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Ballet Faculty

Nancy Turano

(NJDTE Artistic Director/Choreographer)

Nancy Turano, Artistic Director is a Director, Master Teacher and Choreographer for Dance, Film, Opera and TV. She received a BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase and performed as a principal dancer and with Ballet Hispanico of New York, Buglisi Dance Theatre, Martine Van Hamel’s New Amsterdam Ballet and others. As Artistic Director of the New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble since 1994, Turano has been acknowledged for creating innovative training programs for dancers in the NJ, NYC metro area including; Movement Invention Project® (MIP®) at Baryshnikov Arts Center and New York Live Arts, and MIP2® in NYC. Turano recently secured a new 9,000 sq. ft. dance center for NJDTE in Summit, NJ to expand their pre-professional training program for dancers ages 5-18.

Turano has choreographed 26 new works and commissioned 53 new works for NJDTE. Her choreography has also been presented throughout the US, Mexico, Panama, Israel, Sweden and Germany. Her full-length “Carmen” was filmed for a feature on PBS Channel 13. Her short film “Tango Octogenario” has been featured on PBS Channel 13, at the New Films/New Directors series in Lincoln Center, the Tribeca Film Festival, and other film festivals around the world. She has also choreographed episodes of Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

Turano is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2017 NJSCA Individual Artist Fellowship for Excellence in Choreography, NJSCA 2012 NJ Governor’s Award, NJSCA 2011 Distinguished Teaching Artist Award, and Outstanding Alumni Award by the Chancellor of SUNY Schools. Turano has been a National panelist (2013-2015) and Chair (2016-2017) for YoungArts in search of U.S. Presidential Scholars for the Arts. Turano has been on the NJPAC Advisory Committee since 2015. A master teacher, Turano has taught at National Ballet of Sweden School, Ballet Hispanico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Aspen Ballet, National Ballet of Panama, Teatro San Martin in Argentina, Bat-Dor in Israel, Vancouver Arts Umbrella, Celine Dion’s “A New Day,” Montclair State University, New York University, Purchase College, and over 30 Universities in the US. Turano was also the Founding Director of the Harkness Youth Ballet at the 92nd St. Y in NYC. Turano has been on the faculty of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program since its inception and with the Pre-Professional Division of Ailey School for 21 years.

Alexandra Gonzalez

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Alexandra Gonzalez (NJDTE Associate Artistic Director) started her dance training in Miami, Florida. At the age of seven, she continued her ballet training in Colombia with the Ana Pavlova Ballet Academy. At the age of fifteen, she received a full scholarship to join the San Francisco Ballet School where she was featured in Dance Magazine. She then joined the San Francisco Ballet Company under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. After dancing with the San Francisco Ballet she moved back to Miami were she guested with the Miami City Ballet, Ballet Florida, Americas Ballet, and Michel Uthoff Dance Theater among other companies. She joined the New World School of the Arts under the direction of Daniel Lewis were she graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance Performance in 2004. In New York City, Alexandra has danced with Cedar Lake Dance Company, Ballet Hispanico, The Metropolitan Opera, and Thomas Ortiz Dance Company. Alexandra has taught at Peridance Dance Center, Ballet Hispanico  Gelsey Kirkland Balle and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She currently teaches at New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble and Kean University.

François Perron

François Perron is a graduate of the Paris Opera Ballet School where he studied under the direction of Claude Bessy. Before moving to the United States, François danced with La Scala in Milan, where Maurice Béjart invited him to Brussels as part of Les Ballets Du XXe Siecle. François has had principal contracts with the Northern Ballet Theatre of England and Ballet Du Nord.

He is one of a very few dancers to have danced with all three major ballet companies in New York City. When first arriving to the United States, François joined the Joffrey Ballet in New York City, where he danced principal roles. He then danced with the New York City Ballet for six years and briefly with American Ballet Theatre.

François has appeared with numerous companies worldwide as a guest artist and served as Ballet Master for New York Theatre Ballet as well as for Florence, Italy’s Maggio Danza. In 1997, François accepted a full faculty position at Studio Maestro (now Manhattan Youth Ballet) and from 2001- 2011 was Managing Artistic Director of the school and youth company. He is regularly invited to guest teacher at major dance schools including Miami City Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company and the upper level at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre. Perron is regularly on the faculty of American Ballet Theatre’s Young Dancer Summer Workshop and is a faculty member of The Juilliard School. François was the ballet coach of the boys of the Tony Award Winner Broadway show Billy Elliott for its entire run. He also teaches open class at Peridance Capezio Center, and his class is part of the Certificate Program at Peridance Capezio Center.

François’ students have been accepted to the Paris Opera Ballet School and as company members at American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Nederland Dans Theatre, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Sarasota Ballet, Carolina Ballet and Orlando Ballet.

Additionally, François Perron is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.

Jenny Hegarty

Jenny Hegarty Freeman is a professional dancer, teaching artist and repetiteur currently living in NYC. She has worked with multiple companies throughout the country including Elisa Monte Dance, Emerge125, Dance Now Miami (Senior Company Member and Rehearsal Director), DeXdance, Gehring Dance Theatre, Florida Grand Ballet, Heritage Dance Project and RIOULT.
Some of her favorite theater credits include Seize The King (Classical Theatre of Harlem) Chicago, On the Town, Cabaret, Flashdance (Dance Captain), Saturday Night Fever (Asst. Dance Captain), La Cage Aux Folles (Asst. Choreographer).
Jenny has had the opportunity of performing works by José Limón, Doris Humphrey, David Parsons, Stephen Petronio, Robert Battle, Daniel Lewis, Carolyn Dorfman, Tiffany Rea-Fisher, Edward Stierle, Johannes Wieland, Eduardo Vilaro, Bradley Shelver, and Elisa Clark, and also was selected to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House in the Kirov Ballet’s production of Sleeping Beauty. She has set works by José Limón, Daniel Lewis, Carolyn Dorfman, Edward Stierle, and Doris Humphrey, and has worked as a repetiteur for multiple choreographers, including Daniel Lewis (Limón Dance Company / Daniel Lewis Dance Repertory Company) and Hannah Baumgarten / Diego Salterini (Dance Now Miami). She holds a BFA from Marymount Manhattan College.
Jenny is currently the Associate Director of TAME Dance Academy, on faculty Interlochen Summer Arts Program, and on staff at VIP Dance Competition. Previously, Jenny was on faculty at Lake Placid School of Dance, a rehearsal assistant at the Joffrey Ballet School’s Contemporary Program in LA, and also worked as a dance facilitator among clients with varying levels of communicative and physical ability within the Arts Access program at the Matheny School and Hospital in Peapack, NJ. She also is a certified Figure 4 Instructor at Pure Yoga West in Manhattan.

Alexandra Dalli

Alexandra Dalli (BFA, NCPT) is originally from Cranford, New Jersey. She began her dance training at the age of three at the Westfield School of Dance and continued at the New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble while participating in Cranford High School’s Dance Academy. At NJDTE, Dalli performed works by Sidra Bell, Adam Barruch, Bradley Shelver, and Nancy Turano. Over the years, she has studied at several summer and winter intensive programs including American Ballet Theater’s Collegiate Summer Intensive, Pre-Movement Invention Project, Joffrey Ballet School’s summer intensive, and 10 Hairy Legs winter and summer intensives. She graduated cum laude in 2018 from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts with a BFA in Dance. At Rutgers she was fortunate enough to perform works by Brian Brooks, Chien-Ying Wang, and Keith Thompson. During her time at Rutgers she completed the Polestar Pilates 450-hour Teacher Training Program and had the opportunity to complete an internship at Polestar Pilates España in Madrid, Spain. She was certified through the Pilates Method Alliance in 2017. Currently, Alexandra assists Polestar Pilates’ NYC Comprehensive Teacher Training as a Mentor-in-Training, teaches group and private Pilates to all ages, and is excited for another year as a faculty member teaching ballet at NJDTE.

Shannon Perez


Shannon Perez began studying dance at a young age in Parlin, New Jersey. She studied at Boston
Ballet School, Dance Stop Dance Education Center, and New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble.
Shannon holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Contemporary Dance from The Boston
Conservatory, where she worked with an incredible array of artists, and also began to
choreograph.
Shannon has had the opportunity to perform works by Aaron Atkins, Parren Ballard, Al
Blackstone, Jean Emile, Larry Keigwin, Jose Limon, Andrea Miller, Alwin Nikolai, Daniel
Pelzig, Stephen Pier, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, and Robert Moses, for
whom she served as rehearsal director. She furthered her teaching experience at the Boston
Ballet School and Concord Academy alongside Richard Colton.
Shannon joined Ballet Inc. in April, 2014 and continues to perform in New York City. She
continues to teach and choreograph throughout New Jersey.

Tim Stickney

Tim Stickney began his dance training at the age of 3 and furthered his training at The Gold School in Massachusetts under the direction of Rennie Gold. While there, he was featured in DanceLife TV’s Male Voices documentary series in 2010, winner of four “Telly” awards. He continued his education at the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. Program, where he graduated in 2014. He has had the opportunity to perform the work of Alvin Ailey, Dwight Rhoden, Ronald K. Brown, Karole Armitage, Alejandro Cerrudo, and Joshua Beamish to name a few. He has been working with the Francesca Harper Project since 2012 and worked with the Equus Projects in New York and Sweden from 2012 to 2014. Stickney joined Complexions in 2014.

Larissa Gerszke

Larissa Gerszke hails from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She joined Complexions in 2015. Intensive training: Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Quinte Ballet School of Canada, and Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Education: Fordham University & Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (BFA in Dance). TV/Commercial: Shiseido Cosmetics, The 43rd Kennedy Center Honors (CBS). Publications: The New York Times, Pointe Magazine, Dance Spirit Magazine, Jerusalem Post. She sends many thanks to her family, her Clear Talent Group NYC agents, and her Gaynor Minden sponsors #GMArtist.

Jacquelyn Scafidi Allsopp

 

Jacquelyn Scafidi Allsopp is a native of Brooklyn NY- Jacque has been a Soloist with such companies as Feld Ballets NY/Ballet Tech, Smuin Ballet SF, Metropolitan Opera Ballet,1st National Broadway & International tours of West Side Story, and Momix. She was also the Associate Choreographer for the West Side Story productions in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Broadway’s 1st National tours here in the US (under the direction of Arthur Laurents & Joey McKneely). Jacque has set pieces for Eliot Feld at The Juilliard School and was most recently Directory of Repertory at the Ballet Tech school, continuing Eliot Feld’s Legacy. Other works include Associate Choreographer and swing for the Broadway showcase of “Shadows” a new dance Musical and The Art Save Lives Organization in St.Maarten. Jacque has done both modeling and print work. Her credits include Elle magazine, Baryshnikov Dance Wear, Revolution Dancewear, Dance Magazine, Pointe Magazine, Dance Spirit, and Runway shows in Bryant Park & Lois Greenfield Photography. Jacquelyn is currently finishing a Masters’s degree in Dance Education and raising three beautiful young children.

Hilary Nicolai


Hilary began her training at age 8 and was dancing professionally with the Indianapolis Ballet Theater by age 14. She spent her summers training at The Chautauqua School of Dance, The Washington School of Ballet, The Rock School of The Pennsylvania Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet School and The School of American Ballet before joining the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York City. As a student at SAB, Hilary appeared in Christopher Wheeldon’s Le Voyage and participated in the New York City Ballet Education Department’s Lecture Demonstration program, performing Peter Martin’s Eight Easy Pieces, Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Cortege Hongrois and Puss n’ Boots for local area school children under the direction of Suki Schorer. Hilary danced principal roles in Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, under the tutelage of New York City Ballet principal dancers Patricia McBride and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, and performed in Petipa’s Giselle and Balanchine’s Serenade, Western Symphony, La Source and Four Temperaments.

Hilary is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Writing from Columbia University where she graduated cum laude and lives in Montclair, NJ with her husband and three children.

Lenore Pavlakos Morales

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A native of Brooklyn, NY, Lenore Pavlakos Morales trained with Vicky Simegiatos and continued her training at Nubert Ballet School. She was awarded a trainee scholarship to study at Harkness House for Ballet Arts. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she received her BFA Degree in Dance. Ms. Pavlakos Morales performed with Maryland Ballet and Eugene Ballet before joining Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1993, where she danced as a soloist and principal dancer. She additionally served as assistant rehearsal director and master teacher. While with DTH, Ms. Morales toured Europe, Asia, South America, Canada, The United Kingdom, and the United States, performing ballets by noted choreographers such as George Balanchine, Glen Tetly, John Taras, and Michael Smuin, to name a few. Ms. Pavlakos Morales is a guest teacher with “Tremaine Conventions,” teaching ballet classes to hundreds of children throughout the United States. She has performed on TV for the 2000 Kennedy Center Honors Awards and has been seen in various magazines such as Oprah, Mademoiselle, Pointe, and Dance, as well as the Italian magazine Io Donna. She formerly was the Ballet Mistress and Rehearsal Director of Staten Island Ballet and currently is the Ballet Mistress of NJDTE and a guest artist with Morales Dance.

Catherine Brikke

Ms. Brikké is a senior full time faculty member at LaGuardia High School in NYC since 1998. She teaches ballet technique, pointe, dance history and Pilates. She regularly choreographs for the senior showcase and concert as well as photographs dancers for the school’s brochure and concert posters. A native of France, Ms. Brikké studied ballet with remarkable teachers such as Rosella Hightower at the Centre International de Danse in Cannes, France, Marika Besobrasova at the Academie de Danse Princesse Grace in Monaco, Terri Charlesworth at the Graduate School of Dance in Perth, Australia, and Anne-Marie Sandrini from the Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris in Paris, France. Ms. Brikké performed in a wide variety of repertory ballets with the schools she attended as well as a freelance dancer and actress in Europe, Kenya and the United States.


Ms. Brikké received the Diplôme d’Etat de Professeur de Danse Classique from the French Ministry of Culture in Paris in 1993 . She is an American Ballet Theatre Certified Teacher who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 & Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She periodically assists ABT examiners and NTC founders Franco De Vita and Raymond Lukens during teacher examinations.


Ms. Brikké began teaching dance in 1989 in Nairobi, Kenya, where she taught the children of the expatriate community as well as founded a dance ensemble for young talented Kenyans. Back in Paris, she taught, choreographed and coordinated dance programs at the Conservatoire des Arts in Le Mée. In 1994, Ms Brikké moved to New York where she joined the faculty of the Neubert Ballet Institute at Carnegie Hall and then the faculty of LaGuardia High School in 1998. Ms. Brikké has taught for several summer programs including Paul Taylor American Modern Dance Summer Intensive in New York City, New Jersey Ballet Company, Westchester Ballet Center and Belvoir Terrace in Lenox, Massachussetts.


An avid learner and reader, Ms. Brikké regularly attends professional workshops on an array of topics pertaining to dance, teaching and wellbeing.

Mercedes Pablos

 

Born in Guadalajara, México, Mercedes Pablos trained with Alexander and Violette Zybine.

Throughout her career, Ms. Pablos has performed with companies such as: Chicago City Ballet under the direction of Maria Tallchief; the National Ballet of Mexico; Ohio Ballet, directed by Heinz Poll, with whom she toured in Central and South America; Feld Ballet and Charleston Civic Ballet.  In 1989 she joined Ballet Hispanico and was on the faculty of the Ballet Hispanico School for twelve years and served as School Director.  She has been guest teacher at the Dance Department of Indiana University, Sarah Lawrence College, and the New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble.

She received her MFA from Purchase College, SUNY, earning the MFA award and has served as a jury member for International Dance Competitions in Nyon, Switzerland and México City. She has been Teacher in Residence at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore, where she taught and choreographed a piece for the graduation ceremony.   She had the honor to participate in the first Dance Series at the White House under the Obama administration. From 2012 to 2014 she was a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts.   Mercedes currently teaches at the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase College, the Department of Dance at Hunter College, and The Ailey School in New York City.

Catherine Hurlin

Born in New York City, Catherine Hurlin began her dance training at Scarsdale Ballet Studio and Westchester Dance Academy.  At the 2007 Youth America Grand Prix New York City Finals she was awarded the Hope Award.  The following year she received a full scholarship to the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School under the direction of Franco De Vita.  She was awarded the first Angelina Ballerina Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship in 2010 and was a Northern Trust Scholar in 2011.  She attended ABT’s Summer Intensive as a National Training Scholar in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Hurlin’s repertoire with ABT Studio Company included Flames of Paris, George Balanchine’s Tarantella, the Dying Swan in Alexei Ratmansky’s Le Carnaval des Animaux, Raymond Luken’s Verdi and Paul Taylor’s Airs.  As a student, she performed with American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House in Mozartiana, The Sleeping Beauty and Le Corsaire. Hurlin created the role of Young Clara in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker.

Rosemary Sabovick-Bleich

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Rosemary Sabovick-Bleich was born in New Jersey and trained with Gertrude Weinberg and Alfredo Corvino as a member of the NJDTE. At the age of seventeen, she performed for the first time professionally with the New Jersey Ballet Company. She then toured internationally with the Pavlova Celebration, dancing lead roles in the “Fairy Doll” and “Giselle”. Upon returning to New Jersey Ballet, she rose to be their leading principal ballerina for over 15 years. Ms. Sabovick-Bleich has toured Taiwan and Moscow with the Stars of American Ballet Theatre and Bermuda with NJBC. She is known for her versatility and technical brilliance in such roles as Sylvia Pas de Deux, DeMille’s “Cowgirl” in Rodeo and the Sugar Plum Fairy. She has worked with many noted choreographers including, Vicente Nebrada, Norbert Vesak, Edward Villella and Robert North. She is currently on faculty for NJDTE as well as a faculty member with New Jersey School of Ballet and New Jersey Ballet Company.

Jessica Batten

Jessica Batten trained as a student with New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble under Nancy Turano, and graduated cum Laude from SUNY Purchase in 2005– with a BFA in Dance. Ms. Batten has danced professionally with: NJDTE, Cedar Lake II, Connecticut Ballet, Bradley Shelver Contemporary Dance Theater, Ballet Hispanico of New York, Nimbus Dance Works, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and with The Metropolitan Opera Ballet; among many other companies and choreographers. Ms. Batten was invited to perform in Cali, Colombia in the Fifth Annual International Dance Festival 2011, representing the USA with Earl Mosely’s Diversity of Dance, and has traveled the world performing and teaching. She has performed with the Kirov Ballet at The Metropolitan Opera House in NYC, and has been an invited Artist for the Cape Dance Festival. In 2008, she appeared on the AMICI Television Show in Rome, Italy, dancing as a Guest Profesionista on the full series. Additionally she has appeared in film and several more TV credits, such as Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Ms. Batten has always enjoyed teaching, coaching, and choreographing in addition to her performance career. She has conducted many master workshops and residencies throughout New England and abroad. Ms. Batten was the Ballet Mistress & Rehearsal Director for NJ Dance Theatre Ensemble for several years, where she staged multiple Ballets for the pre-professional company. When she is in NYC, she serves as part time Rehearsal Director for the professional contemporary dance company, Nimbus Dance, along with being on faculty at The Joffrey Ballet School every summer. Previously she was a Guest Instructor for five years, in the World Dance Summer Program, at Amherst College in Massachusetts.

Today Ms. Batten resides in Putney, Vermont where she is the Director of Dance at The Putney School, a progressive boarding high school in southern Vermont. Currently in her sixth year as Director of Dance, she has greatly expanded the Putney Dance Program and has been responsible for managing the program as a whole; teaching all technique classes, as well as choreographing and commissioning new works & guest artists, for their high school dancers. She lives on campus and is also a dorm parent, advisor & mentor to students.
Jessica loves having the opportunity to work with all creative & passionate young dancers and witness their tenacity & artistry shine through on stage.

Peter Brandenhoff


Peter Brandenhoff is a Danish ballet teacher and former ballet dancer currently based in New York City.

As the third generation of his family at the Royal Danish Ballet, he chose to pursue a career abroad after his graduation and went on to dance with Boston Ballet II, Hamburg Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. In his 15 years with SFB he rose to the rank of soloist with a wide repertoire of lead and supporting roles spanning from the romantic classics of Petipa, Bournonville and the modern classics of Balanchine, Robbins, Taylor, MacMillan, Forsythe to the avant-garde modern of Redha. He created works with Mark Morris, Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, Yuri Possokhov, James Kudelka, Helgi Thomasson, Val Caniparoli, and was critically acclaimed for his character portrayals.

As a guest he performed with Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Les Ballets Grandiva, South African Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Opera and numerous tours with the Soloists of the Royal Danish Ballet. In 2004 he helped initiate an outreach collaboration between SFB and South African Ballet Theatre, which steered him towards teaching. In 2008 he became ballet master of the boys program at Ballet San Jose School, quadrupling the enrollment in the first year. He has taught and staged Bournonville at the schools of San Francisco Ballet; Oregon Ballet Theater; Ballet San Jose; Peridance; Ballet Academy East, as well as company classes at Royal Danish Ballet; Ballet San Jose, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Upon retiring from the stage he completed a BFA with honors from St. Mary’s College in California, and spearheaded a Fellowship program in Arts Administration at CalPerformances at UCBerkeley, California.

Peter Brandenhoff is a faculty member at the Ailey School in New York City, where he teaches in the Professional and Junior divisions. He also teaches his own pre-professional training program for students ages 7-14 in New York City.

Alexandra Butman

Alexandra Butman is a graduate of Morris County School of Technology as a dance major in the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts. There, she was an honors student and a part of the National Honors Society for Dance Arts. In 2019 she was awarded the New Jersey Governor’s Award in Arts Education for Artistic Excellence and Leadership in Dance. During her studies at MCST, she was given the opportunity to co-choreograph two pieces entitled Reviving Memories and Farewell on her peers.
Outside of school, Alexandra studied at New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble, a pre-professional school under the direction of Nancy Turano. During her time at NJDTE, she performed signature works by world renown artists like Loni Landon, Nancy Turano, Kate Skarpetowska, Jean Emile, Tim Stickney and Robert Garland.
She had the opportunity to spend the summer of 2018 and 2019 with the Ecole Supérieure De Ballet Du Québec in Montreal, Canada, under a full scholarship. In addition to studying more traditional styles of dance, Alexandra also studied character dance with Riverdance Soloist Andrij Cybyk and rhythmic gymnastics under Russian master of sport Natalia Ejova. She recently completed a contract Missouri Contemporary Ballet and will be dancing with Alabama Ballet later this year.

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