Benjamin Briones [ Ballet ]

Benjamin was born in Mexico City and is a graduate of The National School of Classical Ballet, The National School of Contemporary Dance and The Royal Academy of Dancing in Mexico City. In 1995, he moved to the U.S. to dance with Ballet El Paso and then Ballet Austin. He has also danced with several other companies including New Haven Ballet, Connecticut Ballet, Granite State Ballet, Ballet Theatre of Annapolis, and the Mid-Ohio Ballet. His dancing roles have included Cavalier and Snow King in The Nutcracker, Jonathan Harken in Dracula, Ali in Le Corsaire Basilio in Don Quixote. Benjamin has been choreographing since 2000 and his works have been performed at Dance Festival Italy, International Choreographers Festival in NYC, Steps on Broadway, and Broadway Dance Center. After having danced with Staten Island Ballet, Mr. Briones was appointed ballet master and resident choreographer. In 2007, he was also appointed choreographer for Ajkun Ballet Theatre in NYC.

Jeremy Collins [ Ballet ]
Jeremy is a former Principal Dancer of the American Ballet Theatre and Prinicipal Guest Artist with the San Francisco Ballet. Jeremy began his ballet training at the age of ten at the Northampton School of Ballet. At sixteen, he began studying at the School of American Ballet in New York City. He was appointed Soloist in 1989 and Principal Dancer in 1992, performing roles in Coppelia, Don Quixote, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, La Sylphide, Ballet Imperial, Symphonie Concertante, Theme and Variations, Paquita, Push Comes to Shove and Symphonic Variations, among others. Jeremy has also been a Guest Artist with Stars of the American Ballet and the New York City Ballet.

Lynn Cote [

Ballet, Choreographer

Ms. Cote choreographed her first work for The Washington Ballet's Behrend-Goldstein Ballets from Within" choreographic workshop in 1992 . Since then, she has received commissions from The Washington Ballet, New Amsterdam Ballet, Chautauqua Ballet, Ballet Arts Minnesota, American Ballet Theater II, Goh Ballet in Vancouver, and Oregon Ballet Theater, who received the 1994 Choo-San Goh Award for her choreography; and staged and rehearsed works by Kevin McKenzie, Choo-San Goh, Nils Christe, George Balanchine, and Monica Levy. She held the title of resident choreographer (1996-99) at The Washington Ballet through a generous grant from the National Dance Residency Program. Ms. Cote received the Monticello Award for Choreography in 1997 and the Choreography Connection Award in 1998 from the Regional Dance America. Presently, working as a freelance choreographer she has created Rodeo for Ballet Arts Minnesota and the Minnesota Orchestra. Ms. Cote recently choreographed for Young Dancers of the Washington Ballet, Fort Lauderdale Ballet Classique, Ballet Center of Houston, Fairfax Ballet, Onely Dance Theater, Columbus Youth Ballet, Raleigh Dance Theater and revisited a work created for Inwood Dance Theater. As a founding member of The Washington Ballet, Ms. Cote had ballets created for her by Choo-San Goh including Birds of Paradise, Schubert Symphony, and Fives. She also danced principal roles in Allegro Brillante, Holberg Suite, Le Combat, and many classical and contemporary pas de deux. Ms. Cote was a soloist with Boston Ballet for three seasons, where she danced in principal roles including Etudes, Miss Julie, La Sonambula, Love Songs, and The Nutcracker. She is a graduate of the Washington School of Ballet, where she received scholarships and awards for excellence.

 

Kelly Doremus Stuart [ Modern Technique ]
Kelly received her B.S. degree in Dance, with a concentration in Dance Therapy from Skidmore College. She has been a roster artist and trainer with the VSA Arts of NH since 1985. Kelly currently serves on the theater faculty of New England College, is associate artistic director/choreographer of Petit Papillon, the Children's Ballet Theater of NH, and performs and choreographs annually for the Plymouth State College Dance department. She is also the founder of the modern dance company Travis-Stuart Dance. In November of 2000, Kelly received the outstanding Professional Award from Dance from the NH Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Laura Hall [ Tap/Dance Conditioning ]
Laura currently studies in Boston with Jeanette Neill and Clyde Nantais. She also studies extensively with Danny Buraczeski, founder and artistic director of JazzDance. Laura attended Jacobs Pillow for two seasons, where she studied with such notable artists as Dianne Walker and Billy Seigenfeld. Laura has performed with Jennie & Company in Fitchburg, MA, and has also with West End Dance Company, under the direction of Jeanette Neill. Laura works as a physical therapist assistant at Apple Therapy Services in Bedford, NH. She is a certified Pilates Practitioner through Polstar Education.  Laura has been teaching at SNHDT since it opened in 1996.

Joyce King [ Jazz ]
Joyce, currently on faculty at Steps on Broadway in NYC, has taught internationally at Dance Works (Costa Rica), Dansstage Dance Festival (Belgium), the Paris Centre (France), as well as various master classes and summer intensives throughout the U.S.  She has also taught at the School at Steps Children’s Program and has been on faculty at Peridance in NYC.  She has performed in such musicals as Cats, A Chorus Line and Fame as well as in major industrials for Ellesse, NFL, Chrysler, and Michael Jackson Sportswear. Ms. King is a former company member of Impulse Dance Co. (Boston) under the direction of Adrienne Hawkins. Prior to moving to NYC, she was greatly influenced by Suzanne Taylor of NH School of Ballet, where she received her initial training, Boston Ballet, Hartford Ballet, and Michael Owens.

Bafana Solomon Matea [

African Dance & Modern Dance

A native of Pretoria, South Africa, Mr. Matea is a founding member of Juxtapower, a South African Song and Dance Theater production based in New York City. He is a graduate of the Alvin Ailey Dance School where he studied on full scholarship.  His performance credits include Ballet Hispanic, Elise Monte, Dance Synonymous and Battery Dance Theater.

Lori Mello [ Jazz & Theater ]
A former member of the world famous Radio City Music Hall Rockettes in New York City, Lori has appeared on the David Letterman Show, Good Morning America, and the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. As a spokesperson for the Rockettes, Lori also appeared on Larry King Live and the Vicki Show. Lori has shared the stage with Joel Grey in the Broadway national tour of Cabaret and with Mickey Rooney in the national tour of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Lori has also trained with such notable instructors as Lynn Simonson, Michael Shawn, Ann Reinking and Lee Theodore, founder of American Dance Machine.

Janice Niggeling [

Ballet, Theater Dance

Peter Pawlyshyn [ Ballet, Character ]
Mr. Pawlyshyn is a graduate of the Professional Division of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, where later he joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Mr. Pawlyshyn also holds a Graduate Certificate from the Pavlo Virsky Character Studio in Kiev, Ukraine. In his career, Mr. Pawlyshyn has danced with Louisville Ballet and Nevada Dance Theater, where he also served as assistant Ballet Master. He also appeared as Principal Guest Artist with Boston Ballet. Upon retiring from dancing, Mr. Pawlyshyn was invited to join the staff of the Boston Ballet School, where for seven years he spent a very successful teaching career. As a guest teacher, Mr. Pawlyshyn has taught at the International Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Harvard University, University of Iowa, the Cecchetti Council of America, Cecchetti Society of Canada, Dance Masters of America and the Royal Academy of Dance. Over his career, Mr. Pawlyshyn has re-staged various ballets and has choreographed such ballets as "Cinderella", "La Boutique Fantasque" and "Tango." Currently, Mr. Pawlyshyn is the Director of the Kansas City Ballet School.

Joan Talarico [ Pilates/Somatics, Dance Conditioning ]
Joan is a certified Pilates Instructor through both the Physical Mind Institute and the Stott Institute. In September 2000, she opened The Studio, a Pilates-based movement center. Ms. Talarico has performed with the Ballet Arts Dance Ensemble and the Granite State Ballet. She considers her work with Cambridge's Marcus Schulkind as a significant influence in her presentation of the Pilates method. Joan has been with Southern New Hampshire Dance Theater for six years.

Marina Van Winkle [

Ballet & Pointe

Marina Van Winkle is a native of Kiev, Ukraine. Ms. Van Winkle is a graduate of the A.M. Gorky Teaching Institute in Kiev and holds a M.S. in Education. As a professional, Ms. Van Winkle has performed with the Classical Dance Ensemble in Kiev where she has appeared in principal classical and character roles in ballets such as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. Marina has taught for The Classical Dance Ensemble in Kiev, Ukraine and the Colonial Figure Skating Club in Acton, MA. She is currently on the faculty at The Acton School of Ballet and The New Hampshire Academy of Performing Arts in Seabrook, NH.

Ursula Verduzco [ Gyrokenesis, Ballet, & Pointe ]