2014 Adjudicators and Faculty

Susan Jaffe

Susan

Former Principal Dancer, ABT 
Ballet Mistress, ABT 
Dean of Dance, University of North Carolina, School of the Arts 

Susan Jaffe has been declared by the New York Times as “America’s Quintessential American Ballerina”. She danced as a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre for 20 years.  Prominent in the international dance scene as well, her European engagements included performances with The Royal Ballet, The Kirov Ballet, The Stuttgart Ballet, The Munich State Opera Ballet, La Scala Ballet in Milan, The Vienna State Opera Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, The Royal Swedish Ballet, and the English National Ballet. Ms. Jaffe co-founded the Princeton Dance and Theatre Studio in Princeton, New Jersey. After two years as Ballet Mistress with American Ballet Theatre, Ms. Jaffe became the Dean of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she currently directs, teaches, and choreographs.

 

Nancy Kilgour FISTD

Nancy

Former Dancer, National Ballet of Canada
Maestro Enrico Cecchetti Final Diploma

Born in Canada, Nancy Kilgour received her early training with Betty Oliphant and Celia Franca of the National Ballet of Canada.  Not only was she one of the first two Canadians to attain what is now the “Maestro Enrico Cecchetti Final Diploma”, she was also the first Canadian awarded a grant to study at the Bolshoi Ballet.  Her early teaching positions included the National Ballet of Canada (company and school), the School of the Royal Ballet of Flanders, and the Royal Swedish Ballet.  In 1972 she joined the Royal Ballet School, London where she taught for more than fifteen years.  Many of her students are now world renowned, such as Darcey Bussell, Viviana Durante, Alessandra Ferri and include the new Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet, Kevin O’Hare.  Returning to Canada, she joined the School of Alberta Ballet, where she is now Senior Teacher and Pedagogue.  In November 2012 she was recognized for her years of artistic success with the presentation of both the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Order of Canada, the highest civil award in Canada.

 

Joshua Peugh

Josh

Associate Choreographer, Bruce Wood Dance Project
Co-Founder, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance
Adjunct Lecturer, Dance Composition at Southern Methodist University 

Joshua Peugh moved to South Korea in 2006 to join Universal Ballet Company where he performed soloist and featured roles in the works of Ohad Naharin, Christopher Wheeldon and others. After two and a half years with the company, Joshua left UBC and founded his own company, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, in Seoul.  Since then, he has created works for festivals all over Asia and North America.  His most recent works are Jokers in the Deck, White Elephant, Slump, and Cosmic Sword.

 

Trinette Singleton LISTD

Trinette

Former Principal Dancer, Joffrey Ballet
Co-Artistic Director, Repertory Dance Theatre 
Faculty, DeSales University, PA 

Ms. Singleton was thrust into national prominence in 1967 after appearing in the muti-media ballet, Astarte.  She became the first American dancer to appear on the cover of the national news magazine-Time.  She has toured throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, and Europe, performing ballets by notable choreographers such as Joffrey, Arpino, Ashton, Balanchine, DeMille, And Tharp.  Following her performing years, she became Administrative Assistant to Robert Joffrey and Ballet Mistress to the company.  Due to her great involvement with the Joffrey Ballet, Singleton was prominently featured in a documenty about the company entitled, “The Joffrey Ballet: Mavericks of American Dance.” In 2010, Ms. Singleton won the Outstanding Choreographer Award for the Youth America Grand Prix semi-finals, and in 2011 she was given the LVAIC Award for Distinguished Service in Dance.  Currently, Trinette is Co-Artistic Director of Repertory Dance Theatre and on the faculty at DeSales University.  She is also on the Board of Directors for The Gerald Arpino and Robert Joffrey Foundation.  Ms. Singleton serves on the Advisory Board for Cecchetti USA and is an Honorary Member of Cecchetti International-Classical Ballet.

 

Ben Stevenson

Ben

Former Dancer, Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet 
Former Principal Dancer, London Festival Ballet
Artistic Director, Texas Ballet Theater 

Ben Stevenson began his dance training in London, England at the Arts Educational School.  After graduation he was invited to join Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, now known as the Royal Ballet.  Mr. Stevenson has directed several companies including Harkness Ballet, the National Ballet in Washington D.C., and Houston Ballet.  It was under his direction that Houston Ballet grew to be one of the most respected ballet companies in the country and around the world.  Mr. Stevenson is now the current Artistic Director of Texas Ballet Theater.  Besides being a successful director, Mr. Stevenson is an accomplished choreographer having received numerous awards including three gold medals at the International Ballet Competition and his work has been set on multiple companies around the world. For his contributions to the world of international dance, he was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.  He was also presented with the Dance Magazine Award which is one of the most prestigious honors in the American dance scene.

 

CICB Competition 2014 Faculty

 

Evelyn Cisneros-Legate

Cisneros

Ballet Mistress Female Competitors

Former Prima Ballerina, San Francisco Ballet 
Principal, Boston Ballet School’s Marblehead Location 

 Native Californian, Evelyn Cisneros-Legate began her training with Phyllis Cyr and received full summer scholarships to the San Francisco Ballet School and the School of American Ballet.  Upon completing her high school education, she began her apprenticeship with the San Francisco Ballet in 1976 and joined the company in 1977.  She has performed countless orginal and title roles in both contemporary and classical repertory and has been featured on the covers of Dance Magazine, Ballet News, and Hispanic Magazine and received numerous awards for her community activism and artistic achievements, including two Honorary Doctorate Degrees.  She is held in high regard by the Latino community and serves as a role model for children of all ages and backgrounds.  Following retirement in 1999, Cisneros has worked on many projects including hosting a current events program on KQED and co-authoring Ballet for Dummies.  Since 2000, Cisneros has taught many intensives, ballet workouts, and company classes all over the world, where she has staged Caniparoli and Smuin ballets.  She was Ballet Education Coordinator with San Francisco Ballet, and the Academy Director and Artistic Director for Ballet Pacifica in Irivine, California.  In January 2010, Cisneros became the Principal of Boston Ballet School’s Marblehead location. She has been integral in creating and hosting Boston Ballet’s newest summer offering: the Choreographic Intensive Program.

 

Kirk Peterson

Peterson-150x150

Ballet Master Male Competitors

Former Ballet Master, ABT 
Freelance Choreographer and Teacher

Mr. Peterson is a leader in American Dance.  He began his ballet training in New Orleans with Lelia Haller, formerly of the Paris Opera Ballet.  Former Artistic Director of ABT II and Harford Ballet, Interim Artistic Director of Alberta Ballet, Assistant Artistic Director of Washington Ballet, Resident Choreographer of San Francisco Ballet, former Resident Choreographer for Cincinnati Ballet, Peterson is also an official Repetiteur for the Antony Tudor Ballet Trust.  Peterson had a long and distinguished career as Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, London Festival Ballet, the National Ballet of Washington and Harkness Ballet.  He has choreographed over 50 ballets and is a specialist at re-staging the classic repertoire, including the Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Giselle and most recently Swan Lake for Alberta Ballet.  His full-length Othello was nominated for the prestigious Prix Benois in Moscow. After he joined ABT as Ballet Master in 1999, he was later designated Master Teaching Associate and performed as Principal Character Artist as well as choreographer for the main company and ABT II. Peterson has also choreographed for the opera, Broadway, London’s West End, television and appeared in, served as Ballet Master, Consultant and staged classroom segments for the feature film Center Stage.

 

Angeline Wolf

Woolf-150x150

Contemporary Mistress

Former Principal Dancer and Associate Artistic Director, Jennifer Muller/The Works 

Angeline Wolf studed at the Julliard School in New York.  Her professional career began at age 23 with the Louis Falco Dance Company.  A year later she became a founding member of Jennifer Muller/The Works. Ms. Wolf was Principal Dancer and Associate Director as well as Rehearsal Director and teacher for the company.  During her tenure with The Works, she helped to create ballets for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, the Lyon Opera Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theatre.  More recently, Angeline has choreographed group and solo work for Repertory Dance Theater and East Stroudsburg University dancers.  In 2006 she co-founded the Totts Gap Arts Institute, a non-profit community arts center in Bangor, PA.