Donna Pidel founded the Ballet Royale Institute of Maryland in 1994. Ms. Pidel has won numerous awards for both her teaching and her choreography. She received a Capezio Award at the North American Ballet Competition in 1999. Under the direction of Ms. Pidel, Ballet Royale was awarded Outstanding School four times by the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix. Ms Pidel is an ABT® Affiliate Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Ms. Pidel's choreography has been danced in the U.S. and abroad. Her piece, Nightbird, was danced at the world famous Maryinski Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, before dignataries including former Vice President Al Gore. Ms. Pidel has a roster of successful students. In 2009, Ms. Pidel was nominated for a Howie Award for Outstanding Teacher. Ms. Pidel is actively involved in many community organizations including Linwood Children’s Center, in which she serves on the Board of Directors.
Jennifer Boothe trained as a classical ballet dancer at Caryl Maxwell Classical Ballet. She was a Soloist in The Ellicott City Ballet Guild and her repertoire includes The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, Coppelia, Cinderella, among others. Mrs. Boothe attended the American Academy of Ballet & The Peabody Institute. She is a noteworthy coach for dancers for national and international competitions. Mrs. Boothe holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Mrs Boothe will attend the 2011 American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum Teacher Training.
Debra Robinson began studying dance in Baltimore with Ellen Gniazdowski and Wally Saunders. After studying at The Joffrey Ballet School and with Joyce Trisler at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Ms. Robinson returned to Baltimore to dance with the Maryland Ballet. She earned her B.A. from Goucher College majoring in Dance/Performance and Choreography. Ms Robinson has been on the faculty for The Baltimore School for the Arts since 1988. We are happy to welcome her to the Ballet Royale Faculty. Ms. Robinson is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
Julie Muller Stahl was began her serious ballet training in the Vaganova Ballet technique with Elena Kunikova (Kirov Ballet), Marika Besobrasova (L Academie de Danse Classique de Princess Grace), and Elisabeth Carroll (Harkness Ballet/Skidmorre College) in addition to the Princeton Ballet School, School of American Ballet and Burklyn Ballet Theater. In 1990, she joined Hubbard Street Dance Company and thereafter FELD Ballets/NY and Twyla Tharp Dance Company. She has performed a diverse repetoire of work by Balanchine, Agnes DeMille, JiYi Kyli-n, Daniel Ezralow, and Margo Sappington in addition to touring the world performing original works by Elliot Feld and Twyla Tharp. Additionally, Ms. Stahl has been a guest artist with the New York City Opera and several regional dance companies. As a young dancer she was trained in the modern dance techniques of Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Paul Sanasardo and Jennifer Muller/The Works. Ms. Stahl is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
Lester Holmes attended Southern Illinois University as a theater arts major, then later went to NYC to study acting, dance and voice. During his first year, he danced with the Mt. Laurel Regional Ballet Company in NJ, and worked as an acrobat in various shows in the New York area as well as on the road. Mr. Holmes had a successful performance career in and around NYC singing and dancing on Broadway, on television and in national tours and has worked with many noted choreographers and celebrities. During that time, he taught dance at Broadway Dance Center in NYC and then moved to Florence, Italy for four years to teach and choreograph. Lester has taught and continues to teach master classes throughout the eastern part of the country. He moved to the Baltimore area in 1993 to direct his own dance studio and has been a guest teacher at many of the dance studios in the area. He recently has the privilege of teaching at Goucher College, Towson University and HCC. He also enjoys teaching master classes and choreographing shows in the area.
Angela Romeo studied at Ballet Royale Institute of Maryland, and has a wide background in both classical and contemporary genres. A member of Kinetics Dance Company, Ms. Romeo has an extensive modern repertoire that includes knowledge of some of the finest techniques including Horton, Limon, and Graham. Ms. Romeo holds a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Loyola University Maryland. Ms. Romeo is the director of dance at Mt. de Sales Academy, and also choreographs for the Mt. de Sales Theatre Department. Ms. Romeo has been teaching at Ballet Royale since 1999.
Amber Dulski has studied at Ballet Royale Institute of Maryland, as well as at Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Ms. Dulski had a role in the movie "The Replacements" and also acted in and choreographed several local commercials and independent films. Ms. Dulski was considered for the lead in the movie Step Up. Ms. Dulski has been teaching jazz and hip hop at Ballet Royale since 2008.
Valerie McConoughey received her training from Ballet Royale Institute of Maryland, where she studied extensively in classical ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, and tap. Ms. McConoughey holds Bachelor's Degrees in both Dance and Elementary Education from the University of Maryland at Baltimore County. Ms. McConoughey is a first grade teacher at Veterans Elementary School in Howard County and has taught at Ballet Royale since 2006.
Genevieve Simard is a graduate of Ballet Royale Institute of Maryland, where she studied with master teachers and guest choreographers. She has a diverse repertoire in both classical and contemporary genres including Nutcracker, Giselle, Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, and more. Additionally, Ms. Simard has studied at prestigious summer schools such as American Ballet Theatre, American Acadamy of Ballet, Carolina Ballet, among others. She has performed alongside stars from American Ballet Theatre in Ballet Royale productions including Bravo and the Nutcracker Gala. Ms. Simard is currently teaching in the Ballet Steps Program, as well as Ballet Royale Outreach Programs. She is currently continuing her dance education at Howard Community College and was a part of the HCC Dance Company in Spring of 2011.
Giuliana Watson is a graduate of Ballet Royale Institute of Maryland, and has studied with legendary teachers including Debbie Allen and more. She has danced at the Kennedy Center, and shared the stage with stars from American Ballet Theatre and Alvin Ailey. She is currently double-majoring in Pre-Med and Mathematics at the University of Maryland at College Park. Ms.Watson is the director of outreach programs for Ballet Royale Institute of Maryland.
Ballet Royale Institute of Marlyand 9147 D Red Branch Road Columbia, MD 21045 Phone: 410.997.8443
Email us: balletroyale@verizon.net
Ellyssa Tilles, Pre-Professional trainee and member of the Royale Concert Dancers. Ms. Tilles has attended prestigious summer programs including Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles and American Academy of Ballet. She will be attending the Joffrey Ballet's Contemporary and Classical Intensives this summer.
Alicia Graf Mack is a graduate of the Ballet Royale under the direction of Donna Pidel. Ms. Graf was a principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theatre of Harlem and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. She is also a guest writer for several nationally distributed dance publications. She has guest performed with Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, and with Andre 3000 and Beyonce at Radio City Music Hall. Her honors include the Columbia University Award of Excellence, Smithsonian Magazine’s Young Innovator award and St. Louis Magazine’s 2009 A-List. In 2008, she delivered the keynote address to the graduates of Columbia University’s School of General Studies. Graf graduated magna cum laude with honors in History from Columbia University, and is a Nonprofit Management master’s degree candidate at Washington University in St. Louis.
Katherine Williams was born in Honolulu, HI and began her early training with the Hawaii State Ballet. After moving to Maryland with her family, she studied at the Ballet Royale Academy under the direction of Donna Pidel. She was awarded the Youth Grand Prix at the 2003 Finals of the Youth America Grand Prix in New York, and was a Top 12 Finalist at the 2005 Finals. In 2003, she was awarded a full scholarship to the Boston Ballet Summer Dance program. From 2004 to 2006, she attended the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensives as a National Training Scholar, and in 2006 she also attended the Stiefel and Stars Summer Program.Williams joined the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at ABT in the fall of 2005 and remained there until joining the Studio Company in 2007. She joined the main Company as an Apprentice in December 2007 and the corps de ballet in June 2008.
Grace Bromery and Jessica Son, Pre-Professional trainees
Anne Sanagursky and Genevieve Simard