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Melissa Rodnon

Melissa Rodnon has been teaching ballet to children and adults combined for 20 years, and has taught at the Alvin Ailey school, the 92nd St. ‘Y,’  USDAN Center, Bridge for Dance and as a guest teacher at Sarah Lawrence College and Adelphi University. She has been on the faculty of Ballet Academy East since 1993, where she now has a full schedule of adult ballet classes. A native New Yorker, Melissa studied with the best: Francis Patrelle, Nancy Bielski, Finis Jhung and David Howard.  She has danced with numerous modern choreographers (including Isabel Gotzkowsky and Jody Sperling) and has performed modern and character roles with Dances…Patrelle ballet company. Melissa was a co-founder and director of the Williamsburg Art neXus (WAX), a multi-disciplinary rehearsal and performance space in Brooklyn that figured prominently on the downtown performance scene. Melissa is a graduate of Hunter College HS and Wesleyan University.

Class Description: Beginner & Slow Intermediate Ballet

Perfect for modern dancers looking to clean up their technique, or the beginning student who has a familiarity with the terminology, basic positions and placement of classical ballet.  In an atmosphere of good humor and diverse scholarship, the challenges of balance, turn-out, footwork, extension, jumping and turning are examined and de-mystified.  Simple exercises at the barre allow students to work on fine-tuning their placement, execution and timing. Center work focuses on balance, correct port-de-bras, coordination, pirrouettes and safe, fun jumping.  With her extensive musical background, Melissa also weaves lessons about musicality, phrasing, and the nuances of time and tempo throughout the class, creating fluid, danceable exercises.

Mary Ellen Beaudreau

Mary Ellen Beaudreau hails from Providence, Rhode Island where she studied the Vagonova Ballet Technique for seven years at Festival Ballet Providence.  After winning in the regionals in the Youth America Grand Prix competition at age 16, she was accepted to the San Francisco Ballet School on full scholarship.  In 2004 she was accepted and attended The Juilliard School in New York and upon graduating with a BFA in 2009, she was invited to join the North Carolina Dance Theater for its 2009-2010 season under the direction of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux.  While choreographing on the North Carolina Dance Theater’s Second Company, Mary Ellen realized her calling and moved back to New York City to create, collaborate and freelance.  Miss Beaudreau taught dance and creative movement to 60 young refugees at the International Rescue Committee Summer Program ‘10 and continues to address the importance of art in our communities through teaching seminars and performances in New York.

David Fernandez

David studied ballet at the Centro de Arte y Ballet in his native Mexico City before winning a scholarship to Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, where he performed with the company and was awarded the prestigious Jeffrey Mildenstein Award. He continued his classical education at Chicago’s Boitsov Classical Ballet School adding the Vaganova method to his repertoire. During his dance career, David has performed with Chicago’s Boitsov Classical Ballet company; Lyric Opera of Chicago; Ballet Theatre of Chicago and numerous small companies in the US. A highlight of his later career was performing alongside Mikhail Baryshnikov in the play “The Doctor and The Patient” at the Lincoln Center Festival. Since moving to New York in 1998, David has taught classes for numerous schools and companies in the Tri-State area. Teaching credits include: ABT Open Class, Peridance, ABT and Brooklyn Ballet outreach programs, Staten Island Ballet and Westchester Ballet. Choreography credits include: The Jackson Competition, Youth American Grand Prix, Opera North. David is currently resident choreographer at City Center Ballet in New Hampshire. To find out more, please visit David’s website at: www.davidferndance.com

Class Description
A stamina-building and dynamic structured class with a focus on coordination, precision, and musicality. Simple combinations make this class suitable for all levels, offering dancers the opportunity to clean and polish their ballet technique while enjoying a rigorous work-out.

Gregory Nuber

Gregory Nuber has been working as a professional dancer for over seventeen years. In New York City, he first worked with Michael Mao and then spent four seasons with the Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre where he also served as Education Director. The highlight of his modern dance career was working for the Mark Morris Dance Group. He toured and taught master classes nationally and internationally. He has also performed professionally as a ballet dancer appearing as Lord Capulet in Francis Patrelle’s Romeo and Juliet and with the Eastern Shore Ballet Theatre in Maryland doing soloist roles in The Nutcracker. He is currently an adjunct faculty member at Adelphi University where he teaches four levels of modern dance technique. Gregory has a BFA in acting and an MFA in modern dance from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. He is also a member of Actor’s Equity and had danced in regional productions of West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof and Cinderella.

Class Description
Gregory Nuber likes to give a barre focused on the proper anatomical alignment of the body and focusing on warming up all major body parts: spine, feet, legs, arms and neck. After a 45 minute barre, students Students will have a few minutes to stretch before moving to the center work which will include a short tendu/temps lie combination to become acclimated to working without the aid of the barre, followed by an adagio, petite allegro and finally a grand allegro using elements explored at the barre.

Giorgia Bovo

Giorgia Bovo  (Biella/Italy) was trained thanks to a full scholarship at Scuola del Balletto di Toscana (Firenze, Italy), appearing in the junior company (Junior Balletto di Toscana). While in Italy she performed with Kaos-Balletto di Firenze. After moving to NY in 2007 she has been company member of Armitage Gone! Dance having the opportunity to perform at the Guggenheim Museum and the Lincoln Center Out of Doors besides touring internationally. Giorgia works and has worked as a free lance artist for several companies and choreographers including: Collective Body / Dance Lab (directed by choreographer Brian Carey Chung), Alexandra Damiani, Terra Firma Dance Theatre (where she worked with choreographers Stuart Loungway and Peter Leung), Gabrielle Lamb, Giada Ferrone Dance and Thomas/Ortiz Dance. She is a current member of Rebecca Kelly Ballet, Francesca Harper Project and Indelible Dance. Giorgia was recently featured on Dance Spirit’s April issue “You Should Know”. As a teacher she has taught at Peridance Capezio Center and she is a teaching artist for Rebecca Kelly Ballet OnStage program.

Gail Mae Ferguson-Maceda

Gail Mae Ferguson danced Principal roles in the Australian Ballet Company such as Cinderella, The Two Pigeons, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Sebastian, Perisynthyon, Othello, The Merry Widow and Don Quixote. She worked with such choreographers and dancers such as Rudolph Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Sir Robert Helpmann, Sir Frederick Ashton, John Butler, Glen Tetley and Merce Cunningham. Ms. Ferguson has choreographed ballets for many companies in Australia as well as teaching Master classes through out Australia and the United States and has appeared as Cassie in A Chorus Line on Broadway, Sheila in the International Company and as a Principal in Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ on Broadway. As well as her dancing & teaching credits, Gail is trained & certified in multiple disciplines such as Pilates, Soma, Alexander Technique, Voice Overs, Voice Production, Acting, Energy Psychology and is a Transformational Life Coach.

Class Description: Open Level Floor Barre

Start your day by centering, elongating, and strengthening your body without the pressure of gravity! Zena Rommett Floor-Barre® Technique is designed to lengthen and strengthen the muscles and improve the alignment of the body. Dancers and non-dancers can benefit from the rewards of a Floor-Barre® class.The class guides you through a set of exercises that help you to achieve proper pelvic alignment, strengthen your core, and elongate your muscles. For the dancer it will enable you to increase turnout and develop strength and stability on your standing leg. A complete mind-body experience, Floor-Barre® allows you to turn your focus inward and work your muscles deeply and intelligently. It gives you a solid foundation in body awareness that you can take with you in all of your daily activities. It is also an excellent way to maintain strength for people recovering from injury and can aid in injury prevention.