SUMMER FACULTY 2010

CHAIRMAN OF THE FACULTY -- Edward Villella
Edward Villella - (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/CEO, MIAMI CITY BALLET) - America’s most celebrated male dancer, was born in Bayside, New York, and entered the School of American Ballet at age 10 but interrupted his dance training to complete academic studies. A graduate of the New York Maritime Academy, he obtained a B.S. in marine transportation, lettered in baseball, and was a championship boxer. As a principal dancer for New York City Ballet, he originated many roles in the company repertoire, among them Tarantella, the "Rubies" section of Jewels and the role of Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Mr. Villella was the only American, ever, to be asked to dance an encore at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. He danced for President Kennedy’s inaugural and danced for Presidents Johnson, Nixon and Ford. Since 1986, he has focused his talent, his intelligence, and his energy on creating and maintaining a world-famous ballet company in South Florida. In recognition for his achievements, President Clinton presented Villella with the 1997 National Medal of Arts. Also in 1997, he was named a Kennedy Center Honoree, and was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. In 2009, he was elected to the presigious American Academy of Arts & Sciences. To read Edward Villella's full bio, click here.

SCHOOL ADVISOR -- Roma Sosenko - (PRINCIPAL BALLET MISTRESS, MIAMI CITY BALLET) A former soloist with New York City Ballet, Roma Sosenko works closely with Miami City Ballet dancers re-staging ballets and rehearsing them for each performance.  While at New York City Ballet, she danced roles in Jerome Robbins' The Four Seasons, The Goldberg Variations, and Interplay and George Balanchine's Ballo della Regina, Symphony in C, Chaconne, Coppelia, Jewels, and Scotch Symphony, among others. She has been seen on PBS in several productions: Balanchine's "L'Enfant et les Sortileges", "A Lincoln Center Special: A Tribute to George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins", "Live from Studio 8H", and also performed the role of Columbine in the film of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™.   Ms. Sosenko has taught for Miami City Ballet school in both the winter and summer programs.

FACULTY - BALLET

Carter Alexander – (SR. FACULTY ADVISOR) began his ballet training with his mother Amanda Stone in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He continued at Arts Magnet and Dallas Ballet Academy before joining the Hartford Ballet, where he studied with his mentor, Truman Finney. He danced principal and soloist roles with the Kansas City Ballet, and also danced with Pennsylvania Ballet (where he taught on the faculty of the Rock School). Mr. Alexander received an offer to become the principal teacher at the Ballet Workshop New England in Boston, where he taught for five years. He also became the artistic associate of the Massachusetts Youth Ballet. He then joined Truman Finney at The School of Ballet Arizona as Assistant Director of the school. He is a principal teacher on the Miami City Ballet School faculty.

Geta Constantinescu - was born in Romania. She performed numerous principal and soloist roles with the Company of State Opera and Ballet in Timisoara. In 1970, while touring in Italy, she defected to the West. She performed as a guest artist all over Europe and America. Ms. Constantinescu began her teaching career in New York. She was Ballet Mistress with the Ballet Arizona, Manhattan Ballet of New York, Universal Ballet in Seoul, and the Hong Kong Ballet. She was also Lecturer with the Academy for Performing Arts in Hong Kong. While touring the United States with the Hong Kong Ballet, she was invited by Linda Villella to become a principal teacher at the Miami City Ballet School. Ms. Constantinescu has staged the third act of Sleeping Beauty and the pas de trios from the first act of Swan Lake for Miami City Ballet company, and with Edward Villella, mounted the full-length production of Don Quixote. For advanced students at Miami City Ballet School, Ms. Constantinescu produced her own production of Cinderella, and with her colleague Rafi Maldonado, created the original ballet Carnival of the Animals, both of which were performed to high acclaim at Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. In addition, Ms. Constantinescu is a master trainer in the Gyrotonic® Technique.

Jeanette Delgado – trained at the Miami City Ballet School, Liana Navarro and Vivian Tobio Ballet School. She joined Miami City Ballet as an apprentice in 2003 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2008.

Patricia Delgado – Principal Dancer with Miami City Ballet, was born and raised in Miami. Ms. Delgado trained at the Miami City Ballet School and with Liana Navarro and Vivian Tobio. She spent summers studying in New York City at both the School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. Ms. Delgado joined Miami City Ballet as an apprentice in 2000 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2007. She has danced featured roles in ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, and Paul Taylor, among others. During Summer 2010, Ms. Delgado joins the MCBS faculty for the first time.

Carlos Guerra – is from Camaguey, Cuba where he trained at the Professional School of Ballet and Plastic Arts. He joined the Ballet de Camaguey at age 17 as a soloist, and was quickly promoted to principal dancer. Two years later Mr. Guerra joined the Ballet de Santiago in Chile under Ivan Nagy, dancing both soloist and principal roles. He joined Miami City Ballet as a soloist in 2001, achieving the rank of Principal Dancer in 2003. Mr. Guerra has since danced leading roles in numerous works by Balanchine, Robbins, and Twyla Tharp, as well as Giselle and the full-length Don Quixote. He has enjoyed dancing with MCB in the "Balanchine Celebration" at The Kennedy Center, at New York’s City Center, at the Los Angeles Music Center, and at the Vail International Dance Festival. This year marks Mr. Guerra's fifth year teaching for the MCBS Summer Intensive Program.

Kyra Homeres -- began her dance studies with her mother at Lamorinda Ballet Center in Moraga, California. She continued her training at the San Francisco Ballet School and North Carolina School of the Arts, where she worked closely with Melissa Hayden and Warren Conover. Ms. Homeres spent summers studying at the School of American Ballet in New York City. In 2002, Ms. Homeres joined Carolina Ballet. She became a member of Miami City Ballet in 2004, dancing for five years with the company. Ms. Homeres has been teaching dance for the past eight years in California, North Carolina, and Florida. Currently Ms. Homeres teaches Creative Movement and Ballet Prep I in the pre-professional program at Miami City Ballet School, as well as popular Open Adult ballet classes. She was recently accepted into the nursing program at the University of Miami.

Jennifer Kronenberg – was born and raised in Queens, New York where she trained with Teresa Aubel, Barbara Walczack, Nicholas Orloff and Norman Walker; she completed her training on scholarship at the School of American Ballet. Ms. Kronenberg was invited to join Miami City Ballet as an apprentice at age 17, was nominated by Edward Villella for the Princess Grace Award, and moved rapidly through the ranks to become Principal Dancer in 2001. Ms. Kronenberg has proudly danced leading roles in MCB’s rich repertoire, including works by Balanchine, Robbins, and Tharp. She has appeared with the company in such prestigious venues as The Kennedy Center, the Edinborough Festival, the Torino Festival de Danza, New York’s City Center, and the Vail International Dance Festival. Various publications, including Pointe, SoBe Fit, and FL Personalities magazines, have featured Ms. Kronenberg. Most recently she represented MCB on the cover of the October 2009 issue of DANCE magazine. This will be Ms. Kronenberg's seventh year teaching for the MCBS Summer Intensive Program.

Joan Latham – (Ballet Mistress, Miami City Ballet) began her training in San Francisco and at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, where she performed and toured with the Company. She joined MCB in 1992 and rose to soloist position before becoming Ballet Mistress. She is responsible for staging and rehearsing the Company in much of the repertoire.

Philip Neal -- is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. Born in Richmond, Virginia, Mr. Neal began his dance training at age 11 at the Richmond Ballet School. At an early age he was spotted by Edward Villella and offered a summer scholarship to the School of American Ballet (SAB). In 1985, Mr. Neal won a silver medal in the International Prix de Lausanne ballet competition. He graduated magna cum laude from St. Paul’s School in 1986 and was named a Presidential Scholar of the Arts by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and as part of that honor performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Mr. Neal joined New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet in 1987, moving through the ranks to become principal. He has appeared in many featured roles in choreography by Balanchine, Robbins, Tharp, Martins, and others. With the New York City Ballet, Mr. Neal has appeared at their Lincoln Center and Saratoga homes, on tour in Europe and Asia, and in several nationally televised broadcasts including “Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100”, in which he danced in Liebeslieder Walzer. Mr. Neal is a faculty member at SAB and frequently teaches New York City Ballet’s company class. He has choreographed ballets for the Richmond Ballet and for the New York Choreographic Institute.

Renato Penteado – was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he began his dance training at age seven.  In 1997 he participated in a program called “Special Group of Classic Dances of Sao Paulo”.  Through a course titled “Cuballet”, directed by Laura Alonso, he danced as a soloist in Giselle.  At “Cuballet” in 1998, he danced Siegfried in Swan Lake. In the same year he was a semifinalist at the international competitions in Jackson, Mississippi and Varna, Bulgaria. Mr. Penteado joined Miami City Ballet in 1999 as a member of the Corps and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2004. He has danced many ballets including Balanchine's Donizetti Variations, Symphony in C, Tarantella, Ballet Imperial, and Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux; Robbin's Fancy Free, Dances at a Gathering, and In the Night; and Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs, In The Upper Room, and "The Golden Section." He has performed leading roles in Don Quixote, Giselle, and The Neighborhood Ballroom, among many others. Mr. Penteado has taught on the faculty of the Miami City Ballet Summer Intensive program for the past seven years. 

Roberto Rodriguez - began his dance training with Ballets de San Juan in Puerto Rico and studied at the School of American Ballet in New York. He worked for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, returning to Ballets de San Juan, where he performed many classical lead male roles, specializing in George Balanchine's choreographies. Mr. Rodriguez holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management and in Theater and Dance Education from the University of Puerto Rico. For the past 28 years he has been teaching ballet, theater, pantomime and creative movement. He is currently a Florida State Department of Education certified teacher. He has worked as a Dance Consultant for the M-DCPS, and is also an adjunct teacher for the New World School of the Arts, Theater Division. He is currently the Artistic Dance Director for the Miami Arts Charter School Dance Department and a member of the ballet faculty of the Miami City Ballet School.

Jeanne Elser Smith - is a former dancer at Kansas City Ballet, Hartford Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet, and taught dance at the Massachusetts Youth Ballet. She has a Master's degree in Elementary Education from Lesley University, and taught first grade in Massachusetts for several years. She joined the Miami City Ballet School faculty in 2009, and teaches Mommy and Me Music and Movement classes for 3- and 4-year-olds.

Kim Sonderegger - trained in New York City at the Joffrey and American Ballet Theatre schools, with Ben Stevenson at Houston Ballet, Marjorie Mussman, and other noted teachers. She was associated with Ballet Arizona for 20 years, first as a dancer, performing soloist and corps roles, and later as a teacher and administrator. During her tenure at Ballet Arizona, Ms. Sonderegger directed the dance program at Arizona School for the Arts. As a faculty member in the College of Fine Arts at Arizona State University, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in ballet and related subjects for four years. In 2008, Ms. Sonderegger joined the faculty of Miami City Ballet School, where she teaches, choreographs for school performances, and is the liaison for accreditation with the National Association of Schools of Dance. She has taught ballet in Asia and South America. Ms. Sonderegger holds a Master's degree in Anthropology from Arizona State University, where she graduated Summa cum Laude, specializing in the archaeology of the American Southwest.

JAZZ AND PHYSICAL CONDITIONING

Richard Amaro – began his career dancing with the Alivin Ailey Repertory Ensemble. He has appeared on Broadway in the original companies of Jerome Robbins Broadway and Dangerous Games and played the role of Bernardo with the national, Japan, and world tours of West Side Story. Mr. Amaro has performed with Michael Jackson, Prince, Tina Turner, and Vanessa Williams, and has appeared in the films The Mambo Kings and Jeffrey and on television in In Living Color and Murder She Wrote. His most recent accomplishments include choreographing a national tour of Dream Girls, numerous TV commercials and performing with Chita Rivera throughout the United States. Mr. Amaro teaches jazz at Miami City Ballet School and is a guest faculty member at New World School of the Arts. He choreographed Lounge 2200 for Miami City Ballet's "Open Barre Dance Series" with his colleagues Liz Malm and Rafi Maldonado.

Rafi Maldonado-López - is a faculty member of New World School of the Arts, where he teaches ballet and advanced Jazz for Music Theatre, and Movement in the Drama track. He has worked as a guest teacher across the Midwest as well as St. Petersburg, Russia, for the resident dance company of the famed Music Hall. He began his dance training in San Juan, Puerto Rico with Ballet Concierto and Ballet de San Juan, and later continued his studies under scholarship at Joffrey Ballet School and the Boston Conservatory. He performed contemporary works with Boston Dance Company, Minnesota Dance Theater, Ballet of the Dolls, Ballet Arts of Minnesota, as well as various commercial video works. Most recently he has choreographed for Anything Goes, Carousel, and Guys and Dolls, and has just been awarded a choreography commission for a new original Broadway musical: Palladium. Mr. Maldonado-Lopez is head of the Jazz department of MCB School since 2004.

Liz Malm - is a Miami native who graduated from New World School of the Arts. Ms. Malm has worked in the music video industry, where she has choreographed, danced and toured with artists such as Lenny Kravitz, Ricky Martin, Jay-Z, P-Diddy, Beastie Boys, Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction, Lil' Romeo, Baha Men, Carlos Ponce, Jaime Camil, Tito Puente and Iron and Wine. She has choreographed many commercials and television shows such as Virgin Mobile featuring Missy Elliot, Samsung, Bud Light featuring Cedric the Entertainer, Super Bowl, Lays Potato Chips, Telefonica, Herbal Essence, Pollo Tropical, "Truth" Anti-smoking campaign, MTV, BET, CBS, Telemundo and Univision. Ms. Malm has also choreographed half-time shows for the Miami Heat. Currently, Ms. Malm divides her time between New World School of the Arts and Miami City Ballet School, where she teaches jazz, stretch, and hip hop classes and choreographs for student performances. She recently choreographed Lounge 2200 for Miami City Ballet's "Open Barre Dance Series", with Rafi Maldonado and Richard Amaro.


Crista Villella - (Ballet Mistress, Miami City Ballet) As a certified GYROKENISIS® trainer under the instruction of Julio Horvath with continued training with master trainers Sebastian Plettenberg and Erica Hassan. Crista has taught all levels of students at Miami City Ballet's Summer Intensive Program. Crista graduated from NYU in 2003. Her ballet studies include the Miami City Ballet School and School of American Ballet in New York.