| Matthew
Prescott
|
Matthew
was born in Idaho. He received his initial ballet training at Interlochen
Arts Academy in northern Michigan. He went on to train for a year
at the Joffrey/New School University before accepting a contract with
the Joffrey Ballet. After leaving the Joffrey, Matthew has danced
with companies such as Donald Byrd’s Spectrum Dance Theater, Alonzo
Kings LINES Ballet, Ballet NY, Complexions, and the Suzanne Farrell
Ballet |
| Kellye
A. Saunders
|
Ms. Saunders is currently
a principal dancer with Fugate/Bahiri, Ballet NY. Prior to that, she
danced with the Dance Theatre of Harlem where she was also a principal
dancer. She began her dance training at the Jones-Haywood School of
Ballet in Washington, DC. Ms. Saunders continued her dance education
at Le Centre de Danse International in Cannes, France under the tutelage
of Rosella Hightower, before joining DTH. Some of Ms. Saunders’ featured
roles include Firebird, Giselle, A Song for Dead Warriors, Apollo,
Serenade, Adrian (Angel on Earth), The Four Temperaments, The Moor’s
Pavane, Allegro Brillante and Fancy Free. Ms. Saunders has also appeared
as a guest artist dancing the role of The Stripper in Slaughter on
Tenth Avenue in a collaborative project with The New York City Ballet
.Some of her other guest appearances include performances with Washington
Ballet, Maryland Ballet, Ballethnic Dance Company, DC Artworks, Gala
of International Ballet Stars, Complexions Contemporary Dance and
The Metropolitan Opera. Ms. Saunders has also had extensive experience
teaching and coaching dancers at both academic and professional levels. |
| Jamal
Story
|
Once an aspiring astronomer,
Jamal Story's basic dance training (Adria Wilson, Oui Geometer, Ron
Brown) were all taken to task in hometown Los Angeles under Lula Washington,
who ushered him into the adult company during his late teens. Undecided
about what career to pursue, Jamal began earning two degrees at Southern
Methodist University in Dance Performance and TV/Radio Communications.
While there, Dallas Black Dance Theater and Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet
among others opened up their doors for replacement and guest artist
gigs. Never one to leave his roots behind, Jamal continued his close
ties to Lula, joining the company for various touring dates. After
college, Jamal danced with Donald Byrd/theGroup, Madonna’s 2001 Drowned
World Tour and Complexions. Cher’s Living Proof: The Farewell Tour
gave Jamal an opportunity to explore his gymnastics background to
tackle aerial work. Immediately thereafter, he was called back into
the studio with Donald Byrd to help discover the movement for the
history-making Broadway show, The Color Purple, where he spent the
duration of its run as a dancer and assistant dance captain. In addition
to choreographing for Cincinnati Ballet, Kathy Chamberlain Ballet
and Dallas Black Dance Theater, Jamal continues his advocacy for educating
young artists about the changing landscape of dance. Jamal is currently
dancing for Cher at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and completing work
on the first workshop for his choreopoem, The Soul in My Purse.
|
| Francesca
Harper
|
Conceptual pop artist,
Francesca Harper, blends original choreography, dance, music and film
to create groundbreaking works that are category-defying. Harper was
raised in New York City, where she studied at the School of American
Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet School, The Ailey School, and under Madame
Darvash and Barbara Walczak. After performing with the Dance Theater
of Harlem, she danced as a principal in William Forsythe’s Ballett
Frankfurt from 1994-1999. Since returning to the States in 2000, Harper
has performed in several Broadway productions including Fosse, The
Producers, The Frogs and The Color Purple. She most recently played
Helene, a Principal Role, opposite Molly Ringwald in a national tour
of Sweet Charity. Harper’s choreographhas been seen at the Holland
Dance Festival, Ailey II, Tanz Graz and her own company, The Francesca
Harper Project, which has become the platform for her own artistic
vision: classical dance forms deconstructed and fused with cutting-edge
text, music, film and video. As a singer and lyricist Harper has released
singles in Europe and Japan. In November 2003, her single Would I?
was released on Powerhouse Records. In 2006, she released her debut
solo album Modo Fusion with 10 original tracks of soul-inspired R&B
and electronica.
"Harper, who has the physique of a modern goddess had the audience
on the edge of its seats. One would like to see more of a performer
with such phenomenal presence."
- The Oakland Tribune
|
| Rubinald
Rofino Pronk
|
Rubinald Rofino Pronk
was born and raised in The Hague, Netherlands. He received his training
at the Royal Conservatory of Dance and joined the Dutch National Ballet
at 16, where he danced as a soloist and performed works by several
leading choreographers such as William Forsythe, George Balanchine,
Martha Graham, Frederic Ashton, and Jacopo Godani, to name a few.
In 2006 he joined Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson’s Complexions
Contemporary Ballet in New York City, where he toured extensively
and performed works by Dwight Rhoden and Ulysses Dove. His awards
include the presitgious Alexandre Radius Prize for the best dancer
of Holland and two nominations for the VSCD “Silver Swan” award for
best performance of the year. Elsevier Magazine named him “Holland’s
sexiest ballet dancer ever.” Jacoby & Pronk are also principal
dancers with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. |
| Drew
Jacoby
|
Drew Jacoby, hailed
“guest dance goddess” by Ballet-Dance Magazine, is from Boise, Idaho.
She received her training at the School of American Ballet, San Francisco
Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. While at PNB, she performed
ballets by George Balanchine, Kent Stowell, Val Caniparoli, and Michael
Smuin. At 17 Drew joined Lines Ballet in San Francisco, where she
was made a principal dancer and had works created on her by award-winning
choreographer Alonzo King. She was a guest star in Sylvie Guillem’s
2005 Japan tour, performing featured roles in ballets by Sir Kenneth
MacMillan and Alberto Alonso. Since moving to New York CIty in 2007,
she has had works created on her by acclaimed choreographers Lar Lubovitch
and Dwight Rhoden. While dancing with Complexions Contemporary Ballet
for a portion of 2007, she was featured in William Forsythe’s Herman
Schmerman, alongside Desmond Richardson. A Princess Grace Award winner,
a Level 1 Award recipient from the National Foundation for Advancement
in the Arts, and Dance Magazine’s “It” Girl, Drew is “known for her
sumptuous extensions and powerhouse attack.” (Dance Magazine) Jacoby
& Pronk are also principal dancers with Morphoses/The Wheeldon
Company. |
Sonia Rodriguez
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|
A Native of Toronto, Sonia Rodrigues studies dance in Madrid with Pedro de la Cruz and at the Princess Grace Academy in Moaco. She joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1990 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2000. Ms. Rodriguez's repertoire with The National Ballet of Canada includes Swan Lake, Romeo & Juliet, La Fille mal gardee, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Song of the Earth, and Opus 19/The Dreamer. She has also danced the principal roles in numerous George Balanchine ballets, including the leads in Mozartiana, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Theme and Variations, Serenade, the Sanguic variation in The Four Temperaments and Diamonds from Jewels. Ms. Rodriguez created the title role in James Kudelka's Cinderella and Princess Vasilisa in Mr. Kudelka's The Firebird, as well as roles in Matjash Mrozewski's A Delicate Battle, Lean-Pierre Perreault's The Comforts of Solitude and Mr. Kudelka's The Four Seasons. In 2005, Ms. Rodriguez danced the role Dulcinea in the world premire of Suzanna Farrell's restaging of Balanchine's Don Quixote at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. At the National Ballet's inaugural performance at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in 2006, Ms. Rodriguez performed the pas de deux from Petipa's Don Quixote. Ms. ROdrigues has appeared in numerous company premires including, most recently, Marie Chouinard's 24 Preludes by Chopin and Christopher Bruce's Rooster. |
Aleksandar Antonijevic
|
His repertoire with The National Ballet of Canada includes principal roles in Giselle, Romeo & Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, La Sylphide, Manon, Onegin and numerous George Balachine works, such as Apollo, Diamonds and Rubies from Jewels, Theme and Variations, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto. He has also danced lead roles in Jerome RObbin' Opus 19/The Dreamer, William Forsythe's the second detail, Jiri Kylian's Forgotten Land, and Harald Lander's Etudes. He has created several seminal roles with the company, including Prince Ivan in The Firebird and Siegfried in Swan Lake. Most recently, Mr. Antonijevic performed lead roles in the company premires of Jerome Robbins' Glass Pieces and In The Night and Christopher Bruce's Rooster. Much in demand as a guest artist, Mr. Antonoijevic has performed with the English National Ballet, Inoue Ballet Japan, Ballet Santiago of Chile and PACT Ballet of South Africa and has partnered many of the world's finest prima ballerinas, including Susan Jaffe, Vivana Durante, Lucia LaCarra, and Evelyn Hart. |
Alejandro Alvarez
|
Hailing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Alejandro immigrated to Canada in 1987 to train at the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto. For the past 20 years now, Alejandro has been a Soloist, Principal Dancer and Guest Artist with some of the most critically acclaimed dance companies in the world, including Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Mannheim Ballet under the directorship of Kevin O'Day, William Forsythe's Ballet Frankfurt and Nacho Duato's Compania Nacional de Danza in Madrid, Spain. In July 2007, Alejandro left Comania Nacional de Danza to study at the Oxford School of Drama. He is now an actor, filmmaker, and freelance dancer working in Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom. |
Bernard Martin
|
Bernard Martin spent the first 10 years of his professional career with repertoire-based dance companies Les Grands Ballets Canadience de Montreal (1990-97) and Montreal Danse (1997-2000). This gave him a chance to become familiar with the styles of many choreographers, including Fernard Nault, James Kudelka, Jiri Kylan, Ohad Naharin, Mark Morris, Jose Navas, Susan Marshall, and Paula de Vasconcelos. In 1998 he joined hte European tour of Jean-Pierre Perreault's ballet Eironos. He also collaborated on the creation of two pieces at Systeme D/Dominique Porte: Cortex in 1999 and Exit in 2006. Mr Martin joines La La La Human Steps in 2001 for Amelia. |
Carolina Aguero
|
Carolina Aguero was born in Cordoba, Argentina in 1975. She started her dance studies in 1987 and graduated, with the highest grade in 1994 in Cordoba. Her main teachers were: Jorge Tomin, Irupe Pereira Parodi, Teresa del Cerro, Olga Ferri, Enrique Lommi, and Liliana Belfiore. In 1996 she performed as Julio Bocca's partner with Ballet Argentino, during its intermational tour around the world to Venezuela, Mexico, Australia, Hong Kong, and Russia. From 2001 she is presently a Principal dancer with the Finnish National Ballet. Recognized as an elegant dancer who illuminates the stage with her strong personality, in 2004 she was presented with the prestigious Edvard Fazer Award. In 2006 Carolina Aguero was invited to perform with "Angel Corella" in Longrono and Cadiz (Spain). In 2006 she joined Hamburg Ballet (Germany) as Soloist and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2007.
|
Yaroslav Ivanenko
|
Yaroslav Ivanenko is from Kiev, in the Ukraine. He received his dance education at the National Conservatory for the Arts in Kiev and joined the company of the National Theater. Engagements followed in the Czech Republic and the Slovakian National Theater. He has been a member of the Hamburg Ballet since 1998 where he has danced many solo roles.As a choreographer, Mr. Ivanenko has worked consistently at developing his own uniquely athletic style evolving out of his background as a classically trained ballet dancer . He has specialized in creative collaborations with musical ensembles, including many commissioned works for chamber music groups, and has earned prizes and acclaim at international choreographic competitions as well. He received "Special Mention of the Jury" in the Prix Dom Perignon in 1999 for his piece, "Somewhere I got lost", and won the Public's Choice prize in 2001 for "Morning Prayers."In 2003 he was a finalist in the 7thInternational Solo-Dance Theatre Festival. With this solo, "Left Behind", he was invited to tour to Stuttgart and as part of the Regensburger Tanz-Tage Festival.He was commissioned to make a ballet by the State Theater in Kosice, Slovakia; an original work entitled "Firebird"; music by Giya Kancheli. A short film called "Arise" was made in Japan of a solo he choreographed to music by Masato Hatanaka. Summer 2005 he collaborated with the Vertavo Quartet, from Oslo. Sibelius's "Voces Intimae" was made for the 6oth anniversary of the "Musiktage" in Hitzacker, Germany. Most recently he was invited to perform in an international festival in the Ukraine: in Donetsk, Lvov, and Kiev. He danced a duet he created titled "Ne moublie pas," which had its premiere in Stuttgart in 2004. "Ne m'oublie pas" was a finalist at the 20th International Choreographic Competition in Hannover and was also performed at Hamburg Ballet's annual Nijinsky Gala. Two solos that Yaroslav choreographed were awarded a diploma at the International Serge Lifar Competition.In July 2006, Yaroslav was invited back to the Musiktage in Hitzacker to create two new commissioned works. He choreographed two song cycles of Benjamin Britten, Illuminations and Serenade, for five dancers. The Ensemble Resonanz performed. November, 2006: ProMV commissioned Ivanenko for an evening of dance, including one new work.A group of dancers joined the musicians of the Concertino Ensemble in Rostock.Hamburg City Hall, June 7, 2007: The "Unassuming Sonata" had its premiere as an occasion piece to live music of Brahms."Invisible Grace" was premiered at a gala in Faro, Portugal on September 22, 2007
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