The Ballet Tech Foundation
Board of Directors
Philip E. Aarons
Lorraine Cooper
Patricia Crown
Chairperson
Laurel Durst
Eliot Feld
President
Born in Brooklyn, Eliot Feld studied dance at the School of American Ballet, New Dance Group, High School of Performing Arts, and with Richard Thomas. He first performed at the age of 11 as the Prince in New York City Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker. At 16, he joined the Broadway cast of West Side Story and appeared as Baby-John in the movie version. He later joined American Ballet Theatre, rising to the rank of principal dancer. Mr. Feld choreographed his first ballet in 1967 for American Ballet Theatre and has since choreographed 145 ballets, including those in Ballet Tech’s repertory and some held in the repertory of leading dance companies, including American Ballet Theatre, The Joffrey Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and The Royal Swedish Ballet.
In 1974, Mr. Feld launched his own ballet company and in 1978, a school. Mr. Feld also co-founded the Joyce Theater and, in 1986, collaborated with American Ballet Theatre to save 890 Broadway from commercial development to form the Lawrence A. Wien Center for Dance and Theatre. Mr. Feld has received numerous honors and awards, including: The John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (1969), Dance Magazine Award (1990), and an Honorary Doctorate degree from Juilliard (1991). Additionally, Mr. Feld was featured in two special tribute performances hosted by New York City Ballet in 2006.
Robert Freedman
Treasurer
Jenny Gersten
Jilian Cahan Gersten
Bill Heinzen
Carol Zerbe Hurford
Vice President
Karen Levinson
Secretary
Rachel Moreno
Patricia Tuthill Pazner
Elizabeth A. Sciabarra
Trustees Emeriti
LuEsther T. Mertz
1980-1991
Cora Cahan
Gregory Hines
1993-2003
Administration
Israel Geronimo
Custodian
Dance School Administration & Staff
Christine Sarry
Director of Faculty, The Upper School
212-777-7710, ext. 307
csarry@ballettech.org
A founding member and leading dancer in Eliot Feld’s original companies, American Ballet Company and the Eliot Feld Ballet, Christine Sarry’s performing career spanned 25 years. She danced with the Joffrey Ballet and as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. Her performance highlights include two performances at the White House and Variations on America, a Feld pas de deux created for her and Mikhail Baryshnikov. In addition to working with Mr. Feld, Ms. Sarry has worked with choreographers such as Agnes DeMille, Lar Lubovitch, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, and Antony Tudor. She staged ballets for American Ballet Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and the Stuttgart Ballet. A Ballet Tech faculty member since its inception, Ms. Sarry assumed the position of Director of Faculty for the Upper School in June 2003.
Patrice Hemsworth
Director of Faculty, The Lower School
212-777-7710, ext. 324
phemsworth@ballettech.org
Ms. Hemsworth trained at the School of American Ballet and performed for four years at Chicago City Ballet under the direction of Maria Tallchief. In 1987, she joined Feld Ballets/NY as a dancer. Subsequently she began teaching classes at Ballet Tech, conducting rehearsals for both the company and the school, and setting Eliot Feld’s ballets on dance companies worldwide. Ms. Hemsworth assumed the Director of Faculty position in June 2008. She is also Ballet Tech’s rehearsal director and sets ballets and rehearses students for Kids Dance.
Dance Faculty
Miranda Barker
A native of Perth, Australia, Ms. Barker danced with the Australian ballet from 1984-2001. She was promoted to principal dancer in 1991 and danced lead roles in ballets such as Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty. She toured extensively in Asia and Europe and created roles in Graeme Murphy’s The Nutcracker as well as Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly andCinderella. Ms. Barker joined the Ballet Tech faculty in Fall 2012.
Elizabeth Barrow
Ms. Barrow received her M. Ed. at the University of Georgia and a BA in Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Later she danced with Garden State Ballet and Savannah Ballet and served as the ballet mistress of Garden State Ballet (NJ). Ms. Barrow served as Director of Faculty for Ballet Tech from 1991 until 2003.
Laura Careless
Ms. Careless was born and raised in the UK and received her dance education at the Royal Ballet School in London, the Ecole-Atelier Rudra Bejart in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Juilliard School, in New York City. She dances professionally with Company XIV, a dance and theater company working in live performance and film. Ms. Careless has taught dance and yoga throughout the United States, often through arts outreach and education projects with the nonprofit Artists Striving to End Poverty. Ms. Careless teaches Modern dance at Ballet Tech; she joined the faculty in September 2008.
Patrice Hemsworth
Ms. Hemsworth trained at the School of American Ballet and performed for four years at Chicago City Ballet under the direction of Maria Tallchief. In 1987, she joined Feld Ballets/NY as a dancer. Subsequently she began teaching classes at Ballet Tech, conducting rehearsals for both the company and the school, and setting Eliot Feld’s ballets on dance companies worldwide. Ms. Hemsworth assumed the Director of Faculty position in June 2008. She is also Ballet Tech’s rehearsal director and sets ballets and rehearses students for Kids Dance.
Matthew Powell
Claudia Rahardjanoto
Cathy Rhodes
Christine Sarry
A founding member and leading dancer in Eliot Feld’s original companies, American Ballet Company and the Eliot Feld Ballet, Christine Sarry’s performing career spanned 25 years. She danced with the Joffrey Ballet and as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. Her performance highlights include two performances at the White House and Variations on America, a Feld pas de deux created for her and Mikhail Baryshnikov. In addition to working with Mr. Feld, Ms. Sarry has worked with choreographers such as Agnes DeMille, Lar Lubovitch, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, and Antony Tudor. She staged ballets for American Ballet Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and the Stuttgart Ballet. A Ballet Tech faculty member since its inception, Ms. Sarry assumed the position of Director of Faculty for the Upper School in June 2003.
Tammi Shamblin
Ms. Shamblin received her BFA from the University of Utah, where she studied under Bene Arnold and Attila Ficzere and performed with the Utah Ballet. Relocating to Sacramento, she danced for Capitol City Ballet and the Sacramento Ballet, choreographed and presented work, and was the Ballet Director for the Roseville School of Dance Youth Ballet. Since moving to New York, she has performed with the New York Dance Theatre and Christy Walsh.
Michael Snipe
Michael Snipe received his BFA from Juilliard in dance, with Choreographic Honors. He has performed with Ailey II, Battleworks Dance Company and the Parsons Dance Company. He has also performed in Swing! and Movin’ Out, both on Broadway and the National Tour. Mr. Snipe has taught at the Joffrey Ballet School, the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C., Columbia College in Chicago, and is currently on faculty at the Alvin Ailey School. He joined Ballet Tech as a full-time faculty member in 2015.
Risa Steinberg
Mark Taylor
Ashley Tuttle
Dance Faculty Assistants
Tamara Babic
Angela Cascone
Rehearsal Assistant
Stephen Williams
Pianists
Benjamin Bradham
Michael Cherry
Patrick Gallagher
Whitney Gardner
Allan Greene
Bob Marbach
Kyle Maxwell-Doherty
Percussionist
Dmitry Polischuk
Jeremy Smith
Percussionist
Mihoko Suzuki
The New York City Public School for Dance
Academic Faculty & Staff
Roy O’Neill
Principal
212-254-1803
roneil2@schools.nyc.gov
Mr. O’Neill was appointed Principal to Ballet Tech in 2009 after having served as the school’s fifth grade teacher for 8 years. He received his B.A. in English Literature from UCLA and completed his teaching certification program at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He began his teaching career in the Los Angeles Unified School District as an elementary school teacher before moving to New York in 2001
Ronald Austin
School Safety Officer
Academic Faculty
Tamara Rubakha
4th Grade (401)
212-254-1803
trubakha@schools.nyc.gov
Ms. Rubakha joined Ballet Tech’s faculty in 2014. She has taught grades 2-12, and finds fourth grade to be her favorite. Ms. Rubakha holds a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Psychology from Skidmore College and a Master’s in Mathematics Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Ms. Rubakha comes from the beautiful city of St. Petersburg. She has two school-age children of her own, and loves being a parent and a teacher at the same time.
Michelle Lum
5th Grade (501)
212-254-1803
mlum3@schools.nyc.gov
Ms. Lum joined Ballet Tech in 2009. She brings experience teaching a broad range of students from around the world. She holds a Bachelor degree in Education and English Literature, and a Masters in Literacy Education from Fordham University. Ms. Lum strives to develop a love of both literature and writing in all her students!
Cari Sobolewski
5th Grade (502)
212-254-1803
csobolewski@schools.nyc.gov
Ms. Sobolewski joined Ballet Tech in 2007 as interim fourth grade teacher, after graduating from SUNY New Paltz. She spent the 2008-09 school year teaching fourth grade at PS 154 in Harlem, and is happy to be back at Ballet Tech teaching the fifth grade. Ms. Sobolewski received her B.S. in Nutrition from Lehman College.
Lynne Calman
Middle School Social Studies
212-254-1803
Jeannie Herlihy
Middle School Science
212-254-1803
jherlih3@schools.nyc.gov
Ms. Herlihy joined the Ballet Tech staff in 2001 as the Middle School Math and ELA teacher and continued on in 2002 with Math and Science. She currently teaches Science and Health and holds a Permanent Certificate in Earth Science & General Science 7-12 Extension. Ms. Herlihy has enjoyed serving the Ballet Tech community as a School Leadership Team member, Inquiry Team member, Class Adviser and Community Spirit Committee Chair. After graduating from the University of Vermont in 1987 with a B.S. in Secondary Education – Earth Science major, Ms. Herlihy committed to working in and educating herself about every facet of New York City theatre for the next 15 years. She has worked on stage, tech and crew, box office and as a house, stage and company manager on, off and off-off-Broadway. She has been a member of ATPAM (Association of Theatrical Press Agents & Managers) since 1999 and has also studied voice, acting, poetry and playwriting. She earned her Master of Science in Urban and Multicultural Education at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in 2009. Ms Herlihy loves being a life-long learner. She continues to embrace and infuse in her teaching a love for science, the arts and athletics (especially being on a team!) through ongoing involvement with a variety of New York City based organizations including the Wildlife Conservation Society, AMNH, Central Park Conservancy, Gotham Writer’s Workshop, BCEFA, New York Road Runners, Big City and Gotham Volleyball.
Mariana Fernandez
Spanish
212-254-1803
mfernan17@schools.nyc.gov
Ms. Fernandez joined Ballet Tech in 2003. She has thirteen years of teaching experience. Prior to Ballet Tech she taught at FDR High School and Gregorio Luperon High School. Ms. Fernandez has a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Spanish Education from Saint Thomas Aquinas College. She earned her masters in Learning Technology from Mercy College. Teaching is her passion!
Alexandra Barbosa
ENL
PROFESSIONAL PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL
Professional Performing Arts School Staff
Keith Ryan
Principal
Charles Vassallo
Assistant Principal & Director of Performing Arts
Teri Gindi
Parent Coordinator