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Artistic Advisory Board
Galina Samsova
Ms. Samsova is a retired Russian ballerina and studied at the Kiev Ballet School and in 1956 graduated into the Kiev Ballet where she became a soloist. In 1960 she married the Canadian Alexander Ursuliak and moved to Canada where she joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1961. She was soon promoted to a principal and made her West European debut in a French production of Cinderella, for which she won a gold medal in the Paris International Dance Festival.
She joined London Festival Ballet as a Principal in 1964. While there, she formed a partnership with David Adams, performing in Spring Waters, Corsaire, Swan Lake, Walpurgisnacht and many others. The pair won the Gold Medal at Il Festival De La Opera, Madrid for their performance of Giselle, and Adams was Samsova's partner during her historic audition for the Paris Opera.
Ms. Samsova subsequently formed a small company with André Prokovsky, the New London Ballet, which toured in five continents with a repertory consisting mostly of especially created works. After the company ended, she followed Prokovsky in Italy where he had accepted the directorship of the Rome Opera House for two years. In 1978 she danced as a guest with Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet (now called Birmingham Royal Ballet), joining the company as a Principal and teacher two years later.
After retiring from the stage, she became the artistic director of Scottish Ballet and she occasionally came back to Rome to stage Prokovsky's Sleeping Beauty and her own production of Swan Lake.
She has been a mentor to a few young ballerinas in Great Britain: first Italian Viviana Durante, spotted by Samsova at the Rome ballet school at age 10; and then Spanish Tamara Rojo, invited by Samsova to join the Scottish Ballet as a guest to make her UK debut at age 20.
Jean - Paul Comelin
French born choreographer, director and master teacher Jean - Paul Comelin has long been associated with the world's most prominent ballet companies, and some of the greatest names in the dance world of the 20th century.
Mr. Comelin joined the Paris - Opera Ballet in 1956 and went on to dance with London Festival Ballet, the National Ballet of Washington and Pennsylvania Ballet as a principal dancer. He w]has also appeared as guest artist with the Australian Ballet, performed with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and was coached by George Balanchine in several of his own ballets.
He choreographed his first ballet, Autumn Songs for the National Ballet of Canada for Ballerinas Veronica Tennant and Karen Kain. He then proceeded to create over sixty works for companies on five continents. In 1980 Mr. Comelin was invited by Artistic Director Marcia Haydee to be the Ballet Master of the prestigious Stuttgart Ballet, where he created two new works for the company, Saltarello and Overtones.
As Artisitic Director of Ballet du Nord in France, he created several works including a collaboration with painter Majhoub Ben Bella, and the Mozart Requiem.
Mr. Comelin has worked with such notable dancers as Margot Fonteyn, Yvette Chauvire, Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Natalia Makarova, Lawrence Rhodes, Carla Fracci and Marcia Haydee.
Today he continues to choreograph, direct, teach and lecture around the world consulting in the development of dance in Vietnam, South Africa, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan and Japan.
Lorraine Graves
Born in Norfolk, VA, Ms Graves began her training at the Academy of the Norfolk Ballet under the direction of the late Gene Hammett. She was awarded scholarships to the School of American Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet Company.
Ms. Graves began her professional career with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, where she rose to Principal Dancer and later became Ballet Mistress and later Regisseuse. As a member of DTH, Ms Graves performed for such luminaries as former President Bill Clinton, Vice President and Mrs. Al Gore, and former President Ronald Reagan at the first White House State Dinner honoring former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret; Her Royal Highness Princess Diana; South African President Nelson Mandela and the King of Norway.
Ms. Graves has several television credits and was a featured performer in the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics. She has taught at several well known academies and schools, including North Carolina School for the Arts, The Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, The Virginia School of the Arts, The Cornish Institute in Seattle, Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, South Carolina Governor’s School, Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Kennedy Center Residency Program, and Summer Sessions at Virginia Ballet Theatre.
Currently Ms Graves is the Artistic Advisor for the Virginia Ballet Theatre and on faculty at the Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, VA. She is also a judge and workshop instructor for Dance America/Dance Olympus. Ms. Graves holds a BS with Distinction from Indiana University at Bloomington.
Bruce Steivel
Mr. Bruce Steivel served as the Artistic Director of Bern Stadt Theatre in Switzerland, the Hong Kong Ballet the Universal Ballet of Korea and Nevada Ballet Theatre. As
Artistic Director for the Hong Kong Ballet and the Universal Ballet, Mr. Steivel developed strong internationally recognized companies and launched each company on its first American and European tours. Hong Kong Ballet's tour to mainland China was the first time the Hong Kong based company performed in China.
With Nevada Ballet Theatre, he expanded the repertoire with 30 ballets by visiting choreographers and with his own creations. Several of his works are in the repertoire of five major dance companies.
He is much sought after as a guest teacher, teaching for Nederland Dans Theatre, the Norwegian National Ballet, the Hungarian National Ballet, the National Ballet of Portugal, the Berlin Staatsoper, Beijing Ballet, Shanghai Ballet, Bat-Dor of Israel, the National Institute of Istanbul, and in Turkey, Japan and America.
He is Artistic Director for the prestigious International Concours de Danse in Luxembourg, under the patronage of the Grande Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg.
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