Dance Department Consultants
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Dance Department Consultants Lisa Alfieri Ballo Ms. Ballo - Consultant in Ballet - trained on full scholarship at the Pennsylvania Ballet under Lupe Serrano and at the San Francisco Ballet and Cleveland Ballet schools. Her professional career includes dancing with Sandra Organ Dance Company, Fort Worth- Dallas Ballet and prior to that with Cleveland - San Jose Ballet where she rose to principal dancer during her ten year stay. She has also danced as a principal guest artist nationally as well as internationally. As a teacher, she has taught in schools for the Cleveland Ballet, Ballet Arkansas, Twin City Ballet and the Houston Ballet Academy. Recently, she was Ballet Mistress for the Houston Repertoire Ballet's senior company and is currently teaching at the Hope Center. Lauren Bay Consultant in modern dance, ballet and tap dance. Ms. Perrone holds a BFA in Modern Dance Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma where she studied with Mary Margaret Holt, Denise Vale and Austin Hartel. She is a 2000 HSPVA Dance graduate and a native Houstonian where she began her dance training with Paula Sloan and performed with The Texas Tap Ensemble. After college she also studied in New York City with Mark Morris, the Limon Dance Company, Nicole Wolcott, and Julian Barnett, among others. Her professional credits include: Houston Grand Opera's Aida; Galveston Island Musicals' My Fair Lady, America the Beautiful, and Hello Dolly. She has toured nationally as the dance captain of Mame and internationally to France and Paraguay with the Modern Repertory Dance Theater. Her New York City credits include the Jeff Rebudal Dance Company, Murray Hill Productions, and Lance Cruze Performance Group. Currently, she is performing with the Sandra Organ Dance Company. Donna Cameron Ms. Cameron - Accompanist - received her early dance accompanist training in New York City at the Igor Youskevitch School of Ballet and the Joffrey City Center Ballet School with Meredith Bayless, Jonathon Watts and with Maria Nevelska, prima ballerina with Anna Pavlova. After receiving her Masters in Music from the Manhattan School of Music she took residence in Houston, Texas where she has been employed by HSPVA and the Houston Ballet Academy for several decades, accompanying dance classes for the faculty and numerous guest artists. Ms. Cameron has also worked in the modern idiom with Clare Duncan and Yuriko. She is a regular pianist for the Margo Marshall School of Ballet summer dance program where she has worked with, Frederic Franklin, Anna-Marie Holmes, Elvira Kokorina & Olga Baltacheyeva of the Vaganova School, St. Petersburg, Russia. She is currently the organist for the Houston Congregation for Reform Judaism and enjoys performing on the viola in several chamber music ensembles. Adrian Ciobanu Adrian Ciobanu is an instructor of ballet and was born in Cluj, Romania where he graduated from the Liceul de Choregrafie, Octavian Stroia with honors, under the direction of his father Florin Ciobanu. He has worked with the Romanian Opera Ballet and was a principal dancer with the Hungarian Opera Ballet touring extensively throughout Europe. In 1996 Mr. Ciobanu moved to Sarasota and became a member of the Sarasota Ballet and danced many major Principal roles and created many new roles as well. In 2008 Mr. Ciobanu was promoted to Ballet Master of Sarasota Ballet and still works extensively with the academy. He has worked with such stagers and choreographers as: Hans Van Manen, Monica Parker, Alexander Grant, Dominic Walsh, Sandra Jennings, Joyceanne Sidimus, Julian Moss, Andre Prokovsky, Gilles Maidon, Jackie Hollander, Donald Mahler, Margaret Barbieri and many others. Jeanne Doornbos Ms. Doornbos - Instructor of ballet, was born in Oklahoma and received her early dance training there from Charlotte Lyke and June Runyon. She attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, studying under Duncan Noble, Sonia Tyven and Robert Lindgren, and the University of Oklahoma, studying under Miguel Terekhov and Yvonne Chouteau. She joined the Houston Ballet in 1973 and danced with the company for 15 years, first in the corps de ballet, then as a soloist, and finally as a principal dancer before retiring in 1988. During her tenure with the Houston Ballet, Miss Doornbos performed soloist and principal roles in the major classics and in works by Antony Tudor, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Glen Tetley, Helgi Tomasson, Choo San Goh, Ben Stevenson and others. Since retiring from performing, she has taught at the Houston Ballet Academy, the Fort Worth School of Ballet, the University of Houston, and Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. In addition, Miss Doornbos is a 2004 graduate of the University of Houston, having graduated summa cum laude with a degree in History. Jodee Engle Instructor of dance composition is a 1996 graduate of the High School for Performing and Visual Arts and the Dance Department. After HSPVA, she attended North Carolina School of the Arts where she received her B.F.A. in Modern Dance. While at NCSA, she had the pleasure of working with such well-known choreographers as Sara Hook, Mary Cochran, Murray Lewis, Bill Young, and performing the works of renowned choreographers like Jose Limon and Alwin Nikolais. JoDee was also a member of the Pluck Project, a student initiated and student produced project in which the graduating class presents an evening- length concert of their own work in New York City. Now back in Houston she has danced with the Sandra Organ Dance Company, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, Houston Grand Opera, Psophonia, Leslie Scates, San Diego Opera & Hope Stone Dance Company. Laura Gutierrez Consultant in ballet & modern dance is a 2005 HSPVA graduate and holds her BFA in Dance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She has studied dance with: Brenda Daniels,Trish Casey, Sean Sullivan, Dianne Markham, Diego Schoch, Warren Conover and Ethan Stiefiel and performed works by Sarah Skaggs, Janis Brenner, Sonia Dawkins, Jonah Boaker, Molly Shanahan and Lar Lubovitch. Laura performed in the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio with the Pluck Project and studied Aesthetic Education Philosophy at the Lincoln Center Institute as a William R. Kenan, Jr. Performing Arts Fellow. While in NYC, she presented a collaborative work The World Within at the Clark Theatre at the Lincoln Center Institute, danced with Mariana Beckerman Dance Company, Amalgamate Dance Company and other independent choreographers and participated in the Dumbo Dance Festival, Cool New York Dance Festival and the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Angela Holmes Ms. Holmes - Instructor of ballet, modern dance, and jazz dance is a graduate of the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts with dance honors. She graduated magna cum laude and outstanding senior in the School of Dance from the University of Arizona with a BFA in Dance. Through the University of Arizona she studied with Jim Clouser, Melissa Lowe, Jory Hancock, Amy Earnst, David Berkey, Sam Watson, Susan Quinn, and Michael Williams. She has studied dance at Alvin Ailey, School of Pennsylvania Ballet, Juilliard School, and the Limon Institute. Courtney Jones Consultant in modern dance and repertory is a proud graduate of HSPVA, she is thrilled to return to her hometown of Houston after a year and a half of touring with Broadway’ s 1st National Tour of WICKED! She began her professional career in Miami, FL. with the Freddick Bratcher and Company Contemporary Dance Theatre while attending New World School of the Arts. In 2004 she received her BFA from SUNY Purchase with a minor in Psychology, graduating with honors. Courtney has performed the works of Jose Limon, Mark Morris, Doug Varone, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Roger C. Jeffrey and Kevin Wynn. Continuing to work with the Kevin Wynn Collection and also Jennifer Muller/The Works, she taught and toured for four seasons. Ms. Jones joined the cast of Showboat in 2008 accomplishing a long-standing goal to perform at Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center AND Carnegie Hall! In the fall of 2010, Ms. Jones was seen as Pegeen Ryan in the production of Auntie Mame, and was the dance captain and ensemble member of Panto Pinocchio both at Stages Repertory Theatre. Other recent projects include a guest appearance with Earthen Vessels, The Sandra Organ Dance Company and teaching company class at SUCHU Dance. Most recently, she performed in Urban Cowboy with Theatre Under the Stars at Houston’ s Miller Outdoor Theatre and is a company member with Hope Stone Dance. Michael Mertz Mr. Mertz is a veteran educator and professional musician. He has appeared throughout North America, performing and composing music for theatre, television and advertising. Locally, you may have seen and heard his work in productions at Alley Theatre, Stages Repertory Theatre, Main Street Theater, Theatre Under the Stars, Bayou City Concert Musicals, University of Houston (in collaboration with Tony Award- winning composer Jerry Bock), University of St. Thomas, and College of the Mainland Community Theatre. Mr. Mertz has devoted over two decades working with young people in the Houston area as an instructor in Voice, Piano, and the Performing Arts. He brings a wealth of experience to his work in the Department of Drama as a consultant to our Musical Theatre program. Gerrard Vacca Dance Photography Instructor is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and is a professional photographer who has taught at local colleges and often gives photography seminars aimed at helping people understand how to make and appreciate good photographs. Gerard teaches concentrated classes aimed at guiding dance students in ways to photographically record the universal language. In his course, students learn principles of photography and digital darkroom techniques. Denise Smokoski Williams Ms. Williams - Consultant in ballet and pointe, studied with Rosemary Floyd at the Rosemary Floyd Contemporary Civic Ballet in Royal Oaks, Michigan, during her high school years. Four consecutive years she received scholarships from the American Ballet Center with Robert Joffrey in New York.