Louisville Ballet School Faculty
Bruce Simpson, Artistic DirectorElena Fillmore, School Director
Harald Uwe Kern, Senior Ballet Master
Mikelle Bruzina, Ballet Mistress Theresa Bautista Tamara Begley Christina Clements Helen Daigle Amy Delaney Diana Dinicola Christy Forehand Autumn George Alicia Kotheimer Daniel Mallott Jo Ann McDonald Christy Corbitt Miller Brandon Ragland Tawnee Thompson Means Ashley Thursby Abbie Whitman Brienne Wiltsie Benjamin Needham-Wood Amber Yates
Louisville Ballet School Staff
Nicole Sikora, School Administrator Emily Van Bogaert, School Coordinator Brienne Wiltsie, School Assistant Annie Honebrink, School AssistantArtistic Director, Bruce Simpson joined the Louisville Ballet in 2002, bringing with him over 30 years of experience in the international ballet world. He studied at the Scottish Ballet School in Edinburgh before joining the Wuppertal Dance Company in Germany. In 1970, he was recruited by the State Theatre Ballet in South Africa, where he rose through the ranks to principal dancer. In 1983, he was appointed ballet master. In that role, he was repétiteur, teacher, and coach, refining productions of the Company’s repertoire of over sixty ballets. Mr. Simpson has received numerous awards of distinction for his interpretation of the classics. He has staged works by some of the world’s leading choreographers and has coached and danced with some of the greatest dancers of our time. Mr. Simpson has been a guest of the major dance companies and schools throughout the world. In 2000, he was invited to lead Texas Ballet Theater, where he was commissioned to create new productions of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. Mr. Simpson was the jury co-chair at the 2006 USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS.
School Director, Elena M. Fillmore a native of Fallon, NV began her dance training at the age of 13. She studied with such distinguished instructors as George Zorich, Melissa Lowe, Jory Hancock, Michael Williams, Amy Ernst, Susan Quinn and Sam Watson. She graduated with honors from the University of Arizona, receiving both a BFA and MFA in Dance. Ms. Fillmore danced professionally with the Louisville Ballet, BalletMet, Colorado Ballet and most recently as a member of the Moving Collective. She has danced internationally with jazz dance companies QuinnWilliamsJazz and LaJAZDANZ and with the Space Dream Musical Theater production in Berlin, Germany. As a graduate student at the University of Arizona, Ms. Fillmore received the “Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award”. She has taught at schools across the country as a guest instructor and also at Kentucky’s Governor’s School for the Arts. Ms. Fillmore was named School Director of the Louisville Ballet School in 2008.
Senior Ballet Master, Harald Uwe Kern studied with the Ballet School of the Vienna State Opera and at the Academie de la Danse de Princess Grace, Monte Carlo. He has received many awards including the Rudolf Nureyev Scholarship Award, the Paris International Dance Competition – prix d’interpretation and an Award for Artistic Achievement from the New York International Ballet Competition. Mr. Kern has performed as a soloist and principal dancer with the Vienna State Opera Ballet, Basel Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Internationale and Charleston Ballet Theater. He has danced leading roles in most of the major classical and romantic ballets and won critical acclaim for his interpretation of roles in ballets by Ashton, Cranko, Massine, Nureyev, Neumeier, Spörli, Balanchine, Kilian and many more. Under the guidance of Irina Kolpakova and Vladilen Semyonov, he became a teacher and coach. He has been the Associate Artistic Director of the Channel Islands Ballet (California) and a guest instructor with schools, colleges and companies around the USA, Europe and Japan. Mr. Kern teaches ballet in the Pre-Professional level.
Ballet Mistress, Mikelle Bruzina, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, is a graduate of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and has been dancing with the Louisville Ballet since 1995. Ms. Bruzina began teaching in Japan in 1991 and has extensive experience teaching ballet and pointe technique as well as rehearsing and coaching young dancers throughout the United States. Ms. Bruzina credits one of her first teachers with instilling a love for the arts and the discipline for lifelong success. She continues her tenure this season with the Louisville Ballet as Ballet Mistress and is thrilled to continue teaching ballet in the Intermediate and Pre-Professional Divisions of the Louisville Ballet School.
Theresa Bautista trained in Southern Indiana and Louisville, gaining experience in both dance and musical theatre. While earning her biology degree from Indiana University, she continued her dance studies in a program headed by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride. Theresa is a freelance dancer, choreographer and teacher and has danced with the Anna Sapozhnikov’s MOYAMO DANCE, Gordon Dance Projects, jan street dance theatre, and as a soloist with Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company. In 2006, she created and continues to co-produce Moving Collective, a venue to promote the works of independent choreographers and contemporary dance to the Louisville Region. Theresa was the Associate Director of Courtney Weber School of Dance and is currently teaching at several dance studios in the Louisville area. Theresa has been featured in several Louisville publications as a next generation of performers to watch, and her choreography has been presented at the Southeast Regional Ballet Festival in 2005 and 2009. Theresa teaches tap in the Youth Open Division.
Tamara Begley is a graduate of the Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville, and earned her B.F.A. in Choreography and Performance from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Upon graduation, Tamara was awarded an internship in Washington, D.C. at Dance Place, one of the nation’s most prolific presenters of dance. She has performed with Jessica Marchant in Washington, D.C., John Gamble Dance Theater in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Louisville’s Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company and jan street dance theatre, and is currently a member of Beth Rodriguez Dance Projects. Tamara co-produces Moving Collective, a venue to promote the works of independent choreographers and bring greater awareness of contemporary dance to the region. In addition to her work as a producer, dancer and choreographer, Tamara joined the Louisville Ballet School faculty as a modern dance instructor in 2006 and teaches modern in the Youth Open/Elective Division.
Christina Clements, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, began her dance training at the age of four. After Graduating from Youth Performing Arts School (Louisville, KY), Christina went on to study Musical Theatre and Dance at Point Park Conservatory of Performing Arts (Pittsburgh, PA) and Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, KY). She holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Performing Arts with a Concentration in Dance from WKU. She has years of teaching experience in many different venues. She is very enthusiastic about teaching ballet in the Primary Division and jazz dance in the Youth Open Elective Division.
Helen Daigle is a native of Louisiana and returns for her twelfth season with the Louisville Ballet. She has trained with the Decatur School of Ballet, the Dancer’s Workshop, The Joffrey Ballet School and The School of American Ballet. Prior to turning professional, she danced with the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre for eight years. Helen began her professional career with Feld Ballets/New York and has performed with Ballet Hispanico and the Miami City Ballet. She has performed featured roles in a range of works including Lark Ascending, In the Glow of the Night, Cold Virtues, Who Cares?, Scheherazade, Company B and The Magic Flute. Helen joined the faculty of the Louisville Ballet School in 2009, teaching ballet in the Intermediate Division.
Amy Trier Delaney, a Louisville native, holds a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Pedagogy from Indiana University, Bloomington. She has studied with, among others: Jean Pierre Bonnefoux, Jacques Cesbron, Nancy Bielsky, Finis Jung, Robert Barnet, and Jurgen Pagels. Mrs. Delaney has been a teacher, choreographer and Director in places such as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Kentucky. She directed the dance department at Appel Farm Arts and Music Center in New Jersey for four years, where she produced shows for the Center and the local community. Mrs. Delaney also taught for the Indiana University Ballet Program. She was an instructor at Ursuline School for the Performing Arts for their dance program and was on the faculty at Sacred Heart Academy as their dance instructor. Mrs. Delaney also served as a choreographer for both USPA and SHA productions. Mrs. Delaney founded, owned and directed The A.R.T. Centre – an Academy of Dance here in Louisville. She currently teaches ballet in the Elementary division.
Diana Dinicola holds a diploma for the advanced level intensive training program at the Fundacion Cristina Heeren de Arte Flamenco in Sevilla, Spain. She has attended the National Flamenco Institute at the University of New Mexico (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006) and returns to Spain yearly for continuing professional development. Diana trained as a theatre major at Northwestern University where she received a BS in Communications and her teaching certification. Diana is a veteran arts administrator and holds an MBA from Emory University. She performs regularly and has appeared with Antonio Vargas, Angel Munoz, Arturo Martinez and Jesus Montoya. Diana is a co-founder of Flamenco Louisville and an active educator, teaching flamenco dance in Louisville, Lexington, Cincinnati and for the Governor’s School for the Arts. In addition, she is a Showcase Kentucky and Kentucky Arts Council Education Roster artist taking flamenco into the schools as a medium for teaching core Arts & Humanities curriculum. She also works with underserved communities in Louisville and throughout the state through ArtsReach.
Christy Forehand is originally from Champaign, Illinois where she began dancing with Gwendolyn Lee and Kim Burson, and had the opportunity to train with the University of IL dance faculty. She graduated from the Virginia School of the Arts and attended Butler University. She began her professional dance career with the Charleston Ballet Theatre followed by Augusta Ballet, where she performed principal roles in Serenade and Tarantella, Rite of Spring, and Second Hand Sofa, among others. Christy went on to dance five seasons with Dayton Ballet, performing principal roles in Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Dracula, and Peter Pan, as well as contemporary works Thresholds II and Fetes des Courtiers. Christy has experience teaching in several states across the US, as well as rehearsing and coaching students for performance. She is excited to join the Louisville Ballet school this year, teaching in the Elementary and Intermediate divisions.
Autumn George Originally from Oregon, she received training from the School of Oregon Ballet Theater and continued dance training at The Portland Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet School and North Carolina School of the Arts. In 2007 she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Dance from Western Oregon University. She has taught in Oregon, Arizona, and Texas. Since 2000, Autumn has also been a member of the Oregon, Arizona, Texas and Kentucky National Guard and has served a combat tour during Operation Iraqi/Enduring Freedom.
Annie Honebrink Raised in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, Annie graduated from Beechwood High School. She trained with the Cincinnati Ballet’s Otto M. Budig Academy under the direction of Valentine Liberatore, Mishic Marie Corn, and Devon Carney. During the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons, Annie had the opportunity to perform corps de ballet roles with the Cincinnati Ballet in Giselle and The Nutcracker. For the 2009-2010 season she was named a CBII with Cincinnati Ballet. She has attended summer programs with Cincinnati Ballet, Joffrey Midwest, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Louisville Ballet. This will be Annie’s second season as a trainee with the Louisville Ballet and her first season working the front desk for the Louisville Ballet School.
Alicia Kotheimer, A native of Louisville, Kentucky, began her dance training at the age of 3. She danced with the JoAnn Fryrear School of Dance until the age of 12, and then with the Louisville Ballet School until graduating from high school. She was a member of the Louisville Ballet Youth Ensemble, and enjoyed traveling and performing in several states. Currently she is getting her Masters in Occupational Therapy at Spalding University, and enjoys teaching ballet in the Primary Division.
Daniel Mallott returns to the Louisville Ballet School faculty for his fourth year. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Daniel trained with Inwood Dance Company, St. Paul’s School and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School before joining the Louisville Ballet in 2001. As a member of the Louisville Ballet for seven years, he performed leading and soloist roles in ballets such as In the Glow of the Night, The Golden Section, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and Lark Ascending. Daniel has taught throughout the eastern United States and attended teaching seminars given at the American Dance Festival and by the Royal Academy of Dance. Daniel currently teaches in the Intermediate and Advanced divisionsand serves as Ballet Master for the Louisville Ballet Youth Ensemble. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration – Computer Information Systems with a Minor in Mathematics from the University of Louisville.
Jo Ann McDonald has a particular appreciation for movement and fitness. Growing up as an overweight child, she felt uncomfortable and embarrassed when participating in activities, and her sedentary lifestyle led to her growing up to be a morbidly obese adult. When Jo Ann hit her twenties, she became more aware of the consequences associated with obesity, and decided to make a change. Slowly, but surely, she began integrating exercise into her daily routine and made small changes in her nutrition. As her health improved, she gained an amazing level of energy and wellbeing. She began to love all forms of exercise, particularly Pilates. She appreciated how the focus on alignment and control helped correct the effects of long-term obesity on her body. In 2004, Jo Ann and her husband, James, moved to Louisville to apprentice at Core Pilates in the East End. There, she trained under teachers from many different backgrounds, including master-level instructor and former Louisville Ballet faculty member, Montse Cosin.
Jo Ann is now a nationally certified instructor and personal trainer as well. She works with clients with all levels of fitness, helping sedentary adults and children take the first steps toward active lifestyles, training athletes, old and young to utilize their core to increase their performance, and dancers, teaching them to increase mobility in necessary areas and controlling mobility where they require stability. Jo Ann joined the Louisville Ballet School faculty in 2007 and looks forward to helping the young dancers develop good movement habits that will help them avoid injury throughout their careers.
Christy Corbitt Miller A native of Atlanta, GA, is returning for her fifth season as a first soloist with the Louisville Ballet. Since joining the Louisville Ballet, she has enjoyed dancing principal and soloist roles in Who Cares?, Agon, Lambarena, Serenade, Four Last Songs and Les Sylphides. Previously, she danced with Altanta Ballet, Ballet Memphis and, most recently, Texas Ballet Theater, where she performed title roles in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella and Giselle. Ms. Miller has also enjoyed performing more contemporary works like Paul Taylor’s Company B, Stanton Welch’s Fingerprints and Adam Hougland’s Devolve and Fragile Stasis.
Ms. Miller has taught at schools in Georgia and Texas including the official school of Texas Ballet Theater. She joined the Louisville Ballet School faculty in 2007 and teaches ballet in the Intermediate level.
Brandon Ragland A native of Birmingham, Alabama, received his early training from Jacqueline Crenshaw Lockhart and continued his dance training at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. He graduated from Butler University where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Dance-Arts Administration. He danced with Alabama Ballet for three seasons and had the opportunity to perform principal and soloist roles. He also served on faculty at The Alabama Ballet School, where he taught classes in Ballet technique, Jazz and Hip Hop. This is Brandon’s first season with Louisville Ballet and the Louisville Ballet School.
Nicole Sikora graduated cum laude from Bellarmine University receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Arts Administration. Nicole received most of her dance training in Lexington, Kentucky with Kentucky Ballet Theatre and the School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where she attended high school. She also studied dance at the Governor’s School for the Arts in 2004 and Cincinnati Ballet in the summer of 2005. In college, Nicole continued to perform with the Bellarmine University Dance Team for two seasons. Nicole has most recently performed with Moving Collective in March 2009, February 2011 and will perform in their upcoming show, Unbound on November 12, 2011. Ms. Sikora joined the Louisville Ballet School staff as the School Administrator in 2011.
Tawnee Thompson Means Born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, Tawnee trained at the North Star Ballet Schoolunder the direction of Norman Shelburne and Sue Perry. She spent 5 seasons with theLouisville Ballet. While with the Company, she performed in such ballets as Paquita,Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Graham Lustig’s Between Stillness, Lila York’s Celts, ValCaniparoli’s Vivace, Adam Hoagland’s Right of Spring, and Swan Lake. Tawnee is alsoa choreographer, whose most acclaimed work, Fly Trapped in a Jar, has been performedseveral times in promotion of the Company. Tawnee is excited to begin her teaching career with the Louisville Ballet School this year.
Ashley Thursby is a native of Richmond, Missouri and returns for her third season with the Louisville Ballet. While she trained primarily with the Kansas City Ballet School, she also studied with the San Francisco Ballet School, School of American Ballet, LINES Pre-Professional Program and Jillana, all on scholarship. In 2008, she graduated from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music with a BSOF in Ballet and Journalism and an outside certification in Pilates. While at IU she was coached by Violette Verdy in numerous roles, including Divertimento No. 15, in which she won 2nd Place in the National Society of Arts and Letters Competition.
Ashley taught Creative Movement through Advanced Ballet classes within Indiana University’s Pre-College Ballet Program. She is happy to be a new addition to the Louisville Ballet School, teaching ballet in the Primary Division.
Emily Bond Van Bogaert, a Louisville native, graduated magna cum laude from Bellarmine University with a Bachelor’s degree in Arts Administration and completion of an Honors Program senior thesis. Emily trained pre-professionally with the Louisville Ballet School and graduated from the Youth Performing Arts School / duPont Manual High School as a valedictorian. As a student and member of the Louisville Ballet Civic Company (now known as the Louisville Ballet Youth Ensemble), she performed children’s and corps de ballet roles in various productions with the Louisville Ballet. She has also performed throughout the region at Southeast Regional Ballet Association and Regional Dance America Festivals as well as several summer intensive programs. Emily joined the staff of the Louisville Ballet School as School Administrator in 2008. She welcomed the birth of her daughter in April, 2011, and now works part-time as the School Coordinator.
Abbie Whitman, originally from Los Angeles, began her dance training at the Rozann-Zimmerman Ballet Center under Patrick Frantz and Patricia Davis. She attended the Milwaukee Ballet Summer Intensive for three years on scholarship, which lead to an invitation to join Milwaukee Ballet II. After two seasons, she went on to dance professionally with the Nashville Ballet, Louisville Ballet, and Paradise Ballet Theatre in Key West, FL. Since joining the faculty of the Louisville Ballet School in 2008, Abbie has built a loyal and enthusiastic following of Adult students in the Adult open division and she also teaches in the Primary and Elementary Divisions.
Brienne Wiltsie grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She spent her high school years training with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and also spent a season in their graduate program. In 2005, Brienne was offered a job with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and spent two years as a company member there. While dancing with PBT, she particularly loved performing in Balanchine’s Who Cares, Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs, and her all-time favorite classical ballet, Swan Lake.
Brienne then spent two years teaching in PBT’s school before joining the Louisville Ballet for the past two seasons. She loved having the opportunity to perform in Val Caniparoli’s brand new Brown-Foreman Nutcracker, as well as his Four Seasons, and enjoyed every moment of performing classics (Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote, Coppelia) with the Louisville Ballet. Brienne is thrilled to start her first year teaching with the Louisville Ballet School.
Benjamin Needham-Wood Born in Massachusetts, Ben returns to the Louisville Ballet for his third season as a company artist. While his dance education focused primarily on classical ballet technique, Ben has studied a variety of dance forms including modern, jazz, tap, hip hop, character dance, and acrobatics. Since joining the company he has appeared in such classical ballets as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, and Cinderella, and has performed principal and featured roles in contemporary works by Adam Hougland, Amy Seiwert, and Helen Pickett. As a choreographer, Ben has created works for the Louisville Ballet’s Choreographers’ Showcase, the Louisville Ballet School’s Youth Ensemble, Impact Dance Project, and the College-Conservatory of Music’s Winter Showcase. In June of 2009, Ben competed in the 10th New York International Ballet Competition where he was invited to perform Paul Taylor’s “Aureole” pas de deux in the Gala performance, receiving a favorable review from the New York Times. Ben has also recently graduated Magna Cum Laude from the College-Conservatory of Music, earning his BFA in Ballet.
Amber Yates is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and has over 19 years of dance performing experience in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, hip hop, and musical theatre. She has danced at several local prominent studios, performed at the Barnstable-Brown Derby Eve Gala for 2 consecutive years, studied with the U of L Ballet Academy and is a graduate of the Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS). Darrin Henson and Stepp Stewert are just a couple of the many prestigious performers under which she has studied dance.
Amber has over 7 years teaching experience in creative movement, tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, musical theatre, and modern dance, from 2 1/2 to adult levels – recreational and competitive. In 2011, Amber received a Choreographer’s Award for a competitive routine, among many Judge’s Awards. Sharing her passion for dance has always been a dream of Amber’s, which she is excited to further pursue. She is currently working on a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration at McKendree University.