Jennifer Forcucci-Marzluf-LCUSA
Ms. Forcucci-Marzluf has been teaching dance for over 20 years. Jennifer holds her Licentiate Teachers Certification with Cecchetti USA, Classical Ballet (www.cecchettiusa.org) and has completed her Advanced 2 (Grade 10) Examination. Miss Jennifer continues her ballet studies with Cecchetti USA’s former Executive Director, Marnell Himes-Ushijima. She is currently on Cecchetti USA’s Board of Directors and volunteers her time with numerous projects for the organization. Throughout her ballet career, Jennifer has attended several summer courses and workshops, receiving instruction directly from top ballet masters. Jennifer attended the Orange County High School of Performing Arts, where she studied commercial arts and ballet. At the age of seventeen, she became a certified ballroom dance instructor for the Imperial Ballroom and went on to dance and compete in both pro-am and professional categories. Along with Co-Directing CF Dance Academy, Jennifer also enjoys being the Director of CF Dance Academy’s Ballet Intensive Program, preparing and submitting candidates for yearly ballet examinations, sharing her love of the Cecchetti work and hiring guest teachers for Master Classes. Miss Jennifer is also the Director of CF Dance Academy’s award-winning Fullerton Youth Ballet, who competes annually and also participates in community performances. Miss Jennifer also enjoys directing CF Dance Academy’s annual Nutcracker Ballet as well as CF Dance Academy’s annual Spring Showcases. Jennifer attended the Orange County High School of Performing Arts, where she studied commercial arts and ballet. At the age of seventeen, she became a certified ballroom dance instructor for the Imperial Ballroom and went on to dance and compete in both pro-am and professional categories. Along with Co-Directing CF Dance Academy, Jennifer also enjoys being the Director of CF Dance Academy’s Ballet Intensive Program, preparing and submitting candidates for yearly ballet examinations, sharing her love of the Cecchetti work and hiring guest teachers for Master Classes. Miss Jennifer is also the Director of CF Dance Academy’s award-winning Fullerton Youth Ballet, who competes annually and also participates in community performances. Miss Jennifer also enjoys directing CF Dance Academy’s annual Nutcracker Ballet as well as CF Dance Academy’s annual Spring Showcases.
Judith Hawkesworth-FISTD, FCUSA, FCCA, Examiner, Administrator
Mrs. Hawkesworth holds her Fellowship with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance, London, England, Cecchetti USA and Cecchetti Council of America. She is current CUSA Administrator, Residential Summer Course Coordinator and sits on the CUSA Board of Directors. She was appointed Examiner for Cecchetti USA in August 2012. Mrs. Hawkesworth received her Cecchetti training from Elizabeth Baird, Aleta Davis, and Marnell Himes-Ushijima. She offers over forty-five years of professional dance instruction experience which includes: preparing students and presenting students for Cecchetti ballet examinations, creating a written syllabus for pre-school and primary levels, coaching classical variations, choreographing ballet production and competition pieces, producing and directing a fuil length “Nutcracker” for Ballet Etudes, a non-profit youth ballet company and training teachers in levels pre-school through advanced. Judith served as Ballet Director for two highly respected Performing Arts and Commercial Dance schools in the Orange County, CA area for 20 years. She was a staff member of Huntington Academy of Dance, under the direction of Marnell Himes-Ushijima for 15 years. Judith considers her proudest accomplishment her many former students who have gone on to embrace teaching as their chosen careers. Her vocation is to use her life experience and training as a dance educator to nurture the minds, bodies and spirits and enrich the lives of children through the love of dance. In 2005 Judith relocated to South Carolina. She is currently a staff member at The Dance Place in Camden, directed by Ari Dickinson and Stephanie Caldwell.
Karyn O’Toole- AISTD, LCUSA
Ms. O’Toole began dancing at the age of three with Gertrude Francis Holmes in Cromwell, CT. There she studied many forms of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, acrobatics, ballroom, and baton twirling. Receiving her initial teacher training there, she eventually took over the school, expanding the programs offered and creating student productions of many classical ballets. Karyn earned a BA degree from Saint Joseph College in West Hartford in Special and Elementary Education with minors in Spanish and Dance. For ten years, she was employed by the State of Connecticut at Long Lane School in Middletown as a Reading Specialist and implemented therapeutic dance and movement programs to enhance academic and social growth. Karyn earned a MALS degree from Wesleyan University in Dance and Movement Studies, completing a program of diverse explorations within the dance and movement field. Her final thesis, “Integrating Dance in Christian Worship,” combined research on historical perspectives with personal experience in offering dance as a form of prayer within the liturgical rite of Christian churches. For nearly two decades, Karyn was the Lead Teacher for the Berkshire Dance Theatre in Adams, MA, and was their Artistic Director for the last six years of that tenure. There, she initiated a planned program of study for dance students from pre-school through high school, with progressive curriculums in ballet, pointe, acrobatics, jazz, and tap. She designed and directed seven original productions and was instrumental in bringing dance to many community groups. Karyn began her Cecchetti ballet training as an adult with Jacqueline Anderson, a Fellow and Examiner with Cecchetti USA. She earned her Associate Diploma from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing and has been qualified as a Licentiate with CUSA. She continues to study with weekly classes and participates in Fellowship seminars led by Betty Seibert. She has successfully entered over 300 candidates for examination in levels from Primary to Grade Nine. For several years, Karyn has attended International Summer Schools sponsored by CUSA and has been the Head Chaperone for over a decade. Karyn has served on the East Coast Committee for Cecchetti USA for three terms and maintains the records for the Student Scholarship program. In 2010, Karyn joined the staff at Cheshire Dance Centre, working under the direction of Betty Seibert. In her role as Associate Director, Karyn teaches, assists with studio operations, and supports the Cecchetti Ballet Theatre’s annual production of The Nutcracker.Karyn is a Life Member of the National Association of Dance and Affiliated Arts, currently serving on the national level as Chairman of the Board. She has developed therapeutic programs for children with special needs as well as senior populations and enjoys working with faith communities as a Liturgical Dancer. Many of her students have continued their studies to become performers, teachers, choreographers, and therapists in the movement field. In her work as a dance educator, Karyn blends her academic training in educational theory and principles with ballet pedagogy.
Sylvia Palmer Zetler, FCUSA, Examiner
Ms. Zetler started dancing with Kay Armstrong in Vancouver, B.C. She won a scholarship to the National Ballet School in Toronto, and then was taken into the National Ballet of Canada. She also studied at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and with many of the foremost European teachers in London and Paris. Ms. Zetler performed for many years with the National Ballet of Canada and with the Canadian Opera and CBC TV in Toronto. She holds an MFA degree in Creative Teaching Techniques and is a Fellow and Examiner with CUSA. Ms. Zetler received two Canada Council of Arts grants devoted to the betterment of the dance arts. She is Head of the Dance Department of the California State Summer School of the Arts. Her students grace the stages of many companies in the US and Great Britain.
Denise Rinaldi- FCUSA, FISTD, Examiner
Denise Rinaldi has been involved with Cecchetti USA for approximately 34 years, currently serving as the Executive Director. She has been an active participant on the Western Committee (serving as secretary, bookstore coordinator, and then chairperson) and now serves on the board of directors. She has been examining for the organization for several years and greatly enjoys having that opportunity to see the wonderful work put forward by our member teachers as well as getting to know the members on a more personal basis. Ms. Rinaldi studied with a wide variety of teachers with her primary training in the Cecchetti method under the guidance of Sheila Darby. Her school annually submits students for Cecchetti exams and the company provides valuable performing experience throughout the year; most notably a full-length Nutcracker with an orchestra. In addition to running a school and a pre-professional ballet company, Ms. Rinaldi works at the University of California, Santa Barbara as a Project Manager for the student government. This position has gained her valuable expertise in leadership, organizational principles and human resources. As a senior manager for the Associated Students at UCSB Ms. Rinaldi oversees a budget of $9 million dollars, supervises their publications and computer departments and oversees a variety of campus projects. As the primary responsibility of the CUSA Executive Director is to oversee the business aspects of the organization, Ms. Rinaldi is happy to have the opportunity to use those management skills gained in her work at UCSB to benefit CUSA.
Betty Seibert-Fellow/CUSA, ISTD & Senior Examiner;
Maestro Cecchetti Final Diploma; Director of Examinations, CUSA;
Former Chair, Cecchetti International – Classical Ballet
Betty Seibert is honored to have served Cecchetti USA as Director of Examinations since 1994, and humbled to have been elected by her peers in 2008 as chair of Cecchetti International – Classical Ballet. Her teaching career – spanning five decades, four schools, and thousands of students – has been an extension of her unique background as a performer in her own right. Ms. Seibert performed over a dozen leading roles in the classical ballet repetoire with the Florida Ballet Company, and became a featured dancer for the Sarasota and Asolo Opera Companies before becoming involved with musical theatre. She performed professionally in musicals and in dramatic plays for 14 years as a member of Actors Equity Association, where her favorite roles included Lola in Damn Yankees, Claudine in Can-Can, Dream Laurie in Oklahoma!, and Emilie in Les Liaisons Dangereuses. In addition to performing, she has choreographed 32 dance concerts for her own studios, and over 40 musical theater productions for Equity summer stock, opera companies, dinner and community theatre, colleges, and performing arts high schools from Maine to Floria. In the theatrical world, Ms. Seibert first gained experience as a director, which she continues to employ as she serves as Artistic Director of Cecchetti Ballet Theatre. She also directed the DVD documenting the syllabus contained in the Maestro Cecchetti Final Diploma, released by Cecchetti USA in 2010. As a performer, choreographer, director, teacher, and examiner, Ms. Seibert’s first priority has always been promoting the theatricality of dance as a true performing art, in the studio as well as on stage.