Lynn Parkerson, Artistic Director, began her career as a choreographer while living in Germany. German critic Joachim Ernst-Berendt wrote of Lynn Parkerson, She makes music with her body like a musician on his instrument, and when she moves we feel it, that’s the way free music should be danced. Jack Anderson of The New York Times wrote, Ms. Parkerson successfully made her dancers seem witness to a miracle...one knew she was talking to God and the world, and Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times has called her solo dance, an innately spiritual embodiment of grace.

In recognition of her exceptional leadership contributions to Brooklyn’s cultural community, Ms. Parkerson received the Betty Smith Arts Award as part of the Women's “Herstory” Induction Ceremony and Reception on March 22, 2007. Each year, the awards, named after some of the most outstanding women in Brooklyn "herstory," are given to six outstanding Brooklyn women. In November '06 she received the Paul Robeson Award for Artistic Excellence and Community Service.

Lynn Parkerson’s choreography has been presented at many prominent international events and venues, including the Munich Theater Festival, Frankfurt’s Theatre am Turm, the Florence International Festival of Dance, Moers New Jazz Festival, Jazz Festival Baden-Baden and An Appalachian Summer Arts Festival in Boone, NC, among others. In New York City, she presented annual dance programs—notably the popular ballet series To the Pointe—as Director of Dance at Holy Trinity from 1991-2001.  Her work has been supported by grants from the Harkness foundation for Dance, Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation and Con Edison. She also served as the Assistant Director of the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center from 1996-1999. Ms. Parkerson has taught dance to children and adults in New York and abroad.

Caridad Martinez, Brooklyn Ballet School Director/”Elevate” Faculty is a graduate of the Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, Cuba, where she studied with Alicia & Fernando Alonso. As a principal dancer of the National Ballet of Cuba she performed in the most important theaters in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Caridad was Artistic Director of the Cuban-Mexico Ballet School for 13 years, and Artistic Director and choreographer of The Havana Ballet Theater. The Havana Ballet Theater was the creative concept that transformed the performing arts in Cuba during the decade of the 80's. Caridad Martinez is considered one of the leading figures of the Performing Arts in that country. She has obtained innumerable awards for her choreographic work for dance and theater. She has choreographed for the Hispanic Heritage Awards, and for the acclaimed Julian Schnabel film Before Night Fall.

Oona Haaranen, “Elevate” Education Director, received her BFA in Dance at Juilliard in 1987 and earned her MA in Dance Research and Choreography at CCNY in 1991. She became a “Language of Dance” specialist in 2003 after five years of study with Anne Hutchinson Guest at the Language of the Dance Center. Before coming to this country she was trained by and was a member of the Finnish National Ballet. In addition she has an extensive musical background having studied piano, music theory and music history for 13 years at The Helsinki Conservatory of Music.

Catherine Green, ”Elevate” Program Coordinator/Faculty. Catherine Green began professional training at the North Carolina School of the Arts. She performed with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Ballet Met before attending Purchase College, graduating in 1990 with a BFA in dance. For the past fourteen years, Ms. Green has lived in New York City, working as a dancer and dance teacher. Recent performances were with Ballet Mink Colbert in Copenhagen, Denmark and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Since 1999, Ms. Green has been on the ballet faculty at the Hunter College Dance Program in New York, and she received her MA in dance education from New York University in 2003.

Nicole Cornell, Faculty, Brooklyn Ballet School and “Elevate”. Nicole is a graduate of Baltimore School for the Arts and received her BS degree in Music (Ballet) from Indiana University. She received her early training from such places as Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Lines Ballet.  Ms. Cornell currently serves on the audition selection committee for Eliot Feld’s Ballet Tech School in NYC and recently completed a six-month internship with the Hinton Battle Theater Laboratory. She is also the Administrative Director for Brooklyn Ballet.

Fidel Garcia, Faculty, Brooklyn Ballet School is originally from Havana, Cuba. Garcia graduated from the Ballet School of Camaguey, Cuba, with honors as both a dancer and dance professor. He has received both national and international dance prizes. Garcia joined Ballet de Camaguey under the direction of Fernando Alonso dancing Albrecht in Giselle, Collin in Fille mal Gardee, Prince Siegrid in Swan Lake, as well as pas de deuxs in Le Corsaire, Coppelia, Don Quixote, and Diana and Acteon. In this country he has danced with The Washington Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Ballet NY.

 

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