DIRECTORS, CHOREOGRAPHERS & ASSOCIATES
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Director & Choreographers
MEET THE DANCERS 2020-2021 Season
BEATLES BALLET
501 (c)(3) Nonprofit
DIRECTORS,
CHOREOGRAPHERS
& ASSOCIATES
SARA KNIGHT
Founder and Artistic Director
Sara Knight is a graduate of England's Royal Ballet School, an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance ( A.R.A.D.), graduate of the Royal Ballet School Teacher's Training Course ( R.B.S. Dip. TTC.) and the first British graduate of Russia's Vaganova (Kirov) Ballet Academy. Sara is a recipient of the Royal Ballet School Award for Excellence personally awarded by Dame Ninette de Valois, founder of the Royal Ballet.
Sara went on to become a soloist with the Leningrad State Ballet Theatre and the Russian Ballet of St. Petersburg. In Western Europe, she danced with England's Northern Ballet Theatre, Swansea’s Ballet Russe, and was a principal dancer with the European Ballet of London. In the USA, Sara has guested with Boston Ballet and as a principal dancer with Configuration Dance and Rebecca Rice Dance Company.
Sara has been invited to teach worldwide including Boston Ballet Company, Boston Ballet School, Tulsa Ballet Center for Dance Education, Cincinnati Ballet School, Laban Centre London, Northern Ballet Theatre of England, Arts Educational School of the UK, Boston Conservatory, The International Festival of France and most recently Masters of Ballet at Sadler’s Wells Theatre and English National Ballet School, both in London. Sara has also served as Ballet Mistress for both London's Central School of Ballet and Ellison Ballet of NYC. She was the Artistic Director for the Ballet School of Stamford as well as the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Greenwich Ballet Academy.
In September 2010, Sara founded SLK Ballet School "A school for gifted dancers to prepare for a career as a professional dancer.” In 2017 she founded her company Chevalier Ballet, which tours around the tristate area and beyond bringing dance to small communities who might not get the chance to see ballet/dance. And, in 2021 she founded CBC Chevalier Ballet Conservatory, whose mission is to give young graduate dancers the opportunity to be part of a professional touring company, while working with the professional dancers within Chevalier Ballet company.
Sara is very involved in outreach and conducts workshops in schools and hospitals on a regular basis. She continues to teach worldwide.
DANIEL ULBRICHT
Guest Choreographer
Daniel Ulbricht was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, and began his dance training at the age of 11. At age 16, Mr. Ulbricht was invited by the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, to continue his training. As a student at SAB, Mr. Ulbricht performed with New York City Ballet as a Jester in Peter Martins' The Sleeping Beauty. In December 2000, he became an apprentice with New York City Ballet and in November 2001 he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet. In January 2005, Mr. Ulbricht was promoted to the rank of soloist and principal dancer in May 2007. During his time there, he has danced featured roles in a number of Balanchine, Robbins, Martins, and Wheeldon ballets including George Balanchine’s Prodigal Son, Tarantella, Stars and Stripes, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mozartiana, Nutcracker, Symphony in 3, The Steadfast Tin Soldier: Jerome Robbins’s Fancy Free, Interplay, Suite of Dances, Four Seasons, A Suite of Dances; and Peter Martins’s Jeu de Cartes, Hallelujah Junction, Eight More, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo + Juliet among many others. Mr. Ulbricht has also danced Tarantella at the 2004 Kennedy Center Honors to celebrate the Balanchine Centenary. He has also performed at a number of national and international festivals and galas. Mr. Ulbricht is a guest teacher at the School of American Ballet, Ballet Academy East, as well as, teaching at a number of well-known national dance schools, private schools, and universities throughout the United States. Mr. Ulbricht is currently the Artistic Advisor of Manhattan Youth Ballet. Mr. Ulbricht is also the Artistic Director of New York State Summer School for the Arts in Saratoga Springs, NY. Mr. Ulbricht is also founder and director of “Stars of American Ballet”, a touring group focusing on high art, education and outreach. Mr. Ulbricht is also the co-founder and producer of “Dance Against Cancer”, an annual benefit for the American Cancer Society. Mr. Ulbricht is also on the board of the National Dance Institute.
MARIKA BRUSSEL
Guest Choreographer
Marika Brussel is a contemporary ballet choreographer. Her reshaping of narratives brings ballet into the 21st Century. Her work has explored myths, plays, and personal stories such as Unraveling, a ballet about dementia. From Shadows, a ballet about homelessness, premiered in October 2017 to sold out audiences in San Francisco. Still Time For Impossible, looked at the climate crisis. House of Names, a re-imagining of mythical women's stories, showed with great acclaim, in July 2021.
Her ballets have been commissioned by Kansas City Ballet, New Ballet Studio Company, ARC Dance, Columbia Repertory Ballet, Bay Pointe Ballet, Emote Dance Theater, Berkeley Ballet Theater, and Ballet Theater of New Mexico. She has shown work at festivals around the country, including Dancing in the Park, Oakland Dances, and West Wave. Marika has held residencies at the Levydance, Dresher Ensemble Residency, Moving Arts SF, SAFEhouse Arts and at Keshet Makers Space. She has twice been part of ODC's Pilot Project, and was a choreographer in Doug Varone's Devices 5. Her other awards include two Fleishhacker Opportunity Grants and a grant from The Classical Girl. Marika was a 2019 recipient of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Fellowship for Contemporary Ballet. She was a 2020 fellow at LABA East Bay, and is a current fellow with The Peace Studio.
CATHERINE BATCHELLER
Choreographer
Catherine’s international career as a principal dancer spanned some of the world’s leading ballet companies. She danced with the San Francisco Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet as well as the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and she worked with some of the most distinguished choreographers of our time such as William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Maurice Bejart, Sir Peter Wright, David Bintley, and Wayne McGregor. She also performed many works by John Cranko, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins. She has been invited to teach across the country including the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Atlanta Ballet, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Walnut School for the Arts, Indiana University, and Portland Ballet as well as internationally for the Stuttgart and Alberta Ballet.
In 2001, she co-founded and codirected Configuration Dance, and directed Configuration Dance Studio, the school associated with the company in Massachusetts. Prior to joining Cincinnati Ballet, Catherine was the Artistic Director at Ballet Conservatory of South Texas in San Antonio, a pre-professional company and ballet academy. She also holds an M.A. from Birmingham University, England. Catherine trained with Victor Marino, the Cleveland Ballet School, Washington School of Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet as well as summers at SAB, ABT, and Joffrey where she studied on scholarship.
MIKHAIL ILYIN BATCHELLER
Ballet Master/Choreographer
Born in St. Petersburg, Mikhail is a graduate of Vaganova Ballet Academy in 1998 with a BA in Arts. In 1999, he joined the Boston Ballet for two years, then Miami City Ballet where he became principal in 2003. Mikhail joined American Ballet Theatre in January 2008. His repertoire includes leading roles in "Swan Lake", "Paquita", "Stars and Stripes", "Sonatine", "The Afternoon of the Faun", "Ballet Imperial", "The Reassuring Effects of Form and Poetry", "Symphony in C" ( I, III and IV movements), "Giggling Rapids" (A. Ailey), "Nine Sinatra Suite", "Apollo", "Theme and Variations", "Allegro Brilliante", "Le Corsaire", "Coppelia", "Nutcracker", "Giselle", "Ballo della Regina", "Glinka pas de trois", "Dances at the Gathering", "Donizetti Variations", "Prodigal Son", "La Source", "Western Symphony"( I and III); “In the Upper Room”, "Rabbit and Rogue" (T. Tharp), "Etudes" (H. Lander) and many others.
Mikhail won the Gold medal at the IV "Vaganova-Prix" International Ballet Competition (1998), awarded a diploma at the 8th Paris International Dance Competition (1998), won the highest awarded prize - Silver medal at the VI New York International Ballet Competition (2000), and won the Bronze medal at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi (2002).
Mikhail is an Artist in Residence with Ballet Mississippi. In 2005, he was chosen by Dance Magazine as one of the “to watch” dancers of today. Currently, Mikhail is a faculty member at the ABT's JKO, the French Academy of Classical Ballet as well as guest teaching classes and workshops around NYC. He has taught, staged, and choreographed across the United States. Mikhail is fully certified with all the levels of ABT's National Training Curriculum Pedagogy Program and the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education (a 4-year Professional Training Program in Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration).
CLEMENT MENSAH
Choreographer
Clement was born and raised in Ghana, West Africa. He moved to the Netherlands at the age of 11. After high school and graduating from CIOS (sports academy) he went to Amsterdam School of Arts and graduated in June 2008.
He went to the Alvin Ailey School in 2007 as an exchange student where he received a fellowship to study. He was a member of the Student Performing Group at the Alvin Ailey School while apprenticing with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 2008. He has also been part of the Francesca Harper Project, danced with Elisa Monte Dance Company from 2008 until the summer of 2010 performing both national and international.
Clement joined the Matthew Westerby Company in 2009 and led the hugely successful Project Poetry Live in partnership with the Litchfield Performing Arts, Connecticut. He has taught workshops and masterclasses at different institutions and schools such as Dance Wave in Brooklyn, NY., Alvin Ailey School, The Theater School in Amsterdam, Codart in Rotterdam and artist in residence at Dancers’ Workshop, WY and Bennington College, VT as well as assisting teachers and teaching at the Center for Advanced Training (C.A.T.) at Trinity Laban. Mr. Mensah became an international student mentor to Codarts in Rotterdam, Holland after receiving his MA degree in Dance Performance at Trinity Laban School of Contemporary Music and Dance in London in 2011 and joined Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group in that same year.
As a former member of Ronald K. Brown/Evidence A Dance Company, Clement performed with the Limón Dance Company as a guest artist in the fall of 2012 and joined Battery Dance Company at the beginning of 2013. He is very grateful for the wonderful opportunities of teaching, performing, and choreography.
SIMON EGERTON
Music Associate
Simon Egerton started working as a dance répétiteur at 18, working with many of the great schools and companies; Royal Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, LCDT, Kirov Ballet. He worked with Nureyev, Messerer, and Barishnikov, was a founder member of Central School of Ballet (as well as being its first director of music), wrote the show Biography for the great American dancer William Louther, before returning to studies, as a singer at GSMD in London at age 22.
Simon started his acting career with the physical comedy troupe Natural Theatre Co. Numerous acting credits include Brassett in Charley's Aunt (Royal Exchange) alongside Michael Sheen, Lysander in Phelim McDermott's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (E.S.C.), and Maximillian in John Doyle's acclaimed production of Candide.
As well as a successful acting career, Simon has been Head of Music and singing studies at several of London’s drama academies and coached at Opera North and the Royal Opera House working with composer Ben Park. He is an award-winning Musical Director, still writing, directing, and composing in the theatre, including music for SLK Ballet, and is delighted to be associated with the school.
More information at simonegerton.com
JONATHAN NEWELL
Music Associate
Jonathan Newell is a classical pianist, composer, rock guitarist, and singer. Since 1990 he has performed more than 150 times a year throughout the Northeastern United States in concert halls, colleges, clubs, coffee houses, corporate events, festivals, and private gatherings. He holds a BA from Ithaca College in Piano Performance and Art History and an MA (summa cum laude) in Piano Performance and Composition from Hunter College. He is a former member of the piano faculty of The Diller-Quaille School of Music in Manhattan and was a member of the music faculty of SUNY Adirondack from 1988-2010. He served as pianist/composer with the Adirondack Repertory Dance Theater from 1993 - 2015. Mr. Newell gave his New York piano debut at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2009 and was recognized as a Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in 2006.
As a composer, he is a 2010 recipient of a Strategic Opportunity Stipend from the New York Foundation for the Arts, and 2013, 2009, and 2002 recipient of Individual Artist Grants from The New York Council for the Arts. His String Quartet was performed at Columbia University for an international symposium on the poetry of William Bronk and heard on National Public Radio. He has studied piano with Edward Housman at Skidmore College, Phiroze Mehta at Ithaca College, Steven Graff at Hunter College, and Dr. Julie Jordon at the Juilliard School. He performed in masterclasses with Andre Michel Schub, Paul Badura Skoda, and numerous times with Mordeci Shehori. He studied composition with Shafer Mahoney at Hunter College.
In 2010 he began Hudson River Music Hall Productions Inc., a 501c3 not-for-profit dedicated to presenting the performing arts in Northeastern New York in order to foster community, creativity, and economic development. He is currently on faculty at The College of St. Joseph in Rutland Vermont and is Executive/Artistic Director of the Hudson River Music Hall and the historic Strand Theatre in Hudson Falls, NY.
SHIMAKO HORII
Accompanist
Shimako Horii, Pianist, a native of Osaka, Japan came to the United States in 1999 to study at Mannes College of Music at New School University where she earned a Master of Music. In 2001, as a winner of the concerto competition, Shimako performed L.V. Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with Mannes Orchestra, conducted by Samuel Wong. Her performances throughout her time in Mannes included various venues such as Symphony Space, The Weill Recital Hall in the Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, and Columbia University. She extended her study with her teacher Irina Morozova and finished her professional study program in 2003.
Shimako has been working in various programs and auditions in New Jersey Performing Arts Center including vocal and modern dance classes in Young Artists Institute, vocal classes in Summer Youth Performance Workshop, The Jeffrey Carollo Scholarship Recital, and The Star Ledger Scholarship Recital.
Since 2010, Shimako has accompanied several major ballet schools in NYC including Joffrey Ballet School, Ellison Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, 92nd Street Y, Ballet Arts Center, Manhattan Youth Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Broadway Dance Center, and Gelsey Kirkland Academy. Shimako also accompanied various rehearsals and workshops with major ballet dancers and coaches including Misty Copland, Paloma Herrera, Sophiane Sylve, and Maina Gielgud. In September 2016, Shimako joined SLK ballet NYC as a regular piano accompanist.