Gloria Govrin Working with a Student

Directors & Faculty

Behind all dancers who believe in themselves are teachers who believed in them first.

The professionalism of our faculty has earned Eastern Connecticut Ballet its reputation for excellence. Having studied at the world’s best schools and performed with major companies, our instructors and visiting artists have both the experience and the vision to train the next generation of dancers. They also act as counselors to provide our students with professional guidance as they navigate their education and careers.

Artistic Director Gloria Govrin oversees a curriculum that provides the highest quality technical instruction at all levels of ability; this program produces well-trained, versatile dancers who reach for the best. Today, ECB’s reputation for superb teaching draws students from all corners of the state. Our summer intensives also attract many from throughout the United States who wish to study under Ms. Govrin, and our distinguished guest artists from New York City Ballet and elsewhere.

Krystin Dixon: Executive Director

Ms. Dixon is originally from Baltimore, Maryland where she started her dance training at the age of three.  She later trained and graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts.  She has also trained at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Washington Ballet and Boston Ballet.

Ms. Dixon had the pleasure of dancing many lead and soloist roles while in school. While in college, she discovered her passion for teaching and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Hartford, The Hartt School with a BFA in Ballet Pedagogy.  She teaches a wide range of classes, from pre-ballet through the advanced levels, directs many aspects of the Nutcracker production, and creates choreography for young children through company dancers.

Gloria Govrin: Artistic Director

Gloria Govrin - Faculty at Eastern Connecticut Ballet

A product of the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet, Gloria Govrin was the leader of the "tall-is-terrific" look of modern ballet. Gloria's strength, stature, and stamina made her a star soloist for many years. In fact, George Balanchine often choreographed roles specifically for her because of her stage presence and unique abilities. Roles such as Hippolyta in A Midsummer's Night Dream, Coffee in Nutcracker, the Princess in Firebird, and La Bonne Fee in Harlequinade were so stamped with her identity, that the entrances and exits on the scores were marked with her name rather than that of the role. Mr. Balanchine also established her in high-profile roles and ballets such as Stars and Stripes, Western Symphony, Apollo, Agon, Dewdrop in Nutcracker, and many others.

Upon retirement, Ms. Govrin opened her own school and company in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In 1986, Robert Weiss asked her to come to the Pennsylvania Ballet to teach and from there, she became the principal teacher at the Rock School, the official school of the Pennsylvania Ballet. At the school, Gloria choreographed showcases, conducted audition tours, created and presented lecture demonstrations, taught company classes and assisted in staging Balanchine repertoire. In 1999, she was invited by Helgi Tomasson to be the Associate Director of the San Francisco Ballet School.  During her 8 years there, she trained many students who went on to professional careers with San Francisco Ballet, as well as many other companies worldwide.

Over the years, Ms. Govrin has been an invaluable mainstay to the Ballet World.  People still refer to her strength and personality as a dancer on stage, but she has yet to find a greater passion for this art than teaching. Ms. Govrin is considered one of the leading masters of the Balanchine Technique and she brings her years of experience into every class she teaches.  Most recently, she was honored by Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame.  Along with her illustrious career, Ms. Govrin is most proud of her daughter, Olivia, a graduate of Berklee College of Music, who currently teaches music for the Boston Public Schools.

 

Julie Wright: Production Coordinator, Grant Writer, Pre-Ballet

Julie Wright is native to northeastern Ohio where she received her initial dance training and performance experience with Northeast Ohio Dance under Brenda and Christopher Stygar. She graduated Cum Laude from DeSales University with a B.A. in dance where she had the opportunity to continue her training in ballet and modern techniques. Upon graduation, she had the pleasure of dancing professionally in the Philadelphia area and performed the work of many accomplished choreographers including Trinette Singleton, Sarah Carlson, and Lisa Wasserman.  Ms. Wright has been fortunate to have supplemented her dance training with intensive programs at schools such as Paul Taylor, The Joffrey Ballet School, and Ballet Met. She has helped to coordinate many story ballets and has taught ballet and creative movement to students in various areas of the country since 2006. Julie possesses a love for kinesiology and dance somatics and continues to work diligently to share her passion for movement with dancers of all abilities.  Since joining Eastern Connecticut Ballet, Ms. Wright serves as the Assistant to the Executive Director, as well as teaches ballet to young children.  She enjoys working closely with Damara Bennett, Director of Children’s Programming, to ensure curriculum consistency.

Laura Barnard: Pre-Ballet, Ballet & Character

Laura Barnard Working with Kids at Eastern Connecticut Ballet

Ms. Barnard began her study of dance at age 14. Before this time, she was an international level competitor in Rhythmic Gymnastics. Ms. Barnard holds a classical ballet teaching degree from the Fontys Dance Academy in the Netherlands, specializing in the Vaganova Style.  She also has a modern dance performing degree from the Rotterdam Dance Academy, specializing in the Cunningham and Limón Technique.  She completed a scholarship program at the Merce Cunningham Studios in NYC.

Ms. Barnard performed professionally with several companies in Europe and NYC, including Introdans with which she traveled internationally to Morocco, France, Croatia and Indonesia.  She was honored to perform in pieces by choreographers Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, David Parson, Mia Michaels and Merce Cunningham among others. Ms. Barnard has taught classical ballet throughout her dancing career to ages 3 to 80 in the Netherlands and New York City.  Ms. Barnard works closely with Ms. Bennett to insure curriculum continuity.

Jeremy Cox: Ballet & Jazz

Portrait of ECB Ballet Faculty Member Jeremy Cox

Jeremy Cox started his training at New Haven Ballet at the age of 4. In 1994, was accepted into the School of American Ballet on scholarship where studied for five years. Mr. Cox has been honored to train under esteemed teachers such as Stanley Williams, Richard Rapp, Peter Boal, Jock Soto, Suki Schorer, Susie Pilarre and Katrina Killian.

Mr. Cox has received numerous awards for his dancing in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary and Tap, including the Presidential Scholarship at the White House and by President Clinton in 1998. In 1999, he received a contract from Edward Villella to join the Miami City Ballet where he traveled up the ranks to Principal Dancer in 2006.

Mr. Cox has had the privilege to perform principal roles by notable choreographers such as George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Antony Tudor and Mark Morris. In 2010, he left Miami City Ballet to join Twyla Tharp in his Broadway debut as a principal in “Come Fly Away”.  After, he toured Europe and Japan as a guest artist with Miami City Ballet and Twyla Tharp. In 2014, Jeremy began teaching in Connecticut.

Marc Spielberger Working with Student at Eastern Connecticut BalletMarc Spielberger: Ballet

Mr. Spielberger was trained at the Ballet Academy Munich, Heinz – Bosl Foundation. He danced with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and performed as a Soloist with the Miami City Ballet under the direction of Edward Villella. He has danced at the Kennedy Center, the Music Center/L.A, New York City Center and throughout Europe, China and Russia, performing works by Maurice Bejart, Roland Petit, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, William Forsythe, John Neumeier, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Jiri Kilian, Nacho Duato, Edward Villella, Patrice Bart, Mark Baldwin, Peter Martins, and others. Since his retirement, he has taught at schools in Japan, Germany, France, Austria and ballet companies throughout the United States and Germany.

Mr. Spielberger is also a noted choreographer. He has choreographed works for Miami City Ballet among others. His ballet Sanctuary won the Prix Noveau at the American Ballet Competition in 2009.

Barbara Parish: ModernBarbara Parish - Faculty Member at Eastern Connecticut Ballet

A teacher, choreographer, and performer, Ms. Parish received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance from The Boston Conservatory and a master's degree in Education from Boston University. She has been awarded Dance Educator’s Fellowships and grants for study at the Bates College Dance Festival for the past several years. In addition to working with many companies and choreographers as a freelance dancer, she was a dancer/soloist with Tslila & Dancers and a member of the Boston Dance Theatre. Ms. Parish also performed in repertory with The Cliff Keuter Company and Frances Alienikoff Company.

Ms. Parish was the Head of the Dance Department at Brookline High School in Brookline, Mass., and is currently the Director of Dance at The Williams School in New London. She has also been a faculty member and contributing choreographer at a variety of dance studios and schools. For the past 18 years, Ms. Parish has created a diverse repertory of choreography for both professional and student groups. Her works include Musical Theatre, Jazz, Contemporary Modern Dance, Ballet, and Early Modern Dance styles. Her choreography has been described as “upbeat, energetic . . . with a confident air” and “elegantly sophisticated."

Alison Oakes Charbonnier: Adult Modern

Alison Oakes Charbonnier has been teaching modern technique, choreography and creative movement to children, teens and adults for 24 years.  She has a BA from Bates College and a MA in Dance and Dance Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.  While living in NYC, Alison taught with New York City Ballet's Education Department and Creative Arts Laboratory in the public schools and was a faculty member and resident choreographer at Iona College.  Alison directed and taught at Actions Arts Summer Camp in NYC and at The Summerdance Intensive in NJ.  She also had the opportunity to do two residencies at Bates College.  Alison is part of a 20 year choreographic collaboration and performance duo with Liliana Amador-Marty.  Their work together has been performed in NY, NJ, Ct, and ME.  Since moving back to CT, Alison has taught at Elizabeth's School of Classical Modern Dance, Kate's Camp for Kids, and has most recently been running her own classes.

 

Christine Finch Penche - Adaptive Dance Teacher at Eastern Connecticut BalletChristine Finch: Ballet & Adaptive Dance

Christine Finch received her pre-professional training at Eastern Connecticut Ballet. She attended Butler University and graduated with a B.A. in Dance Pedagogy with a focus on early childhood education and development. As an undergraduate, Ms. Finch completed the National Dance Institute Teacher Training Course and taught an after-school program for at-risk children at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Indianapolis. She has taught ballet at several dance studios in the Midwest and New England as an undergraduate and graduate. Recently, Ms. Finch completed an Adaptive Dance Teacher Training Workshop at Boston Ballet. She is extremely passionate about working with differently-abled students and adults and sharing Adaptive Dance with the community.

 

Lise Reardon: Founder

Ms. Reardon taught classical ballet in southeastern Connecticut for 21 years before devoting her full-time efforts to school development. Twenty-seven years ago, Ms. Reardon established Eastern Connecticut Ballet as the region’s only non-profit training school for young dancers. Before this, she ran the Riveredge School of Ballet and Ballet de Jeunesse in Niantic for 11 years. Under Ms. Reardon’s direction, Eastern Connecticut Ballet’s school has grown from 60 to over 300 students, expanded its programs to offer modern, character, jazz, Pilates and other forms of dance, and established a place in the community as a premiere arts resource.

Ms. Reardon majored in dance at the Juilliard School of Music and holds a bachelor of arts, cum laude, in elementary education from the University of North Carolina. She performed with the Ruth Page Ballet Company, the Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet Company, and the St. Louis Ballet.

In Chicago, she trained with Ruth Page, Larry Long and American Ballet Theater principals Ruth Ann Koesun and John Kriza. In New York, she studied with Antony Tudor, Alfredo Corvino, Sallie Wilson, Michael Uthoff, and modern dance greats José Limón, Betty Jones, and Kazuko Hirabayashi.

Ms. Reardon serves on the Advisory Board of the Connecticut Dance Alliance and is a member of the SECT Cultural Coalition.  She was most recently honored by Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame.