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Mr.
Brooksher grew up in Mesa, AZ where he received his early
training at Ballet Etudes and Jeanne’s School of Dance. At
the age of
13 he left Mesa for Washington D.C. to attend, on full scholarship, the
Universal
Ballet Academy
(now Kirov
Academy of Ballet),
one of the premier ballet school in the world. Mr. Brooksher
graduated with high honors from their comprehensive program.
During his illustrious dancing career, Mr. Brooksher
performed a
wide
repertoire,
from all of the great classic story-ballets and Balanchine masterpieces
to
some of the most cutting edge contemporary choreography, and is world
renowned as one of his generation's greatest partners. Mr.
Brooksher has worked
with some of the world’s
most successful teachers and coaches. Ruodolf Kharatian,
Ludmilla
Morkovina,
Alla Sisova, Nikolai Morosov, Yelena & Oleg Vinogradov,
Vladimir Kolesnikov, Bruce Marks, Anna Marie Holmes, Natalia
Dudinskaya, Irina Koplakova,
Oleg Briansky, Cynthia Gregory, Gelsey Kirkland, Suzanne Farrell, Trey
McIntyre, Terry Orr, Kevin O'Day, and Dwight Rodin are
some of those who have given Mr. Brooksher his extensive
knowledge and
insight as a premier male dancer, partner, teacher, and
coach.
After dancing professionally for over a decade with The Kirov Ballet,
American
Ballet Theatre,
Indianapolis Ballet Theatre, Boston
Ballet,
and Texas
Ballet Theater, Mr.
Brooksher returned home for a season with
Ballet
Arizona
before embarking on
his mission to pass on all of his knowledge to the next generation of
dance artists. Mr. Brooksher is the co-founder and Artistic
Director for Southwest
Classical Dance Institute ( click for
available classes or to read
more
About Us) as well as a Guest Faculty member at The
Nutmeg Conservatory
for the Arts in CT. He also serves as the Chairman
of the
State
Representatives of Classical
Dance Alliance. Mr. Brooksher has also created
several critically
acclaimed original choreographic works. He shares
his passion for dance and for life
with his wife Natasha and son Ian. Click to download a copy
of Mr. Brooksher's biography and resume.
You can also
read what Mr. Brooksher's students have to say… |
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Mrs. Brooksher grew up in
Woodbury, CT receiving her training at Nutmeg Ballet. She graduated
Valedictorian of her
class, both in ballet and academics. Mrs. Brooksher received honors
in competition at the ARTS Recognition and Talent Search, New
York International Ballet Competition, Paris International
Ballet
Competition, and the Prix de Lausanne. Mrs.
Brooksher enjoyed a long professional career with Boston
Ballet, Texas
Ballet Theatre,
and Ballet
Arizona,
where she worked with leading choreographers such as Paul Taylor, Twyla
Tharp,
Lyla York, & Trey
McIntyre,
performing leading roles in
American Classics such as Rodeo, Billy the Kid and Company B.
Her
extensive classical repertoire includes all the great story-ballets as
well as many Balanchine masterpieces. Mrs. Brooksher has
worked
with some of the world’s greatest instructors and coaches including;
Sharon E. Dante, Anna Marie Holmes, Natalia
Dudinskaya, Sergei Berejnoi, Bruce Marks, Eleanor D’Antuono,
Tatiana Legat, Igor Youskevitch, Suki Schorer, Vladimir
Kolesnikov, Suzanne Farrell, Terry Orr, Tatiana Terekhova, Vicki Simon,
Ben Stevenson,
Francia Russell, Sandra Jennings, Denise Warner, Caroline
Llorca and Elise Borne. Each of
whom made an enormous impact on her stylistic
sensibilities, especially in the classical repertoire. Mrs. Brooksher has extensive
teaching experience,
having taught for Nutmeg
Conservatory for the Arts and the New York International Ballet Competition. Most recently, she is
co-founder and Artistic Director for Southwest Classical Dance
Institute (click for available classes or to read more About
Us), and is a
Guest Faculty member at The Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts. Mrs. Brooksher also serves as
the AZ State Representative of Classical
Dance Alliance,
and is currently Ballet Mistress for Novaballet in Phoenix. She shares her
passion for ballet and her life with her husband Joshua and two year
old son Ian. Click to download a copy of
Mrs. Brooksher's biography and resume. You can also read
what Natasha’s students have to say…
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Anthony Aquino’s
training started with Vladmir and Patricia Doukadovsky at New York Conservatory
Of Ballet. He
also trained at Alvin
Ailey, Broadway
Dance Center
and Steps
Studio. Mr. Aquino performed
on Broadway in Alcazar de Paris with Liliane
Montevecchi and in The Nutcracker On Broadway as Uncle Drosselmeyer.
His stage
credits also include Paul in A Chorus Line, Phaedra in La Cage Aux
Folles, Tony
in West Side Story and The Pajama Game. He has also danced in
productions of
Romeo and Juliet, Beauty and the Beast, Peter and the Wolf and
Nutcracker, as
well as appearing on Star Search 1989. Mr. Aquino has
taught at Steps Studio,
Broadway Dance Center, New
Jersey School of Ballet,
Montclair
State University,
as well as abroad. Currently, he is delighted to be teaching and
choreographing
in Arizona as part of SCDI.
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Kate Cleaveland
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Kate
Cleaveland began her training at Marilyn Bostic's Ballet Centre in
Tempe, Arizona, where she had the opportunity to take class with many
teachers including Marilyn Bostic, former soloist with Ballet El Paso
and University of Texas Ballet, Alan Baker, former soloist with the
Royal
Ballet of England
and New York City Ballet, and Leona
Aiken,
former soloist with the Richmond, Virginia
Ballet. Her advanced
training has been under acclaimed Kiev
dancer Olga Tarasova. She has
also studied ballet at Scottsdale Community College under Nadja
Langenhorst. Kate has performed in Dance Theater West's
Storybook
Ballet student company, as well as Dance Theater West's yearly Snow
Queen performance. She danced the soloist role of the White Rose Queen
in Storybook Ballet's Wonderland, as well as the role of the Sugarplum
Fairy in Olga Tarasova's Nutcracker vignette. Additionally,
she
has choreographed and performed several solos and the pas de deux Under
a Starry Night. After completing an internship with SCDI,
Kate is
excited to be a new member of the SCDI faculty!
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Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Mr.
Kharatian began his training at the Vaganova Choreographic Institute
in St. Petersburg Russia, and finished his schooling at the
Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington DC. He has
performed with Les Grands Ballet Canadiens,
Hartford Ballet, Sarasota Ballet,
ARKA Ballet, Washington Ballet, Indianapolis
Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet.
Mr. Kharatian’s repertoire includes principal roles in Don Quixote,
Giselle, Swan Lake, Anna Karenina, Le Corsaire and Paquita.
He
has also performed principal roles in works by Simon Dow, Balanchine,
Forsythe, Duato, Alonzo King, Mark Godden, Tudor and Roudolf
Kharatian. His talent is so high acclaimed that the New York
Times described him as “an elegant dancer who can erupt with unexpected
power in his leaps”. Tom Strini of the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel
also described him as a “manly high-flying, athletic sort”.
Mr. K
is excited to join his classmate Joshua Brooksher as faculty for
Southwest Classical Dance Institute.
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Biography coming soon...
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