Faculty

Beth Bartholomew began her classical ballet training at the prestigious Enid Knapp
Botsford School of Dance in Rochester, NY, where she studied from ages 8–17, many
of those years on scholarship. She trained under world-renowned artists including
David Gayle (Royal Ballet), Lorenzo Monreal (Cuban National Ballet), Jurgen Schneider
(American Ballet Theatre Ballet Master and coach to Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia
Makarova), Luba Gulyaeva (Kirov Ballet), Woytec Lowski (Boston Ballet), Suzanne
Nash, and Dianne Lewis. 

Stefanie Cheshire has been on faculty with Draper Center since 1997 acting as choreographer for dance competitions and teacher of various dance styles including jazz, hip hop, lyrical, and contemporary. Stefanie has received multiple awards for her excellence in choreography. 

Bailey Fantauzzo trained at the prestigious Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education under Jamey Leverett, performing in productions such as The Nutcracker, Carmen, and Cinderella. She furthered her training with summer intensives at The Juilliard School, American Ballet Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, and Nashville Ballet, and later majored in Ballet Performance at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music

Alexandra Insinga received her early training in Melbourne, Australia, where she received a Diploma of Art with Honors, passed her RAD Advanced II exam with Distinction and was a finalist in the City of Sydney McDonald’s Ballet Scholarships. She continued her studies at the New Zealand School of Dance (NZSD), during which time she was invited to compete in the 2003 New York International Ballet Competition and performed in the semi-finals at Lincoln Center.

Fidel Ernesto Orrillo Puga, born in Lima, Peru, started his early dance education with his Aunt Stella & Uncle Jose Puga “I greatly cherish the memories of my childhood, my mother calling and looking for me and I
totally losing track of time, lying down in the floor of my aunt’s Ballet studios enjoying myself
seeing her rehearse with my uncle and her company…Giselle was always one of my favorites”.

Jillian Peschken received her formal training at the Draper Center for Dance Education, while
also performing as a company member with the Rochester City Ballet. During her time with RCB
she performed soloist roles in their productions of Cinderella, The Nutcracker, and Red Violin.
Jillian also had the amazing opportunity to perform with the cast of Red Violin in NYC at the
Ballet Builder’s New Choreographers on Pointe performance.

Cameron Basden brings passion and spirit to her art, as well as a keen sense of organization and integrity to the projects she undertakes. After a performing career with the Joffrey Ballet, she served as ballet master and co-associate director of that company and director of dance at Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Born in Rochester, New York, Ms. Boone trained at the Timothy M Draper Center for Dance Education and performed many roles with the Rochester City Ballet including the title role in The Firebird and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker.

Ms. Cater received her training through the Moscow State Institute of Culture and performed as a Principal Dancer with the International Ballet Collective in Moscow, Russia. Ms. Cater has worked as a choreographer with Olympic Ballet Theatre in Edmonds, Washington and as a teacher with Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, Washington, teaching both character dance and classical ballet.

Joseph was born and raised in the beautiful hills of upstate New York, and can be easily identified from a distance by his cacophonous laughter. He began his studies at The Draper Center for Dance Education in Rochester, New York and continued to receive his BFA at The Juilliard School under direction of Lawrence Rhodes, on tuition scholarship from New York City Dance Alliance.

Fiona Fairrie began her professional ballet training in London at the Nesta Brooking School of Ballet and was then invited to attend the White Lodge Royal Ballet Junior School on scholarship. Upon graduation to the Upper School, she was later chosen for the Company Graduate Class with the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, where she was taught by Dame Ninette de Valois and performed with the Royal Ballet under the direction of Sir Frederick Ashton and Sir Kenneth MacMillan. 

As a soloist with Les Ballet Dimension (Jamaica), N’Jelle began her career under the tutelage of Norma Spence & Tatjana Sedunova. She attended Academia Ballet Clasico Nina Novak as a scholarship student, graduated from Escuela Nacional de Arte & interned with Danze Contemporanea de Cuba.

Born in Camaguey, Cuba, Gypsy Hall began her dance training at age eight with the National Ballet School of her birth city. During her student years, she won several awards in international competitions and festivals. At age eighteen she launched her professional career with the Ballet of Camaguey, where she became principal soloist under the direction of Fernando Alonso.

Ivonne Lemus began her dance studies at the Provincial Arts School in Pinar del Rio, Cuba and then was selected to continue her training at the National School of Ballet in Havana, Cuba. After graduating she joined the Ballet National of Cuba, where she was trained by Alicia Alonso, Josefina Mendez, Loipa Araufo and Laura Alonso. Lemus was promoted to soloist and later joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Canada.

Hayley received her early training from the Draper Center for Dance Education in upstate New York under Timothy M. Draper. In the summer of 2005, Hayley accepted an invitation to dance in the 14th annual International Festival of Ballet in Trujillo, Peru as the representative from the United States.

Originally from Singapore, she has trained in classical ballet – Royal Academy of Dancing Syllabi – Oriental Dance Mudras, Modern, and Jazz genres. Ms. Nathan-Murphy has a certification from the Royal Academy’s Dance Institution in London, England and has acquired a teaching Diploma from the British Association of Teachers of Dance.

Brian received his training at Jefferson Performing Arts in Portland, Oregon, while dancing with their student company from 1985 to 1988. He danced with the world famous Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo from 1994 to 2001. Over the past 20 years Brian has danced with the Rochester City Ballet in various productions and served as their ballet master for three years.

Jim Nowakowski, began his formal ballet training at the Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education, Rochester, NY. He performed as a Rochester City Ballet company member in 2002, in RCB’s productions of the Nutcracker, Cinderella, and Firebird.

Andrew Parker, Dean of the School of Nashville Ballet is a regular guest master teacher at many ballet schools across North America. He has served on the dance faculty at Canada’s National Ballet School, Boston Ballet School, Milwaukee Ballet, Walnut Hill School and Southern Methodist University – Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas, Texas.

Currently an Associate Professor at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts, Ms. Peck was trained by the legendary dancer, Andre Eglevsky and the School of American Ballet. At age 17, Ms. Peck joined the New York City Ballet under the direction of George Balanchine. She went on to dance soloist roles with the Pennsylvania Ballet and later became a soloist with Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Richmond Ballet, and Ballet International in London. 

Originally from Queensland, Australia, Michalejon moved to the US in 2004 after winning the Australian Dancer of the Year Award to attend the Jackie Kennedy Onassis School of American Ballet Theater on full scholarship. He then went on to attend the BFA dance program at the prestigious Julliard School in New York City, making him the first Australian to be accepted into either program.

Nelida Tirado

Nélida Tirado hailed “magnificent and utterly compelling” (NY Times) began her formal training at Ballet Hispanico of New York at the age of six. Barely out of her teens, she was invited to tour the U.S. with José Molina Bailes Españoles and worked as a soloist in Carlota Santana’s Flamenco Vivo, soloist/ dance captain of Compañia Maria Pages and  Compañia Antonio El Pipa, performing at prestigious flamenco festivals and television in Spain and throughout France, Italy, UK, Germany and Japan.

Originally from Rochester, NY, Tara Jeanne is now an accomplished Choreographer, Teacher, and Performer based in New York City. Most recently, she performed in and served as Assistant Choreographer and Dance Captain on Goodspeed Opera House’s Singin’ in the Rain, which won a CT Critics Circle Award for Best Musical Production.