FACULTY AND ADJUDICATORS

Born in South Africa, Diane van Schoor was trained by Jennifer Louw, later the University of Cape Town Ballet School [Director Dulcie Howes] and danced professionally for CAPAB Ballet [Director David Poole]. She founded her School of Classical Ballet and held a lectureship in Movement Studies in the Dramatic Arts Faculty, University of Stellenbosch. Past Artistic Director of The Cecchetti Society of Southern Africa, she holds The Enrico Cecchetti Mabel Ryan Medal, Enrico Cecchetti Diploma and Fellowships of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing London [ISTD] and Royal Society for the Arts. She is the recipient of the Cecchetti Dedication Award 2000, for services to Ballet in South Africa and in 2011 was awarded The Enrico Cecchetti Gold Medal by the ISTD, a lifetime achievement award in recognition of her promotion of classical ballet around the world. She is a Trustee of the Cecchetti Society Trust in the UK, an ABT® Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 6, 7 and Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum, and she is currently serving as Artistic Advisor to Alberta Ballet School in Canada.

Diane frequently presents papers at international conferences and has acted as subject consultant for various dance publications. She is an Honorary Committee Member of the Wayne State University for Fine and Performing Arts USA, Honorary Member of The Cecchetti Council of America, Founding Member of Cecchetti International and an Advisory Panel Member for the Margaret Saul Scholarship in Canada. She has taught at many of the world’s leading schools and companies including The Royal Ballet and both Upper and Lower Schools, The Paris Opera Ballet School, The Vaganova Academy, The National Ballet School of Canada, Royal Winnipeg and Alberta Ballet and their Schools in Canada, New English Ballet Theatre, the Bartholin Seminars in Copenhagen and in the USA, Sweden, China and Japan.

In 2000 Diane joined the artistic staff of The Royal Ballet School [Director Gailene Stock CBE AM]. She taught Graduates at White Lodge, 2nd Year Diploma at the Upper School, choreographed for the Royal Opera House Main Stage for the Royal Ballet School’s annual performances and for the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain. She is the former Ballet Principal of The Royal Ballet School, White Lodge, a post she held from 2004-2014.

During the past few years Diane taught the Enrico Cecchetti Diploma to a selection of dancers from The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet for a heritage legacy film for the Cecchetti Trust UK. She acted as Artistic Director for the film project. She is a freelance master teacher, coach and examiner, teaching and consulting internationally.

Matthew Farmer is currently the Dorothy Wiley DeLong Endowed Chair of the Dance at Hope College, the Co-Artistic Director of R.G. Dance Productions and the Co-Artistic Director of H2 Dance Co. Farmer has had great success as a director, educator, choreographer, performer, and author; co-authoring the book Introductory Modern Dance: A Teaching Manual. He is the former Director of Dance at Anderson University, a former Associate Director and company member of LehrerDance, and former company member of The Peter Sparling Dance Co. While dancing for Sparling, Matthew received his MFA from the University of Michigan in Dance Performance and Choreography. Farmer received his BA in Theatre and Dance from Hope College. As a soloist and guest performer, his performance credits include The Stars of Ballet and Broadway, Dance Chicago, Chicago Dance Festival, Dance in the Desert Festival, Men Dance Michigan, Next Step Dance, Chicago Humanities Festival, The Rein Orange (Duesberg, Germany) The European Cultural Bid (Liverpool, UK), The Roof (Germany), The Summer Stage (Brugge, Belgium), and various other festivals. Farmer has also had the privilege of dancing in works by Avi Kaiser, Sergio Antonino, Merce Cunningham, Laura Dean, Matthew Thornton, Doug Varone, and many more.

Farmer specializes in teaching Modern, Contemporary, Improvisation and Jazz technique. His teaching and faculty credits include Hope College, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Universidad Espíritu Santo, University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, Anderson University, Dancer’s Inc. National Conventions, Chicago National Association of Dance Maters, Southern Association of Dance Masters, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Interlochen Arts Academy, Cecchetti Council of America, and a host of festivals and master classes nationally and internationally. Farmer’s choreography spans the field of dance, and can be seen on college campuses, professional dance companies, international festivals, summer theaters companies, competitive dance teams, and musical theater venues throughout the U.S and abroad.

Born in Long Beach California and raised in Huntington Beach, Cisneros began studying ballet at the age of 8 in an effort to overcome her profound shyness. Cisneros later received full summer scholarships to the San Francisco Ballet School and the School of American Ballet and upon completing her high school education, she began her apprenticeship with the San Francisco Ballet in 1976. In 1977 she joined the Company under the directorship of Co-Artistic Directors, Lew Christensen and Michael Smuin. Cisneros soon began dancing principal roles, many choreographed for her by Smuin himself. She performed her original roles in national television broadcasts of A Song for Dead Warriors and The Tempest, as well as the title role of Cinderella, Tybalt’s Harlot in Romeo and Juliet, and a noteworthy “live broadcast” from the White House in 1982. Her success continued under San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director, Helgi Tomasson, appointed in 1985. She has danced the title roles in a diverse repertoire of classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, La Sylphide, and La Fille Mal Gardeé. Numerous resident and visiting choreographers have created works for her including Tomasson, Val Caniparoli, James Kudelka, Stanton Welch and Mark Morris. Her contemporary repertoire included works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Jiri Kylian. She has toured the world performing with the Company and as a guest artist.

Cisneros has been featured on the covers of Dance Magazine, Ballet News, and Hispanic Magazine, and received numerous awards for her community activism and artistic achievements. She is held in high regards by the Hispanic community and serves as a role model to many. Cisneros holds honorary doctorate degrees from Mills College and the University of California Monterey Bay. In May of 1999, Cisneros retired from the San Francisco Ballet with a Gala performance in her honor, and in celebration KQED produced a half hour documentary of her life, entitled Evelyn Cisneros, Moving On.

Following retirement in 1999, Cisneros became the host of KQED’s monthly current events program “Bay Windows”. During this time, Cisneros also became an artistic consultant with San Francisco Ballet, leading to her appointment as Ballet Education Coordinator for the San Francisco Ballet Center for Dance Education. She would host programs, prepare and present content for Community Matinee Performances, movement workshops and discussions for SF Ballet’s popular Family Connections Series, and for Dance Education on Tour. In support of these programs she prepared study guide content to educate students and teachers about the key elements of ballet, including music and terminology. Miss Cisneros was also part of a team of educators training ballet docents involved in the IMPACT program.

Since 2000 Cisneros has taught at summer intensive programs for the The Boston Ballet School in Boston, Kansas City Ballet in Crested Butte Colorado and in Kansas City, City Ballet School in San Diego and a week-long intensive in Carmel Ca. Regular

teaching engagements include the New York City Ballet Workout at the Bay Club in San Francisco for five years, Smuin Ballet SF, Boston Ballet School and Company, and NDI New Mexico in Albuquerque. She has staged ballets for Val Caniparoli and Michael Smuin for the following ballet companies: Pacific Northwest Ballet, State Theatre Ballet in South Africa, Northern Ballet Theatre in Leeds England, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Florida, Kansas City Ballet, Ballet West, and San Francisco Ballet. Cisneros also has taught company class for the following ballet companies: Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, State Theatre Ballet in South Africa, Northern Ballet Theatre in Leeds England, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Florida, and the Kansas City Ballet.

Cisneros was Academy Director for Ballet Pacifica in Irvine California and served as Ballet Pacifica’s Company Artistic Director, producing the Nutcracker performed at the Barclay Theater for 21 performances. She has also co-authored “Ballet for Dummies” with conductor Scott Speck, which is available at most bookstores and at Amazon.com.

Cisneros choreographed the popular Peter and the Wolf, Carnival of the Animals, and co-choreographed El Salon Nuevo Mexico with Dr. Stephen Legate to praises for their tribute to Hispanic and New Mexico culture. In 2019 Cisneros choreographed The Nutcracker for New Mexico Ballet Company in collaboration with the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra which was performed at Popejoy Hall. Cisneros has been married to retired principal dancer and Chiropractor Stephen Legate D.C. for over 26 years. Together, they started a mentoring and coaching service in New Mexico, Prima Ballet New Mexico. They are passionate about empowering the next generation of dancers and sharing their years of experience. They have a son and daughter, who are their ultimate accomplishments and joy.

Olivier Munoz began his studies at the National Conservatory of Dance of Lyon, France, then attended the School of Rosella Hightower in Cannes. A laureate of Prix de Lausanne, Mr. Munoz has performed major roles with the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet Theatre, Cleveland Ballet. As a guest artist he performed with Theatro alla Scala, Tokyo Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet and Ballet Nuevo Mundo. He became a certified professor of dance under the French Ministry of Culture, and is also an ABT certified teacher. He sat on the panel on the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts. He has coached gold medal dancers in major international ballet competitions. He was the Artistic Director of Ballet Arkansas and has taught at the Maryland Youth Ballet in Bethesda, MD. Munoz has won many awards including Outstanding Teacher YAGP.

Alice Klock began her training in the Cecchetti method at age 11 in Michigan and went on to study at Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Alonzo King’s Lines BFA program. She joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2009 where she danced until 2018. In 2017 she and Florian Lochner created FLOCK through which they perform their own work internationally and co-create new choreography for film and stage. Their most recent FLOCK productions include touring shows “Familiar” and “Somewhere Between”. Alongside her work in FLOCK Alice has choreographed for many dance companies, universities, and cultural institutions. She has been a winner of numerous choreographic competitions including Hubbard Street’s International Commissioning Project, NW Dance Project’s Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Competition, and Whim W’him’s Choreographic Shindig. In 2017 she was named Hubbard Street’s Choreographic Fellow and in 2018 was named one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch. It is her priority to embody/create exemplary quality work with kindness, humanity, and an emphasis on the limitless beauty and possibility inherent within each person.

Raymond Lukens was trained in New York City and had an international career as a ballet dancer; he co-authored the ABT National Training Curriculum and created the syllabi for the ABT/ NYU MA Program. He was a faculty member of the ABT JKO School. Before joining ABT, Mr. Lukens directed The Hamlyn School in Florence, Italy, was Ballet Master for Boston Ballet and Director of BB II. He has taught for ABT, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Juilliard School and Dance Theater of Harlem; he has judged for international dance competitions, translated into Italian Joan Lawson’s book, Ballet Class, and has written several articles. Mr. Lukens has also choreographed in the U.S.A. and abroad, including: two televised UNICEF galas, for The Intermezzo Ballet Company, for BB II and for ABT’s Opening Night Galas at the Metropolitan Opera House seasons featuring the ABT Studio Company and ABT JKO School dancers. Mr. Lukens was named the 2015 Lucia Chase Fellow in the School of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and has received various awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Italian Cecchetti Society in Florence, Italy, and in 2019 he received from Carla Fracci a Lifetime Achievement Award in Cesena, Italy. Mr. Lukens is a Fellow of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, holds the Enrico Cecchetti Diploma, and travels worldwide teaching and examining the ABT National Training Curriculum.