The Washington Ballet

Francoise Thouveny-Doyle

Septime Webre

Septime Webre was appointed artistic director of The Washington Ballet in June 1999 after six years as artistic director of American Repertory Ballet in New Jersey. Much in a demand as a choreographer, He has created works that appear in the repertoires of many companies in North America, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Ballet Austin, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, and Colorado Ballet, among many others. As a dancer, Mr. Webre was featured in works by Balanchine, Taylor, Tudor, Ailey, and Cunningham as well as in principal and solo roles from the classical repertoire. A former member of the board of directors of Dance/USA, Mr. Webre sits on the board of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, and has been honored by Young Audiences of the District of Columbia and received a number of fellowships and for his choreography. He is the seventh son in a large Cuban-American family, and he graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. in History/Pre-Law.

Kee-Juan Han

Kee-Juan Han directed the Arizona Ballet School from 1993 to 2003. His dance career began in his native Singapore, where he began his training at age ten with Florrie Sinclair and Goh Soo Khim. Upon graduation from the Australian Ballet School, he was invited to dance with the Sydney Dance Company, then the Goh Ballet in Canada, where he was also trained by Lin Yee Goh to teach the Vaganova method. Additionally, he was Principal Dancer with the Indianapolis Ballet Theatre and was a Soloist with the Boston Ballet. He danced most of the principal roles in the classical repertoire, as well as the ballets by Balanchine and modern works by Jose Limon, Mark Morris, Ralph Lemon. Susan Marshall and Bebe Miller.

Mr Han's international teaching experiences includes guest teaching at the Singapore Dance Theatre, Edmonton Ballet Academy, Sydney Dance Company, Ballet Austin , Atlanta Ballet, Boston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Vail International Summer of Dance festival, Milwaukee Ballet and the renowned Jackson International Ballet Summer School. He was also named the best teacher/coach at the Youth America Grand Prix (Long Beach) in 2000.

Mr Han is was full time faculty at the prestigious North Carolina School of the Arts and was the recipient of The Excellence in Teaching Award at NCSA. He is also the co-founder of the American Ballet Competition. He is also featured in the Singapore Encyclopedia. He is the newly appointed School Director of Washington Ballet School.

Mary Day

Mary Day, the "Grand Dame of Ballet in the Nation's Capital" was a native of Washington. Her vision was to establish in her home city an organization that would be recognized nationally for its standards of quality. The Washington Ballet professional company and The Washington School of Ballet are the culmination of that vision. Miss Day's gift for developing young talent has been recognized throughout the world. The New York Times' Anna Kisselgoff said, "Mary Day of The Washington Ballet must be doing something right. Her former pupils are among the best dancers around...." She was honored for her devotion and dedication to the arts in Washington and received numerous awards including an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Shenandoah Conservatory, an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Mount Vernon College, the Mayor's Award, WETA-TV's "Woman of Achievement" Award, the Metropolitan Dance Award, the Cultural Alliance's Founders Award, the first Chautauqua Dance Award of Excellence in Teaching, and the IONA Senior Services Distinguished Award. Miss Day qas been named "Washingtonian of the Year" by Washingtonian Magazine and honored by WGMS Radio, Howard University and the National Theatre Corporation. She passed away in July 2006.

Stephen Baranovics

Stephen Baranovics began dancing at the age of twelve in New Orleans under Gale Parmelee. He continued his training at Harkness School of Ballet and The Washington School of Ballet, later performing professionally with the National Ballet of Washington, the Houston Ballet, Basel Ballet in Switzerland and the Dutch National Ballet. After retiring from the stage, Mr. Baranovics graduated from American University and worked for America's Most Wanted. He now devotes his time to teaching dance as a member of The Washington School of Ballet faculty and using his talents in photography to portrait children, dancers and other artists. His photography has appeared on national television, in dance publications and in The Washington Post, where he has received two awards.

Linda Baranovics

Linda Baranovics began her ballet career as a young adult while attending Georgetown University in 1977. After graduating in 1978, she continued her training at the Washington School of Ballet. She also studied with Eric Hampton, Peter Romero and Harriet Williams. While in New York, she studied frequently with Vladimir Dkoukadovsky and Peter Nelson. In 1985, Ms. Baranovics joined the Ballet Performing Workshop of Washington under the direction of Francesca DeAngelis. In 1986, she began teaching ballet for the Arlington Ballet under the direction of Alan Cooper and at the Ballet Center of Washington, DC where she taught until opening her own school with her husband Stephen in 1994. After closing the school in 1999 to raise their son Andrew, she continued teaching pre-ballet classes for young children, and in 2001, she began teaching at the Washington School of Ballet.

Shirley Bennett

Shirley Bennett is in her sixth season on The Washington School of Ballet faculty. She danced with Ballet Russe, performed at Jacob's Pillow, and was a soloist with the Tampa, San Antonio, and Brooklyn Ballets, and the Indiana Ballet Theatre. She studied with American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and the Joffery. Ms. Bennett has taught and choreographed at the Ballet school of Lincoln Square and the Wiesbaden State Opera Ballet and for New Choreographers On Pointe in New York City. A graduate of Denver University, she has a degree in liberal arts and elementary education. She had graduate study at NYU under Claude Bessy and Serge Golovine of Paris Opera Ballet and Dinna Bjorn of the Royal Danish Ballet. Ms. Bennett is certified in Zena Rommett Floor-Barre Technique^®.

Cece Farha

Cece Farha begins her sixth season on the faculty of The Washington School of Ballet. A founding company member of Ballet Oklahoma, Ms. Farha trained at the San Francisco School of Ballet under the direction of Lew Christiansen. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and was a member of the OU Ballet Company. Ms. Farha is also the founder and artistic director of Range of Motion Dance Studio. She has choreographed for dance companies and theaters across the nation including productions of Annie Get Your Gun, Peter Pan, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and The Goodbye Girl, among others. Ms. Farha is on the guest faculty at Virginia School of the Arts, Pittsburgh Ballet, Mercersburg Academy, Arlington Dance Center and Reston Conservatory Ballet.

Holly Rasmussen

Holly Rasmussen is in her second season as a faculty member at the Washington School of Ballet. Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, she began her training at Mountain West Ballet and was a member of the MWB studio company. She continued her training at Ballet West Conservatory until entering the University of Utah's ballet program. Ms. Rasmussen's course of study featured a double emphasis in teaching and performing, and studies emphasized choreography, ballet history, and kinesiology. She graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. After graduation, continued to teach ballet at several schools in Utah and Virginia. Ms. Rasmussen moved to Washington, DC in 2003 and is excited to continue her teaching career with the Washington School of Ballet.

Lilla Seber

Lilla Seber, in her ninth year as teacher and choreographer at the Washington School of Ballet, was awarded a ten-year scholarship at the prestigious Hungarian Dance Academy in her native country. She also studied and won scholarships at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the Washington School of Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey School in New York. She was a recipient of the Soros Foundation's Artist's Grant in 1992. Her performing career began in Budapest with the Hungarian National Ballet and in 1995, she joined the Washington Ballet where she dance principal roles. At age 16, Ms. Seber was featured in the title role of the film, "Variations for a Hadyn Theme," and hosted a popular TV show in Budapest. Ms. Seber is a certified yoga instructor in various systems. She received her training under the direct guidance of world-renowned yoga masters and is currently teaching the Sport and Health Clubs of the DC area.

Francoise Thouveny-Doyle

Francoise Thouveny-Doyle trained in France at L'ecole de danse classique d'Orleans and the Centre de danse de Paris. She began her professional career dancing with Roland Petit's Ballet National de Marseille in the south of France. In the United States, Miss Thouveny-Doyle danced with several elite companies, including Oklahoma Ballet (then directed by Edward Villella), Pacific Northwest Ballet, Martine Van Hamel's New Amsterdam Ballet, National Ballet of Korea, and as a principal dancer with The Washington Ballet. Miss Thouveny-Doyle danced both classical and contemporary roles Upon retiring from the stage eleven years ago, Françoise and her husband Christopher moved to Fresno, California, where they co-directed Severance Fresno Ballet School and directed the professional Fresno Ballet. Ms. Thouveny-Doyle has trained students who are currently dancing with American Ballet Theater, The Joffrey Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, and Atlanta Ballet. This is Françoise's first year as a faculty member with the Washington School of Ballet.

Mikayel Mikaelyan

Mikayel Mikaelyan (The Washington School of Ballet's Music Director) has a rich background as an accompanist, composer, music arranger, soloist of the chamber ensemble and performing pianist. He started working at The Washington Ballet and The Washington School of Ballet in 1999, previously working with the Danelian Music and Dance College in Armenia and the Armenian Chamber Ballet Company with artistic director Roudolf Kharatian. Mr. Mikaelyan has performed at different jazz and rock festivals as a composer and arranger and performed with the Armenian Symphony Orchestra as a featured soloist. He has also performed at the Kennedy Center as a guest pianist and accompanist during the Balanchine Days Festival and with the Bolshoi Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Miami City Ballet and Suzanne Farrell Ballet.

Carlos Valcarcel

Carlos Valcarcel was born in Spain and began his studies at Victor Ullate School in Madrid and Maria de Avila Ballet School under Lola de Avila and Ana Baselga. He has danced as Principal at Ballet Victor Ullate and was named Soloist at Balletto di Toscana and later at the Stuttgart Ballet of Germany. Mr. Valcarcel graduated from Royal Conservatoire of Madrid and received an award of distinction upon graduating from the Royal Academy of Dance teacher’s course. He directed and was principal teacher of his own ballet school in Madrid and served as a guest teacher and choreographer before joining the Showa School for Performing Arts in Tokyo as the Principal Tutor and Lecturer of the Ballet Department. Mr. Valcarcel is credited with coaching principal ballerinas such as Miss Tamara Rojo of The Royal Ballet.

Becky Erhart

Becky Erhart, of San Ramon, California, is in her third year at The Washington Ballet. Having spent the last two years performing in the Washington Ballet's Studio Company, Ms. Erhart begins her career with the Washington School of Ballet this fall. In addition to performing with the Washington Ballet, she has danced with Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet West, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Company C Contemporary Ballet. After training at Laguna Ballet, Contra Costa Ballet, School of American Ballet and LINES Ballet School, Ms Erhart pursued a degree at Indiana University. Studying on scholarship under Violette Verdy, she earned degrees in both ballet and business. Since moving to the DC area she has taught ballet in numerous schools and served as rehearsal mistress for Septime Webre's The Nutcracker. She is delighted this fall to claim the Washington School of Ballet as her home. As the new Artistic Coordinator Ms. Erhart will serve as a faculty member, ballet mistress for the release time level, and as assistant to the school manager.

Michelle Sarson

Michelle Sarson has been teaching jazz at the Washington School of Ballet for 5 years and has owned her own studio and dance company in Herndon, VA for 14 years. Michelle has choreographed and her dance company has performed at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra in performances entitled "Music that Moves" and the dance number "One" for the Broadway Revue with Marvin Hamlisch. Michelle's other recent accomplishments include choreographing for Bob McGrath's Sesame Street show at the International Children's Festival held at Wolf Trap from 2001-2006.

Kristina Windom

Ms. Windom trained with Mary Day at the Washington Ballet School, later joining the company under the artistic direction of Choo San Goh. She also danced professionally with Cleveland Ballet, Alonzo King's Lines Contemporary Ballet, Eric Hampton Dance, Washington Opera Ballet, and DanceSmith. Ms. Windom also holds a Bachelor's of Science, in Business Management.


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