Artistic Director
Maryellen Vickery | Maryellen Vickery is the artistic director of BSDA. She received her early training from her mother, Ruth Vickery. As a child, she auditioned and was chosen to perform with The New York City Ballet at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. In high school, she studied at Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts, Hartford Ballet Company, and North Carolina School for the Performing Arts, all under scholarship and in the advance placement level. Maryellen also has had extensive training from master teachers such as: Cherie Noble. Arthur Leeth, Peter Anastous, and Nolan Dingman. For the last twelve years, she has taught and choreographed classical and contemporary ballet for dancers of all levels. She opened The Ballet School in 2001. Maryellen has staged several ballets for her school: The Ugly Duckling, Petrushka, Hansel & Gretel, Snow White, Peter and the Wolf, Pinocchio and Cinderella. Maryellen is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She lives in St. Albans with her husband and three children. |
Faculty
| Chatch Pregger of Fair Haven, Vermont, has been a member of many ballet companies around the United States including Houston Ballet, Washington Ballet, the Boston Ballet and Boston Ballet II. He has also danced with the Arizona Ballet, Hartford Ballet, and Texas Ballet Theatre. He was a participant in the 2000 New York International Ballet Competition and has performed works by Mark Morris, Ben Stevenson, Nacho Duato, Trey McIntyre, and George Balanchine, as well as many ballets from the classical repertoire including Giselle and Don Quixote. A graduate of the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts, he received his early ballet training at the Adams School in Rutland, Vermont and attended summer programs at the Pittsburgh Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and Hartford Ballet. Mr. Pregger moved back home to Vermont and currently lives in Winooski and is expecting his first child in April 2010. Chatch has been teaching year-round at BSDA for two years. |
| Ruth Vickery has been teaching ballet for over thirty years. Her students have received scholarships and recognition for their excellence. They have been accepted into pre-professional schools and ballet companies including: School of American Ballet, official school of New York City Ballet, Joffery Ballet Company, Harkness House Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Les Grandes Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Garden State Ballet, James Sewell Dance Company, Boston Conservatory, Shanadoah Conservatory, Saint Paul School, and Walnut Hill. Ruth is BSDA's seamstress and she helps with set designs for BSDA's spring shows. She lives with her husband in Waterbury Center. |
| Erika Kline has studied at BSDA since it opened in 2001. She has been Maryellen's teacher assistant for over four years, working with the young dancers. Erika's love of dance and children are brought to every class she teaches. Erika is attending UVM, majoring in nutrition and health. |
| Krystine Loring has studied all forms of dance since age four. She was a dance major at Dean Junior College. Currently, Krystine is studying nutrition and health sciences at UVM. Miss Loring teaches tap and jazz at BSDA She lives in Milton, Vermont. |
Guest Master Teachers
7/26-30/2010 Summer Intensive | Shannon Lynn Bessette began her intense dance training at the age of 16 after many years of training as a jazz dancer. Upon deciding to be a ballet dancer she had the pleasure of training on scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet in NYC. Shannon then decided to return to Texas Christian University, where she was awarded the prestigious Nordan Fine Arts Scholarship, as well as graduating with a BFA in ballet. While at TCU she trained under many great instructors and choreographers such as: Fernando Bujones (American Ballet Theatre), Li Chou Cheng (Beijing Ballet), Ann Etgen (Metropolitan Opera Ballet), Bill Atkinson (Royal Winnipeg Ballet), and Stephanie Woods Rand (Cincinnati Ballet). While under the direction of Bujones, Shannon has performed many principle and soloist roles. Her favorites include the title roles in Raymonda, soloist in La Bayadere and Napoli and In The Rhythms of Jazz, an original work by Bujones. Shannon has danced with several companies as a guest artist, including Fort Worth Dallas Ballet and Dallas Metropolitan Ballet. Most recently she was chosen to perform at an exhibition performance at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS 2002. Shannon is on ballet faculty at Dance Continuum, in Bedford, TX, where she enjoys teaching all levels and ages. |
Shannon is on ballet faculty at Dance Continuum, in Bedford, TX, where she enjoys teaching all levels and ages.
Many of her students have been accepted and awarded scholarships to several summer programs associated with various companies, including New York City Ballet's SAB, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet, and Dallas Metropolitan Ballet. Her dancers have been accepted to Julliard as well as Joffrey Ballet and gone on to have careers as professional dancers being featured in national television shows, commercials, and with Radio City Rockettes, NYC.
Shannon enjoys traveling to Vermont to visit family and share her talents with BSDA students. She dances in BSDA Dance Theater Productions in June when her schedule allows. This will be her 5th BSDA Summer Intensive Season.
7/26 - 8/62010 Summer Intensive | Sarah Tallman is a native of Colorado. She began her early training as both dancer and gymnast. Sarah attended the University of Northern Colorado where she was the two time recipient of the esteemed honor of Dancer of the Year. Under the direction of Dr. Karen Genoff Campbell, Sandra Minton, and Jeffrey Rockland she received her B.A in Dance Performance and Choreography, graduating with honors. Sarah has received critical acclaim from audiences in Italy, Norway, Scotland, and the States. Companies Sarah has danced with are Lynn Barr and Dancers, Baardar Entertainment, Colorado Dance Theater, Kim Robards Dance, David Taylor Dance Theater, and Burklyn Ballet Theater. |
Sarah is best known for her roles in Robert Mill's The Ugly Duckling, Moulin Rouge, and David Taylor's Parallel and Elevated. She has danced lead roles in the classics such as The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, and Papuita, plus many contemporary works. She has danced in music videos, television, and for the King and Queen of Norway. She is in her 6th season with Ballet Nouveau Colorado.
Sarah teaches ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, and tap. She has been the ballet mistress for Colorado Dance Theater, and assistant ballet mistress for the intermediate program at Burklyn Ballet Theater. Currently she teaches in Colorado for the nationally acclaimed Artistic Performance Team at Rocky Mountain School, High Pointe Dance Academy, and Ballet Nouveau Colorado.
Sarah continues to study under many master teachers including John Gardner, Arthur Leeth, Cherie Noble, and Lizanne Mcadams Graham. Sarah has been coming to teach workshops and the summer program at BSDA for the past four years. She is invested and dedicated to the the students at The Ballet School and to their training.