Kaatsbaan Ballet Intensive
Faculty
KBI Artistic Director, Paloma Herrera, leads a class in the Studio Complex Building
Paloma Herrera
KBI ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Paloma Herrera was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and began her training at the age of seven. In January 1991, having just turned 15 years old, she moved to New York and continued her studies at the School of American Ballet. After only six months, she joined the American Ballet Theatre and, in 1995, became the youngest Principal Dancer in American Ballet Theatre history at age 19. She has appeared in ballets ranging from Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, and Swan Lake, to Apollo, The Prodigal Son, and Stepping Stones. She has appeared as Guest Artist with great ballet companies around the world, including New York City Ballet, Kirov Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Tokyo Ballet, Teatro Colon, and National Ballet of Cuba, to name a few. She retired from American Ballet Theatre at the end of November 2015, right before turning 40. Since that, she moved back to her home, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and continued to teach all over the world.
In 2016, she wrote her autobiography that was presented at Feria del Libro in 2017. That same year, she also launched her own perfume Paloma Herrera, in 2019 her second fragrance Paloma Herrera Passion, and in 2022 her third fragrance Paloma Herrera Fantasy.
In Argentina she received the award: Konex de Platino, Maria Ruanova and distinctions by the Honorable Camara de Diputados de La Nación, Medalla del Bicentenario by the government of the Buenos Aires city, among many others, and since 2012 she is a member of the gallery of popular idols of the Argentine Government House.
In 2017, she became the artistic director of Ballet Estable del Teatro Colon, where the company has grown immensely since she arrived. She resigned in 2022.
GEMMA BOND
Gemma Bond was born in Bedfordshire, England. She received her training at the Royal Ballet School. Bond was contracted to The Royal Ballet in 2000 as a member of the corps de ballet, later being promoted to First Artist in 2003. Bond remained with the Royal Ballet until 2008, when she was invited to join American Ballet Theatre, where she danced as a member of the corps de ballet till 2019. Whilst dancing with American Ballet Theatre Bond rediscovered choreography, she created and performed some of her first works at American Ballet Theatre’s Choreographic Incubator.
YAN CHEN
Yan Chen was born in China where she started her dance training at the Shanghai Dance School. She later continued her studies at the San Francisco Ballet School and was a prizewinner at the 1987 Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland. Prior to joining American Ballet Theatre in 1993, Chen was a principal dancer with the Washington Ballet. As one of ABT’s most lyrical and versatile dancers, Chen performed many demanding leading roles. She received critical praise from The New York Times for her “refined and exuberant” rendition in all pieces.
Elizabeth FErrell
Elizabeth Ferrell was born in St. Louis, Missouri and began her training with Alexandra Zaharias. At age 14, she was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet and upon graduation was chosen by Peter Martins to receive the Danish American National Cultures Exchange scholarship to study with the Royal Danish Ballet. In 1985, Elizabeth was invited by Mikhail Baryshnikov to become a member of American Ballet Theatre where she danced from 1985 to 1998. During that time she appeared in much of the classical and contemporary repertory. She also performed with the Pennsylvania Ballet, Eglevsky Ballet, New York City Opera, Alessandra Ferri’s “Stars of the American Ballet”, and most recently Hong Kong Ballet. She can be seen in several “Dance in America” programs for PBS, Herbert Ross‘ movie “Dancers” and Frederick Wiseman’s documentary “Ballet”. Elizabeth took part in the inaugural teacher training program of ABT’s National Training Curriculum and is now an ABT certified instructor. She has taught at Ballet Hispanico, Peridance Center, Gibney Dance, and Steps on Broadway in New York, Danceworks in London, and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and has guest taught in the U.S., London and Hong Kong. Since 2016, Elizabeth has been teaching for both the Children’s Division and Pre- Professional Division at the JKO School of American Ballet Theatre and for the ABT Summer Intensive program in New York.
CALVIN HILPERT
Photo by Harald Schrader
Calvin Hilpert began his pre-professional training at age 12 with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. At age 15, he subsequently transitioned his studies to the San Francisco Ballet School where he studied under the tutelage of Jorge Esquivel and Parish Maynard. Following this training, Hilpert joined the KUNST-STOFF dance company where he danced on multiple international tours. Ever in the pursuit of more knowledge, Hilpert decided to deepen his understanding of contemporary movement at the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz in Dresden, Germany after receiving an invitation to study as a guest with the school. While in Dresden, he was scouted to join the Saarländisches Staatstheater where he had the pleasure of dancing works by acclaimed dance makers such as Stijn Celis, Marguerite Donlon, Bernard Baumgarten, and Fernando Hernando, among others, as well as creating a brand new work himself. After gaining this new perspective on dance, movement, and art-making, Hilpert returned to the States to rejoin KUNST-STOFF dance company as an Artistic Contributor. During this second stint, he collaborated on creating several works with the company’s Artistic Director in addition to developing and performing multiple works of his own. From there, he accepted an invitation to join the Budapest Dance Theatre where he enjoyed performing various works by respected choreographers such as Jiří Pokorný, Rasa Hammadi, Béla Földi, and Alexandra Sághy.
Julie Kent
Julie Kent became the Artistic Director of Houston Ballet in July 2023, joining Stanton Welsh AM as co-artistic leadership of America’s fourth largest classical ballet company. Kent was the longest serving Ballerina in American Ballet Theatre’s 84-year history, dancing a vast repertoire of classical and neo-classical roles from 1985-2015, and working closely with choreographers Joh Neumeier, Twyla Tharp, Lar Lubovitch, Stanton Welch AM, Alexei Ratmansky, Mark Morris, Nacho Duato, James Kudelka, Jorma Elo, Kevin McKenzie and other. Ms. Kent also danced as an international Guest Artist with the Mariinsky Theatre, New York City Ballet, Teatro alla Scala, Stuttgart Ballet, Berlin Staatsballett, Australian Ballet, Houston Ballet, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Teatro Colon, Ballet de Santiago and Tokyo Ballet.
She won the Prix de Lausanne (1986), Erik Bruhn Prize (1993) and was the first American dancer ever to win the Prix Benois de la Danse (2000). In 2021, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Performing Arts from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from Dance Magazine and was conferred an Honorary Doctorate from American University’s College of Arts and Sciences in 2023. Ms. Kent also starred in the films Dancers (1987) and Centerstage (2000). In August of 2015, after a 30-year performing career, Kent was named Artistic Director of ABT’s Summer Intensive, a comprehensive summer dance program for 1,400 students at five campuses across the US. From 2016-2023, she was Artistic Director of The Washington Ballet where she brought important classical and contemporary masterworks into the repertoire, commissioning over 26 world premieres. She married former ABT Principal Dancer Victor Barbee, and, as a mother of two children, she has helped redefine the image of the American Ballerina.
Jessica Lang
Photo © Rosalie O'Connor
Jessica Lang is an American director and choreographer based in New York City. Since 1999, Lang has created more than 100 original works on companies worldwide including American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, the National Ballet of Japan, and her eponymous company Jessica Lang Dance, among many others. For opera, Lang directed and choreographed Pergolesi's Stabat Mater at Glimmerglass and presented at Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival. She choreographed San Francisco Opera's new production of Aida, revived at Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, LA Opera and in 2024 Lyric Opera of Chicago. This season Lang will choreograph WNO’s new production of Turandot.
Lang is Artist in Residence at Sarasota Ballet. She was Artistic Director of Jessica Lang Dance from 2011-2019 where the company performed in over 85 cities presented by venues worldwide. She is the recipient of a Bessie Award, Arison award, Martha Hill Mid-Career Award, fellowships at NY City Center and NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts, and named a Caroline Hearst Choreographer-in-Residence at Princeton University. Lang graduated from The Juilliard School and is a former member of Twyla Tharp's company, THARP! www.jessicalangchoreographer.com
Lorin Mathis
Mr. Mathis began his training at Ballet Arts Minnesota before training at Pacific Northwest Ballet School and San Francisco Ballet School. Some of his most influential teachers included Bonnie Mathis, Lirena Branitski, Flemming Halby, Jorge Esquivel, Johan Renvall, and Ricardo Bustamante. In 1999, Mr. Mathis was hired as an apprentice with San Francisco Ballet. He continued to dance with SFB for two seasons as a member of the Corps de Ballet, before joining Alberta Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Philadelphia Ballet. During his performing career he danced leading roles by choreographers such as Marius Petipa, George Balanchine, Christopher Wheeldon, Jirí Kylián, Mikko Nissinen, Anthony Tudor, Jorma Elo, Helen Pickett, William Forsythe, John Butler, Jerome Robbins, and Nacho Duato. National and International touring has allowed him to perform throughout the United States, Canada, China, England, Ireland, and Spain.
Retiring from performing in 2016, Lorin’s mentoring experience includes teaching for Pennsylvania Ballet School, Artifact Dance Project, Saint Paul Ballet Company and School, Ballet Royale, Twin Cities Ballet of Minnesota, BC Dance, and has attended the ABT National Training Curriculum. Lorin has served as Associate Artistic Director for Kaatsbaan Ballet Intensive, where he has been teaching, coaching, and choreographing since 2017. During the year Lorin teaches Ballet Technique, Men’s Technique, Ballet Repertoire, and Pas de Deux at the University of Arizona School of Dance.
kevin mckenzie
Born in Burlington, Vermont and trained in Washington, DC by Mary Day, Kevin McKenzie won a silver medal in the Varna International Ballet Competition in 1972. After starting his professional career with the National Ballet of Washington under the direction of Fredrick Franklin and Ben Stevenson, he moved to New York City to work with the Joffrey Ballet before joining American Ballet Theatre as a soloist in 1979 and promoted to Principal dancer that same year.
After enjoying a full performing career with ABT, he became Artistic Associate with the Washington Ballet and in 1992 was appointed Artistic Director of ABT. During his 30 years in that position, he nurtured 3 generations of ABT dancers while establishing and overseeing the ABT Studio Company, The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre, The ABT National Training Curriculum, The ABT Innovation Initiative for choreographic development as well as welcoming Alexie Ratmansky as the Artist in Residence at ABT to create some of the most treasured additions to ABT’s repertoire in the company’s experience.
Retiring from his position at ABT, Mckenzie has turned his attention back to Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, an institution he co-founded in 1991 and now serves as Chairman and Artist Advisor.
SARA MEARNS
Photo by Mark Mann
SARA MEARNS: Columbia, SC, principal dancer New York City Ballet since 2008. Originated roles with choreographers Justin Peck, Kyle Abraham, Alexei Ratmansky, Pam Tanowitz, Bobbi Jene Smith, Christopher Wheeldon, Guillaume Cote, Beth Gill, among others. Guest Performer: Paul Taylor Dance Company, The Cunningham Centennial Celebration, Jodi Melnick Dance, Bill T Jones/Lee Ming Wei, and Wang Ramirez. At NYCC, she starred in Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes, Encores! I Married An Angel, and Twyla Now as well as multiple Fall for Dances, and performed Dances of Isadora Duncan at Lincoln Center. At The Joyce in 2022, Sara performed a full evening with five world premier pieces, titled “A piece of Work”, awarded the Bessie Award for outstanding performer in 2018, awarded the Dance Magazine Award in 2019, and an Honorary Doctorate University of South Carolina in 2019. Last year Sara made her debut as Juliet in Alexei Ratmansky’s production of Romeo and Juliet with The National Ballet of Canada with Guillaume Cote. She also sits on the advisory board for the Dancers Resource at The Entertainment Fund and is a Mental Health Champion Ambassador at the Mental Health Coalition.
LUCIANA PARIS
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Luciana Paris began her ballet training at the age of seven with Elena Perez. From 1991-1996 she studied at the Colon Theater Superior de Art Institute with Katty Gallo and Raul Candal. Paris is a recipient of a Colon Theater Foundation Scholarship, based on her outstanding qualifications at Colon Theater Superior Ballet Institute. She won a Gold Medal at the Latin American Dance Competition in 1995. In December 1996, Paris joined Julio Bocca’s Ballet Argentino as a principal dancer and became Bocca’s dance partner. From 1997 to 2001, Paris and Julio Bocca danced together classical, neoclassical and modern repertoire. Paris joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in October 2001. She was appointed a Soloist in August 2015. Her repertoire with the Company is vast. In 2012 American Ballet Theatre designated Paris as a Certified Teacher.
Adrienne schulte
Born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Adrienne Schulte began her ballet training with Marcia Dale Weary at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet at the age of seven. She continued her studies at the Paris Opera Ballet School in France from 1996 to 1998 before joining the American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company in 1998.
Schulte joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in January 1999. In 2007, she moved to London and danced as a First Artist with the English National Ballet for two seasons. Schulte rejoined American Ballet Theatre in September 2011. Schulte retired from American Ballet Theatre in July 2015. She received her Teacher’s Certification with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and has been a guest teacher with CPYB, Ballet Academy East, Eglevsky Ballet, Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre, and Dallas Ballet Center. Adrienne was on faculty during the 2016–17 academic year at the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, Children’s Division and again for the 2021–22 academic year with the JKO Pre-Professional Division. Schulte is currently on faculty at Greenwich Ballet Academy since 2018, and a returning faculty member for Kaatsbaan Ballet Intensives.
Martine van hamel
Martine van Hamel studied ballet in Copenhagen, Java, The Hague, Caracas, and Toronto. She leapt to widespread acclaim by winning The Gold Medal, and the seldom awarded Prix de Varna, at The International Ballet Competition in 1966. She went on to stardom, first with The National Ballet of Canada, and followed by two illustrious decades as a Principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. From 1992 to 1997, she regularly performed with Nederlands Dans Theater III. She still performs character roles with American Ballet Theatre. A Co-founder of Kaatsbaan Culutral Park, which is dedicated to the preservation of professional dance, van Hamel directed the Kaatsbaan Ballet Intensive summer intensive where she continues to teach. She also teaches for the JKO school and Studio Company of American Ballet Theatre.