American Ballet Theatre Faculty

RODNEY GUSTAFSON

Mr. Gustafson trained at the School of American Ballet and spent the majority of his performing career as a dancer with the world–renowned American Ballet Theatre. During this period, Mr. Gustafson trained and worked with many of the great dancers and choreographers of our time including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Alvin Ailey, George Balanchine, Rudolf Nureyev, Jerome Robbins, and Anthony Tudor and appeared in the films The Turning Point, Baryshnikov's Nutcracker, and several Live from Lincoln Center specials for PBS. He continues his affiliation with American Ballet Theatre as a coordinator, choreographer, and teacher for its summer programs. He is also participating in the new ABT's National Training Curriculum. Academically, Mr. Gustafson holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (1994) from the University of Arizona, and a Master of Arts in Organizational Management (2001) from Antioch University in California. Gustafson founded State Street Ballet in Santa Barbara, California in 1994. From a modest debut in a small black box theatre to performances throughout the United States, and Asia, the company continues to gain prominence and recognition both nationally and internationally. A talented choreographer, Gustafson has created many new ballets for the company's repertoire including full–length versions of Nutcracker, Romeo & Juliet, Cinderella, a Midsummer Night's Dream, and Jungle Book. He has built a company respected for its choreography, dancing, and fiscally responsible management.

JOLINDA MENENDEZ

Ms. Menendez is a former ballerina with American Ballet Theatre, and has performed leading roles in La Bayadere, Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Les Sylphides, The Firebird, Raymonda Act III, and other repertoire by choreographers such as Alvin Ailey, Agnes de Mille, Kenneth MacMillan and Glen Tetley. Lewis Segal of the L.A. TIMES said: "Jolinda's performance of 'The Dying Swan' was dance poetry –a quality Pavlova's name has always symbolized – you could understand why Natalia Makarova has championed her as a major artist." Anna Kisselgoff of the New York Times reviewed one of her Metropolitan Opera performances saying, "It is hard to imagine two dancers reaching so deeply into the emotional and lyrical core of Swan Lake unless one brings back memories of Fonteyn & Nureyev." Following ABT she was Principal Ballerina with the Bavarian National Ballet in Munich, Germany, where she added to her repertoire John Cranko's Romeo and Juliet, Eugene Onegin and Taming of the Shrew, John Neumeir's Nutcracker, Birgit Cullberg's Miss Julie, and Balanchine's Apollo and Divertimento No. 15. She has been a frequent guest artist in Europe, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. She is on the faculty at NYU/Tisch School of the Arts and is a frequent guest teacher with companies and schools including the Royal Ballet School in London, English National Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre's summer intensives, Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy, Scottish Ballet Company and Ballet Ireland. In addition, she coaches privately students and professionals.

LAWRENCE PECH

Mr. Pech was invited by Mikhail Baryshnikov to join American Ballet Theatre in 1980. For the next six years, he worked with such choreographers as George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Antony Tudor, Agnes DeMille, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Jiri Kylian, Carol Armitage, David Gordon, Natalia Makarova, Eric Bruhn, and Mark Morris. He has danced with such greats as Baryshnikov, Makarova, Ivan Nagy, Cynthia Gregory, Fernando Bujones, Gelsey Kirkland, Cynthia Harvey, Martine Van Hamel, Kevin McKenzie, among others. He has made numerous television appearances with ABT in Live from Lincoln Center as well as figuring prominently with Baryshnikov in the 1983 BBC movie, Dancer and the Dance. In 1986, Helgi Tomasson invited Mr. Pech to join the San Francisco Ballet and in 1989, was promoted to Principal Dancer. In 1991, Mr. Pech was the subject of a PBS/KQED special entitled, Blue Lair, a ballet about his victory over cancer. This special was awarded a 1991 Emmy for "Best Choreography". To date, Mr. Pech has choreographed over fifty ballets, forty–five musicals, thirty–five operas, and numerous self–produced evenings of original music, dance, and theater. He has garnered numerous awards such as the Bay Area Theater Critics' Circle and Dean Goodman awards for "Best Choreography" and "Best Supporting Actor in a Musical," and graduated with honors ('05) from the San Franscico Conservatory of Music in Composition.

CHRISTINE SPIZZO–SERRANO

Ms. Spizzo–Serrano trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts and at the School of American Ballet in New York. She first performed professionally with the National Ballet of Washington (DC) and Ballet Repertory Co. (NY), before joining ABT as a Soloist in 1975. She appeared in many of ABT's Live From Lincoln Center and Dance in America programs and the Herbert Ross movies The Turning Point (1977) and Dancers (1987). She was a Principal Dancer with Ballet Arizona (1988, 1989) and with the "Nureyev and Friends" North American tour in 1990. She performed on Broadway in The Phantom of the Opera for 10 years before retiring from the stage. She is currently on the dance faculty at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where she received the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2007. She was the original Artistic Coordinator of ABT's Summer Intensive Programs (1996, 1997), and has remained a primary teacher for all subsequent ABT Summer Intensives in NYC and Austin.

RONN TICE

Mr. Tice performed as a Soloist in European and North American ballet companies in a career that spanned 25 years. He has been a member of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Zurich Opera, Grand Theatre of Geneva, Pacific Northwest Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, and American Ballet Theatre. He was the founder and Artistic Director of his own company in Seattle, Washington. He has choreographed over thirty original works. He is currently on the faculty of the University of Minnesota, Minnesota Dance Theatre, and the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive Program. Mr. Tice received his B.F.A. from the University of Minnesota.