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Contributors

a ballet education contributors

David King, Los Angeles
David King started his dance training at the age of 9 in Southern California. He has trained at numerous schools and summer programs, and has dance professionally for various companies. David also teaches and coaches ballet privately throughout southern California and is G.A.T.E V.A.P.A Certified for the Public School System. Completing his degree in Comparative Literature and Cultural studies from University of Minnesota, David now works in the fashion industry. He also likes tiramisu, espresso, macaroons, Panda Express, is single, and has a horrible tendency of falling asleep in bad ballet performances.

Susie Boyland, Seattle
Susie Boyland has been dancing since age 9 and trained primarily at Lauridsen Ballet Centre in Torrance, CA.  She attended Boston Ballet’s Summer Dance Program in 2007 and briefly attended the Peninsula School of Performing Arts during her senior year of high school.  Susie was born in Northern Ireland and then moved to Hong Kong, England, and ultimately ended up in the United States.  After receiving a degree in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA, she moved to Seattle to work as an engineer for Boeing.  She enjoys the temperate climate of the Puget Sound area and loves to attend performances by Pacific Northwest Ballet.

Colette Posse, Seattle
Colette Posse has been dancing classical ballet since age 5 and trained in Southern California where she grew up. She attended two summer intensive programs at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City (incidentally the city she where she was born). She continued her ballet tenure dancing in Cardinal Ballet Company (CBC) at Stanford University where she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering. Through CBC, she got to learn skills around ballet such as running a ballet company, managing a budget, and choreographing (when she wasn’t building robots or firing rockets that is). Pieces she created include Primavera and Mozart Remix.   Colette dabbled in rocket science for two summers at Rocketdyne in Southern CA and currently works as an aerodynamics engineer at Boeing in the Pacific Northwest. She also volunteers with the ArtsFund Associates Program and tries to attend every PNB performance she can.

Jacquelyn Bernard, Southern California
Jacquelyn Bernard started dancing at the age of six at Corona Dance Academy in Corona, California. In order to pursuing a better knowledge of dance, in 2010, Jacquelyn auditioned and was personally chosen by the Artistic Director, Mignon Furman, to participate in a week long ballet technique intensive for American Academy of Ballet in New York.  In 2011, Jacquelyn attended Ballet Chicago’s five week Summer Course and was extended an invitation to attend the Advanced Intensive where she performed in excerpts of George Balanchine’s Swan Lake and A Midsummer Nights Dream under the supervision of Daniel Duell and Patricia Blair. Jacquelyn joined Redlands Dance Theatre in Redlands, CA as a soloist in 2015. While at RDT she made her professional ballet debut in an adaption of “Paquita” and “The Nutcracker: A Midnight Fantasy” both staged and choreographed by David King and Kelly Mason. In 2016, she graduated from Oral Roberts University with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance. From Fall of 2012 to Spring of 2016, Jacquelyn attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK pursuing her Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance. While at ORU she was given multiple opportunities to perform on and off the dance stage and at local dance festivals in various ballet, modern, contemporary, musical theatre, and jazz pieces. The faculty and staff gave her the opportunity to attend the American College Dance Association Regional Central Conference every year since Spring of 2013. At these conferences, Jacquelyn was able to take multiple master classes from various university faculty members from across the United States. At the Spring 2015 conference, she was give the opportunity to premier one of her choreography compositions. During her junior year, Ms. Bernard took the opportunity to become the vice president of the dance department’s chapter of Nu Delta Alpha (National Dance Association). She took this position to help out the dance program and let it grow further. The next year, her senior year, she was promoted to president.  During her junior and senior years at ORU, Ms. Bernard had the opportunity to become a guest writer for the ballet organization Ballet in the City located in Cleveland, OH. During this time, she was introduced to and became an advocate for the dance initiative “Guys Dance Too” which helps to cultivate dance environments and find more ways to for males of all ages to participate in dance. She comes to a Ballet Education looking forward to the future.

Bethanne Black, Atlanta
Bethanne has been dancing since age 9 and trained in Rochester, New York, where she was born. After living in Rochester’s cold climate for most of her life,  Bethanne moved to Atlanta to pursue a degree in Psychology at Brenau University. Shortly after relocating to Atlanta, she was offered a job at WebMD.com and began a career in medical writing. She returned to ballet as an adult student at Gwinnett Ballet Theatre in Georgia, where she enjoys taking private lessons. Bethanne is a proponent of ballet for all ages and abilities, and she attends ballet intensives whenever her schedule allows. She recently attended Finis Jhung’s adult ballet workshop in New York and enjoyed taking classes at Steps on Broadway during her stay. In her spare time, Bethanne can be found at the gym, writing, and attending Atlanta Ballet performances.

Daryl Manese, Orange County

Sarah Jaffe, New York City

Dorothy Crouch, Los Angeles

 

 

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