2010-2011 Season
Peter Anastos, Artistic Director
Peter Anastos has choreographed over 100 stage works for the finest national and regional ballet companies in the United States as well as for modern dance companies, theater, film, and television. He has also choreographed in Europe, Asia and Latin America and his ballets are performed worldwide. He was the founding Director/Choreographer of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo and served as Artistic Director for Garden State Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet.
Mr Anastos enjoys a longstanding collaboration with Mikhail Baryshnikov and their projects together include American Ballet Theater’s Cinderella, CBS Television’s Baryshnikov in Hollywood (Emmy Award nomination) and the photography book, The Swan Prince for Bantam
Books. Mr. Anastos was also invited to create new work for the White Oak Dance Project.
Mr. Anastos has the rare honor of receiving two Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships in Choreography and four Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He was the subject of a New Yorker Magazine Profile by the foremost American dance writer, Arlene Croce.
For the Broadway stage he choreographed I Hate Hamlet and Where She Danced, based on the life of Isadora Duncan. Other major theatre credits include 33 Variations (Arena Stage, Washington, DC) and Chess (National Company). He has choreographed several television specials and two Hollywood films, Addams Family and Addams Family Values, both for Paramount Pictures. He has directed opera for the Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center and the Opera Company of Philadelphia and was choreographer-in-residence for the Santa Fe Opera and Sundance Theatre Festival, part of Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute in Utah.
A writer and historian, Mr. Anastos has published essays about ballet for the New York Times,
Los Angeles Times, Dance Magazine, Ballet News, DanceInk and Ballet Review, where he is a member of the Editorial Board. He is a contributor to the new book, Reading Dance, Random House, New York, 2008. Mr. Anastos directed the Ballet Project at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and has taught ballet technique in New York and throughout the United States.
Alex Ossadnik, Ballet Master (Ballet, Tone & Stretch)
Alex Ossadnik was born in 1968 in the Soviet Union occupied East Germany where he received his formal education and training as dancer under a government scholarship at the Palucca School in Dresden from 1978-1987. During those eight years of intense study he was trained in classical ballet (Vaganova Method), modern dance (Joos/Laban, Palucca), jazz dance, folkloric dance, improvisation, rhythmics, aesthetics, music history, dance history and art history.
After graduation he joined the ballet company of the German National Theatre in Weimar where he became a principal dancer at the age of 20. He was also a finalist in East Germany’s national ballet competition in Dessau and was featured on national television.
He joined Ballet Theatre de Bordeaux (France) under the direction of Paolo Bortuluzzi in 1991. Four years later, following a three month tour through the United State, Alex decided to stay here and shift his career from performance to choreography and instruction.
As artistic director/choreographer/ballet master, Alex has worked over the past fourteen years with artists from the Alberta Ballet (Canada), Boston Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Pennsylvania Ballet and with personalities such as Natalia Krassovska and Galina Mezentseva.
Phyllis Rothwell Affrunti (Ballet/Adult Ballet)
Phyllis began her training in North Carolina at The Ballet School of Chapel Hill and continued her training at the Academy of the Maryland Youth Ballet under Hortensia Fonseca. She has danced with Pennsylvania Ballet, Southern Ballet Theatre and as a principal for Charleston Ballet Theatre, Eugene Ballet, and Ballet Idaho. She has performed many lead roles in ballets such as Balanchine’s Allegro Brilliante, Tarantella, Who Cares, and Serenade. Since joining Ballet Idaho she has been featured in Giselle, Carmen, Clara, Sugar Plum Fairy, Princess Florine, Lilac Fairy and Wendy in Bruse Steivel’s Peter Pan. She has also been featured in many of Toni Pimble’s noted contemporary works, including Eine Leben, which premiered in collaboration with Eugene Ballet and the Pink Martini musicians. Phyllis has worked with such choreographers as Mark Diamond, Jean Pierre Bonnefoux, Marc Bogaerts, Christopher Fleming, Davis Parsons, Salvatore Aiello, Robert Battle, Danny Pelzig, Jill Eathorne Bahr, Alan Hineline, and Eddy Toussaint
Erin Armstrong, (Ballet/Pre-Ballet 5+)
Erin S. Armstrong received her classical ballet training at Ballet Idaho Academy, Houston Ballet Academy and from Maria T. Vegh, former co-director of Harkness House in New York. She performed and toured with the Eugene Ballet and Ballet Idaho for five years, as well as for independent choreographers in the Houston and San Francisco areas and the Margaret Wiingrove Dance Company in San Jose. Erin’s professional repertoire encompasses classical and contemporary ballet and modern dance. For the last seven years Erin has taught ballet and choreographed for schools in the San Francisco Bay area, the South Bay Dance Center, AKA Dance Company and Dance Attack Dance Studios. This season she returns to the Ballet Idaho family as a faculty member.
Lito-John Demetita (Creative Movement)
Lito-John Hechanova Demetita, from Norfolk, VA, is a former dancer with the original Ballet Idaho. During his time as a dancer, Mr. Demetita also taught in the Academy. He taught various levels in classical ballet, adult ballet, jazz, and modern dance. After retiring from professional ballet, he enrolled at Boise State University majoring in Theater Arts. He studied movements for actors and creative movement with Marla Hansen. Mr. Demetita was also a member of Idaho Dance Theatre for several years while attending BSU.
Sarah Ellis (Ballet)
Sarah received her early training with the Giacobbe Academy of Dance in Slidell, LA. She continued her training with John Adamson in Katy, TX and with Barbara LeGault and Angela Jackson in Spring, TX. She danced with Houston Dance Theater performing many soloist and principal roles including the Snow Queen, Nikiya in La Gayadere, and the Glove Seller in Gaite Parisienne. She spent her summers training with Ballet Austin, Dance Aspen, Delta Festival Ballet, and Pennsylvania Ballet. Sarah attended the Unversity of Oklahoma School of Dance on dance and academic scholarships and trained with Margaret Holt, Dennis Marshall, Jeremy Lindberg, Densie Vale, Donn Edwards, and Steve Brule. As an undergraduate, she was featured in many soloist principal roles including James Clouser’s Carmina Burana, After completing her B.F.A in Ballet Performance she joined the Montgomery Ballet where she danced soloist roles in Paquita, The Nutcracker and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. From Montgomery she joined the Alabama Ballet under the direction of Wes Chapman and Roger Van Fleteren. With the Alabama Ballet, Sarah performed in Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, The Firebird, Cinderella and George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. She also choreographed Unseelie Court for the company’s New Works program. Sarah has performed as a guest artist in Tennessee and Texas, and has performed under the direction of Ann-Marie Holmes at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and Ballet Adriatico in Italy. Sarah has just completed her Master in Fine Arts in Dance from the Unversity of Oklahoma, performing in Balanchine’s Serenade, Bruce Well’s Less Patineurs, Gerald Arpino’s Reflections,and faculty choreography in addition to fulfilling choreographic and teaching responsibilities.
Heather Hawk (Ballet)
Heather Hawk studied ballet as a child in Indiana, later going on to the Stone-Camryn School in Chicago, the Ruth Page Foundation and Chicago City Ballet School, where she trained under Maria Tallchief. In New York, Heather attended the School of American Ballet and after graduation was invited to study with Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen. She joined the New York City Ballet and danced ballets by Balanchine, Robbins and Martins. She appeared in films of Balanchine’s Nutcracker and the Balanchine Celebration for PBS. Later, she danced with Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet Chicago and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She then attended New York University, where she graduated with a degree in liberal arts and teacher education. Heather began a teaching career at the School of Ballet Chicago and today remains part of the guest faculty. In New York, Heather has taught at Steps, Studio Maestro, Ballet Academy East, La Guardia High School and for the David Howard Foundation. She is also in the faculty of the Ballet School of Stamford, Connecticut. She is a performing member of Dances Patrelle.
Sarah Morris (Ballet)
Sarah Morris was born in Texas and studied with the Fort Worth School of Ballet. She was a summer student at North Carolina School of the Arts and also studied at Cedar Island with Suzanne Farrell and Paul Mejia. Sarah danced professionally with the Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet and with the Bruce Wood Dance Company. She has taught ballet for 16 years, 6 of them with Ballet Idaho, and directed Outreach Programs in public schools. In addition, she taught for Ballet Idaho’s Learning Through Dance program.
Mary Slate (Ballet, Ballet 101)
Mary Slate grew up in Florida and began her ballet training with the Orlando Ballet School, later graduating from the Virginia School of the Arts in Lynchburg, Virginia. She performed a variety of works including La Bayadere and Harald Lander’s Etudes and also traveled to Rueil Mamaison, France to perform in their Millennium celebration. In 2001, Mary returned to Orlando where she performed with the Orlando Ballet for six seasons. She performed in several Balanchine ballets and in contemporary works by Fernando Bujones, Salim Gualoos, and Bruce Woods. Most recently, Mary performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in their production of Dr. Atomic.
Misty Taylor (Pre-Ballet)
Misty Dawn Taylor has lived in Idaho for twenty one years. Her experience with dance includes a professional career as a main-stage performer and character with Disney Cruise Line, Boise State ballet, Silver Legacy Dance Team at Timberline High school and is excited to be a new addition to the pre-ballet program at Ballet Idaho. Misty has performed in a variety of shows and theaters in the Boise area and is committed to the growth of the Arts in Idaho. She took her personal message regarding “The Power of Music” to public and private schools during her school tour and to the Miss America Pageant in 2002 when she was crowned Miss Idaho. Misty helped found the Idaho Children’s Arts Network (ICAN) in 2001 which brought performing opportunities to over one-thousand students in the Treasure Valley. With her Vocal Performance degree from Boise State, Misty performs whenever she has the opportunity and loves to see the impact music and dance have on her students, audience, and community.
Lacey Vander Boegh (Pre-Ballet Coordinator)
Lacey began dancing at the age of three and later studied ballet, jazz, tap, modern and ballroom. She trained with Amanda Bishop, Marla Hansen and Lori Zechmann. Lacey has been teaching for eight years in several schools: Wright Foot Forward, Dance Connection and doing private lessons. She is a pageant titleholder in Miss Idaho National Teen-Ager, Miss Southwest Idaho, Miss Capital City and Miss Western Idaho International. In addition, she is a drum major for the Keith and Catherine Stein Blue Thunder Marching Band. Lacey is working on her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication with a Certificate in Mediation. She is also a motivational speaker dealing with children’s peer pressure issues. This is her first year teaching for Ballet Idaho.