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After graduating from Bossov in 2004 Beverly Jenson attended American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. There she studied singing, acting and dancing from veterans in the Broadway field. She then became a part of the dance troupe Tressor Group, directed by Alexander Tressor. She went on to perform at Tuacahn Amphitheater as Phyllis in 42nd St and ensemble in My Fair Lady. She then went on to dance in the 42nd St. Asia tour, spending five months tapping in China and Korea.
In the fall of 2009, Johanna Reuter accepted the company position of Trainee Artist with Ballet Idaho. Johanna’s family moved to Pittsfield, Maine, from Massachusetts on 2004 so that she could train with Bossov Ballet Theatre. As a result Johanna, now 16 years old, has received most of her ballet training at Bossov. Over the years Johanna was accepted by highly competitive summer programs, including Harid Conservatory and ABT, NYC. Johanna said she did not accept those coveted invitations but remained at Bossov each summer as well as the year-round because of the small classes, quality training, personal coaching, and performance opportunities.
Johanna believes it was the excellent ballet training she received that enabled her to embark on her ballet career path early at age sixteen. Ballet Idaho commented on Johanna’s work ethic and her intelligence as a dancer. She attributes these traits to Bossov. After her summer audition with Ballet Idaho, Johanna stated that she believed it was the corps training at Bossov, especially that received from Natalya Getman, that finally got her the job.
Johanna has participated in more than fourteen full-length productions with Bossov Ballet Theatre, including performing in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Bossov’s bi-annual tour there in “Dance Open”. She stated that these performance opportunities and being coached in the various roles was equally as important as the daily classes.
Johanna is at the very beginning of her career and we expect her to continue to grow as a dancer just as she has through her years at Bossov Ballet Theatre.
Melanie Mayhew-Hammond was with Bossov Ballet Theatre from 2005 through 2007. She took the
stage in performances of Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Copellia, and
The Sleeping Beauty, as well as performing in The Four Seasons, choreographed by
Andrei to the music of Vivaldi, in St. Petersburg in 2007.
Melanie was a trainee at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York, New York in 2008. She was in the first
performance of the new company Ballet Verite in New York. Melanie is now in the summer
residency program at Mystic Ballet in Mystic, Connecticut. We look forward to hearing more from her!
Above: Lori dances “Spanish Chocolate” in The Nutcracker, Dec. '07, and Lori on Graduation Day with BBT Executive Director Mike Wyly.
“I came for the Ballet”
These were the words of Bossov Ballerina Lori Allison Celeste when she presented the
Valedictory of Maine Central Institute's Class of 2008 at graduation on Sunday, 1 June. A
striking cut above the many soon-to-be-forgotten speeches typical of high school graduations,
Lori's sparkled with unforgettable drama as she began by recalling her first on-stage experience
dancing in one of Andrei Bossov's now famous ballets: “Andrei called ‘Places!’
” she reminisced. “I took my position and heard the rumble of the curtain opening.
I was on my own...” Lori urged her classmates and “those we leave behind to train
and prepare” now so to “find joy in whichever endeavor we choose,&rdquo her parting
advice for superlative performance in life. Finally, Lori turned to her robe-clad classmates
seated on either flank. “Places!” she called. “I hear the curtain opening.”
A boarding student from Huntington, Maryland, Lori will be attending the Boston Conservatory
beginning this fall.
Pilkington Award
On 14 May 2008 before 400 fellow students at Maine Central Institute, Lori was the first-ever
dancer to receive Bossov Ballet Theatre's highest award, including a check for $500, given for
strong character and superlative service to Bossov Ballet Theatre. The recipient is chosen for
demonstration of the character and service personified by 2nd Lt. Charles H Pilkington, U.S.
Marine Corps, who gave his life for his country and his Marines on 14 May 1969 while leading 1st
Platoon, Company D, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines in the Republic of Vietnam. The award has been
given only three times previously but never to a dancer: Ballet Teacher Natalya Getman in 2006,
Associate Head of Maine Central Institute Rosalie Williams in 2002, and Stage Hand Michael
Thompson in 2000.
Giovana Puoli came from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Maine in the summer of 2004 to study
under Bossov. Following five weeks of Summer Intensive training, she performed the
role of Myrtha in Bossov Ballet Theatre’s Giselle. She enrolled in the Bossov year-round
high school program and received her high school diploma from Maine Central Institute
in the spring of 2005. After returning to Brazil she was employed by “Dans la Danse”,
Sao Paulo’s ballet company under the direction of Gisele Bellot. With “Dans la Danse”
she has performed as Sugar Plum Fairy in their Nutcracker as well as the grand pas
de deux in Paquita and pas de trois from Le Corsaire, among other roles. She attributes
her success as a ballerina to the training she received from Andrei Bossov and Natalya
Getman.
Giovana applies her skills in English, learned at Maine Central Institute, to teach ballet at a private English-speaking Episcopal school in Sao Paulo, St. Paul's.
Sabrina Lord-Linde joined Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida in 2006. She began her
ballet studies at 3 years old, with Zoltan Peter at San Francisco's Peninsular Ballet,
then later studied at Ballet Arizona. She spent four years with Alex Ossadnik of
the Ballet Theatre of New Mexico, and Andrei Bossov and Natalya Getman at Bossov
Ballet Theatre in Maine, where she graduated with the class of 2006. She took Master
Classes in St. Petersburg during the 2005 "International Dance Open."
Sabrina's repertoire includes Zulma in Giselle, step-sister in Cinderella, Arabian,
Dewdrop in Nutcracker and Princess Fiora in the Bluebird Variation of Sleeping Beauty,
as well as various roles from Scheherazade to Bolero. She has attended the 2006
and 2007 summer intensive programs of Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida. Since joining
the company she has performed solo roles in "Suite of Waltzes", Issaev's "The Nutcracker",
"Doctor Ouch!" and "Ballet Concierto".
Left: Sabrina Lord-Linde as Dew Drop in Arts Ballet Theatre Florida's Nutcracker. Sabrina studied with Bossov Ballet Theatre for four years and graduated in 2006.
Danielle Harper is currently a senior at the Hartt School, University of Hartford,
as a dance performance major. She is also a guest dancer for Premier Ballet in Hartford,
CT. As well as being employed by Full Force Dance Theatre as the stage manager and
assistant company manager. She started dancing at the age of 4 with Encore Dance
Center. When Bossov Ballet Theatre was formed in 1996, Danielle joined the original
class of students. She continued with Bossov until graduating from high school in
2004. Upon graduation, she was accepted to the Hartt School on a performing Arts
scholarship.
Through the years at Bossov Ballet Theatre she danced many roles varying
from Mercedes in "Don Quixote", Arabian and Spanish in "The Nutcracker", the Dutchess
in "Alice and Wonderland", and the principal role of Lilac Fairy in "The Sleeping Beauty".
She has also expanded into performing works from the Graham Company, Baltimore
Tech dance, as well as continuing to do classical works such as, pas de trios from
"Swan Lake", "Les Sylphides", "Romeo and Juliet", and "The Sleeping Beauty". She was chosen
to be an intern at Broadway Dance Center.
Bossov Ballet Theatre and the Hartt School
have also encouraged work in and around productions and theaters. Danielle will
be graduating in May 2008 and continuing to advance her career.
Stephen Lawrence, a long time Bossov student who danced principal roles on
the Bossov stage including Cinderella's Prince Charming and the Nutcracker Prince
danced professionally with Chicago's Joffrey Ballet and is now with St. Louis Ballet,
St. Louis, Missouri. When Stephen returns to Maine for a visit he always stops by the
Bossov studios in Pittsfield to take class with Andrei, the Master who taught him.
Stephen is shown here during his visit last Christmas.
Others now dancing professionally or enrolled in prestigious academies and conservatories:
- Shelby Dyer, Colorado Ballet, Denver, Colorado
- Lena Konetchy, Illinois Ballet, Peoria, Illinois and subsequently Charleston Ballet Theatre, Charleston, South Carolina, Ballet Illinois, Peoria, Illinois Calder Theatre, Ballet Theatre of Maryland, Annapolis, Maryland
- Michael Dunsmore, Vaganova Academy (Academic Ballet School of St. Petersburg) St. Petersburg, Russia, now with Tucson Ballet, Tucson, Arizona
- Tiffany Hartsfeld, Vaganova Academy (Academic Ballet School of St. Petersburg) St. Petersburg, Russia, subsequently dancing professionally, International Cruise Lines
- Danielle Harper, The Hart Conservatory, Hartford, Connecticut.
- Peter Chamberlin, formerly of Ballet Met, Columbus, Ohio, a graduate of SUNY Purchase collegiate dance program, Purchase, New York.
- Elyse Sparkes, a graduate of SUNY Purchase collegiate dance program, Purchase, New York.
- Molly Gawler, Pilobolus Dance Theatre, Washington Depot, Connecticut, SUNY Purchase collegiate dance program, Purchase, New York, participated in the 2007 Academy Awards.
- Ryan Nye, Festival Ballet, Providence, Rhode Island, now with Eugene Ballet, Eugene, Oregon.
- Calder Taylor, Ballet Theatre of Maryland, Annapolis, Maryland.
- Adrian Silver, Alonzo King's Lines Ballet, San Francisco, California
- Anna Marie Cowan, Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- Ann Durham, Greensboro Ballet, Greensboro, North Carolina.
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