2009 Professional Training Summer Workshop Faculty

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Our 2009 Professional Training Workshop, which will be held on July 27-August 22, will feature the following internationally renowned faculty:

Cynthia Gregory, former principal dancer, American Ballet Theatre Susan Jaffe, former principal dancer, American Ballet Theatre Zippora Karz, former soloist with New York City Ballet and Balanchine Trust repetiteur

Shawn Stevens, formerly with New York City Ballet & Twyla Tharp's Company and Balanchine Trust repetiteur Michael Vernon, Chair, Jacobs School Ballet Department, Indiana University Stefan Zeromski, Principal dancer, Nederlands Dans Theater

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.

Susan Jaffe

Recognized as one of the leading ballerinas of her time, Ms. Jaffe has performed in many Opera houses throughout the United States and Europe. She joined American Ballet Theatre in 1980 at the invitation of Mikhail Baryshnikov and became well known in the dance world at a young age. She has received critical praise for her interpretations of such roles as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Kitri in Don Quixote, Nikiya and Gamzatti in La Bayadere, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Swanhilda in Coppelia and the title roles in Manon, Giselle, and La Sylphide.

Ms. Jaffe has worked with and performed the repertoire of many of the twentieth century's most prominent choreographers including George Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, Kenneth MacMillan, Jerome Robbins, Roland Petit, Twyla Tharp, Jiri Kiyan, and James Kudelka.

Ms. Jaffe's European engagements have included performances with The Royal Ballet, The Kirov Ballet, The Stuttgart Ballet, The Munich State Opera Ballet, La Scala Ballet, The Vienna State Opera Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, The Royal Swedish Ballet and The English National Ballet. Television appearances have included several "Dance in America" programs and host of "Dance New York." Film credits include 1994's "Angie" with Geena Davis and the 1995 documentary "Ballet" directed by Frederick Wiseman.

Ms. Jaffe has served as advisor to the chairman and president of the Board of Governing Trustees at American Ballet Theater. She gives master classes throughout the U.S. and Japan and she has recently received the Annual Dance Magazine Award. Ms. Jaffe is currently director of the Princeton Dance & Theatre Studio in Princeton, New Jersey.

Zippora Karz

Zippora Karz is a former soloist ballerina with the New York City Ballet where she performed for 16 years on stage and in televised performances. Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes in 1987, just as she was being featured in solo roles, she found a way to continue to live her dream despite her illness. Zippora became as passionate about health and healing as she is about dance. Today she not only teaches and coaches dancers, she motivates and inspires people of all ages to fulfill their dreams and potential through her teaching and public speaking.

Zippora moved from Los Angeles to New York at the age of 15 to study at New York City Ballet’s famed School of American Ballet, under the guidance of its founder George Balanchine. She became an apprentice to the NYC Ballet in 1983 and a full member in 1984.

She was promoted to Soloist Ballerina in 1993 and performed until 1999. As a soloist she danced feature roles choreographed by Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, as well as works choreographed specifically for her by such choreographers as Peter Martins and Lynne Taylor Corbett.

Some of her featured roles by Balanchine include: the Sugar Plum and Dew Drop Fairies in The Nutcracker, Agon, Apollo, Coppelia, Divertimento #15, The Four Temperaments, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Serenade, Swan Lake and Symphony in C.

Zippora was featured in the documentary “Reflections of a Dancer,” Alexandra Danilova, Prima Ballerina Assoluta. She can be seen in Dance in America broadcast on PBS in Balanchine's Western Symphony, and was also featured in Balanchine's Agon for The Balanchine Celebration, also on PBS.

Upon retiring from the NYC Ballet in 1999, after 16 years of performing, Zippora was asked to represent The George Balanchine Trust as repetiteur of his ballets. This took her across the globe staging the great ballets. The ballets she has staged, and the companies she has taught master classes to include: Serenade for the Finnish National Ballet, Arizona Ballet and the National Ballet of Mexico; Concerto Barocco for Arizona Ballet, Goucher College in Baltimore and the Royal Birmingham Ballet; Sonatine for the Aspen/ Santa Fe Ballet; and Valse Fantasie for the Royal Swedish Ballet.

Visit Ms. Karz's website at www.zipporakarz.com.

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.

Stefan Zeromski

Stefan Zeromski was born in Poland and received his dance education at the State Ballet in Poznan, Poland. Upon graduation, he joined the Teatr Wielki (the Great Theater and Polish National Opera) in Warsaw where he was promoted to soloist dancer the following year. That same year, he was awarded the Leon Wojcikowski Prize for the best young dancer.

Later, Mr. Zeromski joined the Ballett der Deutschen Oper in Düsseldorf, Germany where he danced as a soloist and worked with a broad range of choreographers including Roland Petit, Maurice Bejart and Lucinda Childs.

Currently, Mr. Zeromski is a principal dancer with the world-renowned Nederlands Dans Theater in Den Haag, Netherlands where he has danced in many original works by choreographers including Jiri Kylian, Paul Lightfoot, Sol Leon, Mats Ek, William Forsyth, Johan Inger and Ohad Naharin.