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 Tricia Albertson began her ballet training in Santa Cruz, CA, with Vicki Bergland
and Rebecca Bartlow. After attending several summer programs as a scholarship
student at the School of American Ballet in New York, she attended SAB as a full-
time student. In 1997, Ms. Albertson joined the Miami City Ballet. She has been
a principal dancer at MCB since 2006. Some of her favorite principal roles have
been in Giselle, Jerome Robbins' Dances at a Gathering and In the Night, and George
Balanchine's Ballet Imperial, Rubies, Square Dance, and The Nutcracker.
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 Maria Chapman is from St. Simons Island, Georgia, USA, and is currently a Principal Dancer with Pacific Northwest
Ballet, in Seattle, Washington, USA. She enjoys working with many choreographers including David Dawson,
Christopher Wheeldon, Benjamin Millepied, Kent Stowell, Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, Alexi Ratmansky, Jean-
Christophe Malliot, and Susan Stroman. Some of her favorite leading roles are in A Million Kisses to My Skin (Dawson), In the Middle Somewhat Elevated (Forsythe), Petite Mort (Kylian), After the Rain (Wheeldon), Dancing
on the Front Porch of Heaven (Dove), and Balanchine’s Emeralds, Diamonds, Concerto Boarocco, and Symphony
in C. Ms. Chapman studied ballet at Terpsichore, in Atlanta, and on scholarship at Boston Ballet School, Joffrey
Ballet School, Houston Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and the School of American Ballet.
Ms. Chapman danced in the BBC's film version of George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, filmed at
Sadler's Wells Theatre, and performed with PNB in Scotland, Istanbul, Australia, Hong Kong, Italy, New York,
and D.C.’s Kennedy Center . In addition to her performing career, Ms. Chapman is a founding member of Second
Stage for Dancers, PNB's career transition program. Ms. Chapman teaches and coaches ballet when she can and
worked with The George Balanchine Trust © to stage Serenade. Her image has appeared in advertising campaigns
including AT&T, FX, Bloch Dancewear, and MPG Sport clothing.
photography by Angela Sterling
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 Karen Pedersen Clapp began studying ballet at the age of six in New Orleans. While in New Orleans, Mrs. Clapp danced solo roles with Ballet Jeunesse and Loyola Ballet with Lelia Haller. She also danced in several operas and Mardi Gras balls. She received a full scholarship in ballet to Texas Christian University from which she graduated in 1975, magna cum laude. While at T.C.U., she became principal dancer with the Fort Worth Ballet. She directed the Preparatory Ballet Program at T.C.U. from 1976-1986. She co-directed the Schaffenburg Ballet Academy with her first husband, Fernando Schaffenburg, from 1975-May, 2000. Mrs. Clapp co-founded North Texas Ballet Theatre in 1990 and was Ballet Mistress and choreographer for that company for ten years. Throughout her career, Mrs. Clapp has been praised for her unique style and approach to teaching classical ballet, based on the Russian Maryinsky method. In July 2000, she became the Director of the School of Dance of the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center and Artistic Director of the Sangre de Cristo Ballet Theatre. Mrs. Clapp created eight original works for SBT during her tenure at the Arts Center as well as restaging many other works. She celebrated her 10th season of Nutcracker, the Ballet, in December 2009. She resigned her position with the Arts Center at the end of 2009 and now resides in Tampa, Florida with husband, Greg Clapp. She is a free-lance ballet teacher and choreographer.
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 César Rubio Degollado, a native of Mexico, has worked as a dancer with well known choreographers and has
done world renowned choreography by George Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, Paul Taylor and Ben Stevenson. He's
traveled as a performer to Amsterdam, Germany, London, Scotland, Mexico, Venezuela, Japan and Thailand as well
as throughout the United States. He worked with Ballet Tucson for seventeen seasons where his credits as a dancer
involved principal, soloist and corps de ballet roles. He shared the role of rehearsal assistant with Ballet Tucson, Ballet
Master for Ballet Tucson 2 and Ballet Tucson's Regisseure and Outreach Development Coordinator. César served
twelve years as faculty at Ballet Arts including ten years as faculty for Ballet Tucson Summer Dance Workshop.
As a teacher, he's taught throughout Arizona, California, Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia in the
States. He's been invited to teach in Mexico, Venezuela, Sweden, London, Finland, Denmark, Thailand and Japan.
César has personally coached male and female dancers that have gone to dance companies such as Milwaukee
Ballet, Houston Ballet, Nevada Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Dutch National Ballet.
Students have been selected to compete at the Youth America Grand Prix and for the Grand Prix de Lausanne, in
Switzerland; all three making it to the finals. Additionally, his students have been accepted to Julliard and Fordham
University with scholarships. In addition, his coaching has helped students get into national summer ballet programs
like Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre in New York, Austin Ballet, School of American Ballet,
San Francisco Ballet, Kirov Ballet (United States), Stuttgart Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, River North Dance
Chicago, Inaside Dance Company, Alvin Ailey, and Deborah Brockus Project Dance. Recently, one of his protégés
was accepted to Nederlands Dance Theater Summer Workshop in Amsterdam.
Mr. Degollado's choreography has been performed by Ballet Tucson, The University of Arizona School of Dance, A
Tucson Dance Company, Southern Arizona Dance Theatre, Tucson Metropolitan Dance Company, all in Arizona;
Nataraja Dance & Yoga, and DanceCenter both in Stockholm, Sweden; Ballet Neo-Clásico in Mexico City; Ballet El
Paso and Viva El Paso! An outdoor drama theatre in both in Texas; Up With People Asian Tour 2005; Suto Dance,
Megia and Kinst Dance Theatre, both in the east coast. César has spent eighteen years with the UA School of
Dance were he has performed extensively for the faculty and guest choreographers in addition to been rehearsal
assistant to faculty and guest artists such as Mia Michaels. He continues to choreograph independently on their
dance ensemble. His work has also been seen in international, national and local non-profit organizations.
Mr. Degollado has founded ConDanza, a Contemporary Repertoire Company and a Community Outreach Project
that originated in Stockholm, Sweden, officially moving operations to Tucson, AZ in 2009. His information is eclectic
and rooted in tradition. As his teaching technique, César's choreography method explores the differences in
movement quality, energy and rhythm that comes from an aesthetic idea, making his choreographic vision a blend of
contemporary and innovative dance styles with a more rational and physiological approach to the movement. "I have
learned to draw inspiration from all other art forms and find stimuli in the evolution of movement and fusion of styles.
The aesthetic vision of my movement would give the dancer a unique personality, characterized by the fluency,
physicality and poetry contained within the work set on dancers." César is excited to be a guest for the first time at
jAZZfEST 2012 and looks forward to working with the company in the future.
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 Former Cary Ballet Conservatory alumni Ashley Dikos is now the Showcase Director of THE PULSE - a touring dance convention featuring world renowned choreographers Mia Michaels, Brian Friedman, Wade Robson, Laurie Ann Gibson, Shane Sparks, Cris Judd & Dave Scott. After her CBC education, Ashley graduated University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where she majored in Biopsychology and was co-chair of Impact Dance, a self-choreographed dance group. Following college, she attended the Fall Internship Program at Broadway Dance Center in New York City where she now resides. Ashley has also worked with artists such as Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Vanessa Carlton, Enrique Iglesias and Bon Jovi.
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 Elizabeth Gaither, of Miami, Florida, is in her seventh season with The Washington Ballet after dancing with American Ballet Theatre for seven seasons. She began her ballet studies with her mother, Gloria Gaither, and received three years of high honors in the Royal Academy of Dance examinations. She continued her training at the Houston Ballet Academy, joining Houston Ballet at age 15, before moving on to Memphis Ballet. Ms. Gaither was a finalist at the 1990 Jackson International Ballet Competition and won the Amilita Hoffman Award. Ms. Gaither has performed numerous roles during her career including Zulma in Giselle, the pas de deux in Fancy Free; Blue Bird in Puss in Boots, Silver Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty; Clara, Snow Queen and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and cygnets in Swan Lake. She has also performed in George Balanchine's Theme and Variations, Symphony in C and Symphonie Concertant. Ms. Gaither has worked with renowned choreographers such as Mark Morris, Paul Taylor, Lar Lubovitch, Christopher Bruce, and Twyla Tharp. Her roles with The Washington Ballet have included Titania and Lover in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Swanilda in Coppélia, Giselle in Giselle, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Dark Angel in Serenade, and the Sylph in La Sylphide. While at TWB, she has also performed In In the Middle Somewhat Elevated, Jerome Robbins' In the Night, Nacho Duato's Na Floresta, Christopher Wheeldon's Morphoses and There Where She Loved, Septime Webre's Oui/Non and Juanita & Alicia, and Edwaard Liang's Wunderland. Her second passion is yoga, and she is now a certified teacher in vinyasa yoga. This year, Ms. Gaither became the proud wife of the love of her life, photographer Theo Kossenas.
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 Born in Brazil Mr. Gawriljuk was trained by his father Ruslan Gawriljuk, and also took the exams of the Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD) in London, England, where he graduated with honors in September 1986. Later that year he recieved the Gold Medal at the "Conselho Brasileiro de Danca" in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, was a Silver Medalist at the "seventh Concurso Internacional de Ballet" in Trujillo, Peru, and wong the first prize in 1994 at the, XII Festival de Danca in Joinville, Brazil. From 1988 through 1990 attended the School of American Ballet, New York, with a full scholarship.
Mr. Gawriljuk repertoire includes the classics, most of the Balanchine repertory, and contemporary works by today's leading choreographers.
As professional dancer Mr. Gawriljuk started his career in 1990 with Ballet Du Nord in France under the direction of Alfonso Cata. In 1991 he joined The Basel Ballet in Switzerland as a soloist, directed by Youri Vamos. Mr. Gawriljuk joined Miami City Ballet as a principal dancer from 1993-1998 and later in 1999 directed by Edward Villella. His special performances with MCB include tours to The Spoleto Festival, The Edinburgh Festival, The 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, The Kennedy Center, The Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Wolftrap's 25th anniversary and appeared at the gala The Next Step (Career Transition for Dancer in New York 1997). From 1998-1999 Mr. Gawriljuk moved to Pennsylvania to join The Pittsburgh Ballet Theater as a principal dancer, directed by Terrence S. Orr, where he excelled at interpreting many of the big classical ballets. In May 2000 through 2005 he joined Maximum Dance Company in South Florida as a principal dancer and where he also worked as a Ballet Master under the Artistic Direction of Yanis Pikieris and David Palmer, working with many international choreographers such as Daniel Rosseel, Jean Christophe Blavier, KT Nelson among others and in 2003-2004 he was nominated the best male dancer in South Florida by the Sun Post. From 2006 - 2009 he danced for Ballet Florida under the artistic direction of Marie Hale where he retired from his dancing career.
In the past few years Mr. Gawriljuk has been part of international dance projects such as Dolomytica in Europe and Casablanca The Dance in China, capturing the attention of the international press. He has also engaged in the field of choreography where he created pieces for Maximum Dance Company (Berimbau, Lacrimosa) and later choreographed for various Dance Schools and Institutes (Entre Dos, Solo ellas saben, Shadows, Thick as Thieves).
As Ballet Master he is part of the faculty at Palm Beach Ballet Center and is frequently invited as guest teacher in different schools around the country such as, Douglas Andersen School of Arts in Jacksonville FL, Ballet Pacifica in California, The School of Dulce Anaya in Jacksonville FL, Southern Dance Theater in Boynton Beach FL, Gulfshore Ballet in Fort Myers FL, as well as Ballet Ruslan in Sao Paulo Brazil, and most recently, Virginia School of the Arts. In the fall of 2009 Mr. Gawriljuk worked as guest ballet teacher at the UNCSA where he has been invited back this year, to be part of their summer program.
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 Born in Venezuela Ms. Gimenez started her ballet studies in 1982 at the Fanny Montiel School of Ballet in Caracas. Ms. Gimenez repertoire includes the classics, Balanchine, and contemporary works by today's leading choreographers.
Her professional career began at the age of fourteen with The National Ballet of Caracas under the Artistic Direction of Vicente Nebrada where she worked her way to a principal dancer performing many of the classics and Vicente Nebrada's repertoire and winning several awards like, Casa Del Artista, for her work as a classical ballerina and the Jose Felix Rivas medal from the Venezuelan Government for her outstanding artistic achievements.
In 1995 she moved to Miami Florida to join the Miami City Ballet as a principal dancer directed by Edward Villella. She has also worked for Maximum Dance Company under the direction of Yanis Pikieris and David Palmer. From 2006-2009 she danced for Ballet Florida under the artistic direction Marie Hale where she retired from her dancing career.
Some of the Ms. Gimenez special performances include tours to The Edinburgh Festival, The Kennedy Center Honors, The 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, Wolftrap's 25th Anniversary, appeared at the gala The Next Step (Career Transition for Dancer) in October 1997 in New York, international dance projects such as Dolomytica in Europe and Casablanca The Dance in China and guest artist appearances with different companies capturing the attention of the international press.
In 2001, 2002, and 2003 she was nominated the best female dancer in South Florida by the Sun Post. In the past few years she has given master classes around the Nation being invited by different schools such as Gulfshore Ballet in Fort Myers, Ballet Pacifica in California, The School of Dulce Anaya in Jacksonville, among others. Most recently Ms. Gimenez joined The Palm Beach Ballet Center faculty in West Palm Beach, and has been invited to teach the 2010 Summer program for the UNCSA.
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 Jeff Hancock was a founding member and principal dancer for Ricer North Chicago Dance Company from 1991-2001. He was Associate Director of Same Planet, Different World Dance Theater. He also danced for Hubbard STreet Dance Chicago, Dance Kaleidoscope, Jan Erkert and Dancers, Joe Goode Performance Group and others. He has appeared in 5 productions with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, most recently working with Wayne McGregor or Random Dance and Sir Peter Hall. Jeff is currently on faculty at Columbia College, Northwestern University and Lou Conte Dance Studio. He teaches Master classes nationally and internationally at Ballt Nurnberg, University of Arizona-Tucson, Ohio Northern University and others. His choreography has been set on River North Chicago Dance Co., Hubbard Street II, SPDW, Columbia College, Chicago's Next Dance Festival, the Edinburgh Festival and numerous regional companies. He was nominated for a Ruth Page Award for his dancing and choreography.
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 In her third season with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and originally from Huntington, WV, Miss Jones trained with the Huntington Dance Theatre and the RiverCities Dance Company in Greenup, KY. In 2007, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Point Park University with a B.A. in Dance. Over the past few summers she has worked for the West Virginia Governor's School of the Arts, and currently choreographs and teaches dance throughout Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. She was also a member of DCDC2.
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 Paunika Jones is a native of Miami, Florida. She is an alumna of New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida, where she studied ballet, modern, tap and jazz dance. She has trained under the direction of Suzanne Laliberté (Clark), Ursino Del Ville, Linda Rodgers Albritton, Yayi Vega, and Beatrice Laverne to name a few. She also studied at the Ailey School and the Dance Theatre of Harlem School's Summer Intensive Programs.
Ms. Jones was invited to join DTH's Dancing Through Barriers Ensemble in 1996 where she remained for two years until she was accepted into the professional company as an apprentice. From there she quickly ascended through the ranks to become a Principal Dancer. Ms. Jones has performed leading roles in John Taras's Firebird, George Balanchine's Serenade and Four Temperments, Geoffrey Holder's Dougla, Arthur Mitchell, Augustus van Heerden and Laveen Naidu's South African Suite, and Robert Garland's Return. She has worked with the legendary Donald McKayle, various representatives from the Balanchine Trust and Michael Smulin.
Ms. Jones' professional company experience include: Dance Theatre of Harlem, Oakland Ballet, Columbia City Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Collage Dance Collective, DeMa Dance Co. and Ballet Noir.
Ms. Jones rejoined the Dance Theatre of Harlem's Ensemble in 2007 as a fellow and featured dancer. Recently she is a Freelance Artist who is in the process of beginning her own dance and performance art company in New York City. She'd like to thank Ms. Suzanne Laliberté Clark for instilling within her the fundamental basics of classical ballet training, grace, patience and strength to begin and continue with her professional career as a ballerina and elegance of a woman. "I love you and am honored to come and teach as a guest teacher at Cary Conservatory!!"
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 Gretchen LaWall began her training here at Cary Ballet Conservatory and recently graduated with a B.F.A. from University of Arizona’s School of Dance on scholarship. While at the University of Arizona, Gretchen worked with guest teachers and choreographers including Ann Reinking, Gary Chryst and Walter Kennedy, in addition to performing renowned works by George Balanchine, Bella Lewitzky and Charles Weidman. Gretchen joined the River North Dance Chicago Company this season.
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 Jimmy Locust has lent his talents and toured with superstars Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, Quincy Jones and Debbie Allen. He has appeared on shows such as the Academy Awards, the Grammy Awards, MTV Video Music Awards in Atlanta, he was one of the head choreographers for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics with Kenny Ortega (Michael Jackson's This Is It). Mr. Locust was nominated for an American Choreography Award 2001 in the television category for his work on Warner Bros. hit show Nikki. Locust is founder and Director of Harmony Nation, an anti-bullying anti-hate educational program. Locust has been a studio owner, master teacher and choreographer in the Fairfield County area since 2003. Recently, Jimmy Locust returned from L.A. where he worked on the Justin Bieber Tour. To read more about Jimmy Locust, please visit www.JimmyLocust.com.
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 Mrs. Lopez studies began at home in Venezuela and continued through graduation at the San Francisco Ballet School on full scholarship. Her professional career as a dancer began in 1982. Dancing with Cleveland Ballet, and as soloist with the Deutsche Opera Berlin and the Deutsche Opera am Rhein in Dusseldorf. Five years later she became Prima Ballerina with the Miami City Ballet where she remained for seventeen successful years.
As a guest principal dancer she has performed for different Ballet companies as well as different Dance Festivals such as the Vail International Dance Festival, Spoleto Festival, Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, Wolf Trap Dance Festival, The Folger Shakespeare Library Festival, Aspen Dance Festival, Lyon Dance Festival, Saratoga Dance Festival and the Edinburgh Dance Festival, Regional Dance Festival, Venezuela and the World Dance Festival, among others.
She has performed leading roles in most of the classical repertoire including Giselle, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, Coppelia, la Fille Mal Gardee, Le Corsaire, Diana and Acteon, La Bayadere, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, among others. In the Balanchine repertoire leading roles in Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, The Prodigal Son, Theme and Variations, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Serenade, Apollo, Divertimento 15, Agon, Four Temperaments, Sylvia Pas de Deux, Allegro Brillante, Western Simphony, Bugaku, Stars and Stripes, La Source, Concerto Barroco, Raymonda Variations, Pas de Dix of Raymonda, and Who Cares?, among many others. During her years with the Miami City Ballet she originated many of the principal roles of the company repertoire such as, Carmen, Prokofiev Piano Concerto, La Casa de Bernarda Alba, D Simphony, Aria, Drone on the Open Fifth, Purple Bend, Concerto for la Donna and Tobiniana. She has performed leading roles in works by Bejart, Hans Van Manen, Jimmy Gamonet de los Heros, and Kenneth McMillan.
She has received much deserved National and International recognition from respected critics, being featured on the cover of many important Dance magazines including, Dance Magazine (1997), Pointe Magazine (2001) and Dancer Magazine (2004).
Her dedication and passion for her career earned her special awards such as the Orden Arturo Michelena in Venezuela, the Key of the City of Baton Rouge in Louisiana, the Proclamation of Miami-Dade County by Mayor Alex Penelas, the Proclamation of Hialeah by Mayor Raul Martinez, an special award for her contribution to the Arts in Naples, Florida and an special award from the Jackie Gleason Theatre for her outstanding contribution to the Arts in the city of Miami Beach.
She has performed for President Gerald Ford, President Bill Clinton and Ex-First Lady Hillary Clinton being invited afterwards to the White House, the Ex-Prime Minister of Israel Isaac Shamir and Princess Caroline of Monaco.
Since her retirement in 2004, Mrs. Lopez has worked as Ballet Mistress for the Miami City Ballet, Ballet Gamonet, Ballet de Monterrey and as guest touring Ballet Mistress with Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Ballet de Bordeaux and Ballet de Santiago.
In 2012, Mrs. Lopez became the Assistant Artistic Director of Gulfshore Ballet in Ft. Myers, Florida.
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 Jean-Philippe , grew up in the Basque region of France.
After receiving his degree in dance, he accepted scholarships to study
in some of Europe's most prestigious schools: MURDRA, Maurice Bejart's
school in Brussels, and John Cranko's school in Stuttgart.
At the invitation of David Howard, Jean-Philippe, came to America to
study at the David Howard Dance Center in New York City. It is there
that he quickly became good friends with Suzanne Laliberte' Clark, who,
then, directed the New Paltz School of Ballet and the Hudson Valley
Regional Ballet Theatre. For five years he worked with her, training
pre-professional dancers through the school and company while pursuing
his professional performing career.
Jean-Philippe has performed soloist roles with various companies
throughout the country, including Joffrey II, Los Angeles Classical
Ballet, Ballet Hispanico of New York, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
He has been recognized by the US government as an artist of
extraordinary abilities, and was granted a permanent resident status.
Malaty has since gone on to achieve great success as the director of
The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, with his partner Tom Mossbrucker. The
professional company is highly recognized throughout the country for
their impeccable foundation of young classically trained dancers,
masterfully presenting a diverse repertoire of contemporary and
innovative works by leading choreographers. Treasured by their western
US audiences, the company also remains in constant demand,
touring the United States.
Jean-Philippe has become a sought-after teacher and has taught master
classes and lectured on dance pedagogy across the country.
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 Martin is creator/director of the jazz and contemporary program at the Joffrey Ballet School and artistic director of Dorrell Martin LEON Contemporary Dance Group/NY formerly known as Dorrell Martin Dance Fusion. Martin was soloist for the national and international touring company "A Few Good Men Dancin" and has danced in shows such as Aida, West Side Story, Lion King and Swing. Martin has also performed with companies such as Arch Dance, Locke Contemporary Dance, Metropolitan Opera and Richard Rivera’s PHYSUAL just to name a few. He has performed in performance venues such as Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Joyce SoHo, Blaktino at BAAD in the Bronx, Riverside Theatre and American Dance Festival with some of New York's emerging choreographers. He has performed with recording artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Pink, Emma Bunton, Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna and Debra Cox.
A native Houston, He is former artistic director of Houston Metropolitan Dance Company. He received Honorable Mention for choreography at the World Jazz Congress in Washington D.C. In 2003, he founded Dorrell Martin Dance Fusion in Houston, TX. The company made its international debut performance in Veracruz, Mexico at the Festival Danza Cordoba. His dance training includes the Paul Taylor School, Feld Ballet, Houston Ballet, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, EDGE Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles, New York State Summer Intensive with the New York City Ballet and throughout Europe.
Working with notable choreographers such as Sean Curran, Daniel Ezralow, Kevin Wynn, Liz Imperio, Pattie Obey, Margo Sappington and Mat Eks among others, Martin has taken the experience of working with such great artists to explore and find his own voice in movement. Teacher, choreographer and director, Martin teaches jazz dance and contemporary dance thought-out the country and has set works on many dance companies and schools.
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 Maribel Modrono, a native of Cuba, was raised in Miami, Florida. Modrano trained at Ballet Etudes and the School of American Ballet as a scholarship student. She danced with the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet and was then invited by Edward Villella to join the Miami City Ballet. She has been favored to dance leading roles in Balanchine ballets including Jewels, Apollo, Square Dance, The Four Temperaments and Concerto Barocco. Maribel joined PBT in 1997 and received acclaim for her portrayals in Swan Lake as Odette/Odile, Madame Butterfly, Don Quixote as Kitri and Aurora in Sleeping Beauty and as "Marie" in Terrence S. Orr's production of The Nutcracker.
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 Before becoming a principal company member of Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Eddy Ocampo has worked with some of Chicago's premiere dance companies such as the Joel Hall Dancers and River North Chicago Dance Company. He has also made guest appearances with the Kalamazoo Ballet, Augusta Opera, Cerqua Rivera Art Experience, Terpsichore Dancers, LaJazz Dance as well as appeared in many television and film cameos. Eddy danced as principal company member with GJDC from 1994 – 2000, served as faculty member from 1996-2005, as well as served as school director of the Giordano Dance Center, the director of Giordano II and the director of the Giordano Merit Scholarship program from 2000 – 2003. Eddy made choreography and guest teaching his full time career and focus in 2006. As a master teacher, Eddy has taught in Europe, Mexico, Canada, Turkey, the Russian Republic and throughout the U.S. He is also the founding artistic director the American Jazz Dance Festival-New Generation in the Russian Republic and continues to travel to Russia yearly to spread his passion of jazz dance to many who may have never been exposed to the art form. As a choreographer, Mr. Ocampo's works can be seen on such companies as Houston Metropolitan Dance Company, Odyssey Dance Theatre (Salt Lake City, UT), Kannon Dance (St. Petersburg, Russia), Lisa Clark Dancers (San Francisco, CA), Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Thodos Dance Chicago, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble and many regional ballet companies across the U.S. He has worked with recording artists Josie Aeillo, Suzanne Palmer and London-based recording artist, Affe Adel. Eddy received the Dance Chicago 2004 Outstanding Choreography Award as well as the Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation Choreography Award for Dance Chicago in 2005 and 2007. He is the first recipient in the history of the Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation to have ever received this honor twice. Mr. Ocampo has been featured in the June 2005 issue of Dance Teacher Magazine as well as named one of the best jazz dance teachers in the country by Dance Spirit Magazine. In the December 2005 issue of Chicago Magazine, Eddy was featured as an up and coming choreographer and in November 2005. In 2005, Mr. Ocampo was honored as Filipino American of the Year by the Filipino Association of America. Eddy Ocampo directs a non-profit youth organization in Libertyville, IL, Forum Jazz Dance Theatre, and currently resides in Chicago, IL.
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 Shannon Parsley, a native Texan, is currently a Ballet Mistress with Boston Ballet after having taught in the school and performed as a dancer in the Company. She began her dancing career with the Fort Worth Ballet, followed by the Miami City Ballet where she was promoted to soloist in 2001. Ms. Parsley joined Boston Ballet in 2002 while continuing to dance as a soloist with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet. Some of her many principal and soloist roles include Balanchine's Emeralds, Who Cares?, Agon, Duo Concertant, La Source, Divertimento #15, Apollo and the revival of Divertimento Brillante. In addition to Ms. Parsley's vast Balanchine repertoire, she has also performed works by Sir Frederick Ashton, Paul Taylor, Mark Morris, Marius Petipa, and Rudolph Nureyev (Giselle, Myrta). In 2004, she danced at the Kennedy Center Honors in recognition of Suzanne Farrell. She has also appeared as a guest artist with Angel Corella in Cadiz, Spain. In 2005, Ms. Parsley traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet to dance leading roles in Balanchine's Don Quixote, as well as stage the children in the production. She was invited by the Balanchine Trust to stage Serenade for the North Carolina School of the Arts. Ms. Parsley has also assisted on the staging of the children for the 2006-2007 Boston Ballet production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and the staging for the 2007-2008 Boston Ballet production of Concerto Barocco.
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 Miguel is a free lance dancer in LA with television credits ranging from "Jimmy Kimmel Live" to "So You Think You Can Dance" to "MS. USA". He has been part of River North Chicago Dance Company, Hubbard Street 2, as well as, Lumanario Dance Company and BodyTraffic. He has done commercial work on Celine Dion's "Taking Chances World Tour" and "A New Day" in Vegas. He worked on "Viva Elvis" for Cirque du Soliel and is currently on staff teaching the Cirque Du Soleil show IRIS. He is trained in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Hip Hop, Flamenco, Folklorico, African, Swing, Ballroom, Salsa, Improv and teaches all over the US.
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 Matthew Prescott, born and raised in Idaho, graduated high school from Interlochen Arts Academy and attended the inaugural year of the Joffrey/New School University in New York City. In 2000, he was invited to join the Joffrey Ballet. Mr. Prescott has also worked with Donald Byrd's Spectrum Dance Theater, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet, Ballet NY, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Amanda Miller, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, The Alabama Ballet, Armitage Gone! Dance, Ballet X, and is featured in Robert Altman's film The Company. Matthew has choreographed works performed by Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Chamber Dance Project.
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 Susan Quinn trained under the famed Gus Giordano, becoming a Faculty member, Principal Dancer with Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago and later it's Associate Artistic Director. Susan owned a professional school and became founding co-director of First City Dance Theatre, the only jazz company funded by the state if Florida. Her choreography opened the 1st Jazz Dance World
Congress in Chicago, her Oriental flavored jazz work, FANtasy, was televised by Japan's largest station, NHK Television. Invited to be the first jazz choreographer of the festival Cours des Capucins in Luxemburg, Susan's choreography has been performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. to the Amsterdam School of the Arts in Amsterdam, Holland.
Her Spanish flavored Sabor a Mi was performed at the 1998 International Jazz Dance World Congress. Susan's work, Texas Canyon won a choreographer's award at the National Association of Regional Ballet. and will be submitted in the dance archives, The Craft of Choreography. The adjudicator's from N.A.R.B. chose Texas Canyon to be performed at the 1998 International Ballet Festival in Jackson, Mississippi. In the Summer of 2000, Susan was invited to teach master classes in jazz and lyrical dance techniques in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her award winning peice, St. Teresa was performed at the prestigious "Kings's Theatre". A Master Teacher for D.M.A and D.E.A, she is the director of the 10th Annual Arizona Jazz Dance Showcase, with former guest artists Joe Tremaine, Sherry Zunker-Dow, and Mia Michaels. Along with Michael Williams, Susan was honored with the 2005 Jazz Dance Congress Award for her contributions in jazz dance.
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 An accomplished dancer, choreographer and teacher, Jerry Rose is the artistic director of the Beckley Dance Theatre and director of the Dance Theatre School. His performance credits include Ballet Cirque, Charleston Ballet, Qwindo’s Window, Appalachian Dance and Music Ensemble, Kismet, Jerry Rose Dance Ensemble, Honey in the Rock, Dirty Dancing, and numerous other ballets, exhibitions, and demonstrations.
He has served as an adjudicator for many prestigious competitions and his master classes have been enjoyed by thousands of dancers throughout the US, Russia and Canada. During the summer months, he teaches dance classes across the United States with Dance Caravan, USA.
Rose’s career in dance has spanned a lifetime, during which he shared his passion for music and movement with generations of aspiring dancers.
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 Mariaelena Ruiz has been a faculty member and rehearsal coach at The Rock School for Dance Education since 2000. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Mariaelena began her early studies at the Academia Ballet Clasico Nina Novak. At 14, she became the youngest member of the Ballet Nacional de Caracas, under the direction of Vicente Nebrada, with whom she toured South America and Europe, dancing soloist and principal roles. At 15, she won 3rd place at The USA International Ballet Competition, junior division, in Jackson, and received a full scholarship to continue her studies at the School of American Ballet. She also won 3rd place and Best Couple Award at the Varna International Ballet Competition, and the Prix Volinine in Paris, France. She has danced principal roles with Bay Ballet Theater, Cleveland San Jose Ballet, Carolina Ballet Theater, Ballet Hispanico, and has been a guest artist for many companies in the US and abroad. Mariaelena has been a member of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet since 2001, where she performs Balanchine repertoire and has also assisted with staging and rehearsals. She has been a judge and guest teacher for Youth America Grand Prix and is also very involved with the New York International Ballet Competition. Mariaelena has trained dancers that have won International Ballet competitions in Moscow , Jackson , New York etc., she has been the Ballet Mistress and primary teacher of the competition dancers and all of the conservatory dancers since 2004.
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 Tom Shoemaker was a principal dancer with companies including the Atlanta Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Augusta Ballet, and Charleston Ballet Theatre in a professional career that spanned 25 years. As a guest artist, he has worked with numerous dance and theatre companies throughout the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Shoemaker also served as ballet master for the Augusta ballet from 2001-2004. As a teacher, he has worked with students in high schools, performing arts schools, and colleges and at numerous summer programs and festivals throughout the southeastern United States. He received his training, starting at the age of 10, from Tommy Armour, Robert Pike and Judith Newman, in his hometown of Miami, Florida. Mr. Shoemaker now resides in Nashville, where he is currently teaching and choreographing for the Vanderbilt University Dance Program and is Artistic Director of Vanderbilt Dance Theatre. He has also been on faculty with MTSU Dance Program, APSU Dance Program and the Tennessee Governors School for the Arts Summer Program, and he also serves as Associate Artistic Director for StillPoint Dance Theatre.
In May 2009, Shoemaker's ballet, just let go, was awarded "Best Ballet" at the Panoply Choreographic Competition, and he was again honored with the same award in 2010 for his work, vs. His ballet, Foreverly, (based on the lives of the Everly Brothers) was awarded "Best Live Performance of 2005" by the Augusta Chronicle. In 2006, Thomas created his first children's ballet, an original adaptation of The Princess and the Pea and followed that up with The Ugly Duckling in 2008.
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 Annalisia began her first ballet class at the age of 8 where it was love at first sight. By the age of 10 she wanted even more and added jazz and tap to her dance vocabulary, but most importantly she discovered her love for teaching. While assisting teachers every Saturday morning at The Dancexchange in Miami, Florida she began to fall deeper and deeper in love with teaching and by 15 she received her first class. Throughout her teenage years people noticed her passion and determination from a young age. By the time of her high school graduation from the prestigious New World School of the Arts in Miami, she received full scholarships to Joffery Ballet, Henry Le Tang School of Tap, Broadway Dance Center, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. She also received full academic scholarships to Florida International University, Florida State University, and Suny Purchase in New York. Three years later, at only 21 Annalisia received her B.F.A. in Dance Education from Florida International University. Two weeks later she decided it was time to make the big move to Hollywood.
After two weeks of moving to Los Angles, Annalisia booked her first of 7 world tours to come with The Backstreet Boys Tour and Willa Ford. From that point on the ball never stopped rolling. She has performed with Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown, Usher, Omarion, Jessica Simpson, Nelly, and P.Diddy to name a few. You can catch her on every award show from American Music Awards to MTV's Video Music Awards where she was blessed to share the stage with The King of Pop the late Michael Jackson. You can find her in commercials such as Target, Visa, talk shows such as Jay Leno, David Letterman, and movies such as Idlewild and Fat Albert. Annalisia has traveled the world and back again but her passion for the love of teaching never died.
In 2007 Annalisia opened The Basement Dance Center of NoHo in North Hollywood, California where she is the artistic director. She teaches ballet, pointe, tap, modern, contemporary, acro, and hip hop. She loves her students so much and teaches them that anything you want in life you can achieve if you truly believe.
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 Richard Smith is the Artistic Director of Inaside Chicago Dance Company. Heis also currently on faculty at Joel Hall Dance Center and The Giordano Dance Center as well as being a jazz instructor for Cerqua Rivera Dance Company. He has been on Faculty at the Giordano Dance Center in years past and is still affiliated with Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago as well as River North Chicago Dance Company. He attended East Carolina University in North Carolina where he worked with Mia Michaels, Mark Dendy, Katiti King and Frank Chaves, Alan Arnett and Tommi Overcash-Galaska. After college Smith moved to Chicago to train with GJDC. He has since had the opportunity to work with great teachers and choreographers including the late Gus Giordano, Randy Duncan, Sherry Zunker, Elijah Gibson and Eddy Ocampo. He has had the privilege to perform in Dance For Life and Dance Chicago multiple times as well as numerous other performance venues including the Goodman Theater and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Smith has appeared in the commercials for "The Wedding Singer" National Tour and Phillips Magnavox. He has performed on stage with pop artists Kim English, Pat Hodge, Barbara Moran and Byron Stingly. He had the privilege of working with Sir Elton John on this last tour to Chicago. Smith is a teacher of all ages for several workshops and private studios in the Chicagoland area. He is a regional and national adjudicator and teacher for Applause Talent Presentations in addition to teaching and choreographing for workshops and companies across the country. Smith is the Assistant Director of Forum Jazz Dance Theatre, winner of the 2007 Leo's Gold Shoe Award at Jazz Dance World Congress.
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 Kim Sonderegger trained in New York City at the Joffrey and American Ballet Theatre schools, with Ben Stevenson at Houston Ballet, Marjorie Mussman, and other noted teachers. She was associated with Ballet Arizona for 20 years, first as a dancer, performing soloist and corps roles, and later as a teacher and administrator. During her tenure at Ballet Arizona, Ms. Sonderegger directed the dance program at Arizona School for the Arts. As a faculty member in the College of Fine Arts at Arizona State University, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in ballet and related subjects for four years. In 2008, Ms. Sonderegger joined the faculty of Miami City Ballet School, where she teaches and choreographs for school performances. She has taught ballet in Asia and South America. Ms. Sonderegger holds a Master's degree in Anthropology from Arizona State University, where she graduated summa cum laude, specializing in the archaeology of the American Southwest.
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 Born in Santiago, Chile, to former dancers, Ernst Uthoff and Lola Botka of the Jooss Ballet and founders of the Chilean National Ballet, Michael Uthoff started dancing after graduating from high school. He entered the School of Dance of the University of Chile and a year later arrived in New York City with a Rockefeller Foundation Scholarship to attend Julliard School of Music, The School of American Ballet and Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance.
His talents flourished rapidly and eighteen months later, he joined the José Limón Dance Company, touring the United States. After being spotted by Robert Joffrey, Uthoff was asked to join The Joffrey Ballet and in just four years rose to principal dancer, performing the leads in works by Joffrey, Kurt Jooss, Gerald Arpino, Anna Sokolow, Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine, and many others.
Uthoff choreographed his first work for The Joffrey Ballet in 1967 and since then, his ballets have been seen all over the world. They are in the repertory of The Joffrey Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Ballet Arizona, California Ballet, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Honolulu Ballet Theatre, Chilean National Ballet, Ballet SODRE of Uruguay, Ballet Nacional of Guatemala, Ballet Clasico 70 of Mexico, Cia. Nacional of Mexico, Shanghai Ballet in China, The Juilliard Dance Ensemble, the New World School of the Arts, and various colleges and universities. Uthoff has also choreographed for opera companies internationally, several commercials, and has appeared on television as a dancer himself.
Early in his career, Uthoff joined the First Chamber Dance Company of New York under the direction of Charles Bennett as assistant director/choreographer. Subsequently, Uthoff accepted a teaching position at SUNY Purchase and at the same time moved to Hartford, Conn., to establish the Hartford Ballet. For 20 years he developed the Hartford Ballet into a national institution that toured extensively throughout the US. During this period Uthoff was also a guest teacher across the country, and a body movement lecturer at the Yale University Opera Department. Following that, in 1992 Uthoff accepted the position of artistic director at Ballet Arizona. The next year, Uthoff hired Kee Huan Han to develop and run the Arizona Ballet School, affiliate of Ballet Arizona, which is presently the leading dance school in the entire state of Arizona.
He is presently acting as artistic advisor to the Dance Now Ensemble in Miami, Florida; California Ballet in San Diego, California; and serves as artistic advisor to the Dance Festival at Montecarmelo in Santiago, Chile. Uthoff continues guest teaching and choreographing throughout the United States and abroad, including the National High School Dance Festival; Portland Opera Performing Institute, Interlochen; and New World School for the Arts in Miami, Florida. In 2003 he developed in partnership with New World School of the Arts of Miami, Florida, the Michael Uthoff DanceTheatre, which premiered in the spring of 2003. In early 2006 he accepted the position of Artistic & Executive Director of Dance St. Louis
In 2010, Uthoff received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He holds an honorary laureate degree from Saint Joseph College in Hartford. In October 2007, he received the Chilean North American Institute's Distincción Ernst Uthoff Award for his distinguished 40-year career and outstanding contributions to dance. In January 2013 he received the Arts & Education Award in St. Louis for an incredible career in the arts.
Uthoff is the father of Michelle UthoffCampbell and the proud grandfather of Owen and Ivy Campbell. He resides in the Benton Park neighborhood of St. Louis with his partner Flor Hernandez.
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 Alex Wong was born in Canada and began training in tap and jazz traning at the age of seven. Soon after, he began to study ballet with the Goh Ballet Academy in Vancouver, Canada. In 2000, Alex won two Junior World Titles in Tap and Showdance. In 2003, he was awarded the Royal Academy of Dancing Solo Seal, the Audience Choice Award and was a Bronze Medallist in the 2003 Genee International Ballet Competition. And in 2004, he became the first Canadian to win the Prix de Lausanne Apprentice Scholarship, and later that year joined the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company.
In 2005, Alex danced briefly with American Ballet Theatre before joining Miami City Ballet where he danced with our own Ballet Mistress Deanna Seay. In early 2007, Alex was promoted to the rank of soloist at MCB.
Alex's repertoire of leading roles include Balanchine's Symphony In Three Movements, Agon, Western Symphony, The Nutcracker, Twyla Tharp's Push Comes to Shove, In the Upper Room, The Golden Section, Mark Morris' Silhouettes, Edward Villela's Don Quxiote, Paul Taylor's Funny Papers, Bournonville's Conservatory, Stephen Mills' Hush, Anton Dolin's Variations for Four and La Fille Mal Gardee.
In 2009, Alex chose to audition for the FOX dance series, "So You Think You Can Dance." He was chosen as a finalist but withdrew due to contractual issues with the Miami City Ballet. He returned to audition for season 7 of SYTYCD where he once again was selected as a finalist.
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