BAE Stories

Adriana Pierce

Adriana Pierce (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and director based in New York City. After training at School of American Ballet, Pierce began her dancing career with New York City Ballet and Miami City Ballet, continuing onto Broadway, film, and TV (2018 Broadway Revival of Carousel, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, Fosse/Verdon). As a choreographer, Pierce is equally at home creating works for ballet, theater, and film. The lack of lesbian representation in ballet led Pierce to start #QueerTheBallet, an initiative with the mission to widen the scope of classical ballet by producing queer work by queer dance artists.

Pierce created her first ballet works for the School of American Ballet’s Student Choreography Workshop, and was twice selected to participate in New York Choreographic Institute’s Choreographic Sessions. Pierce’s choreographic work features movement and partnering that allows dancers of all genders equal agency, dismantling the traditional gender dynamics of dance. Today, Pierce’s choreography has been performed by American Ballet Theatre, Carolina Ballet, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Ashley Bouder Project, and featured in festivals and galas such as Hamptons Dance Project, Kaatsbaan Fall Dance Festival, Fire Island Dance Festival, Mainly Mozart Festival, and Adrienne Arsht Center’s Annual Gala. She has completed residencies with Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU and Bridge Street Theatre. Pierce was recognized by Dance Magazine as one of “25 to Watch” in 2022.

Pierce’s work with #QueerTheBallet has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Fjord Review and more. In 2021, the Joyce Theater presented #QueerTheBallet’s film Animals and Angels, and The New Yorker deemed Pierce’s choreography in the film a “velvet revolution.” In April 2022, The Joyce produced #QueerTheBallet’s first full evening of work at The Chelsea Factory, which featured works by Pierce and other queer artists.

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Internationally recognized dancer, teacher, choreographer and co-artistic director of DoubleTake Dance. Vanessa has been trained in Contemporary, Ballet, Lyrical, Musical Theater, Hip Hop, Tap, Modern, Areal Silks and Acting. She can be seen dancing in Daniel Gwirtzman Company (now celebrating 10 years as a soloist. Some of her favorite shows include Lincoln Center Outdoors, Battery Dance, Rochester Fringe Festival…), Christy Walsh Company and DoubleTake Dance.

Recently seen as “The Queen” in the Contemporary Ballet production of “The Queen of Nöri” by Stoneworks Productions (performed in Oahu, Hawaii) and in the Fashion Magazine BAZAAR Indonesia, dancing/modeling for Fashion Designer Yinglun Zhang. And the show “Planets” as a dancer/choreographer produced by KDA (Oahu, Hawaii).

Honored with a professional development scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Culture Vanessa moved to NYC to pursue her dance career. Credits in Spain include choreographing “Tick Tick…BOOM!” and “I Love You, You’re Perfect …Now Change” produced by Tela-Katola as well as performing with the European show “Compradores de Sueños”.

Vanessa has produced, choreographed and directed several full length shows with her dance company DoubleTake Dance along co-director Ashley Carter. Featured in Dance Informa Magazine; with shows in festivals & events such as SummerStage; Battery Dance, NY Half Marathon, Ailey Theater; Carnival, NYC Fashion Week, Higher Ground Festival, the ACLU’s 100th birthday celebration, United Palace, Webster Hall; Gerald Lynch Theater, Dixon Place, Teatro la Tea, JCE (NY),Teatro Madrid & SalaTriángulo (Spain). DTD is a proud recipient of commissions such as NY City Arts Grant, Rock that Rolls for Dancing Wheels (Cleveland, OH), HTChen New Steps (NYC); Next Step (JPAC NYC);

Other companies and choreographers include: LLMoves, BalaSole, Noir Tribe Media, Burnt Sugar, Ikada, Germaul Barnes/Viewsic Expressions, Ryan Beck, Derek Mitchell, Guillém Alonso, Gabrielle Lasner, Alan Onickel, Lynn Schwab (Tap City -Symphony Space) and Tony Waag (Career Transition for Dancers Gala at City Center) Featured in “Steel City Rhythm” workshop by RSW & associates; “DIY Nutcracker” (NY), “Rabi Thakur: A ballet on the Life of Rabindranath Tagore” (NJPAC); “The jazz Hip Hop Nutcracker” by Momentum Dance Theater: (Washington D.C ). Other shows include “Mitridate” by The Little Opera Theater in NY; “The Golden Cockerel” & “Aurora’s Wedding” with ABT at the MET, “Arrival” (Theater 80), “LOVEartJAPAN” (Raising funds for Japan and “3 for 1” by DTD with AJR Brothers.

Vanessa is a versatile performer who has worked as an actress, model and dancer for international brands and commercials like: L ́OREAL, Heineken, Ameriprise, Athleta, NYRoadRunners, Tag Heuer, Netflix “Umbrella Academy”, Yahoo, Ursus Vodka, KDDance, Lush Cosmetics/Gorilla Perfumes, El Pais newspaper, channel Tele5, Fuse TV, X-Box/Kinect (Times Square with NeYo and Lady Sovereign) Fashion Center Arts Festival, One Truth, Dru Cutler, Guerilla Toss, The Rachel Ray Show, Dropps, Smartphone Users Guide to Etiquette by Mary John Frank with Ariana deBose. Film credits include “The Ryde of Tom & Valkyrie”, & “Friends With Benefits” with Justin Timberlake (IMDB 2011)

As a dance video director, editor and dancer her latest work “Piel” has successfully premiered in the Festival “Encuentros” (Ciapas, México.)

Currently on faculty at BAE and BeFit other teaching credits include: Peridance, Joffrey, PMT, Steps, Bridge for dance in NY; Alonzo Lines in San Francisco; LeHigh Valley Alliance in Pennsylvania; Hawaii Univ, Punahou, Mid-Pac, Kailua Dance, in Hawaii; Round Rock Rep, and Tarrytown Dance in Austin; V. Ullate, Arte de Bailar, Luthier, Latelier, Ross in Spain; PAO Dance in Belgium, T- Stage in México…). Vanessa loves traveling as a teacher, judge and choreographer and is also a Pilates Mat Certified Trainer, with choreography featured in the YAGP finals.

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Craig Salstein

Antonio Carmena

Antonio Carmena has taught dance in leading universities, ballet companies and schools thought the United States and Europe while appearing as Soloist for twelve of his nineteen years with New York City Ballet.

Mr. Carmena is a faculty professor teaching ballet for Barnard College’s Dance Department as well as teaching company class for New York City Ballet. He taught in New York City Ballet’s Outreach Program giving master classes in Australia, Ireland, France and throughout the United States. He has been a master teacher for institutions as Pacific Northwest Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Royal Danish Ballet Summer School, The School of Ballet Arizona, Ballet Hispanico, Ballet de Barcelona, the New York State Summer School, the University of Southern California’s Gloria Kaufman School of Dance, SUNY Purchase, Temple University, BODYTRAFFIC, the Marin Ballet, the Laguna Ballet, the Real Conservatory in Madrid, , Art of. Summer intensive and Stage de Danse in Liege, Belgium.

During his time at New York City Ballet, Mr. Carmena worked with the New York City Ballet Young Patrons committee for several years which is designed to bring young audiences to ballet and encourage their financial support of the organization. His enthusiasm and involvement helped the program double in size. He was immersed in fundraising goals, marketing and event planning, and the financial parameters associated with Young Patrons programs. In 2018, Mr. Carmena participated in shadowing Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal and was essentially participating in an administrative intensive with PNB’s management team. Through these experiences he has gained valuable insights into the complexity and many moving parts of every ballet company

He demonstrated ballet classes for a very popular series of instructional videos by the master teacher Finis Jhung. In addition, in 2017 The Columbia University Ballet Collaborative invited him to choreograph his first work, “Los Cuatro.” In 2019 he choreographed his second ballet for Ballet de Barcelona, “Together”, in collaboration with Marcus Salazar.

Mr. Carmena received his training at the Royal Conservatory of Professional Dance in Madrid, Spain. Awards include the Gold Medal in 1996 at the Third International Competition, Havana, Cuba; the 1997 Gold Medal at the Prix de Lausanne as well as the “Prix des Telespectateurs,” an honor voted on by television viewers of the Competition; the Grand Prix at the Seventh Eurovision Competition for Young Dancers and the “Most Outstanding Young Dancer” in the First International Dance Competition in Zaragoza, Spain.

After winning the Prix de Lausanne Scholarship, he was invited to study at the School of American Ballet, the official School of New York City Ballet. He was named an apprentice to the Company in 1998, joined the full Company the following year and was promoted to Soloist in 2006. He retired from the New York City Ballet in 2017.

Mr. Carmena’s repertoire with the Company included leading roles in classical ballets and works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, August Bournonville and Peter Martins. He originated roles in creations by Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, Mauro Bigonzetti, Liam Scarlett, Susan Stroman and Douglas Lee.

He appeared as a guest artist with numerous companies in the United States and Europe including the Laguna Ballet, The Hartford Ballet, the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi di Salerno, the Festival di Spoleto, and the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater.

In addition to his dance career, Mr. Carmena is an accomplished chef. With a scholarship from Career Transition for Dancers, he studied at the French Culinary Institute, taking the “La Technique” course under the direction of Chefs Ryan Orkus and Jessica Botta. He has several videos on YouTube demonstrating favorite recipes from “The Ballet Cookbook” by ballerina Tanaquil Le Clercq.

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Both internationally as well as in the U.S., Ashley is passionate about her work as a dancer, teacher and choreographer. Primarily trained in New York, she has studied and worked in many different styles from ballet to lyrical, modern, tap, hip-hop, contemporary, and musical theatre. She has had the opportunity to perform and/or choreograph at venues such as Jacob’s Pillow, Teatro Madrid, The Gerald Lynch Theater, The Barrow Street Theater, SummerStage, The Highline Ballroom, Webster Hall, BB Kings and the Ailey Theatre. Ashley is also on faculty at Ballet Academy East, and Joffrey in New York, various schools in Mexico and Spain; former faculty at Peridance, and has taught at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, and Ballet Arts in New York City, Lines Dance Center in San Francisco, Tony Williams Dance Center and Green St Studios in Boston and Tarrytown Dance in Austin.

She can be seen working alongside artists such as Ricky Martin, NeYo, Lady Sovereign, Nicki Minaj, Cam’ron and Mila Kunis, for companies like Pilobolus, Derek Mitchell, Daniel Gwirtzman, Hanna Q Dance, Germaul Barnes/Viewsic Expressions, Ruddur Dance, Momentum Dance Theater, Variations Theatre Group, the Little Opera Theatre of NY, Moochaloo and Balasole, and for brands such as Nike, Athleta, Nokia, Ursus Vodka, Microsoft, Heineken, Yahoo, Ameriprise, the Rachel Ray Show and Lush Cosmetics. She has been seen off-Broadway in shows like West Side Story and 3 to 1. She was invited to Madrid to teach at the Association of Dance Professionals and choreograph for Spanish recording artist Nuria Elosegui. Ashley performed in Sia’s music video “Soon We Will Be Found”, in Central Park Summerstage, in a Boost Mobile commercial, danced in a feature film with Justin Timberlake, and is credited with choreographing independent feature film “The Ride of Tom and Valkyrie”. She has performed with the European show “Compradores de Sueños”, premiered the Legendary Dance Project at the Museo del Barrio and has completed her fourth season of New York City’s Summerstage. Recently, Ashley was featured in the original dance film “Here We Go Again” (dir. Nathan Cohen), has performed two seasons as Fritz/Rat King/Russia in “DIY Nutcracker”, danced in “The Barber of Seville” with the Amore Opera, and worked on a production of “Peter Pan” for Broadway Asia.

Ashley has choreographed several full-length shows for the company DoubleTake Dance (www.DoubleTakeDanceCo.com) that she co-directs with Vanessa Martínez de Baños, and is very proud of DoubleTake’s performance in the City Parks Summerstage festival, Battery Dance Festival, Carnival Choreographer’s Ball, etc. Additionally, with the company, she is credited with directing/choreographing a benefit for Japan and the latest commercial for Fuse TV and Dropps laundry detergent; and routinely traveling to the West Coast, Europe and Mexico to teach contemporary workshops. Recent credits include choreographic commissions for the world-renowned Dancing Wheels Company, HT Chen’s NewSteps, JPAC’s Next Stage Residency, and the Montclair Performing Arts program; choreography for the new musical “Dragula”, and was also a choreography grant recipient from Eryc Taylor Dance.

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Brigid Boden

Brigid Boden was born in Ireland and is a member of The Royal Academy of Dance. She began her training at the age of 4 years at The Leinster School of Ballet, Dublin, and later at The Hammond, Chester, England. Ms. Boden danced with the Dublin City Ballet Company, Ireland before moving to The Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York where she was awarded a full scholarship to train under the guidance of Arthur Mitchell, Karl Shook and New York City Ballet’s infamous Tanaquil Le Clercq.

Ms. Boden danced in New York for several years before returning to Ireland to open up her own ballet school. She taught in small towns throughout the countryside, allowing students access to ballet classes which would have been unavailable to them. Ms. Boden’s school was hugely instrumental in the development of Ireland’s thriving interest in ballet today.

Upon her return to the US in 2006 Ms. Boden became a full faculty member at The Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica, where she taught for 14 years. She also introduced and developed their successful pre-pointe program. During this time, Ms Boden managed the dance department at the international French School, Le Lycee Francais in Los Angeles. Ms. Boden has helped in the training of countless dancers, many of whom have joined major companies, including: The Joffrey Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Boston Ballet, The Mikhailovsky Theatre, St Petersburg, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet.

Ms. Boden has taught master classes at
The Paris Marais Dance School, Paris
The School of Russian Ballet, Spain
The National Ballet Conservatory, Malta
Armour Dance Theatre, Miami
The Pineapple Dance Studios, London

Throughout the pandemic, Ms. Boden offered live ballet classes on Instagram @learnballetathome. She also wrote, directed, and produced the acclaimed educational ballet video for children, Learn Ballet at Home.

Ms. Boden is a guest teacher at Ballet Academy East.

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Gonzalo Garcia is a principal dancer with New York City Ballet. Born in Zaragoza, Spain, Mr. Garcia began studying ballet at the age of eight at Maria Avila’s school. In 1995, he attended the summer session at San Francisco Ballet School. Following this session, Mr. Garcia participated in the Prix de Lausanne, becoming the youngest dancer to receive a gold medal. He then returned to the School to resume his studies and was selected by Helgi Tomasson, Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet, to perform in a world premiere ballet created especially for the 1996 Spring Student Showcase. Mr. Garcia joined San Francisco Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in March 1998. In 2000, he was promoted to soloist, and in 2002 to principal dancer.

Mr. Garcia was invited to perform Balanchine’s Ballo della Regina with New York City Ballet as part of the company’s Balanchine Centennial Celebration in 2004. Mr. Garcia joined New York City Ballet in October 2007 as a principal dancer. At San Francisco Ballet, Mr. Garcia’s featured roles included Balanchine’s Apollo, The Four Temperaments, “Rubies” from Jewels, Prodigal Son, Square Dance, Symphony in C, Tarantella, and Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux; William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, Dybbuk, Fanfare, Glass Pieces, and Other Dances; Helgi Tomasson’s Giselle (Albrecht, Pas de Cinq), Romeo and Juliet (Romeo, Benvolio), Sleeping Beauty (Bluebird, Pas de Six), Swan Lake (Prince Siegfried, Pas de Trois, Neopolitan), and Mr. Tomasson and Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote (Basilio); and Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia and There Where She Loved.

In addition, Mr. Garcia created the roles of Nutcracker Prince in Mr. Tomasson’s Nutcracker and Aminta in Mark Morris’s Sylvia, and originated a role in Mr. Wheeldon’s Continuum. Mr. Tomasson coached Mr. Garcia in Balanchine’s Divertimento from ‘Le Baiser de la Fée’ as part of the George Balanchine Foundation Video Archives.

photo: Erin Baiano

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A principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, Maxim Beloserkovsky received his dance training at the Kiev Ballet Institute. In 1990 he danced as a leading soloist with the National Opera of Bulgaria where he remained for one year. From 1991 to 1994, he was a principal dancer with the National Opera Ballet of the Ukraine, and toured with them to numerous countries, including France, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Egypt, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.

He performed most of the major roles in the classical repertory: the Prince and Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty; Prince Siegfried and the Pas de Trois in Swan Lake; Albrecht in Giselle; Ferhad in Legend of Love; and the Pas de Deux from Le Corsaire, Don Quixote and La Sylphide. In 1993, Mr. Beloserkovsky was honored by the President of the Ukraine for outstanding artistic achievement. After joining American Ballet Theatre in 1994, Mr. Beloserkovsky was made a soloist in 1995 and was appointed principal dancer in 2000, following a brilliant season in which he was repeatedly cited for his superior artistry, “(adding) virtuosity to his pure classical style.” (Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times.) His performance as Basilio in Don Quixote was a triumph: “The last Don Quixote of the season … had (partner and wife) Irina Dvorovenko and Mr. Beloserkovsky in a stunning display of integrated artistry and technique, a truly flawless and exciting performance.” (Kisselgoff, The New York Times.) Ms. Kisselgoff’s review of his 1999 Don Quixote hailed his performance as “perfect, and danced in sublime harmony and with breathtaking stylistic unity.”

Mr. Beloserkovsky’s Siegfried in Ballet Theatre’s new Swan Lake also brought critical acclaim: “To see Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky step into the leading roles of Swan Lake was to see two outstanding dancers outdo themselves and enhance a 19th century classic with a splendid and mature performance.” “It is up to the principals to bring depth to the plot through their dancing. This is what Ms. Dvorovenko and Mr. Beloserkovsky did with unusual technical polish.” (The New York Times). Jennifer Dunning, reviewing Etudes in The New York Times, cited Mr. Beloserkovsky for his “forceful Russian-style attack, mixed here, characteristically, with a winning clarity of line and shape.” Equally confident in both classical and contemporary works, Mr. Beloserkovsky brings graceful dignity and elegance to his many roles.

His repertoire with ABT includes Basilio and Espada in Don Quixote, Prince Desiré and Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, Siegfried in Swan Lake, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Albrecht in Giselle, Jean de Brienne in Raymonda, Oberon in The Dream, the lead in Theme and Variations, Conrad and Lankendem in Le Corsaire, Camille in The Merry Widow, Colas in La Fille Mal Gardée, Lensky in Onegin, Misgir in The Snow Maiden, James in La Sylphide, Franz in Coppélia, the Cavalier in The Nutcracker, Aminta in Sylvia, and the Prince in Cinderella. He has also danced leading roles in The Leaves are Fading, Lilac Garden, Dim Lustre, Brüch Violin Concerto, Mozartiana, Symphony in C, Symphonic Variations, Les Sylphides, Etudes, Apollo, Pas des Déesses, La Bayadère (Act II), and Variations for Four, as well as Sylvia Pas de Deux, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Paquita.

His athleticism and style have also earned him leading roles in important contemporary works: Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove, The Elements and The Brahams-Haydn Variations, Nacho Duato’s Without Words and Remanso, Natalie Weir’s Hereafter, Mark Morris’s Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, Jiri Kylian’s Sinfonietta, John Neumeier’s Spring and Fall, Christian Spuck’s Le Grand Pas de Deux, Stanton Welch’s Clear, Peter Quanz’s Kaleidoscope, Martha Graham’s Diversion of Angels, and Jerome Robbins’s Afternoon of a Faun. Mr. Beloserkovsky has appeared as a guest artist with numerous companies, including the Hamburg Ballet, the Finnish Ballet, the Rome Opera Ballet, Verona Ballet, the Universal Ballet, and with Stars of the Bolshoi Ballet, and has been a guest with Asami Maki and at the National Theater in Tokyo. He has also appeared in several videos and television arts programs, including the PBS broadcast of the opening of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, partnering his wife, ABT principal dancer Irina Dvorovenko, in the Swan Lake Act II Pas de Deux. He has been featured on the cover of Dance Magazine, Japanese Dance Magazine, New York Dance Fax, and Pointe, as well as in articles in People, Dancing Times, Dance Review, Gotham, Good Housekeeping, and Talk. With his polished technique and confident stage presence, Mr. Beloserkovsky easily meets the technical challenge of both the classical and contemporary repertory, making him one of American Ballet Theatre’s most versatile dancers. He and Ms. Dvorovenko are the proud parents of daughter Emma Galina, born in March 2005.

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Darla Hoover

“The quality of the training a dancer receives has an enormous impact on their future. BAE’s meticulous and comprehensive syllabus develops technically strong, expressive ballet dancers, who ultimately can adapt to any style.”

Darla Hoover was trained at the renowned Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary and completed her studies on a full scholarship at the School of American Ballet. In 1980, after choreographing a solo for her in the New York City Opera production of Bourgeois Gentilhomme, George Balanchine invited Ms. Hoover to become a member of his New York City Ballet. From 1980-1991, Ms. Hoover appeared as a featured soloist in ballets such as Balanchine’s La Valse, Chaconne, Harlequinade, Ballo della Regina, as well as Peter Martins’ Eight Easy Pieces, Rossini Quartets, Sonata di Scarlatti, and Jerome Robbin’s Fanfare. Upon retirement, a full schedule of guest appearances throughout the United States and Europe further expanded her repertory experience.

Ms. Hoover now focuses her attentions on teaching and staging ballets, including positions as the Artistic Director of Ballet Academy East’s Pre-Professional Division in New York City, and Artistic Director of Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, where she also directs a nationally recognized Teachers Workshop that instructs fellow dance educators on the syllabus and methodologies developed by Marcia Dale Weary. Ms. Hoover guest teaches all over the world, and has been invited to share her successful techniques at distinguished companies such as New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, New National Theatre Tokyo, and Royal Danish Ballet.

As a répétiteur, Ms. Hoover regularly stages works for the George Balanchine Trust. Recent stagings at major ballet companies such as the Stanislavsky Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, New National Theatre Tokyo, and Dance Theatre of Harlem have included George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Raymonda Variations, La Source, Serenade, Scherzo à la Russe, Divertimento No.15, Valse Fantaisie, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brillante, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Stars and Stripes. Ms. Hoover was invited to stage George Balanchine’s Raymonda Variations at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. This performance marked the first time the esteemed Academy had ever performed a work by Mr. Balanchine.

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Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA), Charles 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. His repertoire while at American Ballet Theatre included leading roles in Giselle, La Bayadere, Manon, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Etudes, Voluntaries, The Rite of Spring, Symphonic Variations, Rodeo, Fall River Legend, The Other, The Red Shoes, Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, and Apollo.

In 1997, Mr. Askegard left ABT to join New York City Ballet as a soloist. He served as Principal Dancer from 1998 until 2011. In 2002, he appeared in the nationally televised Live from Lincoln Center broadcast, “New 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 The Dutch National Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Etudes of South Florida, Bavarian State Opera Ballet, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Philippine Ballet Theatre, The Daring Project, and the Stars of American Ballet. He performed the leading roles opposite Barbie in the “Barbie” 3-D animated videos, dancing in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and the Twelve Dancing Princesses.

He can also be seen in the documentary Ballet, directed by Fred Wiseman. Since joining New York City Ballet, Mr. Askegard has danced featured roles in works by several key choreographers of the 20th and 21st century, including George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Apollo, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (Fourth Movement), Concerto Barocco, Coppélia (Frantz), Cortège Hongrois, Firebird, The Four Temperaments, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™, “Diamonds” from Jewels, Ivesiana, Kammermusik No. 2, Liebeslieder Walzer, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Monumentum pro Gesualdo, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, Orpheus, Robert Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertänze”, Scotch Symphony, Serenade, Stars and Stripes, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Swan Lake, Symphony in C, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 (Theme and Variations), Union Jack, Vienna Waltzes, Walpurgisnacht Ballet, Western Symphony, Who Cares?, Peter Martins’ Barber Violin Concerto, Fearful Symmetries, Morgen, Naïve and Sentimental Music, The Sleeping Beauty (Gold), Swan Lake (Siegfried and Russian), The Waltz Project, Harmonielehre, River of Light, Swan Lake, Them Twos, Thou Swell and Viva Verdi, Jerome Robbins’ The Four Seasons (Fall), Glass Pieces, In Memory of…, In the Night, Ives, Songs In addition to Eliot Feld’s Intermezzo No. 1, The Unanswered Question, Organon and Robert La Fosse’s “Rockin’ in Rhythm” from Duke!, Helgi Tomasson’s Prism (2000 Diamond Project ballet), and Christopher Wheeldon’s Carnival of the Animals. Charles Askegard is the Associate Artistic Director of Minnesota Dance Theatre.

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Jenna Rae Lavin is originally from Queens, New York. She began her ballet training with Mme. Gabriela Darvash and Jody Fugate. She later graduated from the School of American Ballet where she studied with such teachers as Alexandria Danilova, Antonia Tumkovsky, and Stanley Williams. Ms. Lavin began her professional career at 17 when she was invited to join the Chicago City Ballet, under the direction of Maria Tallchief. Ms. Lavin also danced with the Atlanta Ballet, directed by Robert Barnett, for seven years.

Her principal and soloist roles with the Atlanta Ballet include: Balanchine’s Prodigal Son, The Four Temperaments, Serenade, Tarantella Pas de Deux, Minkus Pas de Trois as well as Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker. Ms. Lavin was a principal dancer with the Nashville Ballet where she danced Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, the title role in Giselle, and principal roles in the company’s contemporary repertoire. Other professional affiliations include the Los Angeles Ballet, under the direction of John Clifford. Ms. Lavin spent eight summers as a member of the Chautauqua Ballet Company, under the direction of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, where she performed principal roles in ballets by Balanchine, Bonnefoux, and Clifford. She is a former soloist with Edward Villella’s Miami City Ballet, where she danced principal roles in many ballets including Divertimento #15, Jewels, Pas de Dix, Raymonda Variations, Valse Fantasies, Western Symphony, Glinka Pas de Trois, The Nutcracker, and Who Cares?. Ms. Lavin has worked with numerous choreographers, creating principal roles in ballets by Alonzo King, Lisa de Ribere, and Stanton Welch, to name a few. In the summer of 2003, Ms. Lavin performed in Casablanca, a collaboration between Warner Bros. and John Clifford’s Los Angeles Dance Theater.

Ms. Lavin has been teaching ballet to young dancers throughout her career. She has been on faculty at BAE since 2003 teaching in the Pre Professional Division. Ms. Lavin has also choreographed over 20 ballets for BAE. She is married to Cornel Crabtree and they are the proud parents of three boys – Sky, Grayson and Cooper.

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A native of Cali, Colombia, Juan Carlos Peñuela began dancing at the age of 12 with Incolballet, a ballet-centered secondary school. His teachers included artistic staff from the National Ballet of Cuba and several Russian ballet academies. After Mr. Peñuela\’s graduation in 1986, Gloria Castro invited him to become a soloist with Columbia\’s National Company, Ballet de Cali. During the seven years he was with Ballet de Cali, he danced throughout South America, Europe, and the Caribbean Islands. His repertoire consisted of leading roles in contemporary works as well as classical pieces, including the principal male in Les Sylphides, Colin in La Fille Mal Gardée, and Franz in Coppélia.

In 1993, Mr. Peñuela moved to the United States to join Ballet Arizona in Phoenix, where he danced several pieces by artistic director and choreographer Michael Uthoff, and also created roles in new ballets by Violette Verdy and Helgi Tomasson. In 1996, he joined Dance Theater of Harlem, where he performed in many of George Balanchine’s works, including The Four Temperaments, Agon, Allegro Brillante, and Bugaku, as well as a variety of contemporary pieces.

Mr. Peñuela then joined Pennsylvania Ballet in 1998-2004. He was featured in several roles in The Nutcracker, and in Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s Great Galloping Gottschalk. Most notably, he received critical praise for dancing the role of The Moor in Josè Limon’s The Moor’s Pavane. He also performed in new works such as Jeffrey Gribler’s Cricket Dances, Meredith Rainey’s Slight Shifts, and Matthew Neenan’s Sfrenato.

Juan Carlos then worked as a freelance dancer, ballet master, and répétiteur based in New York City, working with various companies and schools all over the US and abroad. He has rehearsed & staged full-length ballets such as: Giselle, Don Quixote, Paquita, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Romeo & Juliet, Cinderella, Walpurgis Nights, Diana & Acteon, Flower Festival in Genzano, Les Sylphides, Spartacus, Carmen, Raymonda, and Le Corsaire, as well as works created by choreographers Chiara Ajkun, Meredith Rainey, Gloria Castro, and Diane Coburn Bruning, to name a few.

Juan Carlos is currently the Ballet Master of Ballet Hispanico Company in New York City as well Senior Ballet Master for the School of Dance. He teaches company classes at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Alvin Ailey School. Mr. Peñuela is faculty member of Joffrey Ballet School and Marymount Manhattan College, both in New York City.

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Cheryl Yeager received her early training at Maryland School of Ballet, performing with the Maryland Youth Ballet. She went on to receive scholarships to study at both the School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre School. Cheryl joined American Ballet Theatre in 1976, was promoted to soloist in 1981, and then became a principal dancer in 1986.

During Cheryl’s eighteen years at American Ballet Theatre, she performed leading roles in all the great ballets including Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Coppélia, Cinderella, La Bayadère, Giselle, Études, La Sylphide, Raymonda, Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, Firebird, Gaite Parisienne, Graduation Ball, Flower Festival, Bournonville Pas de Trois, La Fille Mal Gardée, Napoli, Grand Pas Classique, Le Corsaire, Diana and Acteon, Anthony Tudor’s Leaves are Fading, Undertow and Fandango, Merce Cunningham’s Duets, Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes To Shove and Bach Partita, Frederick Ashton’s Rendez Vous and Les Patineurs, George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, Donizetti Variations, Apollo, Bourrée Fantasque, Harliquinade, and Sylvia Pas de Deux.

Cheryl originated leading roles in ballets including Twyla Tharp’s Brief Fling, Clark Tippet’s Bruch Violin Concerto, Lynne Taylor Corbet’s Great Galloping Gottchaulk, and Michael Smuin’s Peter and the Wolf. Cheryl has toured throughout the world with Alexander Godunov, Rudolph Nureyev, Peter Boal, Julio Bocca, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. She has been seen on television and video in Live From Lincoln Center: Raymonda, Giselle, Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, and Billy the Kid, as well as Baryshnikov with Twyla Tharp, Baryshnikov’s Nutcracker, and Don Quixote with Julio Bocca. Cheryl is a summer faculty member at American Ballet Theatre and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.

She is also a well known private teacher and coach. Cheryl has been a much-loved senior faculty member in the Pre-Professional Division at Ballet Academy East since 2002.

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Nicholas Ade is from Los Angeles, CA. He trained at San Francisco Ballet School and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He danced with the Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) from 1996-2006 under Francia Russell, Kent Stowell, and Peter Boal. While with PNB, Ade performed leading roles in George Balanchine\’s The Four Temperaments and A Midsummer Night\’s Dream; Ronald Hynd\’s The Merry Widow; and Kent Stowell\’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. He has also been featured in Balanchine\’s La Valse, Prodigal Son, Symphony in C, Symphony in Three Movements, and Who Cares?; and Peter Martins\’ Fearful Symmetries. He originated featured roles in Val Caniparoli\’s Torqueand Nicolo Fonte\’s Almost Tango and Within/Without.

Ade joined Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet as school principal in 2012, prior to serving as principal of the Pacific Northwest Ballet School’s Francia Russell Center, PNB’s Eastside School, under Artistic Director Peter Boal from 2006 through 2012. Ade also serves as permanent guest faculty at Ballet Academy East in New York City under artistic director, Darla Hoover and founder and director, Julia Dubno. He has taught throughout Europe and North America, including the Iliev Foundation in Bulgaria. Ade has also taught at Tri-Cities Academy of Ballet, Utah Regional Ballet, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He also has been on faculty at several national and regional festivals for Regional Dance America (RDA). Ade’s relationship with RDA has also extended into adjudicating in 2010; as well as serving as host to the Craft of Choreography Conference (CCC) and Summer Intensive from 2007-2009 and has been on the faculty of the CCC from 2004 through 2009. He has served as host of PNB\’s Eyes on Dance and Discover Dance outreach performances and has been Project Coordinator for PNB\’s NEXT STEP (formerly Choreographers\’ Showcase) since 2005. In November 2014, Ade was appointed chief executive officer of CPYB.

Photo Credit: Joel Thomas Photography

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Cornel Crabtree was born in Tripoli, Libya. He began dancing at fourteen and trained under full scholarship at both the San Francisco Ballet School and the School of American Ballet. Former teachers include Anatole Vilzak, Stanley Williams, Alexandria Danilova, Andrei Kamarevsky, and Gabriella Darvash, with whom he trained extensively.

Mr. Crabtree was a member of New York City Ballet for ten years, where he danced principal roles in a wide variety of ballets, such as Balanchine’s Serenade, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jewels, Vienna Waltzes, The Nutcracker, and Jerome Robbin’s Dances at a Gathering, In the Night, and Goldberg Variations, to name a few. Mr. Crabtree has performed on television in Bournonville Dances, which was telecast as part of PBS Dance in America series, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream Live from Lincoln Center broadcast. He was also invited to the Stars Shine for the Acropolis in Athens, where he danced Black Swan Pas de Deux. In 1989, he danced the title role of Oscar Wilde in the premiere of the Irish National Ballet’s production of “Oscar,” choreographed by Domy Reiter-Soffer.

In 1990, he danced Swan Lake at the National Theater in Taiwan. From 1990-92 he was a principal with Miami City Ballet, where he performed in Balanchine’s Bugaku, Square Dance, Glinka Pas de Trois, Jewels, Scotch Symphony, Concerto Borrocco, Pas de Dix, and Stars and Stripes Pas de Deux, as well as Petipa’s Sleeping Beauty. Mr. Crabtree has appeared as a principal quest artist with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Festival Ballet Providence, Ballet Austin, and The Daring Project. With these companies he performed in Paquita, Romeo and Juliet, Carmen, Esmerelda, Flower Festival, and La Sylphide. From 2000-01 he was a principal with Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, where some of his repertoire included Flemming Flint’s The Lesson, Ashton’s Monotones, and Arpino’s Kettentanz. A few of the new ballets created on him were Lambros Lambrou’s Byzantium, Remembrances, The Rite of Spring, and Stanton Welch’s Orange.

In 2004 he performed John Clifford’s Casablanca, which premiered in Beijing. Mr. Crabtree has performed the roles of Slavemaster/Solo Dancer for the Broadway and National tour productions of Phantom of the Opera. Mr. Crabtree has been on faculty at Marymount Manhattan College, Broadway Dance Center, Ballet Arts, and Fieldston School of Ethical Culture.

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Born in Florence, Italy, where she started ballet classes at Daria Collin’s School, Ms. Seravalli joined the Joffrey Ballet shortly after her arrival in the U.S. She then moved to American Ballet Theatre, where she spent the next eleven years, attaining the rank of soloist. After leaving ABT, Ms. Seravalli joined the faculty of the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College where she taught, staged, choreographed, rehearsed, and took on other academic responsibilities.

She was invited to Taipei, Taiwan, to work with the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and the National Institute of the Arts. In that same year, she was also invited to teach at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts. She has returned to teach at both institutions many times. Ms. Seravalli has been visiting ballet mistress for Ballet Philippines in Manila, where she rehearsed, staged, and taught classes for the school as well as for the company, with whom she went on a National Tour throughout the islands. Ms. Seravalli was also invited as a guest teacher and ballet mistress for the Ballet Municipal de Santiago and as a visiting teacher at its school.

In addition, she has returned many times to her home country to teach, stage, and consult. Ms. Seravalli has received a SUNY Research Foundation Grant to travel to the former Soviet Union to develop methods for adapting Russian classical training for American dancers. She received a Fulbright Fellowship to Chile, which allowed her to return to Ballet Municipal de Santiago. She has traveled throughout Chile and neighboring countries, giving seminars and master classes. Ms. Seravalli has worked with Guangdong Modern Company in Guangzhou, China, and was invited to teach at the University of Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts and at the Queensland University of Technology’s dance program in Brisbane, Australia. Ms. Seravalli was featured in Dance Magazine in an article entitled “Rosanna Seravalli: Teacher’s Wisdom.” Ms. Seravalli has choreographed and taught master classes for the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore, and has been invited to teach at the school of the Houston Ballet and in Nagoya, Japan.

She is currently a member of the faculty of American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive Program in New York City, and is certified from levels Preliminary through Five in ABT’s National Training Curriculum. In addition, she teaches regularly at a number of schools in New York City and throughout the country. In the fall semester of 2014, Ms. Seravalli was on a leave of absence from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase to accept an invitation to work in Taipei, Taiwan, where she taught at the Taiwan National University of the Arts (TNUA), gave master classes to Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s school, and taught, choreographed, and staged for the Lan Yang Youth Catholic Center in both Taipei and Luotong. In January, 2015 Ms. Seravalli returned to her position as Professor of Dance at Purchase College.

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