Rafael Grigorian

 Rafael Grigorian trained at the Baku Choreographic Institute and at the Kirov Ballet School in Leningrad under the instruction of A. I. Pushkin.  For twenty years he was the principal dancer with the Baku theater of opera and ballet where several ballets were created expressly for him.  In 1980, Mr. Grigorian was awarded  Laureate of the state of the USSR and received the title of The People’s Artist of Azerbaijan, SSR in 1982.  He has toured extensively in Europe and Asia with the Stars of the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballet Theaters and served as instructor of the Moscow Ballet Festival under the leadership of Bolshoi Ballet soloist S. Radchenko.   

      Mr. Grigorian arrived in the United States as choreographer of the Russian Stars Ensemble.  In 1991 he opened the Rafael Grigorian School of Classical Ballet in Corning and Elmira, New York, and added a branch of his school in Binghamton, New York in 1998 and in Mansfield, Pennsylvania in 2000.  Mr. Grigorian is also the Founder and Artistic Director of the Rafael Grigorian Ballet Theater.  Originally established in 1994 as the Rainbow Dance Arts Company, Rafael Grigorian Ballet Theater was renamed in 2000 to reflect its founder and choreographer.  He currently teaches master classes at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Ballet Academy East (New York City), Ithaca Ballet, Alfred Ballet Academy, New York Ballet Academy, SUNY Binghamton and other schools and companies in the mid-Atlantic states.

 Rhodie Jorgenson

 After receiving her training in New York at the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre School, Rhodie Jorgenson danced professionally with American Ballet Theatre, as well as the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company, performing on stage, TV, and in movies throughout the United States, Europe and the Far East. She has worked with renowned choreographers Balanchine, Robbins, Tudor, Ailey, de Mille, Smuin, and Feld, among many others.

      Ms. Jorgenson has rehearsed many children's roles for the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago (where she remains the Washington, D.C., Children's Ballet Mistress), American Ballet Theatre and the Universal Ballet of Korea for their preformances at the Kennedy Center.

      She is a full-time faculty member of the well-known Maryland Youth Ballet, and is a frequent master teacher, including for Maryland Council for Dance, Dance Masters of America, Towson University, and many local studios. In the summer of 2002, she was on the faculty for the International Ballet School at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS.

     As a coach, Ms. Jorgenson has successfully prepared several candidates for national and international competitions, including the International Ballet Competitions in Varna, Bulgaria in July 2000, where her candidate won the Junior Women's Silver Medal; in Jackson, MS, in July 2002, where her candidates won the Junior Men's Silver Medal and the Junior Women's Merit Award; and in Jackson, MS, in July 1998, where they won the Senior Men's and Junior Women's Gold Medals.

N. Scott Robinson

N. Scott Robinson, world percussionist, scholar and teacher, brings an enormous breadth of diverse experience in world percussion traditions to the stage and the classroom.  Currently teaching World Music as well as American and popular music at Towson University in MD, he has performed with a long list of instrumentalists, composers, vocal artists and ensembles, ranging from the Benny Carter Big Band to the Cleveland Orchestra and from Glen Velez to Marilyn Horne.  Since 1993, Mr. Robinson has worked in dance as a musician and music teacher at the Princeton Ballet School (NJ), University of Akron (OH) and Cleveland State University (OH), among others, and this August 8-20, in partnership with Peabody Dance Artistic Director, Carol Bartlett and other faculty and guest artists, he will share his unique skills and approaches with the participants of the first Peabody Summer Dance Choreography Workshop.

Bonnie Scheibman

Bonnie Scheibman began her dance training at the School of the
Pennsylvania Ballet and received an MFA in dance from Sarah Lawrence College.  She participated in several Carlisle Project Workshop residencies and showcases. Her dances have been performed by Atlanta Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Lone Star Ballet  Ms. Scheibman is a three-time recipient of the NEA Choreographer’s Fellowship. Her work was featured in Ballet Builders 2005 in New York City.

William DeGregory

 

A native of New Hampshire, William DeGregory joined Pennsylvania Ballet at the age of 18.  He was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1979 and has danced male principal roles in most of the major classical ballets.  His favorite roles include Albrecht in Giselle, Siegfried in Swan Lake, Apollo in Balanchine’s masterpiece, a leading dancer in Carmina Burana, Franz in Coppelia, and the title role in Dracula.  He was featured in legendary modern dance choreographer Merce Cunningham’s world premiere of his acclaimed Arcade. Bill resides in New Jersey with his wife, former Pennsylvania Ballet Principal Dancer and current Ballet Mistress, Tamara Hadley.

William DeGregory, Director of Pennsylvania Ballet II, is originally from New Hampshire. He joined Pennsylvania Ballet in 1975 and was a principal dancer with the Company for 26 years.  Mr. DeGregory has performed the leading roles in all of the major ballets, often partnering with his wife, Ballet Mistress Tamara Hadley.  He and Ms. Hadley now live in New Jersey with their four dogs and a cage full of love birds. 

 Barbara Sandonato

Barbara Sandonato, the celebrated leading dancer now nationally esteemed master teacher, performed with extraordinary verve and dramatic flair, and her roles ranged from the traditional bravura showpieces to the Romantic realm, and from the exquisite but often relentless demands of a Balanchine ballet to the works of modernists like Limon and Butler. Ms. Sandonato was the first dancer to join Barbara Weisberger at the Pennsylvania Ballet as it formed in 1962. She remained Principal Dancer with that company until 1977, except for a one-year stint with the National Ballet of Canada where, as a principal, she performed with Rudolf Nureyev. Most recently, in great demand as a teacher, Ms. Sandonato served as Artist-in-Residence and adjunct professor of Ballet at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City.