2008 Summer Intensive Program Faculty

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Our 2008 Summer Intensive Program will feature the following internationally renowned faculty:

Evelyn Cisneros-Legate

Evelyn Cisneros-Legate began studying ballet at the age of 8. Cisneros later received full summer scholarships to the San Francisco Ballet School and the School of American Ballet and upon completing her high school education, she began her apprenticeship with the San Francisco Ballet in 1976.

In 1977 she joined the Company under the directorship of Co-Artistic Directors, Lew Christensen and Michael Smuin. Cisneros soon began dancing principal roles, many choreographed for her by Smuin himself. She performed her original roles in national television broadcasts of A Song for Dead Warriors and The Tempest, as well as the title role of Cinderella and noteworthy "live broadcast" from the White House in 1982. Her success continued under San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director, Helgi Tomasson, appointed in 1985. She has danced the leading roles in a diverse repertoire of classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, La Sylphide, and La Fille Mal Gardeé. Numerous resident and visiting choreographers have created works for her including Tomasson, Val Caniparoli, James Kudelka and Mark Morris. Her contemporary repertoire included works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Stanton Welch and Jiri Kylian.

Cisneros has been featured on the covers of Dance Magazine, Ballet News, and Hispanic Magazine, and received numerous awards for her community activism and artistic achievements. In May of 1999, Cisneros retired from the San Francisco Ballet with a Gala performance in her honor, and in celebration KQED produced a 1/2 hour documentary of her life, entitled Evelyn Cisneros, Moving On.

Since 2000 Cisneros has taught at summer intensive courses for the Kansas City Ballet in Crested Butte Colorado, and The Boston Ballet School. She has staged ballets for Val Caniparoli and Michael Smuin for the following ballet companies where she has taught company class as well: Pacific Northwest Ballet, State Theatre Ballet in South Africa, Northern Ballet Theatre in Leeds England, Ballet Florida, Kansas City Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet.

Gilma Bustillo DeQuattro

Gilma Bustillo was born in New York City and received her training at the Joffrey Ballet School with Meredith Baylis and later at the American Ballet Theater School.

Ms. Bustillo became a member of American Ballet Theater under the direction of Lucia Chase and later, Mikhail Baryshnikov. There she performed the roles of Myrtha in Giselle and Mercedes in Mr. Baryshnikov's staging of Don Quixote, as well as solo roles in Natalia Makarova's staging of La Bayadere and ballets by Anthony Tudor, Paul Taylor and Jerome Robbins. As Principal dancer with the Basel Ballet in Switzerland, Ms. Bustillo danced the leading roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote and the Nutcracker. Her repertoire also included works by George Balanchine, Nils Christi, Hans Van Manen and Nacho Duato. In 1990 Ms. Bustillo joined the Hamburg Ballet under the direction of John Neumeier. There she added to her repertoire the roles of the Dark Angel in George Balanchine's Serenade and Tatiana in John Cranko's full length ballet Onegin, as well as roles choreographed for her by Mr. Neumeier in Cinderella, Requiem and Fenster Zu Mozart. Since returning to the U.S., Ms. Bustillo has performed as guest artist with Pasadena Dance Theatre and DanceCorps as the Sugar Plum Fairy in their productions of The Nutcracker and as Lise in Charles Maple's staging of La Fille Mal Gardee.

Ms. Bustillo has been part of the faculty at Le Studio since 1993. She has taught at the American Ballet Theater Summer Intensive in Orange County and in New York City at the Ballet Hispanico Summer Program. She was also part-time dance faculty at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles from 1997-2000. Ms. Bustillo is also a certified American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum teacher.

Cynthia Gregory

Born in California, Cynthia Gregory began dancing as a child with Eva Lorraine and performed with Lorraine's California Children's Ballet Company for four years, after which she studied with Carmelita Maracci, Michel Panaieff, and Robert Rossellat.

Ms. Gregory was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship to work with Lew Christensen's San Francisco Ballet where she entered the company at age 19. She left to study in New York City in 1965 and soon joined the American Ballet Theatre. Ms. Gregory was quickly promoted to a Principal dancer performing roles that made her an internationally acclaimed ballerina.

Gregory's strength and impeccable technique allowed her to excel in such classics as Swan Lake as well as in modern works where she performed leading roles until her retirement in 1991.

Ms. Gregory continues to choreograph and teach ballet at schools and companies throughout the world.

Alicia Head

Alicia Head began her dance training in Hollywood at the American School of Dance under the direction of Eugene Loring. She continued on with Sallie Whalen and later studied at the Stanley Holden Dance Center, Ballet Petit and Le Studio with Charles and Phillip Fuller.

While studying the Liberal Arts at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo she performed in featured roles with the Civic Ballet of San Luis Obispo in such ballets as Die Fledermaus, The Nutcracker and Alice in Wonderland. Ms. Head continued her training in San Francisco at the Academy of Ballet with Richard Gibson and Zory Karah and performed with their Chamberdance San Francisco ensemble in its inaugural season.

Ms. Head also began her Pilates education at St. Francis Memorial Hospital's Center for Sports Medicine, one of the pioneering institutions in the emerging field of dance medicine. She worked with Elizabeth Larkham and others on the faculty learning about biomechanics, kinesiology and injury prevention.

Ms. Head continued her Pilates education with Marie-Jose Blom Lawrence at Long Beach Conditioning Center (LBDC) as a student in the internationally recognized teacher training program where she learned to apply cutting-edge information about anatomy and kinesiology to dance and movement. She also began her 13-year affiliation with Diane Lauridsen and the South Bay Ballet. Since 1996 Ms. Head has been on the faculty of both Long Beach Dance Conditioning and the Lauridsen Ballet Centre, specializing in assisting highly talented and motivated dancers and teachers reach elite levels in their work.

While at LBDC Ms. Head began studying the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM™ and GYROKINESIS™. She studied with Master Trainers Lisa-Marie Goodwin, Juergen Bamberger and Sebastian Plettenberg. Since 2000, Ms. Head has become a certified GYROTONIC™ instructor in Level 1 and Level 2, and also received certification for some of its specialized apparatus. In 2004 Ms. Head became a Master Trainer for GYROKINESIS working with the creator of the system himself, Juliu Horvath.

Currently Ms. Head is a senior faculty member at Lauridsen Ballet Centre and Long Beach Dance Conditioning. She also leads teacher training courses in GYROKINESIS and coaches dancers and teachers privately.

Lorin Johnson

Lorin Johnson danced with the San Francisco Ballet before joining the American Ballet Theatre in New York in 1987 under the directorship of Mikhail Baryshnikov. Johnson performed at ABT until 1995, creating original roles in ballets by Ulysses Dove, Clark Tippet and Agnes DeMille, among others, and working with some of the 20th century's most influential choreographers, including Glen Tetley, Kenneth Macmillan, Twyla Tharp, and Jerome Robbins.

His choreography has been commissioned in the U.S. and abroad, and in 2003 he choreographed and produced an evening of dance at the renowned dance festival at the Fabbrica Europa in Florence, Italy. His premiere for the festival, Moto-bio: Bodies in Motion was hailed by the dance critic of Danza & Danza as "a work of extraordinary interest."

Johnson has been on faculty of the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensives program since 2004. In 2005 he directed the Ballet Pacifica Academy in Southern California. In 2006, Johnson became an Assistant Professor of Dance at California State University, Long Beach, where he teaches courses in ballet technique, dance appreciation and history. Johnson has published several articles as a result of his extensive research in Moscow, Russia, and has both B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Southern California.

Charles Maple

Charles' Web Blog… Read Charles' new series of web blogs, including his writeup on attending the American Ballet Theatre Reunion in New York and his experiences directing the ABT Alabama summer program!

Charles Maple began his training with Evelyn LeMone, the founder of Pasadena Dance Theatre. He continued his studies with Andrei Tremaine and Stanley Holden until 1972 when he received a Ford Foundation scholarship to the School of American Ballet. At the age of nineteen he joined American Ballet Theatre and rapidly rose through the ranks to become a featured soloist. In 1979 he made numerous guest appearances with the National Ballet of Mexico and danced the leading roles in The Sleeping Beauty, Les Sylphides, and La Fille Mal Gardee. In 1983 Mr. Maple became a principal dancer with the Basel Ballet of Switzerland. His association with this company gave him the opportunity to dance in the works of Europe and America's most influential choreographers. He has appeared as a guest artist throughout the United States, in Europe, Mexico, and South Africa.

In 1992 Mr. Maple began creating his own works. He has since received a steady stream of commissions, awards and a growing reputation as a freelance choreographer. Companies in Regional Dance America have presented several of his works. Two of his works for Rosella Hightower's Ballet La Jeunesse were presented with top awards at the 1992 La Baule Festval in France. In 1993 he attended the Tokyo International Choreographers Competition where his works received international recognition and critical acclaim. In 1993 Mr. Maple's The Angel of the Abyss was created to open the televised Posada Aids Procession in Los Angeles.

In 1995, his new version of La Fille Mal Gardee for Pasadena Dance Theatre opened to rave reviews. In 1997 he created a new version of The Nutcracker for Black Hills Dance Theatre and Symphony. His work Latcho Drom was selected by Regional Dance America to be shown at the 1998 International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. Mr. Maple has set numerous works for American Ballet Theatre's Summer Intensive programs. Mr. Maple's choreography represents a diversity of dance styles that are firmly rooted in the traditions of classical ballet. He is currently the resident choreographer for the South Bay Ballet.

In 1994 and 1995 Mr. Maple directed Pasadena Dance Theatre. He then founded Charles Maple and Dancers to concentrate on developing his own creations. Mr. Maple has been an active advocate for Regional Dance America. He has served as an adjudicator as well as a faculty member at numerous RDA Festivals. Mr. Maple has also acted as the artistic coordinator for the American Ballet Theatre summer intensive programs in Alabama and California. He is co-founder of American Ballet Intensives, a rigorous ballet workshop that provides serious students the opportunity to study with professionals in the field. Mr. Maple is also a certified American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum teacher.

Chris Martin

Read Chris' personal note on his family's move from New York City to California and his thoughts and philosophy on dance training.

Chris Martin was a member of American Ballet Theatre from 1986 to 1999. He danced in a wide range of classical and contemporary works in Senior Corps, Soloist and Principal roles.

Among the choreographers who created works on him were Twyla Tharp, Mikhail Baryshinkov, Lar Lubovich, James Kudelka and Lynne Taylor-Corbett. In addition to working with American Ballet Theatre, Mr. Martin danced with the Miami City Ballet and The Washington Ballet.

Mr. Martin trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts, School of American Ballet, Chautauqua School of Dance and with Maggie Black in New York City.

His teaching resume includes the North Carolina School of the Arts, Chautauqua, Ballet Academy East, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, St. Louis Ballet, Princeton Dance and Theater Studio, Columbia University and the University of Minnesota. Mr. Martin is also a certified American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum teacher.

Laura Martin

In addition to being a former professional dancer, Laura is also a fully certified Yoga instructor and teaches our Yoga classes, which are open to the entire community. Read Laura's personal note on her thoughts and philosophy on the art of practicing yoga.

Laura Martin was trained at The Washington School of Ballet under the direction of Mary Day and went on to dance with companies such as The Washington Ballet, Miami City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. She was lucky to have danced the works of Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Antony Tudor, Agnes de Mille, Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, Choo San Goh, and all of the classics.

After leaving ABT in 2000, she was invited to join the Broadway cast of The Phantom of the Opera, where she performed for almost two years. She has also taught various levels of ballet at the ABT Summer Intensive Program, Ballet Academy East and Princeton Dance and Theater Studio.

She began practicing yoga while still at ABT and believes her yoga practice enhanced and even extended her dance career. She received her 200-hour certification from Yoga Union in New York City under the direction of Alison West in 2003 and went on to complete Om Yoga Center's Road to Om certification in 2006. She most recently completed Judith Hanson Lasater's restorative teacher training. She has taught group classes and privates around New York City, most notably at Om Yoga Center and for Disney Theatricals.

Brian Reeder

Brian Reeder has been a member of New York City Ballet, William Forsythe's Ballet Frankfurt and American Ballet Theatre, where he created five original works for American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company.

He has also choreographed works for The Washington Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet's Choreographers’ Showcase (2007) and the Guggenheim Museum's Works & Process series.

Mr. Reeder was the recipient of a New York Choreographic Institute Fellowship Grant and has been an artist-in-residence at Brown University, Emory University and St. Paul's School. He is currently on staff at American Ballet Theatre's Summer Intensives in New York. His ballets have been viewed by audiences worldwide, including London, Costa Rica, Bermuda and throughout the United States.

Shawn Stevens

Learn more about Shawn Steven's experiences as a repetiteur for The George Balanchine Trust in which she travels the country to work with ballet companies and universities to stage various Balanchine ballets (as well as Twyla Tharp's works).

Shawn Stevens is originally from Houston, Texas. At 14, she attended Walnut Hill School of Performing Arts under the direction of Sydelle Gomberg. She then continued her training at the School of American Ballet. In 1982 Ms. Stevens was chosen by George Balanchine to join the New York City Ballet. During her time with the Company, she performed principal roles in Balanchine's ballets including Symphony in Three Movements, The Four Temperments and Symphony In C. She also danced in the original cast where she performed principal roles in Brahms - Handel which was choreographed by Twyla Tharp and Jerome Robbins. Ms. Stevens has worked with many other choreographers such as Peter Martins, William Forsythe, Edward Villella, Ib Andersen and Joseph Duell. During the ten years Ms. Stevens performed with the New York City Ballet, she danced in the TV show Live from Lincoln Center with NYCB and Dance in America. Ms. Stevens has also appeared as a principal dancer with the New York City Opera in Cinderella.

In 1991 Ms. Stevens joined Twyla Tharp's Company where she performed for five years. With Tharp's Company she performed old works of Twyla as well as new principal works. Ms. Stevens was also asked to dance in the Cutting Up tour with Twyla Tharp and Baryshnikov. Her film credits include, I'll Do Anything and In The Upper Room all choreographed by Twyla Tharp. More recently, Ms. Stevens was asked to perform in Twyla's hit Broadway musical Movin' Out. At present, she is now teaching ballet with several different schools, universities and companies. Ms. Stevens is approved by The George Balanchine Trust to restage George Balanchine works; she is also approved to stage works by Twyla Tharp.

Michael Vernon

Michael Vernon studied at the Nesta Brooking School of Ballet and the Royal Ballet School in London. 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 Eglevsky Ballet 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 U.S. and worldwide. Mikhail Baryshnikov commissioned him to choreograph the successful pas de deux In a Country Garden for American Ballet Theatre. His solo S'Wonderful was danced by ABT 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.

Mr. 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 School of Dance. His annual activities also include a long association with Ballet Hawaii.

Mr. 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.

Mr. Vernon is currently Chair and Professor of the prestigious Jacobs School Ballet Department at Indiana University in Bloomington.