Petrov Ballet School: Faculty

EUGENE PETROV is a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, and began his education with the International Folk Dance Ensemble at the prestigious Institute of Culture, where he was trained in character dance and classical ballet. By age 15, he became a company member, and shortly thereafter, was promoted to soloist. He performed with the company throughout Russia and its former republics, as well as in Europe and India.
After arriving in the United States in 1992, he continued his training and worked as a teacher and leading dancer with Irine Fokine Ballet in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Currently, Mr. Petrov performs as a guest artist with Connecticut Ballet and with Sierra Nevada Ballet. He has danced principal and soloist roles in renowned classics such as Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Paquita, and Romeo and Juliet, as well as many contemporary works, and has performed throughout the United States, including New York City; Washington DC; Reno/Lake Tahoe, NV; Cleveland, OH; Oneonta, NY; Phoenix, AZ; and Stamford, CT.
Mr. Petrov has over 15 years of teaching experience in both classical ballet and in character. He currently teaches all levels of ballet, from beginner through professional. Mr. Petrov is looking forward to continuing to be a part of the education and development of future generations of dancers here at the Petrov Ballet School.

JOHANNA SNYDER BUTOW
(Photo © Rosalie O'Connor.)
Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Ms. Butow began taking ballet classes at the age of 10. Her professional training includes Pennsylvania Ballet School and The Joffrey Ballet School. Ms. Butow's professional career began at age 15 when she joined the Joffrey II as an apprentice. At age 19, she was asked to join the Joffrey Ballet, and during her six years with the company, she performed major roles in such diverse ballets as L'Apres-Midi D'un Faune, Les Noces, Petrouchka, Trinity, Postcards, The Nutcracker, Billy the Kid, and Le Sacre Du Printemps.
In 1993, Ms. Butow left the Joffrey Ballet to join American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet. During her eight years at ABT, she performed most of the major full-length classical ballets including Giselle, Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Romeo and Juliet, Coppelia, La Sylphide, The Merry Widow, and Othello, as well as repertory ballets such as Bruch Violin Concerto, Fall River Legend, Paquita, Les Sylphides, Cruel World, Rodeo, and The Leaves Are Fading.
Her teaching credits include ABT's JKO School, ABT's Young Dancer program in Greenwich, Connecticut, and the 890 Broadway program in New York City. She is pleased to be teaching at the Petrov Ballet School as well, and joined our faculty in October 2008.

JILL FEDE
Jill Fede began her dance training with her mother, Janet Fede. At the age of 8, she began studying at the Irine Fokine Ballet School with Irine Fokine, Jeanette Tannan-Hoffman, and later with Eugene Petrov. She was a member of the Irine Fokine Ballet Company, performing leading roles such as Black Swan, Grand Pas Classique, Waltz of the Flowers Soloist, and Snow Queen, as well as performing with New Jersey Verissimo Opera and Marya Kennett Ballet Theatre. She also participated in the Youth America Grand Prix Competition in Washington, D.C., receiving an honorable mention award. Ms. Fede was accepted into the SUNY Purchase College Dance Conservatory, where she studied with former dancers from American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet and was a member of the SUNY Purchase Dance Corps, performing works staged by faculty and guest choreographers. In 2004, Ms. Fede was invited to perform with the Irine Fokine Ballet Company in St. Petersburg, Russia. She has also studied with Studio Maestro and Dorit Koppel in NYC, and continues to dance and study ballet in New York City.
Ms. Fede attended Montclair State University where she received her BA in Early Childhood Education. She is currently employed as a preschool teacher in the Garfield School District and is pursuing a Master's Degree. She is very excited to be a faculty member at the Petrov Ballet School and looks forward to working with the students.

DAVID FERNANDEZ
Born in Mexico City, David Fernandez studied at the Centro de Arte y Ballet. He immigrated to the United States in 1989 after winning a scholarship to Giordano Jazz Dance in Chicago, where he performed with the company and received the Jeffrey Mildenstein Award. He began choreographing while studying at the Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theatre, creating contemporary works for performance in art galleries and alternative spaces. His work has been featured in festivals and competitions, including Youth America Grand Prix, the Jackson Competition, and the New York International Choreographer's Festival. In January 2009, two of his works premiered at Lincoln Center's Dance on Camera Festival; Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear starring New York City Ballet Principal Daniel Ulbricht, and Icarus APR, a contemporary choreography created for New York City Ballet Soloist Ask La Cour. Objects in Mirror has been selected for performance as part of Ballet Builders 2010. Most recently, Mr. Fernandez was commissioned to create a solo for New York City Ballet Principal Joaquin de Luz for the celebrated Kings of the Dance Tour (2009-10). The solo, Five Variations on a Theme, has been performed on tour in Europe and in the USA at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and New York's City Center, and at the Youth America Grand Prix 2010 Gala - Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow. He has also choreographed for companies across the US including Opera North, Staten Island Ballet, and Westchester Ballet Company.
During his dance career, Mr. Fernandez performed with Chicago's Boitsov Classical Ballet, dancing roles in Le Corsair, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Spectre de la Rose, and Pinocchio. He danced with the Lyric Opera of Chicago for several years, performing in Aida, Faust, Ghost of Versailles, and as a soloist in Un Re in Ascolto. He was also a guest artist with the Ballet Theatre of Chicago and in Indiana University's production of Don Quixote, directed by Susan Jones of the American Ballet Theatre. A highlight of his later career was performing alongside Mikhail Baryshnikov in the play The Doctor and The Patient at the 2004 Lincoln Center Festival.

ERIN GINN
Erin Ginn began her training with Karen Gibbons-Brown in Kingsport, TN and attended Walnut Hill School in Natick, MA for 3 years, where she was awarded Honors for Outstanding Achievement in Ballet. After graduating from WHS, she was a Junior Competitor at the 2002 International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, and danced professionally with Cincinnati Ballet as an apprentice. Ms. Ginn's professional experience also includes dancing with Neglia Ballet, SenseDance, Eryc Taylor Dance, Connecticut Ballet, Columbia City Ballet, and as a Guest with Rebecca Kelly Ballet, Fokine Ballet Company, University of South Carolina Dance Company, and Bristol Ballet.
Ms. Ginn graduated with High Distinction from Indiana University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance with an Outside Field in Communication and Culture. In summer 2007, she attended American Ballet Theatre's Summer Collegiate Program. Ms. Ginn is an Audition Demonstrator for Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech School in New York City, and has taught ballet at University of South Carolina's Dance Conservatory and Indiana University's Pre-College Ballet Program, in addition to other schools and summer programs. She is certified in Pilates Mat and teaches in New York City, and is presently pursuing certification on the Pilates apparatuses.

GRIFFIN HENNELLY
Award-winning actor and playwright Griffin Hennelly will be joining the summer faculty at Petrov Ballet, teaching a class on the fundamentals of acting. Mr. Hennelly was born and raised in Bergen County, New Jersey and began studying the art of acting at the age of 6 and hasn’t stopped learning new things and challenging himself since. In high school he landed leading and featured roles in 10 plays and musicals, winning 2 Cappies awards his senior year (best leading actor in a musical, best comedic actor in a play). He has spent the past year studying at the prestigious Stella Adler Studio in Manhattan with some of the best teachers this nation has to offer. Mr. Hennelly has written dozens of plays, including his sold-out one-man show and an award-winning parody of Romeo and Juliet entitled Doublets and Hose, which was produced in Los Angeles by Noah Wyle’s (of ER fame) Blank theater company. The class offered is going to be a basic introduction to acting, so whether you’re a dancer wishing to get a bit more well-rounded or a beginning actor, this class is for you.

ELISABETH HOLOWCHUK
Elisabeth Holowchuk was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. She received her early training from Christine Melgar Taylor and continued her studies at the School of American Ballet. Ms. Holowchuk has been a member of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet since 2001 and was promoted to the rank of Soloist in 2008. Her repertoire includes leading roles in Balanchine's Meditation, Haieff Divertimento, Concierto de Mozart, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Ragtime, Agon, The Unanswered Question pas de deux from Ivesiana, and Clarinade, as well as Jerome Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun and featured roles in the restaging of Balanchine's Don Quixote. She also revived the leading role in Balanchine's Pithoprakta and is the only dancer since Suzanne Farrell to dance this role in 40 years. In 2009 Ms. Holowchuk was chosen to be coached in the ballet Meditation by Suzanne Farrell for The George Balanchine Foundation's Interpreters Archive video series. She has performed as a guest artist with the New Jersey Ballet and worked with the New Jersey Civic Youth Ballet from 2003-2007 as rehearsal coach and choreographer. Ms. Holowchuk also owns the design company Stylish Ink and created a line of merchandise that is sold nationwide and in the Kennedy Center gift shop.

VIRGINIA HORNE
Virginia Horne began her early training in Honolulu, HI, where she studied under Rosalie Woodson, Laurie Lubeck Yeames, and Shamil Yagudin. She has danced with Ballet Hawaii, Colorado Ballet, and Konstantin Uralsky's Ballet New York. Ms. Horne has performed as a guest artist with Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, The New England Dance Theater, and Dario Vaccaro Dance Project, among other independent choreographers in New York City. She has performed in the National Tour of 42nd St. The Musical, and has toured with Jean Ann Ryan Productions. Other international projects include The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and MTV Italia in Rome, Italy. She was also a guest principal dancer in "Fusion" in Guatemala City. Virginia is in her second season as a Soloist at Connecticut Ballet, and is also a Principal dancer in her seventh season with Thomas/Ortiz Dance in New York City.

ANNA LICEICA
Born in Bucharest, Romania, Anna Liceica studied at the National Ballet School, during which time she received first place in Romania's National Ballet Competition. She went on to study in Los Angeles with Yvonne Mounsey, after which she received a full scholarship at the School of American Ballet in New York. She danced with New York City Ballet from 1992 until 1996, when she joined American Ballet Theatre. She was promoted to Soloist with ABT in 2000. Since then, she has performed throughout the United States, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Japan, China, Spain, Brazil, Russia, and France with ABT and as a Guest Artist with other companies abroad. Her repertory includes all great classics and contemporary masters, and her dance partners include Gennadi Saveliev, Marcelo Gomes, Ethan Stiefel, Damian Woetzel, Angel Corella, Nilas Martins, Sebastien Marcovici, Sascha Radetsky, and Vitali Krauchenka.

JESSICA MOLNAR
Jessica Molnar was born and raised in Waldwick, NJ. She studied ballet at the Irine Fokine Ballet School in Ridgewood for 11 years. Further ballet training came from Jeanette Hoffman, Maggie Black, David Howard, Michael Vernon, and Robert Joffrey. Starting her professional ballet career at 17, she joined Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1990, Jessica joined the Zurich Opernhaus Ballet company in Switzerland. She enjoyed interpreting the classical as well as neo-classical roles created by Uwe Scholz. She performed in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, La Sylphide, The Firebird, Romeo and Juliet, Die Schopfung, Schumann, Ikarus, and Stravinsky’s Symphony in 3 movements, as well as the operas Salome and Eugene Onegin.
After retiring from the stage, Jessica pursued her desire to teach ballet to children. Using her language skills, she found she could reach a large number of students, and opened her own ballet school outside of Zurich. Further credits include: developing a ballet program to enhance the training routine of the boys gymnastics team of Zurich, choreographing and performing liturgical dance for a touring group in Germany, directing and choreographing “The Swiss Musical Night” which toured Switzerland as a musical revue, private coaching for opera singers and musical theater performers and directing the opera “Le Nozze di Figaro” in Lucerne.
After a fulfilling 17 years abroad, Jessica moved back to New Jersey with her husband and daughter in 2007. Upon her return, she joined the ballet staff at Miss Patti's School of Dance in Midland Park where she is also involved in their annual Nutcracker production. Jessica was last seen as The Dancer in “John Brown’s Body,” a play presented by The Hillside Players of Ridgewood. In her free time, Jessica competes in American Smooth and Rhythm ballroom dancing and has won all of the Tri-State and Capital Dancesport championships she has entered.

MARIA PHEGAN
Maria Phegan is a native of Corpus Christi, TX, and has enjoyed an extensive and prosperous professional career, traveling the globe and working with a wide range of internationally renowned choreographers. Her professional career spans a decade and a half of national and international performances and touring with the San Francisco Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Bavarian State Ballet (Munich, Germany), and the Houston Ballet.
Ms. Phegan is a 200-Hour Certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher, and a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with the Yoga Alliance, and enjoys combining her two passions by sharing yoga with ballet students. Her personal yoga practice and inquiry deepened as a method of keeping her own body in balance and healing dance-related injuries during her 15-year international professional ballet career. She realized that yoga not only allowed her to continue her performing career, but also offered a multitude of health benefits, including increased lung capacity, immune defenses, and stress management.
Ms. Phegan's knowledge lies in introducing the fundamentals of yoga, focusing on structural alignment and the coordination of breath and movement, building acute internal and external awareness. Her passion lies in sharing the benefits of a gentle yoga practice with those who may feel intimidated by more athletic yoga styles or think they aren't flexible enough to do yoga. She loves creating personalized yoga sequences for a variety of ages and levels, and believes that we can begin to unleash the knowledge stored in the body and treat our ailments through gentle stretching, strengthening, and breathing techniques. Her personal yoga practice and teaching have been influenced by her training at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Baron Baptiste's Power Yoga, Barkan's Hot Yoga, and her growing interest in Anusara, Iyengar, and Restorative Yoga.

MATTHEW POWELL
Matthew Powell received his early training at the West Virginia School of Ballet and on scholarship with the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet. As a professional, he has performed with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, and the San Francisco Opera, and has danced principal and soloist roles in over fifty works by renowned choreographers such as George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, Twyla Tharp, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Michael Smuin, and more. Most recently, he toured the world for eight months with the International Tour of West Side Story.
As a teacher, Mr. Powell was on faculty with the Kansas City Ballet School, and has taught classes at numerous dance institutions such as the Universities of Iowa and Alabama, Marymount Manhattan, Roy Arias Studios, and Ballet Academy East. He has taught company class for Kansas City Ballet and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Additionally, he served as the company ballet teacher for the West Side Story International Tour. Matthew worked as Assistant Director for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s production of Pirates of Penzance, and his choreography received a fellowship from the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of the New York City Ballet.

ERIC TAMM
A native of San Francisco, Eric Tamm began his dance training with tap and jazz. His ballet training began at 14 at the Irine Fokine School of Ballet, under the direction of Irine Fokine, Eugene Petrov, and Jeanette Hoffman. In the summer of 2003, he attended Kaatsbaan's Extreme Ballet program, studying with Martine van Hamel, Bonnie Mathis, and Christian Holder. In January 2004, Mr. Tamm was selected for the ABT Studio Company Associate Program (now the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre) and attended ABT's 2004 Summer Intensive Program on a full scholarship.
Mr. Tamm was named a Chisholm Foundation Scholar in 2004. He joined ABT's Studio Company (now ABT II) in April 2005, the main Company, as an apprentice, in January 2007 and the corps de ballet in December 2007. His repertory with the Company includes the principal role in Ballo della Regina, the Nocturne in Fall River Legend, Olga's Fiancé in On the Dnieper, Jaseion in Sylvia and roles in Airs, Baker's Dozen, Everything Doesn't Happen at Once, From Here On Out and Overgrown Path. He created a role in One of Three.