August 12, 13, 14 - Anaheim Ballet

ANAHEIM BALLET and CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY
in association with YOUTH AMERICA GRAND PRIX present
ANAHEIM INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL 2011
August 12, 13, 14
Photo by Martin Levinne

CONTENT
Welcome from the Mayor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Welcome from AIDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Presenters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Schedule of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Award Recipients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Week-long Dance Exhibit – Anaheim MUZEO . . . . 7
Dance on Film – Mao’s Last Dancer . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Gala Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Stars of Tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Aspiring Dancers Workshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Dancers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Master Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Thank You. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
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August 12, 2011
Welcome to the City of Anaheim!
City of AnAheim
Mayor ToM TaiT
It is a distinct pleasure to welcome everyone to the
Anaheim International Dance Festival 2011 being
presented by the Anaheim Ballet, Chapman University and
in association with the Youth America Grand Prix. I am
very proud that Anaheim is hosting a festival that is
exclusively focused on ballet and how it transforms
passionate dancers into versatile artists.
This is an opportunity to see and learn how dancers develop their unique talents
through this incredible beautiful art form. They inspire others by their vision,
creativity and artistic interpretation of musical compositions. They enrich the
community by sharing with us all this remarkable world of dance. Ballet has a
long and rich tradition of artistic excellence, and the Festival gives rise to young
talent who will entertain and delight audiences for years to come with their
ambitious and sophisticated renditions of great works.
I applaud their contributions to the quality of life in Anaheim with their energy
and uncompromising dedication and commitment to ballet. Congratulations
to everyone involved in the Anaheim International Dance Festival. This will be
a truly memorable experience, and I extend my sincere best wishes for
continued success.
Best wishes,
Tom Tait
Mayor
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Welcome to the Anaheim International Dance Festival 2011!
With great pleasure Anaheim Ballet and Chapman University, in Association with Youth America
Grand Prix, are pleased to present the second annual Anaheim International Dance Festival.
It has been a wonderful year for Anaheim Ballet and the arts in Anaheim. Our signature online series
“Anaheim Ballet: More Than Dance…” has now received over 36 million visits to its site, and our new
mayor, Tom Tait, has unofficially though resolutely declared our beautiful city to be arts friendly.
We know you’ll enjoy tonight’s performance whether you’re a first-time theater-goer or a
seasoned dance enthusiast. Perhaps you were intrigued by this season’s “So You Think You Can Dance”
or maybe you were transported by the sheer beauty of a recent ballet performance. Athleticism,
passion, beauty and teamwork speak to us all; dance is a universal language. And tonight, you’re sure
to be moved by that language as you watch Sleeping Beauty and her Prince at their wedding or the
beautiful classic forms revitalized in the contemporary Caravaggio.
An amazing team of artists has converged again from around the world uniting in Anaheim for an
evening of unrivaled entertainment. The dancers this evening represent diverse companies: American
Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, San Francisco Ballet,
Orlando Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, Stuttgart Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Prague State Opera and
Ballet and Anaheim Ballet. Despite different dance disciplines and geographical bases, all of our
performers have come together this evening with common goals… to entertain, inspire, and remind us of
our universal humanity.
“To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak.” ~Hopi Indian saying
Lawrence Rosenberg
AIDF
*in support of Anaheim Ballet
* * *
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WELCOME
AIDF is dedicated to
bringing arts supporters
together, cultivating
new audiences via an
immersion experience
into the world of dance,
and gathering the most
highly talented
international artists to
share and develop
their art form.
IMPRESARIO
COMMITTEE
Julie Tait
Honorary Chairperson
Delia Cabo
Ashley Duree
Liz Ericsen
Lorri Galloway
Rhonda Hedtke
Lore Lapinsky
Erin Longhofer
Luis Mateos
Dale Merrill
Lawrence Rosenberg
Sarma Lapenieks Rosenberg
Mishal Montgomery
Denny Newell
Rayell Segerstrom
Kathy Vargas
Jacque Lollie Walker
Cathy Wills
Sara Windal

PRESENTERS
ANAHEIM BALLET’s, directed by Lawrence and Sarma
Lapenieks Rosenberg, mission is to enlighten and entertain
audiences with classically rooted programming and
contemporary presentation. AB provides quality
performances to audiences of balletomanes as well as novice
ballet-goers and acts as a haven to talented Southern
California artists and as a magnet to international talents.
Anaheim Ballet and Chapman University,
in association with Youth America Grand Prix
Anaheim Ballet’s Educational Outreach and
Lawrence & Sarma Rosenberg AB partners with numerous organizations including
Scholarship program STEP-UP! is committed to the
Directors
the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the Orange County
promotion of classical ballet and providing its numerous benefits to Philharmonic Society, the Boys and Girls Club, Bruno Serato’s
those otherwise not able to receive them.
Caterina’s Girls Club, Fairmont Schools, the Mayor’s Gift of
Anaheim Ballet is the city’s resident ballet company with three History, the Anaheim Children’s Festival and many charities
distinct components: a professional performing company, an throughout Orange County.
academy, and a no-cost community outreach program for
Anaheim Ballet is the recipient of the Arts Orange County
underserved youth.
Outstanding Arts Organization Award and the Samueli Big Heart
AB presents concert performances throughout Southern
California and on tour in Laughlin and Las Vegas, Nevada. The
Award. AB’s alumni are currently dancing around the globe!
The CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY
Department of Dance, under the
direction of Dale Merrill, Acting Dean of the College of Performing
Arts recently received accreditation from the National Association of
Schools of Dance. The department mission is to develop wellrounded
and versatile independent artists to excel in careers of
teaching, choreography and performance of dance. As dance majors
at Chapman, students participate in a strong professional training
program with high quality productions while still enjoying the
benefits of a small university. The Department of Dance has 100
YOUTH AMERICA GRAND PRIX (YAGP) is
the world’s largest international student ballet
scholarship competition held annually around
the world and in New York City.
Founded by two former dancers of the worldrenowned
Bolshoi Ballet, Larissa and Gennadi Saveliev, YAGP
provides extraordinary educational and professional opportunities
to young dancers, including:
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company also performs for thousand of students annually
at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, at the Cerritos
Center for the Performing Arts and at public schools
throughout Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange counties.
AB dancers are seen regularly on the internet series
“Anaheim Ballet: More Than Dance...” a global podcast,
which has accrued over 36 million visits to date!
active majors, 30 minors and produces five mainstage productions
every year.
Alumni of the Department of Dance can currently be found in
the Los Angeles and touring companies of Wicked. A recent
Chapman graduate was featured in the film Dreamgirls, two can be
seen in the film adaptation of the musical Hairspray and two others
were national favorites on the series “So You Think You Can
Dance”. Choreography by Chapman alumni may be seen around
the country, from Disneyland to the Academy Awards!
• Opportunity to receive contracts to dance companies worldwide
• Scholarships to leading dance schools in the U.S. and abroad
• Performance opportunities on some of the world’s most
prestigious stages and at dance festivals around the world
Over 200 YAGP alumni are now dancing with 50 companies
around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, New York
City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Houston Ballet, and San Francisco
Ballet, among others.

OPENING CEREMONY
Friday | August 12 | 6:30 p.m.
Dodge College of Film and Media Arts Courtyard
Chapman University
Join dignitaries, dancers and dance fans as they kick off the opening of AIDF! Free!
DANCE ON FILM
Friday | August 12 | 7:00 p.m.
Folino Theater | Chapman University
Mao’s Last Dancer, directed by Bruce Beresford [director of Driving Miss Daisy]. A
quest for freedom and the courage it takes to live your own life: the struggles,
triumphs, intoxication of first love and celebrity life amid pain of exile. Q&A with
legendary former Houston Ballet Artistic Director Ben Stevenson, currently Texas
Ballet Theater Artistic Director, who helped set Li Cunxin’s true-life adventure in
motion … reception follows at Chapman University’s Partridge Dance Center.
$20 children & student ID | $30 general | www.ticketweb.com (search AIDF) or at the door
GALA PERFORMANCE
Saturday | August 13 | 8:00 p.m. - Dinner 6:00 p.m.
City National Grove of Anaheim
Ballet’s International Superstars! Special guests, dancers from American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Houston Ballet, Japan,
Germany, and more. Featuring Alvin Ailey’s Clifton Brown, ABT’s Michele Wiles, and NYCB’s Charles Askegard! Featuring both
classical and cutting edge performances!
Tickets only: $20-$100 | Pre-performance Dinner, Tier 1 Ticket, & Reception w/commemorative gift $250
www.ticketmaster.com, by phone: 714 712-2700 or at Grove Box Office
STARS OF TOMORROW PERFORMANCE
Sunday | August 14 | 3:30 p.m.
Waltmar Theatre | Chapman University
Showcasing the future of dance from LA’s Spotlight Awards, YAGP, and more! Special guests plus
announcement of AIDF Scholarship Award!
$20 children & student ID | $30 general | www.ticketweb.com (search AIDF) or at the door
ASPIRING DANCERS WORKSHOPS
Saturday & Sunday | August 13 & 14 | 10:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Partridge Dance Center Studios | Chapman University
Selected students ages 10-22 from Southern California dance schools, universities and
college dance departments training with the top coaches in the dance world!
WEEKLONG DANCE EXHIBIT
Monday-Sunday | August 8-14
Anaheim MUZEO
Tutus, dance artifacts, and photos of dance legends capture the magic of dance! Featuring photos
by Donald Bradburn former west coast Dancemagazine editor.
Photos: (top) Misty Copeland & Sascha Radetsky,
(bottom) Drew Jacoby & Rubinald Pronk - AIDF 2010
Photos by Todd Lechtick
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SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

AWARD RECIPIENTS
Lifetime Achievement Award: Ben Stevenson, O.B.E.
Artistic Director, Texas Ballet Theater
For his contributions to the world of international
dance, Mr. Stevenson was named an Officer of the
Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) by Queen
Elizabeth II in the New Year’s Honors List in
December 1999. He has received numerous awards
for his choreography including three Gold medals at
the International Ballet Competitions of 1972, 1982,
and 1986. In April 2000, he was presented with the
Dance Magazine Award, one of the most prestigious
honors on the American dance scene. In 2005, he was
awarded the Texas Medal of Arts.
The English National Ballet asked Mr. Stevenson to
stage his first, and highly successful, production of
The Sleeping Beauty in 1967, which starred dance
legend Margot Fonteyn. In 1968, Rebekah Harkness
invited him to New York to direct the newly formed
Harkness Ballet. After choreographing Cinderella in
1970 for the National Ballet in Washington, D.C., he
joined the company in 1971 as Co-Artistic Director
with Frederic Franklin. That same year he staged a
new production of The Sleeping Beauty in celebration
of the inaugural season of The John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts.
Lifetime Achievement Award: Jillana
Director, The Jillana School
Jillana received a scholarship at the School of
American Ballet at age 11, where she was trained by
George Balanchine. She was asked by Mr. Balanchine
to join the New York City Ballet one year later and did
her first performance with the Company on her
thirteenth birthday. She rose directly to Principal and
performed with the company for 20 years. Ballets
choreographed for Jillana by Balanchine include:
Liebeslieder Walzer, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and
Don Quixote. Her repertoire includes the greatest
Balanchine works such as Serenade, Swan Lake,
Symphony in C, Nutcracker, Four Temperaments, Stars
and Stripes, Apollo, and Prodigal Son and in ballets
choreographed by Jerome Robbins, Frederick Ashton,
Anthony Tudor, John Cranko, Todd Bolender and John
Taras. She has also appeared as guest artist with other
major ballet companies including American Ballet
Theatre and National Ballet of Washington. Jillana’s
television appearances included the “Tribute to
Balanchine”, “Bell Telephone Hour”, “Show of Shows”,
“Red Skelton Show” and “Noah and the Flood”, which
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In 1976 Mr. Stevenson was appointed the Artistic
Director for Houston Ballet. For twenty-seven years
Mr. Stevenson nurtured the company from a small
provincial ensemble to one of the nation’s largest
dance companies that has performed to critical
acclaim throughout the world. He developed Houston
Ballet’s repertoire by acquiring the works of the
world’s most respected choreographers,
commissioning new works, staging the classics and
choreographing original works.
Mr. Stevenson has almost annually traveled to
China on behalf of the United States government
as part of a cultural exchange program at the
invitation of the Chinese government to teach at
the Beijing Dance Academy and introduce Western
dance forms including jazz and modern dance, to
their students. Mr. Stevenson is the only foreigner to
have been made an Honorary Faculty Member at both
the Beijing Dance Academy and the Shenyang
Conservatory of Music. His broadening of cultural
exchange has been immortalized in Bruce Beresford’s
film Mao’s Last Dancer.
was choreographed for her by George Balanchine.
Her strong presence and extended line created many
memorable performances of some of the twentieth
centuries greatest works with such partners as Jacques
d’Amboise, Edward Villella, Arthur Mitchell, Jerome
Robbins, Todd Bolender, Conrad Ludlow, Kent Stowell,
André Eglevsky, Eric Bruhn and Rudolf Nureyev.
Her love for inspiring and training aspiring young
artists brought her to such endeavors as representing
the School of American Ballet’s Ford Foundation
Scholarship program for 10 years, teaching at the
School of American Ballet and Joffrey Ballet School as
well as company classes for the New York City Ballet,
Ballet West and the Paris Opera Ballet.
Jillana currently shares her legacy by coaching and
staging Balanchine ballets around the world. She is
the Director of the Jillana School and besides
directing her school she is the mother of two, William
and Ana, and with her husband Alan, Jillana resides in
Southern California.

Week-long Dance Exhibit at Anaheim MUZEO
The week-long dance exhibit at the
Anaheim MUZEO features tutus, dance
artifacts, and photos of dance legends that
capture the magic of
dance! Featuring photos
by Donald Bradburn,
former west coast
Dancemagazine editor. A dancer and
choreographer by profession and an
artist by training, Mr. Bradburn has
captured timely, transitory and
intimate moments in his
photographs of legendary dancers
and companies over the past 30
years. Mr. Bradburn and his camera
have painted a detailed portrait of the
Dance on Film – Mao’s Last Dancer
From Academy Award nominees Bruce
Beresford (director, Tender Mercies, Driving
Miss Daisy), Jane Scott (producer, Shine) and
Jan Sardi (screenwriter, Shine, The Notebook)
comes the remarkable true story of ballet
dancer Li Cunxin. Mao’s Last Dancer stars
Chi Cao, a gifted dancer and principal at the
Birmingham Royal Ballet making his
impressive screen debut as Li. The cast is
rounded out by Bruce Greenwood, Kyle
MacLachlan, Joan Chen and Amanda
Schull. Based on Li’s best selling
autobiography, Mao’s Last Dancer is the epic
story of a young poverty stricken boy from
China and his inspirational journey to
international stardom. The story begins when a young
Li is taken from his peasant home by the Chinese
government and chosen to study ballet in Beijing.
Separated from his family and enduring countless
Jillana’ s original Serenade costume [seen
here] on display at Anaheim MUZEO
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EVENTS
dance world, from explosive action on stage to quiet
moments backstage. His keen knowledge of
choreography and his eye for excellence are revealed with
stunning effect in this unique and
valuable collection of rarely seen
photographs. His dance
photography encompasses
superstars such as Mikhail
Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev,
Natalia Makarova, and renowned
companies such as the Bolshoi
Ballet, American Ballet Theatre,
and New York City Ballet.
Monday-Sunday
August 8-14
The MUZEO, Southern California’s newest museum, a center for arts, knowledge, entertainment and culture, engages people of
all ages via the showcases of prestigious and world-class traveling exhibits. A new model for urban cultural centers the MUZEO
will features a unique variety of changing exhibitions, special events, lectures, classes and weekend festivals. The 25,000 square foot
MUZEO complex encompasses Anaheim’s original Carnegie Library (built in 1908) and a new state-of-the art gallery space which
has been seamlessly integrated into an urban setting, intimately surrounded by two connecting courtyards, apartment loft living
and street-level retail outlets.
hours of practice, Li struggles to find his place in the
new life he has been given. Gaining confidence from a
kind teacher’s encouraging guidance and a chance trip
to America, Li finally discovers that his passion has
always been dance. Mao’s Last Dancer weaves a
moving tale about the quest for freedom and the
courage it takes to live your own life. The film
poignantly captures the struggles, triumphs and the
intoxicating effects of first love and celebrity amid the
pain of exile. The film showcases ballet sequences from
acclaimed choreographer Graeme Murphy.
Special Guest Ben Stevenson,
former Houston Ballet Artistic Director
Ben Stevenson’s broadening of international cultural
exchange is immortalized in Mao’s Last Dancer.
Friday | August 12 | 7:00 p.m.
Folino Theater | Chapman University

GALA PROGRAM
Harlequinade Pas de Deux
Aria Alekzander & Oliver Halkowich
AIDF 2010
Don Quixote Pas de Deux
Ana Sophia Scheller & Joseph Phillips
AIDF 2010
Gala Performance
August 13, 2011
Anaheim International Dance Festival Gala
Festive Overture
Choreography: Sarma Lapenieks Rosenberg Music: Dmitri Shostakovitch
Anaheim Ballet company members, alumni, and apprentices
Speakers
Julie Tait, Impresario Committee Honorary Chairperson
&
The Honorable Tom Tait, Mayor of the City of Anaheim
Dale Merrill, Acting Dean, College of Performing Arts, Chapman University
Lawrence Rosenberg, Anaheim Ballet Director
Academy Award Winning Actor George Chakiris, Special Guest
Lifetime Achievement Awards
Variation from Grand Pas Classique
Choreography: Victor Gsovsky Music: Daniel Auber
Constantine Allen
FALTZ
(World Premiere)
Choreography: Jeroen Verbruggen Music: Joseph Maurice Ravel
Mari Kawanishi and Stephan Bourgond
Pas De Deux from Sleeping Beauty Ballet
Choreography: Marius Petipa Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Maria Kochekova and Issac Hernandez
Take Five
Choreography: Earl Mosley Music: Dave Brubeck
Clifton Brown
Pas de Deux from Swan Lake Act II
Choreography: Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Isabella Boylston and Gennadi Saveliev
Caravaggio
Choreography: Mauro Bigonzetti Music: Bruno Moretti
Elisa Carrillo Cabrera and Mikhail Kaniskin
Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux*
Choreography by George Balanchine ©The George Balanchine Trust
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Michele Wiles and Charles Askegard
Intermission
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Le Corsaire Pas de Deux
Elza Leimane-Martinova & Raimonds
Martinovs - AIDF 2010

Gopak
Gennadi Saveliev – AIDF 2010
Que Todos os ais São Meus
Marcelino Sambé - AIDF 2010
Gala Performance
August 13, 2011
“Who Cares”*
“The Man I Love” from Who Cares?
Choreography by George Balanchine ©The George Balanchine Trust
Music: George Gershwin, Hershy Kay orchestration
Michele Wiles and Charles Askegard
One Overture
Choreography: Jorma Elo Music: W. A. Mozart/Franz Biber
Maria Kochetkova
One Overture was choreographed by Jorma Elo exclusively
for Maria Kochetkova as part of REFLECTIONS Project,
a co-production of the Bolshoi Theatre,
Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Ardani Artists.
Le Corsaire Pas de Trois
Choreography: Marius Petipa Music: Adolphe Adam, Riccardo Drigo
Isabella Boylston, Gennadi Saveliev, Isaac Hernandez
Como Neve al Sole
Choreography: Rolando D’Alesio Music: Frédéric Chopin
Rebecca King and Alexander Jones
I Wanna Be Ready
Choreography: Alvin Ailey Music: Traditional
Clifton Brown
Le Grand Pas de Deux**
Choreography: Christian Spuck
Composer: Gioachino Rossini “La gazza ladra” Costume: Nicole Krahl
World Premiere: 31 Dec 1999 Stuttgart Ballet
Elisa Carrillo Cabrera and Mikhail Kaniskin
Ciao!
Finale
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GALA PROGRAM
*The Balanchine ballets presented in this program are protected by copyright.
Any unauthorized recording is prohibited without the expressed written consent of The George Balanchine Trust and Anaheim Ballet.
The performance of Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux and “The Man I Love” from Who Cares?, Balanchine Ballets, are presented by arrangement with
The George Balanchine Trust and have been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style ® and Balanchine Technique ®
Service standards established and provided by the Trust.
**Le Grand Pas de Deux is performed with permission from Christian Spuck.
mnemosyne
Mari Kawanishi & William Bracewell
AIDF 2010

STARS OF TOMORROW
Stars of Tomorrow
August 14, 2011
Featuring
The up-and-coming talent of the dance world
Welcome to Tomorrow!
All Participants
Staged by Larissa Saveliev
Special Guests
Aria Alekzander
Houston Ballet
&
Clifton Brown
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Plus
Stellar students from select Southern California
and international dance schools, colleges and universities*
Announcing
The Marybelle Musco Chapman University
AIDF Scholarship Award 2011
*See page 11 for school listings
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Workshops
August 13-14, 2011
Distinguished Guest Master Teachers
Ben Stevenson
Texas Ballet Theater, Artistic Director
Jillana Darci Kistler
and
Aria Alekzander Clifton Brown Elisa Carillo Cabrera Alexander Greschenko Mikhail Kaniskin Gennadi Saveliev Larissa Saveliev
Invited Schools and Organizations
Academy of Music and Performing Arts, Ballet Academy / Wilhelmstrasse. 19 / 80801, Munich, Germany
Anaheim Ballet School / 280 E. Lincoln Avenue / Anaheim, CA 92805
Ballet Arte / 742 Genevieve St. / Solana Beach, CA 92075
Backhausdance / P.O. Box 5890 / Orange, CA 92863
Burbank School of the Ballet / 2518 W Burbank Blvd. / Burbank, CA 91505
California Conservatory of Dance / 25732 Taladro Circle / Mission Viejo, CA 91914
California State University, Fullerton / 800 N. State College Blvd. / Fullerton, CA 92831
California State University, Long Beach / 1250 Bellflower Blvd. / Long Beach, CA 90840
Chapman University Dance Department / One University Drive / Orange, CA 92866
Chula Vista Ballet / 870 Jetty Lane / Chula Vista, CA 91914
Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy / 23091 Del Lago Drive / Laguna Hills, CA 92653
John Cranko School / Urbanstraße 94 / D-70190 Stuttgart, Germany
Emi Aiba Ballet School / 238 Moro, Komoro / Nagano, Japan
Inland Dance Academy / 2584 E. Highland Ave. / Highland, CA 92346
Kova Ballet Conservatory / 1446 S. Robertson Blvd. / Los Angeles, CA 90035
Lauridsen Ballet Centre / 1261 Sartori Avenue / Torrance, CA 90501
Long Beach Ballet / 1122 East Wardlow Road / Long Beach, CA 90807
Loretta Livingston & Dancers / Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles Ballet Academy / 18138 Sherman Way / Reseda, CA 91335
Los Angeles County High School of the Arts / 5151 State University Dr. / Los Angeles, CA 90032
Lovett Dance Center / 106 W. 1st Street / Tustin, CA 92870
Lula Washington Dance Theatre / 3773 Crenshaw Blvd. / Los Angeles, CA 90016
Maple Conservatory / 1824 Kaiser Avenue / Irvine, CA 92614
Media City Ballet / 237 E. Palm Avenue / Burbank, CA 91502
Megumi Ballet School / Studio M 151 Floor Building 2 Seiko-cho / Fukuoka, japan
Orange County Dance Center / 5872 Edinger Avenue / Huntington Beach, CA 92649
Orange County High School of the Arts / 1010 N. Main St. / Santa Ana, CA 92701
Pacific Coast Academy of Dance / 183 Avenida La Pata / San Clemente, CA 92673
Performing Arts Workshop / 1105 2nd Street / Encinitas, CA 92024
Riverside Ballet Arts / 3840 Lemon Street / Riverside, CA 92501
The Rock School for Dance Education / 1101 South Broad Street / Philadelphia, PA 19147-4410
San Diego Academy of Ballet / 4696 Ruffner Street / San Diego, CA 92111
Shirley Winters Ballet / 6688 North Cedar Avenue / Fresno, CA 93710
Southland Ballet Academy / 9527 Garfield Avenue / Fountain Valley, CA 92708
The Marat Daukayev School of Ballet / 731 South La Brea Avenue / Los Angeles, CA 90036
University of California, Irvine / 4000 Mesa Rd. / Irvine, CA 92697
University High School / 4771 Campus Dr. / Irvine, CA 92612
V & T Dance / 23601 Ridge Route Drive, Suite A / Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Westside Ballet / 1709 Stewart Street / Santa Monica, CA 90404
Yuri Grigoriev School of Ballet / 12932 Venice Boulevard / Los Angeles, CA 90066
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ASPIRING DANCERS
WORKSHOPS

DANCERS
Aria Alekzander
Aria Alekzander was born in Laguna Beach,
California, where she began her training at Anaheim
Ballet. Ms. Alekzander danced the role of Clara in San
Francisco Ballet’s The Nutcracker for two consecutive
years, and appeared in youth roles with San Francisco
Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. She was awarded
a scholarship to the San Francisco Ballet School, and
attended the American Ballet Theatre Summer
Intensive programs in Orange County and New York.
Ms. Alekzander was runner-up, at the age of fourteen,
at the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Awards,
won the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s
Tomorrow’s Stars Award, was awarded the Los
Angeles Youth America Grand Prix title, and was a
finalist in the NYC Youth America Grand Prix. She
joined Screen Actors Guild at an early age and has
Charles Askegard
Charles Askegard was born in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, and began his dance training at the age of
five with Loyce Houlton and the Minnesota Dance
Theatre. He continued his studies in Minneapolis
until the age of 16, spending one summer at the
School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of
New York City Ballet, in 1983. Mr. Askegard joined
American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de
ballet in 1987, and was promoted to soloist in 1992.
In 1997, he left ABT to join New York City Ballet as
a soloist. He was promoted to principal in 1998. In
2002, Mr. Askegard appeared in the nationally
televised Live from Lincoln Center broadcast, “New
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appeared in various stage, television, and film
productions. She has also been frequently featured as a
principal by the Disney corporation in live and
broadcast productions. Ms. Alekzander joined
American Ballet Theatre Studio Company in 2006
and the Houston Ballet in 2007. Ms. Alekzander’s
repertoire includes soloist and principal roles in such
works as Ben Stevenson’s Sleeping Beauty and
Nutcracker, Stanton Welch’s Marie, Pecos Bill, The
Core, staging of La Bayadere, Jerome Robbin’s Fancy
Free, and John Cranko’s Taming of the Shrew. Ms.
Alekzander has appeared in Pointe Magazine and was
featured as Dance Spirit’s “Photo of the Year” 2008
and in the feature column “The Dirt” 2010. Ms.
Alekzander is a “Gaynor Minden Artist”.
York City Ballet’s Diamond Project: Ten Years of New
Choreography” on PBS, dancing in Them Twos and in
May of 2004 he appeared in the Live From Lincoln
Center broadcast of “Lincoln Center Celebrates
Balanchine 100,” dancing in Vienna Waltzes. In
addition to his appearances with New York City
Ballet, Mr. Askegard has been a guest artist with
Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Etudes of South
Florida, Bavarian State Ballet, Philippine Ballet
Theatre, The Daring Project and the Stars of
American Ballet. He can also be seen in the
documentary Ballet, directed by Fred Wiseman.

©Andrew Eccles
Stephan Bourgond
Stephan Bourgond was born in Sault Ste. Marie,
Ontario, Canada in 1985. He joined the National
Ballet School in Toronto in 1996 from where he
graduated in 2003 with academic honors, the Eric
Bruhn Prize and the Stephen Godfrey Scholarship. He
then moved to Germany, and after one year in the
Hamburg Ballet School joined the Hamburg Ballet
where he began his professional career dancing the
repertoire of John Neumeier. In 2006 he joined Les
Ballets de Monte Carlo where he was soon promoted
to Demi-Soloist in 2008. In Monte Carlo, Stephan
has danced roles from the repertoire of Jean-
Isabella Boylston
Born in Sun Valley, Idaho, Isabella Boylston began
dancing at the age of three. While training at the
Academy of Colorado Ballet, she won the gold medal
in 2001 at the Youth America Grand Prix Finals in
New York City. In 2002, she began training at the
Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, on a full
scholarship. There she performed numerous leading
roles, including Medora in Le Corsaire, the pas de
trois from Paquita, Lise in La Fille mal gardée and the
Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker. Boylston joined
the ABT Studio Company in 2005, the main
company as an apprentice in May 2006 and the corps
de ballet in March 2007. Her repertory with the
Company includes the Ballerina in The Bright Stream,
Moss in Cinderella, Aurora in Coppélia, an Odalisque
Clifton Brown
Clifton Brown trained at various schools including
Take 5 Dance Academy, Ballet Arizona, New School
for the Arts and The Ailey School, where he was a
student in the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. Program in
Dance. In 1999 he joined the Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater where he was featured in many works,
named Assistant Rehearsal Director, served as Judith
Jamison’s choreographic assistant and still performs as
a guest artist. Mr. Brown has received a Donna Wood
Foundation Award, a Level 1 ARTS award given by
the National Foundation for Advancement in the
|13|
DANCERS
Christophe Maillot such as The King (La Belle), Paris
(Romeo et Juliette), Faust (Faust), Lysander (Le Songe),
and The Father (Cendrillion) and performed pieces
such as Artifact Suite from William Forsythe and In
Memorium by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. He was featured
as a soloist in the creation of Sheherazade by Jean-
Christophe Maillot and created many other pieces
with guest choreographers such as Johan Inger (In
Exact), Shen Wei (7 to 8 and...) Marco Goecke
(Whiteout, Le Spectre, Beautiful Freak in Hamburg),
Alonzo King (Writing Ground) and Emio Greco
(Corps du Ballet).
in Le Corsaire, a flower girl in Don Quixote, the
second girl in Fancy Free, the peasant pas de deux and
Moyna in Giselle, a Harlot in Romeo and Juliet,
Princess Florine and the Fairy of Fervor in The
Sleeping Beauty, the pas de trois and the Polish
Princess in Swan Lake, the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux,
the lead in Theme and Variations and roles in Ballo
della Regina, Birthday Offering, Brief Fling, Désir,
Everything Doesn’t Happen at Once and From Here On
Out. She created leading roles in Lauri Stallings’
Citizen, Alexei Ratmansky’s Dumbarton and
Christopher Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions.
Boylston won the 2009 Princess Grace Award and
was nominated for the 2010 Prix Benois de la Danse.
She was promoted to Soloist in June 2011.
Arts, and was a 2005 nominee in the U.K. for a
Critics Circle National Dance Award for best male
dancer. In 2007, Mr. Brown received a “Bessie”
Award in recognition of his work with the Ailey
company, and in 2008 received a Black Theater Arts
Award. He has performed with Earl Mosley’s
Diversity of Dance and as a guest artist with Nevada
Ballet and the Miami City Ballet. Mr. Brown teaches
master classes in dance as well as being licensed to
teach GYROTONIC ® and GYROKINESIS ® .

©David Allen ©Ulrich Beuttenmueller
DANCERS
Elisa Carrillo Cabrera
Elisa Carrillo Cabrera was born in Mexico. She began
her training at the Escuela Nacional de Danza Clásica
in Mexico, and upon graduation in 1997, she
continued her studies at the English National Ballet
School. Ms. Cabrera joined the Stuttgart Ballett as a
member of the corps de ballet in 2000. She was
promoted to demi-soloist in 2004, and soloist in
2006. In the following year, 2007, she joined
Staatsballett Berlin as a demi-soloist, and since 2009
has been a soloist dancer. During 2004 to 2006, Ms.
Isaac Hernandez
Isaac Hernandez was born in Guadalajara, Mexico
and first trained with his father, Hector Hernandez,
followed by the Philadelphia’s Rock School for Dance
Education. He performed with ABT II prior to
joining SF Ballet in 2008, and was promoted to
Soloist in 2011. Hernandez has danced a variety of
featured roles including the pas de trois and Spanish
in Tomasson’s Swan Lake; and Nutcracker Prince,
Spanish, Chinese, and Russian in Tomasson’s
Nutcracker. His repertory also includes lead roles in
Balanchine’s “Emeralds” and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux;
Alexander Jones
Alexander Jones was born in Rochford, Essex, Great
Britain. He received his ballet training at the Royal
Ballet School in London and graduated in 2005. In
2005/06 Mr. Jones joined the Stuttgart Ballet’s Corps
de ballet. In the season 2007/08 he was promoted to
Demi-Soloist, in 2008/09 to Soloist. In April of 2011
he was promoted to Principal dancer following his
performance in Romeo and Juliet. At the Stuttgart
Ballet, Mr Jones has danced major roles such as the
title role in Hamlet (Kevin O’Day), Colas in La fille
mal gardée (Sir Frederick Ashton) and Petrucchio in
The Taming of the Shrew (John Cranko). In April
2011, Artistic Director Reid Anderson promoted
Alexander Jones to Principal dancer right on stage.
|14|
Cabrera achieved outstanding results from Mexico’s
Concurso Nacional de Danza Clásica Infantil y
Juvenil, receiving Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals.
Invited to perform on the most distinguished stages
around the world, she has performed in various
countries such as France, Japan, China, US, Korea,
Italy, Kairo, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong and
Luxemburg. Ms. Cabrera is currently a soloist in the
Staatsballett Berlin.
Possokhov’s Diving into the Lilacs and Fusion;
Ratmansky’s Russian Seasons; Tomasson’s Concerto
Grosso, On a Theme of Paganini, and Prism; and
Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour. His awards
include the gold medal at the USA International
Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi in 2006,
the bronze medal and special award from the Kirov
ballet at Moscow’s International Ballet Competition
in 2005, and first place in the Cuba International
Competition in 2004.
Mr. Jones has performed Count Paris in Romeo and
Juliet, a Cavalier of the Princess of Spain, Benno in
Swan lake, Hilarion and Peasant Pas de Deux in
Giselle, the Torero in Carmen, Gurn in La Sylphide,
Gaston Rieux in in Lady of the Camellias, Cassio in
Othello, Prince and the Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty,
and “R” in R.B.M.E. He has performed in works by
such choreographers as John Cranke, Kenneth
MacMillan, Jerome Robbins, Maurice Bejart, Jiří
Kylián, William Forsythe, Reid Anderson, John
Neumier, Hans Von Manen, Glen Tetley, Christian
Spuck and Mauro Bigonzetti. Mr. Jones has had
works created for him by: Demis Volpi, Douglas Lee,
Wayne McGregor, Bridget Breiner, and Kevin O’Day.

Mikhail Kaniskin
Mikhail Kaniskin was born in Moscow, Russia. He
began his training at the Bolshoi Ballet School. He
continued his training at the John Cranko School of
Stuttgart Ballet in Germany. In 1996, Mr Kaniskin
was invited to participate at Prix de Lausanne, where
shortly afterwards, he was invited to join the Stuttgart
Ballet. In 2001, he was promoted to Demi-Soloist, in
2002 became a Soloist, and in the beginning of the
Mari Kawanishi
Born in Tokyo, Ms. Kawanishi started ballet training
at the age of seven at the Tachibana Ballet School in
Japan. When she was twelve, she was accepted to the
Elmhurst School for Dance in England and studied
there for four years. In 2006, Ms.Kawanishi received a
scholarship to the John Cranko School in Stuttgart,
Germany from the Youth America Grand Prix New
York Finals. She then joined the Royal Ballet School
Rebecca King
Native of Baltimore, Maryland, Rebecca King trained
with Olga Tozyiakova. While still a student there she
won laureateship from the International Ballet
Competition in Varna, Bulgaria, and was a 2008
Youth America Grand Prix New York Finalist. Ms.
King also received the Grand Prix from the
International Ballet Competition in Artek, Russia. In
2006 she was engaged as soloist by the Ukraine
National Ballet, appearing in the Pas de Trois and
Dance of the Large Swans in Tchaikovsky’s Swan
Lake; as Ingrid in Peer Gynt; and in the Pas d’Action
|15|
DANCERS
2004 season was promoted to Principal Dancer. Mr.
Kaniskin has performed most of the repertoire of the
Stuttgart Ballet, both in Germany and abroad. Mr.
Kaniskin has toured the United States, Canda, China,
Japan, Italy and Korea. In 2007, Mr. Kaniskin joined
the Berlin State Opera Ballet as a Principal Dancer.
In 2009, he was invited to perform as a guest artist
with the Mariinsky Ballet.
in London in 2007, where she performed with the
Royal Ballet in the Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo
and Juliet, and Cinderella. She graduated the school in
2010 and joined the Dresden Semperoper Ballet
where she performed pieces such by William Forsythe,
George Balanchine, David Dawson and Johan Inger.
Ms. Kawanishi is joining the Staatsballett Berlin.
and Pas de Trois in La Bayadère. From the 2008/09
season, she has been demi soloist and, since 2009/10,
soloist of the Prague State Opera ballet company,
dancing among other roles the Swan Lake Pas de
Trois, Big Swans, Odile/Odette, the title part in
Cinderella, and the leading role of Anastasia in the
production of The Sleeping Beauty – The Czar’s Last
Daughter. Ms. King is currently a Soloist with the
National Theatre in Prague, Czech Republic and a
Permanent Guest Artist with the Prague State Opera,
Czech Republic.

©David Allen
DANCERS
Maria Kochetkova
Born in Moscow, Maria Kochetkova trained at the
Bolshoi Ballet School for eight years before dancing
with The Royal Ballet and English National Ballet in
London. She joined the San Francisco Ballet as a
Principal Dancer in 2007. Her classical repertoire
includes the title role in Giselle, Aurora in The
Sleeping Beauty, Kitri in Don Quixote, Juliet in Romeo
& Juliet, Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, Clara and the
Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and the title role
in Alice in Wonderland. She has also performed in
George Balanchine’s Coppelia (as Swanilda),
Divertimento No. 15, Jewels (Emeralds and Rubies),
Serenade and Theme and Variations, Symphony in C
(2nd movement), William Forsythe’s in the middle,
somewhat elevated and Artifact Suite, Kenneth
MacMillan’s Winter Dreams, Frederick Ashton’s
Symphonic Variations, Wayne McGregor’s Chroma
(opening night for US premiere) and ballets by David
Dawson, Derek Deane, Jorma Elo, Mark Morris, Yuri
Possokhov, Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, Helgi
Tomasson, Christopher Wheeldon and Hans Van
Manen. Ms. Kochetkova has created principal roles in
Yuri Possokhov’s Diving into the Lilacs, Raymonda Pas
de Deux and Classical Symphony, Helgi Tomasson’s
|16|
On a Theme of Paganini and Trio, and Christopher
Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour and Number 9.
Ms. Kochetkova performs as a guest artist with the
Bolshoi and Stanislavsky Theaters in Moscow, the
Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg, the Tokyo
Ballet in Japan including performances as Kitri in
Don Quixote for the opening night of the 2009 NBS
World Ballet Festival in Tokyo and with the Bolshoi's
Reflections project (2011) at the Segerstrom Center
for the Arts in Orange County and the Bolshoi
Theatre in Moscow. Ms. Kochetkova performed the
Grand Pas de Deux in San Francisco Ballet’s
Nutcracker which was broadcast by PBS in 2008 and
won the solo gold medal in the NBC series Superstars
of Dance which was watched by over 10 million
viewers. Ms. Kochetkova’s prizes and awards include
the Isadora Duncan Award for the role of Giselle and
medals at the International Ballet Competitions in
Seoul (Gold, 2005), Rome (Gold, 2005), Riety
(Gold, 2005), Luxembourg (Gold, 2003), Varna
(Silver and the Press Jury Prize, 2002), Moscow
(Bronze, 2001). She is also a winner of the Prix de
Lausanne (2002).

Gennadi Saveliev
Born in Moscow, Russia, Gennadi Saveliev began his
ballet studies at the Bolshoi Ballet School at the age of
nine. He has studied with such distinguished teachers
and coaches as Sergei Berezhnoi, Pyotr Pestov, Mikhail
Lavrovsky, Stanley Williams at the School of American
Ballet, Eleanor D’Antuono and Cynthia Gregory. At
18 he joined the Bolshoi Ballet Grigorovich Company
where his repertoire included the Chinese Doll in The
Nutcracker, one of the four cavaliers in Raymonda and
the pas de trois in Swan Lake. Mr.Saveliev has also
danced with the Nevada Dance Theatre, Tulsa Ballet,
Los Angeles Classical Ballet and the New Jersey Ballet.
Saveliev won the Silver Medal at the 1996 New York
International Ballet Competition and was a finalist at
the Nagoya Ballet Competition in 1999. Mr. Saveliev
joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the
corps de ballet in January 1996. His repertoire with
the company includes roles in La Bayadère, Bruch
Violin Concerto No. 1, Coppélia, Le Corsaire, Diana
and Acteon, Diversion of Angels, Don Quixote, The
Michele Wiles
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Michele Wiles received
her early training in Washington, D.C. At the age of
ten, she received a full scholarship to the Kirov
Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. where she
studied from 1991 to 1997. Ms. Wiles also
participated in the summer programs at The Joffrey
Ballet and The Royal Ballet before joining American
Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company (now ABT II) in
1997. In 1996, Ms. Wiles was a Gold Medal winner
at the 18th International Ballet Competition in Varna,
a Bronze Medal winner in Nagoya, Japan and a
finalist at the Paris International Dance Competition.
She was a Princess Grace Foundation – U.S.A. Dance
Fellowship recipient for 1999-2000 and won the Erik
Bruhn Prize in 2002. Ms. Wiles joined American
Ballet Theatre in 1998 and was promoted to Soloist in
2000 and to Principal Dancer in 2005. Her roles with
the Company include Polyhymnia in Apollo,
Gamzatti and a Shade in La Bayadère, the Fairy
Godmother and the Winter Fairy in Ben Stevenson’s
Cinderella, Aurora in Coppélia, Medora and an
Odalisque in Le Corsaire, Kitri, Queen of the Driads
|17|
DANCERS
Dream, Christopher Wheeldon’s VIII, Fall River
Legend, Flames of Paris, Giselle, Manon, The Merry
Widow, The Nutcracker, Offenbach in the Underworld,
Onegin, On the Dnieper, Pillar of Fire, Prince Igor,
Raymonda, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan
Lake, Sylvia, The Taming of the Shrew, Ballet Imperial,
In The Upper Room, The Leaves Are Fading, Les
Sylphides, Symphonie Concertante, Theme and Variations
and Without Words, as well as roles in Black Tuesday,
Clear, HereAfter, Jabula, Overgrown Path, Petite Mort
and Symphony in C. He created leading roles in Rabbit
and Rogue and Seven Sonatas. Mr. Saveliev is a member
of “Angel Corella and Friends” and “Stiefel and Stars”
touring companies and is also the founder and artistic
director of Youth America Grand Prix, America’s first
student ballet scholarship competition. Mr. Saveliev
was promoted to American Ballet Theatre Soloist in
August 2002. Mr. Saveliev was recently featured on
‘So, You Think You Can Dance” presenting his
signature performance of Gopak.
and a flower girl in Don Quixote, Hermia in The
Dream, Myrta in Giselle, Grand Pas Classique, His
Experiences in HereAfter, Lescaut’s Mistress in Manon,
the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen in Kevin
McKenzie’s The Nutcracker, Hagar in Pillar of Fire,
the Siren in Prodigal Son, Raymonda and Clemence in
Raymonda, Princess Aurora and Lilac Fairy in The
Sleeping Beauty, Odette-Odile, the pas de trois and the
Polish Princess in Swan Lake, Ceres and the title role
in Sylvia, the fourth movement in Symphony in C, the
pas de six in The Taming of the Shrew, the Tchaikovsky
Pas de Deux, and leading roles in Baker’s Dozen, Ballet
Imperial, Ballo della Regina, Black Tuesday, The
Brahms-Haydn Variations, Dark Elegies, Diversion of
Angels, Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, Études,
Glow - Stop, In The Upper Room, The Leaves Are
Fading, Marimba, One of Three, Petite Mort,
Sinfonietta, Symphonie Concertante, Theme and
Variations and workwithinwork. She created leading
roles in Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra,
Dumbarton, Gong, One of Three and Within You
Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison.

DANCERS
and
Constantine Allen
Constantine ‘Costa’ Allen is 18 years old and a
student at the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart,
Germany. He has just completed one year in the two
year Academy program under the tutelage of Mr. Petr
Pestov. Prior to this Mr. Allen studied for four years
with scholarship at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in
Washington, D.C. with teachers Mr. Anatoli
Kucheruk and Mr. Vladimir Djouloukhadze. He won
Anaheim Ballet
John Ajayi, Amber Ajluni, Elan Alekzander, Allyson
Barkdull, Daniel Benavides [courtesy Orlando
Ballet, AB alumnus], Amanda Fairweather, Shiori
Fujita [AB apprentice], Oscar Gonzales, Enton
Special Guest
George Chakiris, Academy Award Winning Dancer and Actor
Academy Award winning actor George Chakiris has
established an international career in film, television
and theater. His acting, singing, and dancing credits
include nearly two dozen films, several acclaimed minseries
in Europe and Japan, BBC performances and
concert tours in Las Vegas and around the globe.
His dynamic performance as Bernardo in the film
classic “West Side Story” earned Mr. Chakiris an
Oscar and a Golden Globe Award. In 1991 Mr.
Chakiris was summoned to Paris and awarded the
status of “Officer de L’Orde des Arts et des Lettres” by
the French Government’s Minister of Culture for his
contribution to the arts.
The son of immigrant Greek parents, Mr. Chakiris
was born in Norwood, Ohio and raised in both
Arizona and California. In California, he was a
member of the choir at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in
Long Beach California, a group that was noted for
having performed in dozens of films. Mr. Chakiris
appeared with them in a concert sequence in MGM’s
Song of Love, starring Katherine Hepburn, which left a
strong impact on his future career. Prior to starring in
West Side Story, Mr. Chakiris appeared in films with
Cyd Charisse, Mitzi Gaynor, Donald O’Connor,
Debbie Reynolds, Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Gene
|18|
the Grand Prix Award and the Outstanding Dancer
Award in February of 2011 at the Tanzolymp
Competition in Berlin, Germany. He recently danced
at the Berlin State Opera Ballet’s Japan Gala in May
of 2011. Mr. Allen was a finalist in Jackson IBC in
June of 2010 and is a two time bronze medalist at the
Youth America Grand Prix.
Hoxha, Claire Keeley, Jorge Richard Lagunas, Denny
Newell, Vanessa Sah, Amanda Smith, Sara Soto,
Adrian Veloz, Victoria-Rose Viren [AB apprentice]
Kelly, and Rosemary Clooney. He was in the film
classics There’s No Business Like Show Business,
Brigadoon, White Christmas, and Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes, starring Marilyn Monroe.
Mr. Chakiris relocated to Manhattan in pursuit of an
acting career and landed an audition for the London
cast of the smash Broadway musical West Side Story and
was chosen to play the role of Riff, the leader of the
Jets. Jerome Robbins who conceived West Side Story,
co-directed and choreographed the film version cast
Mr. Chakiris as Bernardo, leader of the Sharks. It was
the role that would lead him to the Academy Award.
In Italy Mr. Chakiris starred with Claudia Cardinale
in the politically intriguing Bebo’s Girl, and later in the
romantic film The Theft of the Mona Lisa. His
European popularity was reaffirmed when he starred
in the French film The Young Girls of Rochefort, with
Catherine Deneuve and Gene Kelly. Mr. Chakiris has
also starred with Yul Brynner, Richard Widmark,
Charleton Heston, Cliff Robertson, Dirk Bogarde, and
Lana Turner.
Mr. Chakiris’s career and most prominently his role
in West Side Story epitomizes the power that dance
holds in the cultural life of our nation…

Ben Stevenson, O.B.E. Artistic Director, Texas Ballet Theater
Mr. Stevenson, a native of Portsmouth, England,
received his dance training at the Arts Educational
School in London. Upon his graduation he was
awarded the prestigious Adeline Genee Gold Medal,
the highest award given to a dancer by the Royal
Academy of Dancing. At the age of eighteen he
partnered Alicia Markova in Where the Rainbow Ends
and soon after was invited to join the Sadler’s Wells
Royal Ballet by Dame Ninette de Valois, where he
worked closely with Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir Kenneth
MacMillan, and John Cranko. A few years later Sir
Anton Dolin invited him to dance with London
Festival Ballet where, as a Principal Dancer, he
performed leading roles in all the classic ballets.
In 1967 English National Ballet asked Mr.
Stevenson to stage his first, and highly successful,
production of The Sleeping Beauty which starred
Margot Fonteyn. In 1968 Rebekah Harkness invited
him to New York to direct the newly formed
Harkness Ballet. After choreographing Cinderella in
1970 for the National Ballet in Washington, D.C., he
joined the company in 1971 as Co-Artistic Director
with Frederic Franklin. That same year he staged a
new production of The Sleeping Beauty in celebration
of the inaugural season of The John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts.
In 1976 Mr. Stevenson was appointed the Artistic
Director for Houston Ballet. For twenty-seven years
Mr. Stevenson nurtured the company from a small
provincial ensemble to one of the nation’s largest
dance companies that has performed to critical
acclaim throughout the world. He developed Houston
Ballet’s repertoire by acquiring the works of the
world’s most respected choreographers,
commissioning new works, staging the classics and
choreographing original works.
In 1978 during his tenure with the Houston Ballet,
Mr. Stevenson traveled to China on behalf of the
United States government as part of a cultural
exchange program. Since then he has returned almost
every year at the invitation of the Chinese government
to teach at the Beijing Dance Academy and introduce
Western dance forms including jazz and modern
dance, to their students. He was instrumental in the
creation of the Choreographic Department at the
|19|
MASTER TEACHERS
Beijing Dance Academy in 1985 and is the only
foreigner to have been made an Honorary Faculty
Member at both the Beijing Dance Academy and the
Shenyang Conservatory of Music.
In July 2003 Mr. Stevenson became Artistic
Director of Texas Ballet Theater. Over the past several
years, Texas Ballet Theater has experienced
tremendous growth. He has continued to expand the
company’s repertoire, staging both the classics and
choreographing original works. The international
Company now includes dancers from countries
around the world, including England, Cuba, Ukraine,
Israel, Brazil and the United States. Texas Ballet
Theater’s education programs have also grown, as
enrollment at the Dallas and Fort Worth Academies
have reached full capacity. Texas Ballet Theater is the
resident ballet company at the two premier
performance venues in North Texas, the Nancy Lee &
Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth and the
new AT&T Performing Arts Center Margot and Bill
Winspear Opera House in Dallas.
As a choreographer Mr. Stevenson has created some
of the world’s most breathtaking ballets, including the
full-length works Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet,
Cinderella, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, and
original productions of Peer Gynt (which opened
Norway’s Bergen Festival Gala in 1983), Coppélia,
Don Quixote, Dracula, The Snow Maiden and
Cleopatra. His repertoire of original works also
includes both romantic and neoclassic pas de deux
that have received critical acclaim and international
awards. Additionally, he has staged his ballets for
English National Ballet, American Ballet Theatre,
Paris Opera Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, La
Scala in Milan, Munich State Opera Ballet, Joffrey
Ballet, London City Ballet, Ballet de Santiago, and for
many companies in the United States.
As a teacher, Mr. Stevenson has trained and
influenced thousands of dancers from around the
globe. His students have performed with the world’s
most renowned companies, including The Royal
Ballet, Paris Opéra Ballet, Les Grandes Ballets
Canadien, The National Ballet of China, Birmingham
Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, New York City
Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and more.

©Paul Kolnik
MASTER TEACHERS
Jillana
Jillana received a scholarship at the School of
American Ballet at age 11, where she was trained by
George Balanchine. She was asked by Mr. Balanchine
to join the New York City Ballet one year later and
did her first performance with the Company on her
thirteenth birthday. By-passing soloist she became a
Principal six years later and performed with the
company for 20 years. Ballets choreographed for
Jillana by Balanchine include, Liebeslieder Walzer,
Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Don Quixote.
Balanchine ballets in her repertoire include Serenade,
Swan Lake, Symphony in C, Nutcracker, Four
Temperaments, Stars and Stripes, Apollo, and Prodigal
Son. She has performed in ballets choreographed by
Jerome Robbins, Frederick Aston, Anthony Tudor,
John Cranko, Todd Bolender and John Taras. Jillana
also has appeared as a guest artist with other major
ballet companies including American Ballet Theatre
and National Ballet of Washington, and in numerous
television shows, including the Tribute to Balanchine,
Bell Telephone Hour, Show of Shows, Red Skeleton Show
and Noah and the Flood, which was choreographed for
her by George Balanchine. She also appeared in the
Broadway musical, Destry Rides Again, directed and
Darci Kistler
Darci Kistler was born in Riverside, California, the
youngest of five children and the only girl. Always
athletic, Ms. Kistler enjoyed many sports, including
skiing, waterskiing, swimming, tennis, football, and
dirt biking, before she began studying ballet. At the
age of 12 she began studying with Irina Kosmovska in
Los Angeles, and that same year she attended a
summer session at the School of American Ballet
(SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet.
Two years later, she received a full scholarship to SAB.
Ms. Kistler participated in two SAB Workshops.
In 1979, she danced a principal role in Jean-Pierre
Bonnefoux’s Haydn Concerto, choreographed
especially for the Workshop, and danced the pas de
deux from the opera William Tell by August
Bournonville, staged by Stanley Williams. In 1980,
Ms. Kistler danced the principal role in George
Balanchine’s one-act Swan Lake. She prepared
for the role by studying extensively with
Alexandra Danilova.
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choreographed by Michael Kidd. Jillana’s partners
have included: Jacques d’Amboise, Edward Villella,
Arthur Mitchell, Jerome Robbins, Todd Bolender,
Conrad Ludlow, Kent Stowell, André Eglevsky, Eric
Bruhn and Rudolf Nureyev. Jillana was a
representative for the School of American Ballet’s
Ford Foundation Scholarship program for 10 years.
Jillana has taught at the School of American Ballet
and the Joffrey School as well as company classes for
the New York City Ballet, Ballet West and the Paris
Opera Ballet. She was on the faculty of the University
of California at Irvine for 12 years. Jillana was Guest
Lecturer at the University of Iowa and Southern
Methodist University. She taught at the Dance Aspen
Summer School for 11 years, the last two serving as its
Director. Currently Jillana is the Director of the
Jillana School. In addition, she is teaching, staging
Balanchine ballets throughout the world and writing
an autobiography concentrating on her 20 years with
George Balanchine. Besides directing her school she is
the mother of two, William and Ana, and with her
husband Alan, resides in Southern California.
Ms. Kistler joined New York City Ballet as a
member of the corps de ballet in April 1980, was
promoted to the rank of soloist in 1981, and became
a principal dancer in 1982. She has danced leading
roles in numerous works choreographed by
Balanchine, including Agon, Apollo, Bugaku, Concerto
Barocco, Episodes, George Balanchine’s The
Nutcracker, Diamonds from Jewels, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Mozartiana, Orpheus, Prodigal Son,
Robert Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertänze,” La
Sonnambula, Symphony in C (Second Movement),
Tzigane, Variations Pour Une Porte et Un Soupir,
Vienna Waltzes, Walpurgisnacht Ballet, and Western
Symphony. In addition, Ms. Kistler has danced
leading roles in Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun,
In G Major and In the Night, and Peter Martins’
Papillons, Songs of the Auvergne and Valse Triste.
Jerome Robbins created leading roles for Ms.
Kistler in Andantino, Gershwin Concerto, and Piccolo
Balletto. In addition, Martins has created many

leading roles for Ms. Kistler including; Adams Violin
Concerto, Burleske, The Chairman Dances, Guide to
Strange Places, Harmonielehre, Morgen, The Sleeping
Beauty, Stabat Mater, Symphonic Dances, Symphony
No. 1, Tala Gaisma, Thou Swell, and Todo Buenos
Aires, and the role of Lady Capulet in Romeo + Juliet.
Additional principal roles created for Ms. Kistler
include Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels and Robert La
Fosse’s Danses de Cour.
Ms. Kistler starred as the Sugarplum Fairy in the
Alexander Greschenko
Alexander Greschenko was born in Moscow and began
his dance training at the age of ten at the prestigious
Moscow Choreographic School where his teacher was
Igor Uksusnikov, a soloist with the Bolshoi and Kirov
Ballet. After graduating with the highest honors, he
was invited to join the Bolshoi Ballet.
Mr. Gresschenko was a soloist with the Bolshoi
Ballet for nine years where he danced the entire
classical ballet repertoire including the Grand Pas de
Deux from Raymonda, the Black Man in Mozart and
Salieri and roles in the Golden Age, Swan Lake,
Spartacus, Giselle, Don Quixote, Macbeth, and The
Nutcracker. While at the Bolshoi, he trained under
the legendary Russian ballet master Asaf Messerer.
Mr. Greschenko also danced in original ballets by
Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova. In
addition to his career as a soloist with the Bolshoi, he
Larissa Saveliev
Ms. Saveliev was trained at the Bolshoi Ballet
Academy in Moscow. As a member of Bolshoi Ballet,
she has toured throughout Russia, England, France,
Belgium, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Egypt, and Japan. Her
repertoire includes most of the ballets from the
classical repertoire, including Swan Lake, Les Sylphides,
Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire,
Raymonda, and Giselle, as well as works by Yuri
Grigorovich, George Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, and
Agnes de Mille.
|21|
MASTER TEACHERS
1993 film version of New York City Ballet’s
production of George Balanchine’s The
Nutcracker.
In addition to her performing career, Ms. Kistler
has been a member of SAB’s faculty since 1994, and
in 2008 she created a new children’s program at
SAB that lowered the starting age for students from
8 to 6 years old. She retired from New York City
Ballet during the spring 2010 season and now
teaches full time.
is also recognized for his talents as a musician and has
been invited to perform as a musician (guitarist) with
the Bolshoi Orchestra and Chamber Ensemble of the
Bolshoi Orchestra. As a soloist with Bolshoi Ballet,
Mr. Greschenko has toured the United States, Central
and South America, Japan, Australia, and many other
countries worldwide.
In 1989, Mr. Greschenko moved to the United
States and joined the Princeton Ballet as a principal
dancer. In 1990, he moved to Los Angeles and joined
Los Angeles Classical Ballet where he performed for
two years dancing principal roles in the productions
of The Nutcracker, Midsummer Night’s Dream, On
Occasion and Aymara. Mr. Greschenko is currently a
sought after guest teacher by many universities,
colleges ballet schools, and companies as a valuable
and dynamic teacher and performer.
Since coming to the United States in 1995, Ms.
Saveliev has continued her dance career with such
companies as the Los Angeles Classical Ballet, The
New Jersey Ballet, and Tulsa Ballet. In 1999, she
was chosen to choreograph for the Princess Grace
Awards Ceremony. A respected dance educator, Ms.
Saveliev appears as a master teacher and stages
classical ballet productions at schools around the
country. Ms. Saveliev is the co-founder of Youth
America Grand Prix.
Additional Master Teachers
Aria Alekzander, see page12; Clifton Brown, see page 13; Elisa Carrillo Cabrera, see page 14;
Mikhail Kaniskin, see page 15; Gennadi Saveliev, see page 17

THANK YOU
Sponsor a Dancer
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and Mrs. Julie Tait
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Presenting Sponsor
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Table Sponsor
Darren and Jacque Lollie Walker
2011
With Special Thanks To
Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater
American Ballet Theatre
Houston Ballet
John Cranko School
Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
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Special Thanks
Shelley King
Disney VoluntEARS, Lidia Chavez, Ava Colella, Ashley Duree, Tracy Barrios, Nasim Elliot, Heather Houston, John Kirby, Erin Longhofer,
Rosalinda Monroy, Mishal Montgomery, Denny Newell, Brynne Rechenmacher, Vanessa Sah, SicShot Productions, Carly Steele,
Elizabeth Tusken, JC Velazquez, Mary Anne Villalobos, Sara Windal, Mary Wyman, Cathy Yerkes
|22|
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