990) and was once the truck driver for the Don Ellis Jazz Band (1971 Midwest tour). Norman teaches improvisation, theory and classical technique in his home in Laguna Beach.
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Gelsey Kirkland - Ballet
Laura Alonso
- Ballet
Johnny Zhong - Ballet
Michael Tchoupakov
- Russian Character and Ballet
Jeffrey Page
- African
Joe Istre
- Jazz
Robyn
Brawley - Lyrical
Nader Hamed
- Ballet
Aaron Cash - Modern 
Armando Luna - Ballet
Ron Cunningham - Ballet
Colleen O'Callaghan - Ballet Class and Career
Seminar
Michael Roberts - Piano Accompaniment
Garegin Khachikyan (Maestro Gary) - Piano Accompaniment
Daniel Magoun - Piano Accompaniment
Yoshi Gurwell - Piano Accompaniment
Steve Lockwood - Piano Accompaniment
Norman Beede