Gerard Charles, Artistic Director
Susan Brooker, Academy Director
Christina Rogers, Academy Managing Director

BalletMet Dance Academy Faculty: James Alexander, Leigh Allardyce, Monica Axelson, George Boft, Susan Brooker, Nicole Cafera, Patrick Carmichael, Sarah Case, Jackie Comisar, Kate Cremean, Kim Crigger, Lynne Daehler, Susan Dromisky, Meghan Durham, Laura Dustman, Darielle Eberhard, Ambre Emory-Maier, Maria Glimcher, Tammy Goetsch-Plaxico, Adam Hundt, Daryl Kamer, Stella Kane, Margaret Kennedy, Tonya Kraner, Janine Lawson, Hisham Omardien, Brad Ostroff, Mara Penrose, Susan Powers, Emily Ramirez, Rebecca Rodriguez-Hodory, Chris Rogers, Jackson Sarver, Kate Schmidt, Jennifer Sciantarelli, Lisa Spencer, Dmitri Suslov, Bruce Terry, Katy Tombaugh Henn, Julia Van Houten, Lance Walker, Sonia Welker Orrante and Jessica Zeller

Accompanists: Cathi Aldrich, Susan Chess, Chris Hokanson, Irina Keller, Joe Krygier, Helen Kushnir, Olena Mladenova, Nyla Phillips, Mikhail Popov, Larissa Sheppard, Olga Shchipkova, Lisa Spencer, Joseph Spurlock, Ruby Ti, Yling Tien and Michael Wall

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Susan Brooker, Academy Director
Susan Brooker has more than three decades of experience as a dance educator, both in the U.S. and abroad, and is a specialist in Ballet Pedagogy and curriculum development. As its Chair, she was instrumental in the development of the Dance Department of the Hartt School, Community Division, at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. She previously directed The School of Dance Connecticut and the Scuola di Danza ‘Hamlyn’ di De Vita-Lukens in Florence, Italy. Brooker received her dance education in London, England, and is a fellow and faculty member of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (I.S.T.D.). She presently serves as a member of the National Curriculum Development Committee and the Artistic Board of Examiners and Instructors for American Ballet Theatre. She is also a Fellow and Major Examiner of the Cecchetti Faculty of the I.S.T.D. and Cecchetti USA.

Chris Rogers Academy Managing Director

Julia Van Houten Academy Gahanna Satellite Administrator

Gerard Charles, Artistic Director
Gerard Charles was named Artistic Director in 2001, having served as Interim Artistic Director and Associate Artistic Director for the previous three seasons. Mr. Charles was born in Folkestone, England, and trained at the Royal Ballet School in London. In addition to numerous guest appearances, he danced professionally for Ballet International in London, Milwaukee Ballet and BalletMet. Upon retiring from the stage, he served as Ballet Master for BalletMet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. He then returned to BalletMet as Ballet Master and Associate Artistic Director, serving as an advisor to the Artistic Director and as coach and teacher for Company dancers. Mr. Charles has choreographed and staged works internationally and received an NEA Choreographic Fellowship. Audiences have been delighted with his BalletMet productions of Alice in Wonderland, The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Coppelia, The Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin.

Rebecca Rodriguez-Hodory, Ballet Mistress
Born in Manila, Philippines, Rebecca Rodriguez-Hodory danced with BalletMet for nine years, and became Ballet Mistress full time in 2004. She began dancing under the tutelage of Eduardo Elejar at The Cultural Center of the Philippines and attended the Philippine High School for the Arts and The Fabella-Elejar Dance Studios before joining San Francisco Ballet. Ms. Rodriguez-Hodory has danced with Manila Metropolis Ballet, Dallas Ballet, and as a principal with Cincinnati Ballet. She performed as a guest artist at Ballet Philippines, Philippine Ballet Theater and Ballet Lubbock.

Hisham Omardien, Ballet Master
Born in Worcester, South Africa, Hisham Omardien danced with BalletMet for seven seasons. After training at the Julia Hickman Academy of Dance and graduating from the University of Cape Town Ballet School, he danced nine years with the Cape Town City Ballet and later with State Theatre Ballet and has appeared as a guest artist with both companies. Mr. Omardien, a two-time recipient of the South African Balletomaines Award, received the 2004 Violetta Boft Memorial Award. His favorite roles include the lead in George Balanchine's Who Cares?, the title role in David Nixon's Dracula, and Armand in Veronica Paeper's Camille. He is married to fellow dancer Olivia Clark and together are raising a daughter, Safiyyah. He retired from dancing and is now full time Ballet Master with the Company.

SENIOR FACULTY

Susan Dromisky was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada, and began her training at the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto, Ontario, when she was 13. She began her professional career at the National Ballet of Canada where she became a soloist in 1985. She was also a soloist dancer for English National Ballet performing in England, Scotland, and all throughout Europe. Some of her leading roles included Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen in Celia Franca’s The Nutcracker, Swanhilda in Erik Bruhn’s Coppelia, and Teresina in Peter Schaufuss’ Napoli. Along with her professional career, Ms. Dromisky has taught ballet for the National Ballet School of Canada and Ballet British Columbia. She has been teaching at BalletMet since 1998.

Daryl Kamer is one of the founders of BalletMet and has taught ballet in Columbus for more than 30 years. In 1974, she began presenting lecture-demonstrations and workshops in schools for BalletMet. Kamer was named Director of Education for BalletMet in 1981. In 1988 she became Artistic Associate of the Dance Academy. She was named Academy Director in 2001 and later Academy Associate Director. Over the years she has also served as Ballet Mistress, Assistant Artistic Director, Acting Artistic Director and Assistant to the Producing Director. She continues to teach in the Academy.

Dmitri Suslov was born in Moscow, Russia where he graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy with a degree in classical ballet pedagogy. Mr. Suslov joined the Bolshoi company in 1990 under the direction of Yuri Grigorovich. He has also been a principal dancer with the Renaissance Ballet Theater, the Sacramento Ballet, and BalletMet Columbus. Recently, Mr. Suslov traveled to New York City where he and other dancers helped to recognize their former legendary teacher, Peter Pestov, of the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. Mr. Suslov has been a guest artist and an award-winner at the first and fourth National Nureyev Festival. He has been a guest teacher at Philadelphia Dance Conservatory, the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and Deane Dance Center, the official school of Sacramento Ballet. Mr. Suslov has been teaching at BalletMet since 2007.

FACULTY

Born in Columbus, Leigh Allardyce received her training from BalletMet Dance Academy under Yoko Ichino and Catherine Yoshimura. After graduating from the Academy she became part of the BalletMet Company for five seasons and the Alberta Ballet in Canada for five years before retiring in 2008. Ms. Allardyce was a guest artist for many different companies including Friends of the Arts Foundation in Bangkok, Thailand, where she danced the balcony pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet. Her favorite roles include Madame de Tourvel in Dangerous Liaisons, Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Michaela in Carmen. Ms. Allardyce is pursuing training in Yoga instruction and has been teaching at BalletMet since November 2008.

Nicole Cafera was born in Cincinnati and began training in dance at the age of five. She graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance performance. She has been teaching and choreographing for the BalletMet Dance Academy since 2003. Ms. Cafera was a fellowship recipient of the 2004 Columbus Choreography project and has been awarded several other awards for her choreography. She participated in the Ohio Dance Festival in 2008 and 2009. Ms. Cafera teaches modern and jazz at BalletMet.

Ohio native Kim Crigger has been teaching yoga at BalletMet for three years. In 2009 she taught at the BalletMet summer camp for her second season. Ms. Crigger is a former marathon runner and has participated in events all over the US including the 2005 Boston Marathon. Along with her love for yoga, Ms. Crigger enjoys the Arts, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends. She has a daughter, Chloe and a son, Collin and two cats named Tom and Jerry.

Laura Dustman began dancing when she was 4 years old. A Columbus native, Ms. Dustman trained at BalletMet from her youth up through her high school graduation. Furthering her education in dance, she graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance education. Ms. Dustman has been teaching at BalletMet for the past six years and enjoys introducing young dancers to ballet technique. Ms. Dustman and her husband have a young son, Noah, and a daughter, Brooklyn.

Ambre Emory-Maier is Director of Education at BalletMet. Her accomplishments at BalletMet include developing Aladdin: Finding the Magic in Dance and Moving Into Literacy. Ms. Emory-Maier also oversees the Dance Academy's Scholarship Program. A native of Allentown, Penn., Ms. Emory-Maier was formerly Director of Education and Outreach for North Carolina Dance Theatre (NCDT). Ms. Emory-Maier also worked as an artistic associate for NCDT 2. Previously, she was a faculty member and Assistant Chairperson in the University of Hartford/Hartford Ballet's Dance Division. Ms. Emory-Maier holds a MA in Dance Reconstruction and Directing and a BA in Communications. Ms. Emory-Maier's dance training and performance experience have included pedagogical study in the Vaganova method, modern dance study in the Limon and Humphrey/Weidman styles and national touring with Polite Society, a vintage ballroom dance company. She is certified by The Dance Notation Bureau to teach Labanotation and holds a 500-RYT yoga certification through The Yoga Alliance. Emory-Maier serves on the Steering Committee for The National High School Dance Festival, has presented nationally at the NDEO, NCAAPHERD, and CORPS DE BALLET conferences and is an advisory board member of OhioDance.

Maria Glimcher was born in Baku, Azerbaijan. Ms. Glimcher graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She has danced with Syncopated Inc., Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Ballet Hispanico, Columbus Dance Theatre, and made a guest appearance with BalletMet. In addition to her professional career, Ms. Glimcher teaches and choreographs for Otterbein College and The Ohio State University. She is the proud mother of two children and has taught modern, jazz, and ballet at BalletMet for 10 years.

A Columbus native, Darielle Kamer-Eberhard began dancing at a very young age. Focusing on classical ballet she received in depth training with Tatjana Akinfieva-Smith and Vitale Fokine. As a professional dancer, Ms. Kamer-Eberhard performed many roles including Clara and snow corps in The Nutcracker, Grisi in Pas De Quatre and the lead role in English Trifle. Along with her ballet career, she has also performed and competed professionally in Ballroom dancing. Ms. Kamer-Eberhard was the Canadian-American Professional Rhythm Ballroom Champion two years in a row. Along with her many dance accomplishments; Ms. Kamer-Eberhard has two children and is daughter of Jack and Daryl Kamer, two of the founders of BalletMet Dance Academy.

Stella Hiatt Kane has been a member of the Otterbein faculty since 1989 and Coordinator of Dance since 1996, a member of the BalletMet Academy faculty, and was the founding Artistic Director of BalletMet’s JazzMet. Ms. Kane has danced as a member in the national companies of Sugar and Bob Fosses' Dancin'. She was also a member of the national and international companies of The American Dance Machine. Ms. Kane has made television appearances in productions such as PBS' Dance In America and The Ann Reinking Special with Ann Reinking, Chita Rivera and Ben Vereen. Ms. Kane has given master classes at The Ohio State University, New York University and has been a teacher in residence at England's Northern Ballet Theatre. She currently teaches jazz for BalletMet's summer workshop.

Tonya Kraner, was born in Lancaster, Ohio, and began taking dance lessons at the age of three. She trained in many varieties of dance including ballet, jazz, hip hop and tap. Ms. Kraner received a minor in dance from The Ohio State University and has been a choreographer and teacher for Susan's Tap-n-Toe Studio and the BalletMet Dance Academy. She is also the creator and director of the TNT Dance Team which is currently in its 12th season. Along with all types of dance, Ms. Kraner also enjoys going on outings with her husband and their two daughters and spending time with friends.

Originally from Pittsburgh, Janine Lawson studied dance as a scholarship student in the Pre-professional program at Point Park College. She also performed as a soloist in the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet. While pursuing her degree at West Virginia University, Ms. Lawson was a featured dancer and earned rave reviews for her choreography for the University’s jazz dance company, Mountain Jazz Dance Theater. Ms. Lawson has been teaching at BalletMet for six years. Outside of the studio, she enjoys watching her two sons play sports and spending time with her friends.

Tammy Plaxico was born in Iowa where she received a Bachelor of Arts in dance and a Master of Fine Arts in dance with an emphasis in performance from the University of Iowa. Ms. Plaxico performed and toured with the company at the University and became the Director of Dance Forum in 1996. She later received her STOTT Pilates certification and taught at BodyMind Balance Pilates Studio, University of Ohio, and Otterbein College. She has been teaching at BalletMet for five years. Ms. Plaxico is married with four children and enjoys playing the piano.

Susan Powers, an Indiana native, has been teaching at BalletMet for 23 years. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Butler University and later received a Masters in art education from The Ohio State University. Besides her instruction at the dance academy, Ms. Powers has taught art in the public schools for 37 years. She has a daughter, Elizabeth, who trained in dance at BalletMet and now attends Ohio University. Ms. Powers also enjoys taking dance classes at BalletMet to help her grow professionally and to get great exercise.

Lisa Spencer has been an accompanist with BalletMet since 1987. While playing piano for a summer class, she became interested in Flamenco dance and began her training. She now teaches Flamenco at BalletMet for students and adults. Ms. Spencer also received both her Bachelor's and Master's in music from The Ohio State University. Along with her piano playing and dance instruction, she has performed with BalletMet in the 2003 production of David Nixon’s Carmen. Ms. Spencer currently works as an ESL teacher for Columbus City Schools. She has two daughters, Natalie and Veronica, and three cats Antonio, Musette, and Fangy.

Katy Tombaugh Henn began dancing at the age of nine in Toledo, Ohio. Throughout her many years of dancing she has studied and performed a variety of disciplines including classical ballet/pointe, jazz, tap, modern, Afro-Caribbean, and musical theatre. Ms. Tombaugh Henn is a graduate of BalletMet’s professional training program and has performed professionally throughout the state of Ohio. She has also received additional training from the National Dance Institute of New Mexico specifically focused on Teaching Excellence through dance education curriculum in the public schools. Ms. Tombaugh Henn has been teaching since the age of 16 in northwest Ohio and has been on faculty at BalletMet Dance Academy since 2001.

Lance Walker was born in Columbus and began tap dancing at age 12 under the teaching instruction of Tracy Lawson at BalletMet. He has had the privilege of studying with many of the great tap masters such as Leonard Reed, Jimmy Tate, and many more. Beginning in 2003, Mr. Walker spent two years tapping with the Columbus Tap Project under the direction of Becky Hoag. He performed in various shows in New York City including Tappy Holidays and Tapping into Peace with Ayodele Casel and Sarah Savelli in 2008. The highlight of Mr. Walkers's career was performing for legendary tap dancer Gregory Hines at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Along with his love for tap Mr. Walker loves music, playing the drums, and his dog, Bowie. He is son of BalletMet teacher Darielle Kamer-Eberhard and has been teaching tap at the Academy since fall of 2008.

Jessica Zeller, a New York native, has been teaching ballet at BalletMet for three years. Ms. Zeller began her training at the Huntington School of Ballet where she studied with Maggie Black and Jan Hanniford Goetz. In 2008, she earned her Masters in Dance from The Ohio State University. She is continuing on at Ohio State pursuing a Ph.D. and filling the role of Graduate Teaching Associate in the Department of Dance. Ms. Zeller has been a guest instructor and lecturer at Denison University, Kenyon College and has taught a master class at American College Dance festival.

Monica Axelson	Lynne Daehler	Pamela Hutchinson
Kate Schmidt	Bruce Terry	Sonia Welker-Orrante

A native of Western New York, Chris Hokanson has studied piano with Helga Hulce and later at The Ohio State University with George Haddad in the school of music. Ms. Hokanson has been the accompanist in many venues including Indian Run United Methodist Church in Dublin where she played the piano and organ. She also played piano for the luxury train, American Orient Express, where she traveled all over southwestern America. Ms. Hokanson has been an accompanist at BalletMet for over 15 years.

Mikhail Popov is a collaborative pianist in the areas of dance, chamber, folk and sacred music. Before immigrating to the US from Russia in 1990, Mr. Popov studied music theory and composition at St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1995, Mr. Popov joined BalletMet as company pianist and now works as the music director for the company and the academy. In addition to his accompaniment in the classroom, Mr. Popov has complied and arranged music for numerous scores including, Carmen, Cinderella, and Dracula. He also teaches music theory and a class on music in ballet to students in the BalletMet Dance Academy.

Originally from Taipei, Taiwan, Ruby Ti has been an accompanist with BalletMet for two years. She began her training in music at a very young age playing clarinet and piano. Before coming to the US, Ms. Ti received her Bachelor of Music from Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taipei and was a high school music teacher. She has received several music awards for her performances on the clarinet. Currently, Ms. Ti is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at The Ohio State University where she also plays piano for dance department ballet classes.

Originally from Illinois, Yling Tien studied piano for 10 years before beginning her training on the violin. She received her Bachelor's degree in music with a focus on violin performance from The Ohio State University. Ms. Tien continued her studies in music at Mannes College of Music in New York City. Some of her teachers include musicians Michael Davis, Young-Uck Kim, and Shirley Givens. Ms. Tien has performed in numerous bands and has been playing piano for dance classes at BalletMet since 2000.

Helen Kushnir

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