Ballet Faculty

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.

Lisa Lockwood danced with American Ballet Theatre for ten years, subsequently with Feld Ballet, and was an original cast member of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. The choreographers she worked with personally include Anthony Tudor, George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Natalia Makarova, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Glen Tetley, Eliot Feld and Sir Kenneth McMillan. Currently she teaches at Ballet Academy East and Steps on Broadway in New York. She has been a member of the faculties of Broadway Dance Center, Ballet Hispanico, and Alvin Ailey, and is much in demand as a guest teacher all over the world: the Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Ballet School (Denmark), Kaatsbaan Dance Center (New York), Juilliard, Joffrey Ballet, and Edmonton Ballet. Additionally, she teaches and coaches private students who are motivated to bring their ballet proficiency to the highest possible level.

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.

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.

Mary Ann Massa was born in Old Bridge, New Jersey, which is where she trained in all stylesof dance. Mary Ann graduated from The Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College in 2019 with a BFA in dance and a concentration in Ballet. During her time at Purchase, she had the opportunity to perform works by George Balanchine, Norbert De La Cruz lll, Gregory Dawson, Michelle Thompson Ulerich, and Stuart Loungway. Additionally, she got to perform a duet at the Kuan Du Arts Festival in Taiwan in 2017 choreographed by Norbert De La Cruz lll. She attended workshops and programs at Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet X, San Francisco Conservatory Forsythe Program and The Rock School. Mary Ann danced with New Jersey Ballet for 3 years and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. She is a freelance artist in New York City and is very passionate about teaching dance to the younger generation.

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.

NANCY LUSHINGTON  graduated with departmental honors in dance from Adelphi University. She danced as a soloist with the May O’Donnell Concert Dance Company for over 15 years. She has performed professionally with the Joyce Trisler Danscompany, Theater Dance Collection, The Asolo Opera, and Verlezza Dance, as well as in Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” at the Kennedy Center. She has appeared on television in May O’Donnell’s Dance Energies, Mass, and was a featured dancer in a national commercial choreographed by Lynne Taylor Corbett. She is one of the few dancers who set Ms. O’Donnell’s works both in the US and abroad. She has choreographed over 30 works for colleges, universities and regional companies. Ms. Lushington teaches internationally annually in Cyprus, Graz Austria and at Bolzano Danza in Italy. She has also taught Master Classes in Ferrara, Barcelona, London and throughout the United States. She has served on the faculty at Adelphi University, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and The New York School for Film and Television, Stephens College and was the Artistic Director of the Dance In Education Fund, Inc for 19 years. She is currently Assistant Professor of Dance at Marymount Manhattan College, and Adjunct Professor  at Montclair State University. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the O’Donnell Green Foundation for Music and Dance.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.