KATHERINE C. KERSTEN
Competition Founder and Artistic Director

Ms. Kersten grew up in Switzerland and trained in Europe under legendary teachers Boris Kniasef, Lucette Darsonval and Victor Gsovsky. She was a soloist with the San Francisco Pacific Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet and had numerous engagements in musical, theater and classical productions. From 1980 to 1992, she served as School Director for the Milwaukee Ballet where she originated the nationally-recognized Identify Youth for Dance program and was awarded a State Senate Citation for her development of dance in Wisconsin. For the Florentine Opera she choreographed productions including Il Trovatore, Faust and Don Giovanni.

In 1992, she was engaged to manage the Bolshoi Ballet Academy at Vail, Colorado where she went on to develop the Vail International Dance Festival. Over fifteen years as Producing Artistic Director, she introduced dynamic educational programs and produced numerous exclusive productions that brought international recognition to the Festival. She produced annual International Galas featuring ballet’s most illustrious stars and numerous original productions. Ms. Kersten guest teaches in the US and abroad including for the Ballet du Nord in France and Arizona State University and has recently choreographed Merlin for the Walden Family Playhouse and in New York several Disney television episodes of Out of the Box.

.top.

KEE-JUAN HAN
ABC Co-Founder - Director Washington School of Ballet

Born in Singapore, Kee-Juan Han began training at age ten with Florrie Sinclair and Goh Soo Khim. Upon graduation from the Australian Ballet School, he was invited to dance with the Sydney Dance Company and the Goh Ballet in Canada where he also trained to teach the Vaganova method. He danced as a principal with Indianapolis Ballet Theater and as a soloist with Boston Ballet. He has danced most of the principal roles in the classical repertoire as well as ballets by Balanchine and modern works by Jose Limon, Mark Morris, Ralph Lemon and Bebe Miller.

Mr. Han's international teaching experiences include guest teaching at the Singapore Dance Theater, Edmonton Ballet Academy, Sydney Dance Company, Ballet Austin, Boston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Milwaukee Ballet and for the Jackson International Summer School. He was Director of Arizona Ballet School from 1992 to 2003. In 2000, he was named best teacher at the Youth America Grand Prix in Long Beach and, in 2005, was the recipient of the “Excellence In Teaching” Award at North Carolina School of the Arts where he was  a full-time faculty member 2003- 2007. Mr. Han currently is the School Director for the Washington School of Ballet in Washington D.C.

.top.

ALICE ALYSE
Artistic Director of Joffrey South Intensive for Joffrey Ballet School NYC

Ms. Alyse’s professional dance career includes performing classical and contemporary principal roles with San Francisco Ballet. Her training includes a full Merit Scholarship with the Joffrey Ballet School, graduate of New World School of the Arts, Modern: Martha Graham, Jose Limon; Jazz: Frederick Bratcher; Flamenco: Rosita Segovia; Julliard’s Reginald Yates and Ballroom, Tap, Acting, Singing and Choreography. She appeared in over 300 performances of the Broadway Show Movin’ Out and has won the highest ballet awards in the United States and Internationally including First Place winner of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and the Outstanding Performance Award at the 16th International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria.

Her stage credits include Kennedy Center, Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center, St. Petersburg, Russia, Kirov Theatre and Paris Opéra Garnier. She has appeared in Vogue, Australian’s Harper’s Bazaar, People, Dancer Magazine and Dance Magazine. Her acting credits include Films- Joe Killionaire, A-List, Raising Helen; Television appearances on NBC, CW, Networks, Telemundo and Univision; Theatre: Shakespearean plays, Musical Theatre, Drama and Comedy. In 2009 and 2010 Ms. Alyse choreographed the classical ballet Flight of the White Flower and Alma, a contemporary ballet, both showcased at the San Gabriel Civic Auditorium in California. Alice Alyse is Founder of the American Ballerina Foundation.

.top.

GIL BOGGS
Artistic Director - Colorado Ballet

Gil Boggs began his dance career with the Atlanta Ballet. He joined American Ballet Theater in New York in 1982 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1991.  He was a member of the company for seventeen years. Mr. Boggs has also performed with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, Baryshnikov and Company, Nureyev and Friends, and made several guest appearances around the world. During his career with American Ballet Theatre, he was recognized as both an accomplished virtuoso and one of the company’s most popular performers. Throughout his career, Mr. Boggs has worked with such noted choreographers as Agnes de Mille, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Paul Taylor, Mark Morris, Jerome Robbins and Merce Cunningham and has an extensive performance repertoire of both classical and contemporary works. He has staged ballets for ABT, Twyla Tharp and Royal Birmingham Ballet in England.  He became Artistic Director of Colorado Ballet in 2006.

.top.

OLEG BRIANSKY
International Guest Artist

As premier danseur and choreographer, Mr. Briansky has performed with Ballet des Champs-Elysees, Ballet de Paris, London Festival Ballet (English National Ballet) New York Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Munich Opera Ballet, Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires and the Chicago Opera Ballet. He has partnered leading ballerinas including Margot Fonteyn, Maria Tallchief and Violette Verdy. He served on the jury of the Prix de Lausanne and competitions in Nyon, Switzerland, Osaka, Japan and Jackson, MS. He was the Associate Artistic Director of the Ballet de Rio de Janeiro and Artistic Director of "Children of Theatre Street," the documentary film and Academy Award nomination on the Vaganova Choreographic Institute in Leningrad. He has translated "100 Lessons in Classical Ballet" by Vera Kostrovitskaya of the Vaganova Institute and "Classes in Classical Ballet" by Asaf Messerer of the Bolshoi Ballet. An international teacher and coach, Mr. Briansky has directed principal dancers from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada. He was the founder and director of the Briansky Saratoga Ballet.

.top.

DIDIER CHIRPAZ
President/CEO - L'Agence pour la danse, Canada

Trained at the École de Danse de l'Opéra National de Paris in France, Didier Chirpaz graduated at the top of his class in 1969. Since making his professional début, he worked not only as a dancer but also as a choreographer on a regular basis and was the principal dancer at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva (Switzerland) and at the Opéra de Lyon (France). He is a champion of dance that is all-embracing and not limited to strict styles and categories. Mr. Chirpaz was the Artistic Director of the École supérieure de ballet contemporain de Montréal (E.S.B.C.M.)and of the Jeune Ballet du Québec for thirteen years. The E.S.B.C.M. is acknowledged for its well-trained and high calibre dancers and the school continues to make a strong impact on the professional dance milieu in Canada and abroad. His tremendous experience as a dancer, teacher, entrepreneur and artistic director will now serve the dance milieu. In 2009 he founded L'Agence pour la danse which is based in Montreal, QC, Canada. It is a dance agency and its mission is to find solutions for dancers, dance students, dance teachers, dance schools, etc., who have challenges to overcome in their jobs, transitions or projects. L'Agence pour la danse works on the five continents with a network of professionals who have a solid experience in the dance sector.

.top.

ROBERT HILL
Artistic Director, The Orlando Ballet

Mr. Hill, a former principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, founded Robert Hill Dance in 2000 to create and perform new works of dance theater. During his four years as Artistic Director of the Ballet de Monterrey he brought the company international acclaim. Mr. Hill was also a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in Covent Garden and the New York City Ballet. He has appeared as guest artist with numerous companies including the Scottish Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and the Australian Ballet and at international events and festivals. 

His works have been created at American Ballet Theatre, the ABT Studio Company, Julio Bocca’s Ballet Argentino, Ballet de Monterrey and other companies. The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Minnesota Dance Theater and the Royal Ballet School are among the many companies that have performed his works.  A renowned teacher and coach, Mr. Hill has taught for American Ballet Theatre, Cedar Lake Contemporary Dance, ABT Studio Company, Alvin Ailey and American Dance Theater. He was voted one of the 100 Most Influential People in Florida in 2009 by Florida International Magazine shortly after becoming the Artistic Director of Orlando Ballet and has served as a panelist for the Dance Program of the New York State Council on the Arts.

.top.

ANNA-MARIE HOLMES
International Artistic Director and Teacher

Anna-Marie Holmes, artistic director, choreographer, producer, teacher and celebrated ballerina, is an internationally acclaimed dance luminary. She is recognized internationally as one of the foremost authorities on 19th century ballet. Her interpretations of the Russian classics have been staged in more than 30 countries on five continents. Ms. Holmes has also garnered a reputation as a leading champion for new and innovative choreography. She has hired and worked with Christopher Wheeldon, Daniel Pelzig, Margo Sappington, Mark Morris, Ralf Lemon, Susan Marshall, Michael Pink and Bill T. Jones, to name a few. Trained in Russia, she became the first North American to be invited to perform with the Kirov Ballet. She was Artistic Director of Boston Ballet from l997 to 2000 where her vision brought the company to national prominence. Ms. Holmes has established and organized curriculums and arts festivals, collaborated on major tours and productions throughout the dance world. She serves as the director of the ballet program at Jacob’s Pillow. Her expertise in setting repertoire and classical ballets is in great demand by major ballet companies globally.

.top.

MARIAN HOROSKO
Dance Journalist and Author

A prolific dance journalist and author, Marian Horosko was a dancer with New York City Ballet and has appeared in numerous Broadway productions and Hollywood films including An American in Paris and Oklahoma! She has been an editor on the subject of dance for more than twenty years and has authored six books on dance. Her most recent book is May O’Donnell – Modern Dance Pioneer in which she also includes the first available intermediate-advanced syllabus of the O’Donnell technique.

In 1991 she received an award from MedArt, an international medical convention, for being the first to write about medical problems in dance and for being co-founder of the Performing Arts Center for Health - a referral service for dancers. Ms. Horosko was education editor at Dance Magazine until 2000 and New York correspondent for Dancer Magazine until 2008. She currently writes for Explore Dance.

.top.

RANDALL MARKS
Director of Dance, Austin School for the Visual and Performing Arts

Mr. Randall Marks originally trained at the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts. After scholarship study with Joffrey Ballet he apprenticed with Pennsylvania Ballet training under Lupe Serrano and Benjamin Harkave. He joined Ballets Elan as a soloist and thereafter was hired by Atlantic City Ballet becoming a principal dancer after his first season. As principal dancer with Ballet Austin (BA), Dance Magazine described him as “a cocky young Gene Kelly, hoofing his heart out”. His featured roles included Allegro Brillante, The Fairy’s Kiss, Rhythmetron, Triangles, House of Bernarda Alba and Promises. With New York City’s Dennis Wayne’s Dance Company he toured the US and overseas.  Mr. Marks was a member of the New York City Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company and guest starred with Connecticut Ballet Theater. Ballet Austin brought him back to perform in ballets including Other Tangos and Elektra. While in Austin, he accepted the position of resident choreographer/principal dancer with Tapestry Dance Company creating Stepping Over the Line and A Tango Perhaps and was invited to guest direct the last half of Austin Contemporary Ballet’s season creating the lively new piece Mr. Jones and Friends. Partnership with his wife, Jeanne Marie, has taken him across the country and on board some of the finest six-star cruise ships performing many of the classic pas de deux. His career has spanned 62 countries and excites audiences wherever he appears.

.top.

MICHELLE MARTIN
Associate Artistic Director - Ballet Austin

Ms. Martin had her early training at the Alberta Ballet School and danced with the Alberta Ballet Company for four years before joining Indianapolis Ballet Theatre in 1982. While with IBT and, subsequently, the Hartford Ballet in Connecticut, she performed leading and soloist roles in Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty and The Moor’s Pavane as well as creating roles in many original works. Ms. Martin’s teaching credits include guest engagements at schools and universities in Canada, South Carolina, Michigan, Indiana and Texas. She was on faculty at Butler University in Indianapolis for five years. Ms. Martin began her tenure with Ballet Austin in 1991 as a dancer and in 1992 was appointed Ballet Mistress of Ballet Austin and Curriculum Director of the Academy. In 1999,  she founded the Ballet Austin II apprentice program developing the 10-member second company and designing educational presentations.  She served on the Texas Commission on the Arts advisory panel for Arts Education and is a recipient of the Austin Under 40 award for contributions in the area of Arts and Entertainment. Ms. Martin was appointed Associate Artistic Director of Ballet Austin in September, 2000.

.top.

WENDY MASTERSON
Dance Faculty - Interlochen Arts Academy

Ms. Masterson has created original classical and contemporary works, restaged repertoire and has created musical theatre and dramatic works throughout the country. She received a BFA from Point Park College and an MFA from United States International University. At Interlochen Arts Academy she has served as Interim Director, teacher, administrator, ballet mistress and choreographer for the Interlochen Dance Ensemble. She has created many cross-disciplinary classes with her colleagues in Visual Arts, Music, Creative Writing and Academics. Several of her choreographic works have been performed at Regional Dance America Festivals. In 2002-2003, she was coordinator for the Regional Dance America Mid-States Festival. As an extremely talented and sought-after arts administrator, she has worked for many years with the Vail International Dance Festival and DanceAspen in Colorado. Since 2004 she has served as juror and guest teacher for the American Ballet Competition.  She is certified in GYROTONIC® and is completing certification as a Somatic Movement Educator through the School for Body Mind Centering®.

.top.

GILBERT MAYER
Paris Opera Ballet and School-International Guest Artist

Of Swiss nationality, Gilbert Mayer has spent his entire professional career up to 2005 in France at the Paris Opera. After graduating from the Paris Opera Ballet School, he joined the company and became an "Etoile". In l970, he became "Professeur de Danse" for the Paris Opera company and school. He has taught for Ballet National de Marseille, Ballet Lausanne, Hamburg Ballet, Australian Ballet, London Festival Ballet, La Scala, the Kirov and the Royal Ballet School, among others. In 1985, he became director of the Ecole de Danse at the Consevatoire de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland. Mr. Mayer also taught at the Sorbonne in Paris, is a historian, theoretician, television producer, artistic director and choreographer. Holding many prizes and citations, he has been bestowed the title of "Officier" in " L'Ordre National de Arts et des Lettres" and "Commandeur des Palmes Academiques".  He epitomizes the technique and style of the French School of Dance and officially represents French pedagogy throughout the world. Formally now retired from the Paris Opera Ballet, he is in great demand as a guest master teacher throughout the world.

.top.

STEPHEN MILLS
Artistic Director- Ballet Austin

Known for his innovative and collaborative choreographic projects, Mr. Mills has works in the repertories of companies worldwide. Artistic Director of Ballet Austin since 2000,  he attracted attention with his world-premiere production of Hamlet, hailed by Dance Magazine as “...sleek and sophisticated.” The Washington Post recognized Ballet Austin as “one of the nation's best-kept secrets” in 2004 after Ballet Austin performed his world premiere of The Taming of the Shrew, commissioned by and performed at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The Company was first invited to perform at Kennedy Center in January of 2002 with Mills’ production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and at The Joyce Theater (NYC) in 2004.  In 1998 he was chosen to represent the U.S. with his work, Ashes, at the Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis in Paris. Mr. Mills was recently awarded the Steinberg Award, at the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur International Choreographic Competition for One/The Body’s Grace. As a dancer he performed with Harkness Ballet and The American Dance Machine.

.top.

MICHAEL OWEN
Ballet Director, Walnut Hill School for the Arts

Mr. Owen received his training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet with Marcia Dale Weary, The School of American Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. He studied with many notable teachers including Stanley Williams, Andre Eglevsky, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and David Howard. Mr. Owen danced with American Ballet Theatre from 1973 to 1998. He has been featured in numerous movies, PBS specials, and Live from Lincoln Center productions.

Prior to coming to Walnut Hill Mr. Owen taught at New York University, SUNY Purchase, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Alabama Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensives. Michael Owen teaches master class across the United States, Canada, Japan, and China, and has recently begun adjudicating ballet competitions.

.top.

LYNNE SHORT
Principal- Ballet Austin Academy

Lynne Short has been the Principal of Ballet Austin Academy since 2002. In this role she has developed a cohesive syllabus and works closely with the faculty to implement the curriculum in the classroom. Her love of teaching and exploring new ways of inspiring children to find their potential is supported by the wonderful faculty and staff at Ballet Austin.

From 1984-2000, Ms. Short was a faculty member at Pacific Northwest Ballet School. During this time and under the guidance of Francia Russell, director of Pacific Northwest Ballet School, the ideas of colleagues were formed into a unified, cohesive syllabus. Ms. Short was instrumental in developing the syllabus into written format and overseeing revisions. She was closely involved in the Dance Chance Program, which brings ballet training and opportunity to talented, underprivileged children in the Seattle School District. Her performing career included dancing with the Memphis Ballet, Hartford Ballet, First Chamber Dance Company and Pacific Northwest Ballet.

.top.