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Cem Catbas,
Artistic Director
Mr.
Catbas is the Artistic Director of Baltimore Ballet School
and co-founder and Director of Baltimore Ballet Company. He danced principal roles with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre,
the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet, the Istanbul
Contemporary Ballet, and the Koblenz Ballet in Germany in
addition to Baltimore Ballet. Roles he danced include the
title role of Dracula in Ben Stevenson's (Houston Ballet
Production) Dracula, the title role of Romeo in
Romeo and Juliette with the Istanbul State Opera and
Ballet, The Monk in Carmina Burana (Kent Stowell's
production from Pacific Northwest Ballet), the title
role of Peer Gynt with the Koblenz Ballet, and
numerous other principal roles.
Awards he has
won include the 2006 and 2002 Individual Artist Award for
excellence in solo dance performance from the Maryland State
Arts Council, Gold Medal in the 1st International Seleznyov Ballet Competition in 1991, and the Most Promising
Dancer Award from the city of Istanbul.
He has a
B.F.A. egregia cum laude from the Istanbul University State
Conservatory where he studied with Ramazan Bapov, Nikolai
Morozov, and Ludmilla Morkovina. He has worked with Ben
Stevenson (Houston Ballet), Patricia Wilde (NYC Ballet)
Marianna Tcherkassky and Terrence Orr (ABT), Richard
Glasstone (Istanbul Ballet), and Kent Stowell (Pacific
Northwest Ballet), among others.
He has
choreographed The Nutcracker,
Pictures at an Exhibition, A Gershwin Rhapsody,
Carnival of the Animals, excerpts from
Petrouschka, and danced in and staged Scheherazade,
Les Sylphides, the 2nd act of Giselle,
Swan Lake and La Bayadere for Baltimore
Ballet. The esteemed dance critic George Jackson praised his
"passionately stretched line, buoyant leaps and plush
landings."
He has
been a judge for several competitions including the
Frederick Arts Council, and a panelist for Maryland State
Art Council. His students have gone on to dance
professionally, have won numerous awards including 1st Prize
at the regional Youth America Grand Prix Competition, winner
of the MD Distinguished Scholar Award, and
have received full scholarships to the School of
American Ballet and other schools. He has been interviewed on WBFF-Fox News, WMAR-TV, WJZ-TV,
WBAL-TV and Comcast Local Edition. He has given Master
Classes in the US, Canada, and Europe. He also has several
articles on dance which were published at
www.bourgeononline.com and he maintains an
art/philosophy
blog called "BARRE NONE". He appeared
in May and June issues of Dance Magazine 2012.
Valeriia Ivlieva
Ballet and Variations
(Guest Faculty)
Valeriia Ivlieva
is a principal ballerina and the Deputy Artistic Director of
Baltimore Ballet. She was previously a principal dancer with
Russian Grand Ballet, Kiev Youth Ballet, Kiev Municipal
Academic Opera and Ballet, and Cairo Opera Ballet Company. She performed principal roles internationally, and toured
more than 20 countries in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker,
Snow
White, Carmen, Don Quixote, Cinderella,
Carmina Burana,
Romeo and Juliet, Odysseus, Zorba the Greek,
Spartacus,
Pinocchio, Cipollino, the Wizard Harry and the Snow Queen,
Opera Aida, Pictures at an Exhibition, and Firebird as well
as many modern and contemporary works.
Ms. Ivlieva
has won the first place in 2005 Grand Pas Competition from
Donetsk, the gold medal and a special award in 2006 Galician
Terpsichore International Ballet Competition, and the silver
medal and a special award in 2007 Crystal Shoe Kharkov
International Ballet Competition. She has diplomas
from Kharkov Ballet Theatre, a B.F.A. from the Kiev College
of Performing Arts, and a B.A. from the State University of
Performing Arts Administration, all with honors. Ms. Ivlieva’s name is included in the Honorable Book of Fame in
Kharkov. She has taught master classes in the US, Europe and
Africa, and she was a Ballet Mistress/Choreographer with
Mystic Ballet Company and Academy. Ms. Ivlieva has won the
best choreographer award in 2015 for her modern choreography
and her students have placed at the Youth America Grand Prix
Competition. She is currently teaching at Kirov
Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C.
April Giangeruso
Ballet, Variations (Guest Faculty)
April
Giangeruso was born in Washington D.C. and began her early
training in her hometown of Ellicott City, Maryland. At age
nine, she received a full scholarship to the Kirov Academy
of Ballet where she studied from 2001 - 2005 under the
direction of Ludmilla Morkovina. She also studied with Valentina Kozlova and at 15 years old was the youngest
female finalist at the 2006 USA International Ballet
Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. She has performed the
Bluebird Pas de Deux from The Sleeping Beauty, the Grand Pas
de Deux from The Nutcracker and Raymonda,
and Medora and
the Slave Pas de Deux from Le Corsaire. She has attended the
ABT Summer Intensives as a National Training Scholar, and in
September 2007 she joined the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
School at ABT. Giangeruso joined ABT II in December 2007 and
joined
American Ballet Theatre as an apprentice in January 2010
and became a member of the corps de ballet in June 2010.
April was recently featured in The New York Times, click
here to read.
Evgenia Singur
Ballet, Variations and Character
(Guest Faculty)
Evgenia Singur
was a
principal dancer for the Russian State Ballet in Moscow,
where she performed principal roles in The Nutcracker, Giselle, Coppelia, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Spartacus, and
Don
Quixote. She toured with the company internationally to
Austria, England, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Ireland,
Italy, China, Indonesia, Mexico, North & South Korea, United
Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Oman), and Spain. Ms. Singur
began training as a rhythmic gymnast, then a figure skater,
and finally as a ballet dancer from 1993-2001 at the Bolshoi
Ballet Academy and Moscow State Institute of Choreography
before joining the Russian State Ballet. She won the 2004
International Dance Festival in Korea, and the Silver Award
in the 2002 Dance Europe Magazine Competition. Ms.
Singur recently appeared in the lead female role in
Baltimore Ballet's productions of Scheherazade at Kraushaar
Auditorium and Les Sylphides at the BMA, as well as a lead
dancer at Artscape at the Lyric Opera House in July 2009.
Bat Udval,
Ballet
Ballet, and Variations (Guest Faculty)
Bat Udval Erdene
is
a former principal dancer with the Russian Ballet Theater
and was inducted into the Hall of Fame as one of the world’s
greatest male dancers.
Leigh Targaryen
Ballet, Variations, and Sleeping Beauty Camp
(Guest Faculty)
Leigh
has been dancing since the age of three. As a youth, she
studied under Towson's Children's Dance Division with Patty
Enoch Bond where she was able to gain a strong foundation in
R.A.D. In high school, Leigh was accepted into the dance
program at Carver Center for the Arts. After graduation,
Leigh went on to receive her Associate of the Arts degree
from CCBC in Dance. During her attendance, Leigh was
awarded "Outstanding Dancer of the Year" for two consecutive
years. In addition, she received the only scholarships
offered in the dance department, both years in attendance.
She graduated from Goucher College in 2009, where she
earned her BA in Dance Therapy. Leigh began her teaching
career at age 11 as an assistant at Kingsville Recreation
Center. After three years she was awarded her own classes.
Leigh went on to teach creative movement, ballet, tap,
modern, & jazz to varying age groups around Maryland. Her
theory behind teaching dance is to inspire the dancers
creatively while maintaining a technical balance. Leigh's
passion in the field of dance has led her in many
directions, including costume design. In 2006, she started
designing and crafting dance costumes for herself and
received several awards for outstanding craftsmanship at
local and national conventions. In 2008, she began
designing and constructing costumes for several dance
companies including Baltimore Ballet, Deep Vision Dance
Company, Full Circle Dance Company, and Goucher College's
Dance Department.
Mariana Gatto Duran Ballet,
Variations, and Flamenco (Guest Faculty)
Mariana is a classically trained Ballet
dancer, an internationally trained Flamenco dancer, is very
excited to perform with Edwin Aparicio Company’s premiere of
Salvador at Gala Hispanic Theatre. Mariana performed in this
summer’s hit production of Septime Weber’s Little Mermaid at
Imagination Stage. In January 2016, she was the Grand Prix
recipient of the Vienna International Ballet Competition
(VIBE). Born Vidin, Bulgaria; grew up Washington, DC and
Madrid; she studied flamenco in Washington DC, with Sara
Candela, Estella Velez, Ana Martinez, Edwin Aparicio.
Flamenco workshops: with Manuel Linan, Domingo Ortega,
Familia Farruco, Carmela Greco, Jose Maya. International
training: Amor de Dios & Casa Patas (Madrid), Farruco
family (Sevilla), and Albuquerque Flamenco Festival. She has
performed in many venues including Opera Carmen, Gypsy
Kings, Embassy of Spain. Mariana studied at Kirov Academy of
Ballet and City Dance with Ludmilla Morkovina, Anatoli
Kucheruck, Andrea Long, and Stanislav Issaev. Mariana has
received coaching from renown coaches - Dawei Zhang, Bat
Udval, and Fabrice Herrault (NYC). Summer training included
ABT as National Scholar, Sarasota Cuban Ballet, Ellision
Ballet (NYC) & Victor Ullate (Madrid). She has danced
contemporary pieces choreographed by Andile Ndlovu, Mimmo
Miccolis.
Kira Weaver Ballet, and Modern/Contemporary
Kira started her dancing at the age of 6 in
Lancaster, Pa at Lancaster School of Ballet completing up to
Grade VI in Cecchetti. Through her years of dancing,
she has danced with Barefoot Dance Company, Lancaster Ballet
Theater, Laurel Dance Company, and went to numerous East
Coast Cecchetti Council Conferences at University of
Maryland/College Park. With a wide range of ballet, modern,
contemporary, character, tap, and jazz, Kira completed her
training at Footprints Performing Arts and Morton's Dance
Center. Her experience in teaching ranges from all
ages including ballet, and substitute teaching other genres.
She was accepted into Goucher College's Dance Program
receiving the Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg 1921
Scholarships in Music, Visual Arts, and Dance. Kira's
time at Goucher allowed her to dance with Karole Armitage,
Adam Houghland, Nicole Haskins, and Durante Verzola.
She graduated from Goucher receiving a BA in Dance with
Biology minor.
Emily Runkle Ballet, and Variations
Emily first began studying ballet at Ballet
with Cindee Velle, intensively studying with Caryl Maxwell.
In high school she attended The Rock School for Dance
Education in Philadelphia and received coaching by former
dancers of New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater,
Hungarian National Ballet, Ballet Nacional De Caracas, and
the Bolshoi Ballet. From 2008-2009 Emily danced as a
trainee with Ballet Magnificat, America’s premiere
professional Christian ballet company in Mississippi.
Her professional repertoire includes soloist roles with
Ballet Chesapeake, Misako Ballet Company, Merge Dance
Company, and New York State Ballet, and she has performed
works by Balanchine, Edward Stewart, and Eva Anderson, as
well as the full length classics. Emily choreographs
for both contemporary and classical companies and schools
and has been teaching at Project C Studio since 2011, where
she became Ballet Director in 2020. In 2019, she co-founded
Ballet Embody, Westminster’s first professional ballet
company, and has directed and choreographed full length
performances such as Charrette and An Evening of Edgar Allan
Poe. Emily also founded and directs the Ballet Embody
Student Company, comprised of Project C students pursuing
pre-professional training and performance experience.
She also coaches students for ballet competitions such as
the Youth American Grand Prix, and is driven to assist
dancers in forging their own unique path in the dance world.
Cierra Vitek Ballet, and Tap
Mrs. Vitek began studying at Praise Ballet in
Baltimore, MD when she was 7 years old. Mrs. Vitek later
studied at Towson University’s Children’s Dance Division
from 2005-2008 completing the intermediate level II and the
RAD exam. She has taught danced with Baltimore Ballet in
2017-18. Mrs. Vitek has earned her 45 hour certification
in infant and toddlers and early childhood education through
First Connection Childcare Training. Mrs. Vitek currently
enjoys Lindy Hop and Tap, and she is happy to bring her
passion for dance along with 10 years of experience in
childcare to Baltimore Ballet.
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