Meet the Dancers

  
   

Professional division

  
       
 

Gorky Flores started ballet training at age 9 at the Escuela Nacional Superior de Ballet (ENSB) in his hometown Lima, Peru with teachers Ileana Mariategui, Rosario Beingolea, and Liz Coz. In 2001 he participated at the “X International Ballet Competition” in Guatemala where he was awarded Bronze Medal. He took classes with Vladimir Issaev in 2005 and later at Miami City Ballet School.In 2006 he won Silver Medal at the International Ballet Competition in Lima Peru, where he was awarded with an apprenticeship with Ballet Gamonet in Miami. With a desire to continue his classical ballet training he declined this invitation and joined Vladimir Issaev’s School of Classical Ballet where he trained for the past year. Under Issaev’s training Gorky was the recipient of a special award at the American Ballet Competition this past July of 2007 and later he received a Diploma from the Terpsichore Foundation from the hands of former prima ballerina of the Kirov, Mme. All Osipenko. Gorky begins his professional career this season with Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida.

 
       
dancer   Elizabeth Gomez was born in Havana, Cuba and came to the US at a very young age. She trained with Ballet Etudes, Ballet Ouvert in Miami.  Her repertoire includes La Fille Mal Gardee, Grand Pas de Deux, Swan Lake Four Swans, Desdemona and Esmeralda. Elizabeth joined the company after attending the Summer Intensive at Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida in 2008  
       
 
Andrey Konkin is a graduate from the prestigious school of ballet of Perm in Russia. He started his ballet studies in his hometown of Nishninovgorod, Russia. As a member of the Perm Opera Ballet Company, where he danced professionally for more than two years, he traveled to Italy and China in their international tours. Andrey joined Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida in 2004 when he performed as the Prince in The Nutcracker. He has danced the principal roles of Chipollino, Prince Ivan of Firebird and always a soloist in Shostakovich Suites and Glinka Suite. Andrey had the honor of being coached for the role of Le Spectre de la Rose by Mr. George Zoritch, legend of the Ballet Russes. He also danced at the International Ballet Festival in Poland in 2006. His repertoire also includes “Spring Waters” and “The Seasons”.
  
       
  Yoshie Oshima began her training at the Michiko Matsumoto Ballet in Nagoya, Japan in 1986. At age 16 she was accepted at the worldly renown Vaganova Ballet Academy of Saint Petersburg in Russia where she graduated with honors dancing soloist roles such as “Carnival in Venice,” “Giselle”, “Chinese Solo” and “The Sugarplum Fairy” at the prestigious Mariinsky Theater.
In 2002 she is awarded Silver Medal at the All Japan Ballet Union Competition. Months later she achieves the Gold Medal at the Ballet Competition for Youth in Japan and the recognition of the Mayor of the City of Nagoya as Best dancer. Upon graduating she was accepted in the Ballet Aspirant Program of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Due to her sharpness of technique she quickly moved to the Apprentice Program. Yoshie has had some of the most prominent and important instructors in the Vaganova Style, such as Mme. Natalia Dudinskaya, Galina Yordanova, Evelyn Hart, Stephane Leonard, Ludmila Safronuva and Michiko Matsumoto. In 2006 Ms. Oshima joined Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida dancing principal roles in "Petrouchka", "The Nutcracker", "Doctor Ouch", "Le Printemps" ( The Seasons) and the spectacular "Spring Waters".		  
       
  Brian Ruiz was born in Cali, Colombia in 1989. Recently awarded Best Male Dancer at the American Ballet Competition Brian began with professional career with Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida dancing the role of “Petrouchka” acquiring the best reviews of the local press. He is a graduate from the Colombian Institute of Classical Ballet (Incolballet). He received his bachelor degree as a Ballet Artist with the highest honors. He has been awarded several times with scholarships to the American Ballet Theatre and Miami City Ballet between 2003 and 2006 and attendede the Summer Intensive Program of Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida training with Alla Osipenko, Tatiana Terekhova, Vladimir Issaev and Yelena Sherstnieva. His repertoire also includes The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Le Corsaire, Flames of Paris, Giselle, La fille mal gardee, Doctor Ouch! and Ballet Concierto.  
       
Sara Sardelli\   Sara Sardelli was born in Utica, New York and received her early training under Delia Foley and also trained at the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and Chautauqua Institution. She graduated with a B.S. in Dance/Arts Administration from Butler University in 2006 where she studied under Marek Cholewa and Rosanna Ruffo. From 2006 until 2008, Sara danced with the Louisville Ballet and then went on to join Ballet Gamonet. She has danced as a guest artist in Key West, Fl, Wilmington, VA, Little Rock, Ak and five cities in Poland. Sara is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Vladimir Issaev and perform with Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida.  
       
solange   Solange Villacorta was born in Lima, Peru and is a graduate of the Escuela Nacional Superior de Ballet obtaining the honors of being the best student of her class and the entire school.  At age 15 she received a special award at the Lima Youth Ballet Competition in Peru, which brought her to the US to continue her training with Vladimir Issaev. Under his tutelage Solange ended also a Finalist at the American Ballet Competition in 2007 and has recently began her professional career with Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida dancing the principal role of “Firebird”.  Her repertoire also includes The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Doctor Ouch! Paquita and Le Corsaire. Solange is only 16 years of age.  
       
dancers   Miho Yoshioka 18 years of age from Osaka, Japan. Miho trained at the Kaoru Jinushi Ecole de Ballet, Japan in the Vaganova Method. Miho has received several awards and was finalist at the NBA Ballet Competition in 2003 & 2004 in Japan. Miho recently graduated at the Vaganova Ballet Academy, Russia under the direction of Altynay Asylmuratova. Her repertoire includes Don Quixote, Flames of Paris, Diana and Acteon, Nutcracker and Esmeralda. Miho will begin her professional career with Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida .  
       
   

Junior Members

  
       
   

Andrea Bennett has been a student of Vladimir Issaev School of Classical Ballet since she was 5 years of age. She trained with Maria Risolia, Jennifer Ortiz, Nadia Kovtun, Lyubov Fominih and Vladimir Issaev. She has attended the Imperial Classical Ballet Seminars with Vladimir Issaev, Alla Osipenko and Tatiana Terekhova and has performed in all the productions of Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida. Andrea danced the role of Russian Princess in the Nutcracker in December of 2005 and was part of the international tour to Poland in 2006.

  
       
   
Anna Cannella. She started dancing at the age of 9 at Broward Center of Dance with Barbara West as her teacher. She came to Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida in 2003 and has performed in all the productions since then including the roles of Mother Apple and Ms. Pear in Chipollino. She has participated in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 summer intensives of Arts Ballet Theatre with Tatiana Terekhova, Alla Osipenko, Yelena Shertsnieva, Tatatiana Terekhova, Vladimir Issaev, and Lyubov Fominih. Anna traveled to Poland in April of 2006 for the International Ballet Festival.
  
       
    Alyssa Frantz, has been a student of Vladimir Issaev School of Classical Ballet since she was 7 years of age. She has also attended the Summer Intensive Programs of Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida with Vladimir Issaev, Alla Osipenko, Tatiana Terekhova and Yelena Zabalkanskaya. She has performed in the productions of the Nutcracker, Chipollino, Firebird Chipollino, Doctor Ouch!. Alyssa has toured with the company to Poland in 2006 and Germany in 2008.  
       
    Liat Krongrad, joined Vladimir Issaev School of Classical Ballet atage 14. Since then, she has performed in all productions of the company such as The Nutcracker, Firebird, Doctor Ouch, Petrouchka and Firebird. In 2007 she attended the Summer Intensive Program with Vladimir Issaev, Alla Osipenko, Tatiana Terekhova and Lyubov Fominih. In 2008 she performed with the company at the International Gala in Germany  
       
    Andrea Martinez, joined Vladimir Issaev School of Classical Ballet after attending the Summer Intensive Program in2006 with Vladimir Issaev, Alla Osipenko and Tatiana Terekhova. Her repertoire includes: The Nutcracker, Doctor Ouch, Petrouchka, Ballet Concierto, Firebird. Most recently she performed with the company in the International tour to Germany on May of 2008.  
       
    Kaitlin Pelkey has been a student at Vladimir Issaev School of Classical Ballet since she was seven years of age. She has participated in several Summer Programs of Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida with Vladimir Issaev, Alla Osipenko, Irina Lebedeva, Tatiana Terekhova. In 2007 she had the priviledge of beign coached by Mme. Alla Osipenko for her role of "Cupid" in Don Quixote. Her repertoire also includes The Nutcracker, Firebird, Chipollino, Doctor Ouch, Petrouchka and Fuga con Pajarillo. She also attended the International tours to Poland in 2006 and Germany 2008     
       
   
Renee Roberts, started her ballet lessons at a very young age, and has been training with Vladimir Issaev and additionally for the past year with Lyubov Fominih . Renee has also attended the Summer Intensive Programs of Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida with Vladimir Issaev, Irina Lebedeva, Alla Osipenko and Tatiana Terekhova. She has participated in the productions of the Nutcracker, Chipollino, Firebird and the Spring Gala. Her roles include: The Doll, Demons, Ms. Radish and Trisch Trasch Polka. Renee attended the Summer Intensive of ABT in New York this past summer. Most recently she received a special award at the Miami Ballet Competition after moving up to the second round.
  
   
 
   
Nicole Swede, has been dancing since the age of 3. She has danced in all productions of the Nutcracker, Chipollino, Spring Gala and Firebird for Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida. In 2003 she played the role of Clara in the Nutcracker. She has also danced the roles of The Doll, Ms. Rose, and Ms. Radish. Nicole has attended the summer intensive with Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida and the Universal Ballet Academy. Nicole was part of the International Tour to Poland in April of 2006.
  
   
 
   
Alexandra Vernick has been training with Ballet Master Vladimir Issaev for the past six years, and has attended the Summer Intensive Program of Arts Ballet Theatre in 2004 and 2005. Alexandra has danced in The Nutcracker dancing the role of Clara in 2004. She participated in the Spring Gala 2004 dancing a solo "Etude". In May of 2004, she was invited to travel with Arts Ballet Theatre to Odense, Denmark and to Poland in 2006. Alexandra danced the soloist roles of “Marzipan” in The Nutcracker, “ The Dove” in Doctor Ouch!, The gossiper in “Petrouchka”.
  
       
   

Apprentices to the Company

  
       
    Amber Barbach, Natalia Correa-Ferro, Yasamin Haghayegh, Gonzalez Kennedy, Melissa Martinez, Cornelia Thompson, Valeria Vasilchenko, Jessica Zynko.  
       
       
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