The Albany Berkshire Ballet Dancers

The ABB Dancers
2006-2007 Season

The Company

CHRISTINE GEREN - Ms. Geren began her dance training with Darlene Myers and The Northeast Ballet Company. Supported by a dance and academic scholarship, she pursued her Bachelor of Arts at Mercyhurst College and, during this time, earned an apprenticeship with The Lake Erie Ballet. Under the direction of Robert Vickrey, Ms. Geren performed as a soloist in such classic ballets as Coppelia, Paquita and The Nutcracker. After graduating from Mercyhurst, Ms. Geren joined the Albany Berkshire Ballet, where she has danced roles in Carmina Burana (Paula Weber), Graduation Ball (David Lichine), Les Sylphides and Petrouchka (Michael Fokine), as well as principal roles in Our Town (Philip Jerry), Caprice and The Rockwell Suites (Madeline Cantarella-Culpo), and Nocturnes (Mary Margaret Gianonne Talmi) Ms. Geren is also notably recognized as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop and Snow Queen in ABB's The Nutcracker. She also performs periodically as a guest artist with the Ajkun Ballet Theatre, most recently featured as Medora in Chiara Ajkun's Le Corsaire. In addition to serving as school administrator at the School of the Albany Berkshire Ballet, Ms. Geren teaches ballet at both the Myers Studio and at the School of the ABB. (12/06)

JENNIFER GRAPES - Ms. Grapes began her early training with Melissa Morris and Yvonne Craig. She later went on to study at the Kansas City Ballet School and DanceWorks Conservatory under Sharon Romine. In 2000, she received a scholarship to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she studied extensively with Paula Weber, Mary Pat Henry, DeeAnna Hiett, and Michael Simms. Since then, Jennifer has gone on to dance with the Kansas City Ballet, Atlantic Southeast Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Albany Berkshire Ballet, and Wylliams/Henry Danse Theatre before joining the Ajkun Ballet Theatre. Her repertory includes a range of classical and contemporary works such as: The Nutcracker, Dracula, Flower Festival, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Church of Nations, and View Over Atlantis. She has worked with a variety of different choreographers such as: Dermot Burke, Gregory Robinson, Laura Dean, Kevin EIega Jeff, Mary Margaret Gianonne Talmi, and William Whitener, to name a few. Ms. Grapes most recently has been featured in Chiara Ajkun's Mozart, Epilogue of The Genius and Carmen. She joins the Albany Berkshire Ballet for another season of The Nutcracker performing the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen. (12/06)

CLAYTON TEAL began his ballet training at the James Dance Center in Kissimmee, Florida. His family relocated to New York’s Capital Region and he began attending classes at the School of the Albany Berkshire Ballet with Jana Fugate, Deirdre Duffin Swindlehurst, Nancy Ropelewski Pierce and Madeline Cantarella Culpo. From a young age, Mr. Teal has always participated in ABB productions- beginning with the role of Fritz in Madeline Cantarella Culpo’s The Nutcracker to eventually perform the role of Cavalier. He has continued to perform principal roles with the ABB in a variety of productions, including Paula Weber’s Carmina Burana, Deirdre Duffin-Swindlehurst’s Corelli Suite, Madeline Cantarella-Culpo’s The Rockwell Suites, and Mary Margaret Gianonne Talmi’s Nocturnes. Given his long standing presence with the ABB, he is notorious for adorning annual T-Shirts, posters and programs. Clayton has also broadened his repertoire with other companies including Upstate NY Ballet in Syracuse, NY, Ballet for Young Audiences in NYC, NY and the City Center Ballet in Lebanon, NH. Particularly with the City Center Ballet, he has performed a variety of roles, from one of the Stepsisters in Cinderella to Franz in Coppelia. Clayton currently divides his time between the City Center Ballet performing and guest teaching at the School and performing with the Albany Berkshire Ballet.

JANE YABLONSKY grew up in Lenox, Ma where she began her training at the School of the Albany Berkshire Ballet. She earned her BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. For the past 7 years she has lived in New York City where she has worked with several choreographers including James Martin, Gus Solomons Jr., and Eleanor Bauer. Currently she is a member of Alan Good's company. Ms. Yablonsky has performed with Albany Berkshire Ballet in Our Town, Carmina Burana, Petrouchka, Correlli Suite, Coppelia, and the Rockwell Suites, and has been dancing in the Nutcracker since the age of 6.

ALISON RITTER - Miss Ritter is a resident of Catskill, NY and is a graduate of the School of the Albany Berkshire Ballet. After graduating from Mercyhurst College BA in dance she returned to her home town to join the Albany Berkshire Ballet, performing in Paula Weber’s Carmina Burana, Philip Jerry’s Our Town and Deirdre Duffin-Swindlehurst’s Corelli Suite, as well as Madeline Cantarella Culpo’s The Nutcracker. Alison is currently on the faculties at the Cantarella School of Dance and the School of the Albany Berkshire Ballet.

KEHLET SCHOU – is a resident of Guilderland, NY and has trained with the Miami City Ballet, The School of the Albany Berkshire Ballet and the Ellen Sinolpoli Dance Company.

CARISSA NEATE trained at the National theatre Ballet School in Melbourne, Austrailia. Miss Neate was awarded her RAD Solo Seal in 2004 and upon graduation received Most Outstanding Student and performed “The Sylph” in La Sylphide. In 2004, she performed with the Ajkun Ballet Theatre in Don Quixote and Chiara Ajkun’s Karien. With the Albany Berkshire Ballet, she has performed the roles of Dew Drop in Madeline Cantarella Culpo’s The Nutcracker and of Rosie in the Rockwell Suites She has also performed the lead role in Deirdre Duffin Swindlehurst’s Corelli Suite Her career has taken her throughout Europe and the USA. This year, however took her back to her native Austrailia to perform with Dansor Productions in Adelaide, performing in a musical production of My Fair Lady and many Ballroom and Latin Showcases. In addition to her performance calendar, Carissa teaches a broad range of ages and styles from ballet to ballroom to Latin and South American dance. She is delighted to join the Albany Berkshire Ballet for a 3^rd Winter Season

AYA WATANABE is from Japan. She received a Diploma of Arts in Classical Dance from the National Theatre Ballet School. In 2003 she worked with the Royal Academy of Dance where she received an Intermediate (100/100)Scholarship. In 2004, Ms. Watanabe was awarded the Ajkun Ballet Theatre Scholarship in dance in New York and was a Quarter finalist in the Prix de Lausanne. She has danced in numerous ballets such as The Sylph in La Sylphide , Paquita in Paquita, Medora in Le Corsaire, Lilac Fairy in the Sleeping Beauty, and the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker. She has also performed in The Little Mermaid by Beverly Jane Fry, and Interwoven by Terese Power and Beverly Jane Fry as well as many contemporary works including choreography by Mathew Thomson, former dancer with the Western Australian Ballet. She is currently a member of Roxey Ballet and seasonal dancer with the Albany Berkshire Ballet.

KELLY DIAMOND - Biography coming soon!

Apprentices

JOHN GRAVER began dancing with the Albany Berkshire Ballet at the age of ten. In his early appearances in the Nutcracker he had been cast as Party Child and as Fritz. He has been touring with the company since he was 15 years old, dancing roles such as Party Guest, Mouse King, Dance Chinoise, and Trepak. This Spring, he performed with the ABB in Philip Jerry’s Our Town. He has also performed with the Northeast Ballet Company at Proctor’s Theatre for the educational project “Stories That Dance”. John attended the Burklyn Ballet Theatre Summer Program this year and performed in several avant guard pieces and the classic ballet Graduation Ball.

JESSE PHETTEPLACE was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She received her early ballet training under the direction of Sharon Seder Meko at Ballet Etudes, where she got the opportunity to dance numerous leading roles such as Clara and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Bird in Peter and the Wolf, and the title role in Cinderella After graduating a year early from high school to jump start her ballet career, she landed and a trainee position with the Louisville Ballet. The two years she spent there allowed her to add Dance Sport and Balanchine's Serenade and Who Cares to her repertoire. Jessie also tested the waters in the cruise ship industry with Disney Cruise Line, but had to follow her heart back to ballet when she was offered a contract to dance with the American National Ballet in Duluth, Minnesota. She performed many soloist roles created for her by Director Armando Maldonado before leaving to pursue a more classical company. Jessie usually spends her summers with Burklyn Ballet Theatre as a counselor. In the past she has danced many parts such as the title role in Paquita¸ the Peasant Pas from Giselle, Finger Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, and Pigtails in Graduation Ball In 2000 and 2002, Jessie toured with them to Edinburgh, Scotland where she danced as the Rainbow Fairy in Snow White and the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland. This is Jessie's first Nutcracker with Albany Berkshire Ballet, and she is honored to be apart of the production.

MAMI TSUDA -Biography coming soon!

WILLIAM SMITH

Past ABB Dancers