2013 Guest Faculty

 

Lauren Anderson
Former Principal Dancer with Houston Ballet

Native Houstonian Lauren Anderson danced with Houston Ballet from 1983 to 2006, performing leading roles in all the great classical ballets, appearing across the world to critical acclaim, and in the process, becoming one of Houston Ballet’s most beloved stars. In January 2007, Ms. Anderson assumed her new role of outreach associate in Houston Ballet’s education department where she teaches ballet classes at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, conducts master classes at area schools, and lectures to students on dance and her historic career as one of America’s most distinguished African-American ballerinas. She trained exclusively at Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy from the age of seven. She joined Houston Ballet in 1983 and in 1990 became the first African-American to be promoted to principal dancer at Houston Ballet – and one of the few African-American ballerinas at the head of a major ballet company anywhere in the world. In addition, Ms. Anderson received the Special Jury Award at the 1990 International Ballet Competition as well as the International Critics Award in Chile. Ms. Anderson danced leading roles in numerous classical ballets. Her repertoire included works by George Balanchine, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Christopher Bruce, James Kudelka, and Trey McIntyre. Ms. Anderson created the title role in Ben Stevenson's Cleopatra, and her performance as Cleopatra received accolades from international critics. Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times compared her to the great Italian actress Eleanora Duse, and Christine Temin of The Boston Globe pronounced her "a powerhouse in interpreting the role that Stevenson created on her." Ms. Anderson performed around the world as a guest artist. In April 1999, Ms. Anderson was featured on the cover of Dance Magazine. She has also been featured in the magazines People and Pointe, as well as on the television programs "A&E Breakfast With the Arts," "CBS News Sunday Morning," and the game show, "To Tell the Truth." She has been honored by The Martin Luther King Foundation, Coalition of 100 Black Women, YWCA, by the Urban League, Delta Gamma Foundation, Texas Woman’s Chamber of Commerce, Houston City Council, and the Texas Legislature. Ms. Anderson is also an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Most recently, Ms. Anderson has been appointed Artist in Residence of the Fine Arts Department at Texas Southern University. Ms. Anderson’s proudest accomplishment is her son, Lawrence Bell Fitzgerald Turner. 

 

 

 

Steve Brule
Associate Professor of Ballet, University of Oklahoma

Steve Brule began his training with Stanley Hall of the Royal Ballet and Ballet de Paris. He was a soloist with the Frankfurt Ballet and the Houston Ballet where he toured extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, and China. In Houston, under the direction of Ben Stevenson, Mr. Brule eventually became the Assistant Principal of the Houston Ballet Academy. He considers teaching his “first love and true calling” and considers himself fortunate indeed to have learned from one of the greats – Stevenson himself. For 18 of his 20 years with HBA he directed summer choreographic workshops where choreographers such as Trey McIntyre and Dominic Walsh got their start. He currently holds a fulltime position teaching ballet for the School of Dance at The University of Oklahoma. 

 

 

 

Li Chou Cheng

Mr. Cheng was born in Shanghai China. He started his professional training when he was thirteen at the Beijing Dance Academy, the first national dance school in China built by the Chinese government with Vaganova syllabus under Pyter Gushchev,the former artistic director of the Kirov Ballet's direction.  At the age of nineteen he joined the Beijing Central Ballet (the National Ballet of China)as a soloist.  He also served as a Ballet Master and rehearsal director for the company from 1970 till he left from this country.
After immigrating to the United States in 1980 he held position as Assistant professor at the University of Utah and Arizona State University for six years.  In 1988,Li-Chou was invited by Bruce Marks to join Boston Ballet as a Principal Teacher for both the Boston Ballet Company and Boston Ballet Academy.  Mr. Cheng has been as the Ballet Master in residence at TCU since 1990 and was promoted to Professor of Professional Practice in Ballet and Modern Dance in 2005.  Mr. Cheng is in demand nation wide as a master teacher. He has frequently worked with many ballet companies and their summer dance program such as Boston Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet,Atlanta Ballet,Ballet West,Ballet Met,Ballet Austin,Indianapolis Ballet,Eugene Ballet,Ballet Oregon, Lexington Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts and Walnut Hill School of Arts.  His international teaching experience includes the National Ballet School of Canada, Mexico Institute of Arts,Taipei National University of Arts , Taiwan Cloud Gate Dance Company, Taipei Dance Forum and Pen-Wa School of Ballet in Macau.  Mr. Cheng's many choreographic works have been staged for TCU and other professional school summer dance programs.  He has also restaged classical ballets and Pas de deux as well.  He was invited as a Master teacher work for both of the America College Dance Festival Association and the America Regional Ballet Festival. He has been an adjudicator for the Southeast Regional Ballet Competition and was served as the member of the Grant Panelist for Ft. Worth Arts Council in 2001-2004.  Recently Mr. Cheng has received Larry White Dance Educator Award from Dance Council in September 2007.  

 

 

Clara Cravey
Associate Professor of Ballet, University of Oklahoma

Ms. Cravey began her professional career with the Harkness Ballet (New York) under the direction of Ben Stevenson. As a principal dancer, she toured all over Europe and the Middle East. She has danced at summer festivals including Spoleto, Nervi, and Monte Carlo where she performed for Prince Ranier and Princess Grace (nee Kelly) of Monaco. She has also performed in Baalbeck (Lebanon), Paris, Yugoslavia, Iran and Istanbul (Turkey). Ms. Cravey was a founding member of the Ballet de Caracas in Venezuela, under the direction of Vicente Nebrada with whom she toured all over South America. She has performed for Presidents at the White House and at the Kennedy Center. In 1978, Ben Stevenson invited Ms. Cravey to join Houston Ballet Academy’s professional level as their instructor. He appointed her to Principal in 1991, a position she enjoyed for 15 years. Additionally, she was invited to teach at the Beijing Academy of Dance and to teach in Japan at various schools for several years. She was able to bring several of her students to train at the Houston Ballet Academy for the summer program and for the year round program. Furthermore, Ms. Cravey served as President of the National Association of Schools of Dance from 2000- 2003. Ms. Cravey currently teaches at various schools around Houston, including serving as Ballet Mistress for AdDeum Dance. She serves on the Artistic Council of Ballet Florida and the University of Oklahoma. She guest teaches at North Carolina School for the Arts several months of the year and spends her summers guesting all over the country. Fortunately for us, her schedule also includes teaching for Texas Ballet Theater School. She has trained many dancers who have gone on to professional careers with Houston Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Texas Ballet Theater and many other companies around the world. 

 

 

John Grensback
Artistic Director, Oregon Ballet Academy

Since his arrival as director of the Academy in 2003, John Grensback has had a profound influence on the students of the academy, specifically with his high standard of excellence, his working relationship with teachers and his dedication to each student. John Grensback began dance training at the age of 7 with his foster father, Eldon Parish, in Chicago. At the age of 15 years, Mr. Grensback attended The School of American Ballet in New York City. Upon graduation from SAB, Mr.Grensback joined the New York City Ballet and danced with the company for two seasons. He then joined the Joffrey Ballet where he danced until 1982. In 1982 he was invited to join the Houston Ballet where he became a principal dancer and danced under the direction of Ben Stevenson. Mr. Grensback retired from the stage in 1990 and moved to the island of Guam with his wife, Megan Murphy. He opened and directed his own studio in Guam until June of 2003. Mr. Grensback taught master classes in Hong Kong, The Philippines, Houston Ballet Academy and at the Joffrey Ballet School. While in Guam he choreographed, produced and directed The Nutcracker Ballet, The Sleeping Beauty Ballet, Hansel and Gretel, Carmina Burana, The Emperor and the Nightingale, and many other classical and contemporary works. 

 

 

Peter Kim

Peter Kim was born in Seoul, Korea.  He majored Piano Performance at Virginia Commonwealth University. He composes and arranges music, and has conducted classical and Jazz ensembles, choirs, and orchestras. He worked as Music Director for the Far East Broadcasting Company, and has judged competitions, organized music festivals, and produced several recordings. He has appeared as a soloist and with ensembles performing at major concert halls, including the Seoul Art Center; the Crystal Cathedral, CA; the Kennedy Center, Washington, DC; and Carnegie Hall, NY. Peter’s wife is also a pianist and they have 3 children.  He is currently pursuing the Master of Divinity degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

 

 

 

Janie Parker

Janie Parker danced professionally for 23 years, 3 with Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève in Switzerland and 20 with Houston Ballet.  She has performed leading roles in many of the classics including Swan Lake, Coppélia, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle and Les Sylphides – as well as nearly 100 other pieces by contemporary choreographers, such as Balanchine, Stevenson, Robbins, Tomasson, Tetley, Hynd, Ashton, MacMillan, Tudor, van Manen and van Dantzig.
Ms. Parker was the first American to win a gold medal at the USA International Ballet Competition. After her win in 1982, she returned as a guest artist for the 1994 USA IBC Opening Ceremonies. In the full-length film produced at the 1982 competition, To Dance For Gold, she was seen worldwide and became a popular performer, dancing in Mexico, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, Cuba, China, Japan, Indonesia, Chile and Guam. Parker’s career began in 1973 with Les Grand Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve, a Balanchine satellite company. Three years later, she became a soloist at the Houston Ballet. As a soloist and principal dancer with Houston Ballet from 1976 until 1996, Parker danced leading roles in all the classic works. During her career, she has danced before Princess Margaret, Princess Michael of Kent, Princess Grace, King Olav and Fidel Castro. She has also danced with the International Ballet Festival in Cuba and performed at the Sadler’s Wells Royal Gala. In 1998, she served as Mistress of Ceremonies for the sixth USA International Ballet Competition.  Since she retired from the stage in 1996, Ms. Parker has been coaching and resetting some of Mr. Stevenson’s ballets around the world as well as teaching pilates.

 

Krissy Richmond
 Former Principal Dancer, Houston Ballet

A former Principal dancer with Houston Ballet under Ben Stevenson, Miss Richmond performed a wide variety of roles including the "Mad Woman" in Peer Gynt, "Mimi" in Miraculous Mandarin and the pas de deux from Bartok Concerto. In 1993, Miss Richmond joined the New York production of Phantom of the Opera. Broadway credits include: Chicago, the musical, performing the role of "Hunyak" and "Roxie Hart", and the "Queen" in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake. Other credits include principal roles in Call Me Madam, Promises, Promises, Singin' in the Rain, and the role of "Elizaveta Grushinskaya" in Grand Hotel. Film credits include: Everyone Says I Love You, The Cradle Will Rock and numerous television appearances. Last year Miss Richmond staged two plays at the Alley Theater in Houston: Subject To Fits and The Clean House. She is thrilled to be working in Fort Worth with Texas Ballet Theater.

 

 

 

Natascha Sawal
Adjunct Faculty Member and Accompanist at Texas Christian University

Natascha Sawal, an accomplished musician and dance accompanist, joins the TBTS Summer Program to teach classes in Latin Ballroom. Ms. Sawal has extensive performance experience as a solo classical pianist and jazz band pianist playing concerts throughout Europe, Russia, China and the USA. As an accompanist for dance, she has worked for the Paris Opera Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem, Suzanne Farrell Ballet, and for Kennedy Center Dance and Education Department, to name a few. She trained from 1995-2000 at the Hochschule fur Music und Theater - Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in Leipzig, Germany and earned masters degrees in both Ballet Accompaniment and Improvisation. She has performed in show and competition dance through the USA and Europe and won countless competitions in ballroom, salsa and country western dance. Recent awards include 2009 III Place in the World Championship Country Western Dance Competition Final; 2008 Champion NYC Big Apple Dance Competition, Champion Texas Classic Dance Competition, Champion Los Vegas Dance Final and II Place in the World Championship Country Western Dance Competition. In 2008, she also won “Best Teacher” award at the Southwestern Invitation Dance Competition.