Michael Vernon studied at the Nesta Brooking School of Ballet and the Royal Ballet School in London with such legendary teachers as Dame Ninette de Valois andLeonide Massine. He performed with the Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera Ballet, and the London Festival Ballet before coming to New York in 1976 to join the EglevskyBallet as ballet master and resident choreographer. He was artistic director of the Long Island-based company from 1989 to 1995.

He has choreographed many ballets for the Eglevsky Ballet, in addition to ballets for many other professional companies in the United States and worldwide. MikhailBaryshnikov commissioned him to choreograph the successful pas de deux In a Country Garden for American Ballet Theatre (ABT). His solo S’Wonderful was danced byABT principal Cynthia Harvey in the presence of President and Mrs. Reagan and shown nationwide on CBS television. He also served as the assistant choreographer on Ken Russell’s movie Valentino, starring Rudolph Nureyev and Leslie Caron.

Vernon continues to teach classes at New York-based Steps, works regularly for the Manhattan Dance Project, and is artistic advisor to the Ballet School of Stamford. Since 2000, he has taught and choreographed the ballet company and ballet school at the Chautauqua Institute. His annual activities also include a long association with Ballet Hawaii.

Vernon was company teacher for the ABT from 2001 to 2002 and worked as a company teacher for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet from 1994 to 1998. He was also a guest teacher for the Juilliard School in 2001 and has had long associations with Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Alvin Ailey Company and School.

Lynne Short is the Principal of the Ballet Austin Academy. In this role, she is responsible for the Ballet Austin Academy’s syllabus and working with the faculty to implement an integrated curriculum. Ms. Short joined the Ballet Austin Academy in 2002.

Before moving to Texas, Ms. Short was a faculty member at Pacific Northwest Ballet from 1984-2000. During this time and under the guidance of Francia Russell, director of Pacific Northwest Ballet School (PNBS), the ideas of dedicated colleagues with various backgrounds were formed into a unified, cohesive syllabus. Ms. Short was instrumental in developing the syllabus into a written format and overseeing any revisions that were made. Much of the success of the training at PNBS is attributed to the syllabus and the collaborative efforts of its teachers. She was closely involved in the Dance Chance Program, which brings ballet training and opportunity to talented, underprivileged children in the Seattle School District.

Ms. Short’s experiences while dancing with the Memphis Ballet, Hartford Ballet, First Chamber Dance Company and Pacific Northwest Ballet gave her deep appreciation of and interest in the art of teaching. She had her own school for several years after retiring from performing where she developed a mode of teaching that she continues to enrich.

Suki Schorer began her professional career with the San Francisco Ballet and joined the New York City Ballet in 1959, becoming a principal dancer in 1968. Her repertory included principal roles in Apollo, Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Symphony in C, Stars and Stripes, Tarantella and Jewels among others. Balanchine choreographed solo roles on her in Don Quixote, Raymonda Variations, Harlequinade, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

In the early 1960s, George Balanchine asked Ms. Schorer to assist him as a teacher at the Company and in Ford Foundation Seminars for teachers. She started as a guest teacher at the School of American Ballet while still a fairly new corps dancer in the Company and she also took class with several of the founding teachers of the School. In 1972, Ms. Schorer became a permanent member of the faculty, teaching intermediate and advanced students. That same year at Balanchine’s request, she reorganized the NYCB lecture demonstration program for public schools, which she oversaw until 1995.

Suki Schorer has set ballets (or ballet excerpts) choreographed by Balanchine for SAB’s Workshop Performances annually since 1973. In early 2007, she staged Serenade with Francia Russell for the Bolshoi Ballet.

Ms. Schorer lectures on Balanchine aesthetics and guest teaches widely in the United States and abroad. She is the author of the award-winning Suki Schorer on Balanchine Technique (Knopf, 1999) and Put Your Best Foot Forward: A Young Dancer’s Guide to Life (Workman Publishing, 2005); and is the recipient of the Dance Magazine Award for 1998, among other honors.

Marjorie Thompson trained at the School of American Ballet and danced with New York City Ballet. She has served on the faculty of the School of American Ballet, Ballet Arts Minnesota, Eliot Feld Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet. She first joined the faculty of Pacific Northwest Ballet School in 1996, where she was also Director of Therapy and Conditioning. She went on to serve three years as Director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, then moved to Minneapolis where she was School Principal of Minnesota Dance Theatre. She returned to the PNBS faculty in the Summer of 2007, and is PNB Conditioning Program Director.

Meredith Strathmeyer trained with the Chamberlain School of the Performing Arts, attending summer programs on full scholarship at School of American Ballet, Houston Ballet, Ballet Austin and Pacific Northwest Ballet. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the celebrated Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance and an Outside Field in Comparative Literature, and was in the Phi Eta Sigma Honors Fraternity for four years. During her tenure at IU, Ms. Strathmeyer was prominently featured in several Balanchine pieces, most notably the role of “Choleric” in Four Temperaments, as well as the “Lilac Fairy” in ABT’s Sleeping Beauty. In her first season with Dance Magazine’s 2009 Top 25 to Watch company, Ballet Nouveau Colorado, Meredith danced featured roles in works by Amy Seiwert , Lee Wei Chao, Ma Cong, and Mark Godden. The following years she was highlighted as a soloist in several of artistic director Garrett Ammon’s new works, such as Love of My Life, The Nutcracker, An Occasional Dream, And Tomorrow Came, and When the Power Goes Out. In 2008 she debuted as the title role of “Trilby” in the world premiere full length ballet, Moulin Rouge. Outside of dance, Ms. Strathmeyer was certified in Pilates in 2006 and teaches both ballet and Pilates in Littleton, Colorado; in addition, she has choreographed several works for the students of the Belliston Academy of Ballet throughout the 2007-2009 seasons.

Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, ballet teacher and choreographer, Andrew Parker joined the dance faculty of Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts in September 2007 after teaching for six years on the full-time faculty of Canada’s National Ballet School (NBS) in Toronto. In 2000, he received his teaching diploma with distinction from NBS’s Teacher Training Program for Professional Dancers. Mr. Parker was trained as a dancer at Cambridge School of Ballet with Carol Jordan, followed by Boston Ballet School, where he later returned to teach on the faculty and serve as Artistic Principal of Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education’s CITYDANCE Outreach Program, founded by Bruce Marks.

Mr. Parker began his performance career with the Milwaukee Ballet, under directors, Ted Kivitt and Basil Thompson where he trained intensively with Paul Sutherland.  In 1987, he joined Tulsa Ballet Theatre where he danced soloist and principal roles.  After five seasons of touring nationally with TBT, Mr. Parker joined Konstantin Uralsky’s Ballet Iowa as a principal dancer, where he danced many new ballets, as well as classics from the Bolshoi Ballet repertoire.

To complement his work as a dance educator, Mr. Parker has choreographed ballets for Southern Methodist University, Canada’s National Ballet School, Texas Ballet Theater School, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Pioneer Valley Ballet, Walnut Hill School, American Academy of Ballet, George Brown College Dance Ensemble and Milwaukee Ballet School.  In 2004, he created choreography for Harvest Sky, a new Canadian opera by composer Douglas Rice and in 2005, Mr. Parker was commissioned by Toronto’s International Dance Festival to create his pas de deux, 2 = 1, for soloists from The National Ballet of Canada and Toronto Dance Theatre.  In 2006, he collaborated as choreographer with Canadian ballerina, Veronica Tennant, on Song of Survival with NBS and Toronto’s Orianna Women’s Choir.

Mr. Parker is on the regular guest faculty at The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia and Canada’s National Ballet School.

Was born in Milan in 1958
1969-1977    Began his studies at the Dance School of Teatro alla Scala
1975-1977    He attended a two year course at the Bolshoi School in Moscow to further perfect his technique
1978              He joined the Scala Ballet Company
1980-1981   He became a soloist for the company and then their “primo ballerina”
1985             After his first important experiences, he leaves the Scala Ballet Company

As principal dancer Marco Pierin has performed as guest artist with various ballet companies:
Australian Ballet – Sidney, Australia (directed by Marylin Jones)
Pittsburgh Ballet – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA (directed by Patricia Wilde)
Richmond Ballet – Richmond, Virginia USA (directed by Stoner Winslet)
Scottish Ballet – Glasgow, Scotland U.K. (directed by Peter Darrel)
Suomen Ooppera – Helsinki, Finland (directed by Gradimir Pankov)
Ballet Nacional de Cuba – La Havana, Cuba (directed by Alicia Alonso)
Ballet de Montevideo – Monteviedo, Uruguay Sud America (directed by Margaret Graham)

He has been invited to perform for:
Maurice Bejart – Bejart Ballet Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Paolo Bortoluzzi – Düsseldorf, Deutschland – Bordeaux, France
Eric Bruhn – National Ballet of Canada, Toronto, Canada
Pierre Lacotte – Las Ballets de Montecarlo, Montecarlo, P. de Monaco
Roland Petit – Le Ballet de Marseille, Marseille, France
Uwe Scholz – Zürich Opera, Zürich, Switzerland
Jurij Vamos – Basel Opera, Basel Switzerland

In Italy he has danced at:
Teatro alla Scala, Milano (directed by Rosella Hightower, Giuseppe Carbone)
Arena de Verona, Verona (directed by Roberto Fascilla, Mario Pistoni)
Teatro Massimo, Palermo (directed by Micha Van Hoke, Luciano Cannito)
Teatro di San Carlo, Napoli (directed by Lino Vacca)
Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Firenze (directed by Egon Madsen)
Teatro Nuovo, Torino (directged by Gian Mesturino)
Compagnia Loredana Furno – Teatro di Torino, Torino
Balletto di Roma, Roma (directed by Zappolini/Bartolomei)
Ensemble de Micha Van Hoecke, Castiglioncello (LV)

He has danced with famous partners, we remember:
A. Brady, L. Charles, G. Cohen, E. Desutter, O. Dorella, V.Durante, A. Ferri, C. Fracci, V.Koslova, S. Nieto, A. Razzi, L. Savignano, V.Tennant, G. Thésmar, C. Zamparo.

Parisa Khobdeh, born and raised in Plano, Texas, trained under Kathy Chamberlain and Gilles Tanguay. She earned her B.F.A. from Southern Methodist University and, while a student at SMU and the American Dance Festival, worked with choreographers Robert Battle, Judith Jamison and Donald McKayle, among others. She also attended Taylor and Graham Intensives in New York. She has choreographed dances to benefit human rights organizations, as well as for independent films. In July 2006 she made her New York theatrical debut at the Stella Adler Studios in the lead role of Lanford Wilson’s Burn This. She premiered with the Paul Taylor Dance Company at the American Dance Festival in Summer 2003.

Parisa was featured in Dance Magazine-”On the Rise” article in March 2007.

Phillip Broomhead joined Houston Ballet’s artistic staff as ballet master after an illustrious two-decade career as a dancer. He was born in London, England, trained at The Royal Ballet School , and joined The Royal Ballet in 1981. He was promoted to soloist in 1983 and to principal in 1986. Several roles were created specifically for Mr. Broomhead, including The Southern Cape Zebra in Still Life at the Penguin Café and roles in Varii Caprice, Isadora, Pursuit, Number One, Enclosure, and L’Invitation au Voyage. He performed numerous times in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen, the Queen Mother, and at many other royal galas. Mr. Broomhead joined Houston Ballet as a principal dancer in January of 1991 and made his debut in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella. He was featured in all of Mr. Stevenson’s ballets, and many other works. In March 1991, while on vacation in Washington, D.C., he attended The Royal Ballet performance of Swan Lake. During Act I, their principal dancer sustained a serious injury and Mr. Broomhead found himself thrust onto The Kennedy Center Stage as Prince Siegfried; his performance won him worldwide critical acclaim. Mr. Broomhead also created roles in the world premieres of Glen Tetley’s Lux in Tenebris, Ben Stevenson’s Eclipse, and Trey McIntyre’s Peter Pan. He retired from Houston Ballet as a dancer in June 2004 after performing with the company for thirteen years.

Trey Gillen is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he grew up competing in diving and gymnastics, in the latter he won the 1990 U.S. National Championships and placed 6th at The World Championships for Sport Acrobatics. Under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy, he received a BFA from the Juilliard School. Dance companies to his credits include The Icelandic National Ballet (Reykjavik, Iceland,) Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, Alwin Nikolais Dance Theatre, Glimmerglass Opera, The Metropolitan Opera Company, New York City Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre, Mark Dendy Dance Theatre, Buglisi/Foreman Dance and Antigravity, Inc. For several years Trey has also been choreographic assistant to Lila York and Lynne Hockney Taylor creating ballets for The San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, The Royal Birmingham Ballet and The Juilliard School. Film credits include The Watchers, Helena, and American Primative. Trey made his Broadway debut in MOVIN’ OUT, choreographed by Twyla Tharp with the music of Billy Joel. Other Broadway and regional credits include BARNUM, CANDIDE, DAMN YANKEES, MOST HAPPY FELLA, and PIRATES OF PENZANCE. Trey is also affiliated with New York City Opera and Palm Beach Opera where he has performed in several musicals and operas. Currently, Trey is the Associate Choreographer for the new musical ANGELS and is choreographing Lucia for Opera Louisiane. Trey is appearing with the Dallas Summer Musicals in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Philip Neal began his dance training at age 11 at the Richmond Ballet School where he studied for six years. At an early age he was spotted by Edward Villella and offered a summer scholarship to the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet. In 1985 Mr. Neal won a silver medal in the International Prix de Lausanne ballet competition. Mr. Neal graduated magna cum laude from St. Paul’s School in 1986 and was named a Presidential Scholar of the Arts by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and as part of that honor performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. prior to enrolling full time at SAB. In addition to his training in New York and Richmond, Philip Neal has also trained at the Royal Danish Ballet School in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Mr. Neal joined New York City Ballet’s corps dé ballet in 1987. In the spring of 1991 he was promoted to the rank of soloist, and at the end of the 1992-1993 winter season he was promoted to the rank of principal dancer.

Wendy Whelan began taking dance classes at the age of three with Virginia Wooton, a local teacher in Louisville, Kentucky. At age eight she performed as a mouse with the Louisville Ballet in its annual production of The Nutcracker. Joining the Louisville Ballet Academy that year, she began intense professional ballet training. In 1981 she received a scholarship to the summer course at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, and a year later, became a full-time student there. In 1984 she danced as an apprentice with New York City Ballet and became a member of the corps dé ballet in January 1986. She was promoted to the rank of Soloist during the 1989 spring season and to the rank of Principal in the 1991 spring season.