Damara Bennett, SCHOOL DIRECTOR

Ms. Bennett received her formal ballet training under the direction of Lila Zali in Laguna Beach, California, where her early dedication and talent afforded her a Ford Foundation Scholarship from the School of American Ballet.

In 1971 Ms. Bennett joined San Francisco Ballet, dancing under the direction of Lew Christensen and Michael Smuin. During her tenure at San Francisco Ballet, she danced the works of such distinguished choreographers as Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Maurice Bejart, Lew Christensen, Willam Christensen, Jerome Robbins and Michael Smuin.

While in the company, she studied under Erik Bruhn, Tatiana Grantzeva and Terry Westmoreland.

In 1987 Ms. Bennett founded City Ballet School in San Francisco, where she served as artistic director and offered a comprehensive curriculum incorporating the Vaganova syllabus.

Many of Ms. Bennett’s students have gone on to dance with professional companies such as Miami City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet and Dutch National Ballet, as well as in Broadway productions and feature films like Center Stage.

FACULTY

Tracey Katona

Former professional dancer Tracey Katona is enjoying her third season teaching here at Oregon Ballet Theatre. Born in New Jersey, she began her training at the School of Washington Ballet, Princeton Ballet School and on scholarship at Steps on Broadway in NYC. She also trained intensively for many years with Elisabeth Carroll and Julie Caprio.

Miss Katona has danced professionally with the American Repertory Ballet under the direction of Septime Webre and Graham Lustig, Albany Berkshire Ballet, Charleston Ballet Theatre, Trinette Singleton's Bravo! Dance Company and the Opera Festival of New Jersey for four seasons. While With American Repertory Ballet she served as ballet mistress for ARB II and on the faculty of the Princeton Ballet. She has guest taught at Ballet Hispanico in NYC, NJ Arts Festival and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Her choreography credits include ballets for Princeton Ballet, OBT School, Rutgers University, Terpsichore SAND and many musical theatre companies.


Elise Legere

Elise's dance training began at one of only two Denishawn studios in the country. One of her first professional performances was at Jacob's Pillow for Ted Shawn's anniversary tribute in 1972. After graduating from Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts in Natick, Massachusetts, Elise studied under scholarship with the School of Hartford Ballet. She went on to receive her BS in dance at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, studying with Melissa Hayden and Elizabeth Carroll. Elise moved to New York City in 1978 and studied with David Howard, Lawrence Rhodes, and Maggie Black.

Elise’s professional career began with Garden State Ballet in 1978 where she spent three years, dancing several solo roles including the Sugar Plum Fairy in their Nutcracker. After marrying and moving to Boston, her career continued with Boston Repertory Ballet and New England Ballet, before moving on to Hartford Ballet. Elise moved with her family to Portland in 1986 where she danced with Ballet Oregon under the direction of Dennis Spaight.

During Elise’s career, she performed ballets from notable choreographers such as George Balanchine, Lew Christensen, William Dollar, Peter Anastos, and Peter Martins. Elise has been in the faculty of Oregon Ballet Theatre since 1998.

Josie Moseley

Josie Moseley was fortunate to study with renowned dance artists Jean Cebron, the foremost exponent of the Jooss-Leader technique, Betty Jones, Lucas Holving, and Sarah Stackhouse, former Limon dancers. She additionally studied composition with Phyllis Lamhut, a principal dancer with Alwin Nikolais and Murray Lewis. In New York, Ms. Moseley worked with choreographer Anna Sokolow.

Upon moving to the Northwest, Ms. Moseley studied with Mark Morris in Seattle, and in Portland joined the collective Dancer’s Workshop, teaching and producing her own work. Additionally, she taught dance at Reed College and the University of Portland. Ms. Moseley is a recipient of 6 Metropolitan Arts Commission grants as well as several Regional Arts Commission awards, and was recognized by Willamette Week in 1986 as “Outstanding Emerging Artist.”

While in the San Francisco Bay Area, Ms. Moseley taught at University of California at Berkeley, Mills College, Shawl-Anderson Dance Studio, and performed the works of Isadora Duncan with Lori Belilove. Ms. Moseley additionally worked with Frank Shawl, collaborated with Remy Charlip, and was nominated for San Francisco’s Isadora Duncan Dance Award in both choreography and performance.

Ms. Moseley’s With premiered in Oregon Ballet Theatre’s 1995 American Choreographers Showcase, receiving an encore presentation on the following year’s program. This work was selected for inclusion in OBT’s New York season at the Joyce Theater in 1999, and also performed for the Dalai Lama’s Portland visit in May 2001. In 1998 she choreographed Quiet Stories for Oregon Ballet Theatre’s Moving Signatures program. She is currently an independent choreographer and teaches modern dance for Oregon Ballet Theatre.


Kemberly Staley

Kembe was born and raised in Portland and received her first serious ballet education from Mary Cain, and then Jacqueline Schumacher of the Portland Ballet School. During her years of training in Portland, she was privileged to study with many well known master teachers: Fleming Halby, Melissa Hayden, Charles Bennett, and John Marshall, to name a few. Performance opportunities in classical dance, in Portland, were limited in the 70's and early 80's, so Kembe turned her attention to musical theatre where she either danced, or played trumpet in the orchestra.

Her background includes eight years of piano studies and ten years of instrumental study and performance. Kembe is married and has three children, a grown son, and two teenage daughters. She has taught for Oregon Ballet Theatre since 1990.

Linda Besant, Dance Historian

Linda Besant is a Portland writer whose poetry and essays have appeared in journals such as Wilderness Magazine and Manzanita Quarterly. She fell in love with dance upon discovering Oregon Ballet Theatre in 1994, and has centered much of her writing around ballet and ballet history since 1997. Before she began writing, Linda worked as a ski patroller and instructor and an outdoor guide, and as founder and executive director of a program that introduced people with physical disabilities to adventure sports. Her life experiences give her particular empathy for young dancers’ early career focus, and for retiring dancers’ evolution into new careers.

Michael Wallace, Career Advisor & Weight Lifting Coach

DAMARA BENNETT
SCHOOL DIRECTOR

TAMMY SULLIVAN
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR

BELINDA TALBOT
SCHOOL COSTUMING

BRENNA SHERIDAN
SCHOOL RECEPTION

FACULTY
MATTHEW BOYES
TRACEY KATONA
ELISE LEGERE
JOSIE MOSELEY
KEMBERLY STALEY
ARTISTS OF THE COMPANY

CONSULTING STAFF
LINDA BESANT
MICHAEL WALLACE