Faculty
Pamela Bjerknes (Artistic Director) has been teaching dance to children for over 25 years. Ms. Bjerknes was invited to join American Ballet Theatre under the direction of Mikhail Baryshnikov where she danced all the classics from Swan Lake to La Bayadere. Ballets by Anthony Tudor, Agnes DeMille, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins were in her repertoire. Ms. Bjerknes danced soloist and principal roles in the Houston Ballet under Ben Stevenson prior to joining American Ballet Theatre.
Nina McKim (Ballet) trained extensively with the Washington School of Ballet and received a BFA in dance from
Erin Mahoney-Du (Ballet) is currently a soloist with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet. Ms. Du has performed roles in Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15, La Source, La Valse, Don Quixote, and Clarinade. She began her professional career with American Repertory Ballet Company in Princeton. Ms Du later joined The Washington Ballet becoming a principal dancer performing roles in Giselle, Nutcracker as well as ballets by Paul Taylor, Jerome Robbins, William Forsythe, Nacho Duato, Twyla Tharp, Christopher Wheeldon, Lila York, Trey McIntyre, and Septime Webre. In 2005, while maintaining her position with The Washington Ballet, Ms. Du joined the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, a creation of The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Since age nineteen, she has served as a repetiteur, setting Septime Webre and Trey McIntyre’s ballets for Miami City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Louisville Ballet, Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Ballet de San Juan, Cincinnati Ballet, Colorado Ballet, and The Washington Ballet. She has taught for Princeton Ballet School, The Washington School of Ballet and other local schools. She is married to her long-time colleague Runqiao Du.
Karen Atienza (PreBallet) received a BFA in Dance Performance from the University of Akron and a Master of Fine Arts, Elementary Education from Kent State University. Karen has taught dance and choreography in California, Ohio, New York and Maryland. Her performing experience includes opera, ballet, modern dance and choreography. Karen is studying to become a certified Pilates instructor and is an apprentice of the Articulate Eye Pilates Training program at the American Dance Institute.
Joy DiLillo Harrington (Jazz, PreBallet) graduated from George Mason University with a BFA in Dance where she received the award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Dance. Joy has studied and performed at the American College Dance Festivals at Ohio State University, George Mason University, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Bates Summer Dance Festival and Chautauqua Dance Festival. Her performing experience also includes Mayzsoul Dance Company, Next Reflex Dance Collective, DC Improv Festival, Jane Franklin Dance Sampler, and the Goose Route Festival. Her choreographic works have been presented at George Mason University, Vienna Theatre and Herndon High School. Joy also enjoys musical theatre and working with the Vienna Youth Players having choreographed “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, “The Me Nobody Knows”, “Godspell”, “Oliver”, “Runaways”, and “Into the Woods”. In addition to her teaching schedule Joy is currently working on a program of music and dance with Dr. Guessford, music professor at George Mason University and is the festival coordinator for ADI’s High School Dance Festival 2009.
Maggie Giragosian (Ballet) holds a BFA in Dance and a BA in English from George Mason University. She received her early training at the Maryland Youth Ballet, the Washington School of Ballet, and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Her performing experience includes works by Melissa Hayden, Colleen O'Callaghan, Kevin Campbell, and Constance Dinapoli. Her classical repertoire includes Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, and Le Corsaire. Ms. Giragosian choreographed three original works for the George Mason University Dance Company and represented GMU at the American College Dance Festival and Chautauqua Dance Festival.
Tally Frieder (Ballet) is a former member of the San Francisco Ballet under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. Her performing experience includes ballets by Balanchine, Robbins, Tudor, and Ashton. Ms. Frieder also danced with Oakland Ballet. Her early training includes the National Academy of the Arts in Illinois, Joffrey Ballet School, and the Chautauqua Institute. Ms. Frieder holds a BA in Creative Arts Therapy from George Washington University.
Amy Neal (PreBallet) is originally from Pennsylvania, where she began her dance training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and continued at the Harrisburg Dance Conservatory. She has performed with the Harrisburg Dance Ensemble, the Harrisburg Ballet, and Upstate NY Ballet as well as for several DC area choreographers. Amy earned her BS degree from Syracuse University and her MS from the University of Maryland. She has been teaching ballet to students of all ages for the past ten years.
Helanius Wilkins (Modern) is a choreographer, performance artist, and instructor based in Washington D.C. He is the founder of H. J. Wilkins/Dimensions Inc. (hjw/D), and the Artistic Director of EDGEWORKS Dance Theater, an all-male contemporary dance company and a project of hjw/D. A dance graduate of SUNY Brockport, he received the 2001 Metro DC Dance award for Emerging Choreographer. Mr. Wilkins has performed with choreographers such as Joy Kellman, Maida Withers, and Gesel Mason. His choreography has been created and performed throughout the United States. His works have been supported through funding by The Meredith Foundation, Regional Arts Commission, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Glenn Sales (Musical Director) Praised as "a first rate musician..." (John Rockwell, The New York Times), and an artist "...with impressive clarity and passion..." (Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times), pianist Glenn Sales has been well-known to Washington, D.C., audiences since his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at age 14. He received his training at the Juilliard School of Music under the guidance of legendary pianist Earl Wild. He also studied at the University of Maryland with Dr. Nelita True and the Guarneri String Quartet. His ballet activity has included performances of concertos by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Martinu, Bloch, Poulenc and works of Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Liszt, Donizetti, Debussy and Ginastera. Mr. Sales has been an annual guest pianist for the American Ballet Theatre and premiered Kevin McKenzie's Liszt Transcendental Etudes at Jacob's Pillow. He has collaborated with Suzanne Farrell since 1995 performing Stravinsky's Movements for Piano and Orchestra, Duo Concertante, Gershwin's Who Cares?, Glinka's Divertimento Brillante and most recently Faure's Ballade for Piano and Orchestra. He has been a guest pianist for Dance Theatre of Harlem, Miami City Ballet and the Royal Ballet.
Linda Kipps (Principal Pianist) has played classes for Ben Stevenson, Kevin McKenzie and Mark Goldweber. Her music has inspired several generations of dancers. She formerly accompanied classes for Eric Hampton and other schools in the DC area.
Nicholas Carey, (Pianist) a native of Maryland, received his performance degree at Arizona State University studying with Professor Robert Hamilton. He was awarded a full scholarship for graduate studies at the University of Indiana under Alexander Toradze. He later studied in London with Maria Curcio. In 1997 he was awarded a two-year appointment as artist-in-residence at the Scottsdale Symphony Orchestra, with whom he has performed on numerous occasions. Mr. Carey has been a pianist for the American Dance Institute since spring of 2008.
Natalia Sutherland (Pianist) was qualified as teacher and concertmaster at the Ural State University in Russia where she was trained to play classical piano music by the Russian masters (Tchaikovsy, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, et.al.). Natalia has played as accompanist at area ballet schools in Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland in the last eleven years.
Yelena Yusinovich (Pianist) received a musical education in Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky) and in Taganrog. She was the head accompanist of the ballet company of the Gorky State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. In 1991, Yelena immigrated with her family in the United States. She started as an accompanist at the Maryland Youth Ballet in Bethesda, Maryland, The Washington School of Ballet, Kirov Academy and various other ballet schools in the DC area. Throughout her time in the U.S., Yelena has played for numerous master classes, rehearsals, and auditions for the majority of ballet companies that performed at the Kennedy Center. She also accompanied the Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell program since 1993.
