BB's Dance & Circus Arts of Tampa Bay

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Excellent Instruction in Dance and Unique Circus Arts Training!

Who's Teaching?

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Beth Brier
Artistic Director
Beth received her training at the Pennsylvania Ballet School as a scholarship student under the direction of Barbara Weisberger. She was soloist with Dance Theatre of Penna. and Jazz Dance Theatre of Penna. She has produced events with such notables as Debra Brown, Emmy Award Winning Choreographer of Cirque du Soleil. After Teaching in 8 states and traveling as Master Teacher for many years, Beth created BB's Dance & Circus Arts of Tampa Bay with the vision of providing children with professional level training and performing opportunities in a fun and stimulating environment. 
In 2008 Beth was awarded a grant from the Pinellas County Arts Council to further her education and research in building the Circus Arts program for her school.
Her students have been seen in local high profile performances for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Make A Wish Foundation, Saks Fifth Ave., Push Lounge, various corporate events and weekly Saturday night performances at Casa Tina's Mexican Restaurant in downtown Dunedin.

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Iliana S. Babadjanova
Classical Ballet
Iliana S. Babadjanova graduated cum Laude (Honor Student/ Dean’s List) in 1988 from the National Ballet Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria. Two years before graduation she was already selected and danced in the corps de ballet of the Sofia National Opera. Upon graduation she became a full time employee of the National Theater, where she worked eight years.
In 1990 Iliana was awarded the prestigious first prize in the National Bi-Annual Ballet Festival in Tolbuhin, Bulgaria. In 1991 she was invited to teach ballet in Italy for one year. She returned back to the National Opera as soloist in major classics such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutkracker, Giselle and Don Quixotte. She worked under the direction of Kolpakova and Gregorovitch, while touring extensively through Europe and Asia.
She also accepted a position as an assistant teacher at the National Ballet Academy.
In 1994 Iliana began working at a Private Art School as Head of the Dance Department, until she moved to the USA in 1997.

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Marsha Wilson 

Marsha began dancing with Academy of Ballet Arts in St. Petersburg, Fl. under the guidance of Suzanne Pomerantzeff and Lester Jacobsen. She attended the University of Utah as a dance major before joining the Milwaukee Ballet. Upon returning to Florida, she danced with the Southern Ballet Theatre in Orlando for several years. Currently, she choreographs works for performances and international ballet competitions and teaches for several dance studios in the local area.

 

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 Melissa Mitchell

Modern

Melissa grew up in Phoenix, Arizona dreaming of becoming a ballerina. She trained at the Phoenix School of Ballet and School of Ballet Arizona and got her first taste of the stage as a member of the junior ballet company Ballet Etudes. Melissa spent her summers trying to beat the Arizona heat by attending the Boston Ballet and Walnut Hill summer programs on scholarship as well as the Kirov Academy in Washington D.C. (She clearly didn't realize there was such a thing as humidity, beforehand!). Melissa graduated high school at 16 and joined Ballet Arizona, where she ate, slept, and lived dance. Melissa re-met and married a former childhood flame (ooh lala!) and became a mother to the exceedingly energetic Bonnie, whom many of Melissa's family consider ample payback for her own childhood (hense the blurry photo of her). Melissa then went on to dance with Scorpius Dance' Company. In January 2010, Melissa relocated to Florida for her husbands work and got the crazy notion that a new town meant a new way to torture her body. She researched aerial arts in the area and found us! She is currently working out weekly in the Adult Aerial Fitness class and is enjoying the war wounds that can only be earned on the trapeze!

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RONNIE DEMARCO
JAZZ
Ronnie has embraced every aspect of the professional dance experience, from performing on and Off-Broadway, on television and with summer stock companies, to choreographing for television (including Saturday Night Live), nightclub extravaganzas and Disney's theme parks in the United States and the Orient.
He has taught for major dance organizations such as Dance Educators, Dance Masters and Dance Olympus. For many years he was a special associate to jazz great, Luigi at the Luigi Jazz Center in New York City and the Broadway Dance Center. In addition to currently teaching jazz classes at both the University of South Florida and the University of Tampa, twice a year he works at IAC studios in Tokyo, Japan. He also teaches at the School of the Performing Arts, Disney World, Epcot and MGM, all in Orlando, Florida.
He has choreographed for Lotte World Theme Park in Seoul, South Korea and for the 1994 World Expo in Tae Jon, South Korea. In addition to working with the annual Broadway Theater Project based every summer in Tampa, he just completed choreographing and co-directing Chicago with at the 8 O' Clock Theatre at Largo Cultural Center for which he won a "Larry" award.
Ronnie's varied expertise in the dance field has made him one of the most influential dance figures in the world today.

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Dori Harnly-Allwein
Children's Program and Musical Theater

Dori is that bright and chipper personality that you just want your kids to be around. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University with a BA in Education, Dance & Musical Theatre. She's worked with Disney, Universal Studios, and most recently, directed the St. Pete Little Theater through their summer programs. Our kids absolulty love her and everything she does with them. We can'rt say enough great things about Dori!

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Sir Brock Warren
Horton Modern Technique
Sir Brock is a graduate of the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School & the Boston Conservatory with a BFA in Dance.
He is one of the drving forces behind the annual Chocolate Nutcracker and the Dundu Dole' Urban African Ballet.
We are delirious with joy to have Sir Brock back teaching with us. His classes are exciting and inspiring to all level of dancer.

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Kasondra Holmes

Jazz & Tap 

Kasondra has been dancing for as long as she can remember.  At the age of four, her mother asked her if she wanted to take dance lessons, to which she responded, “No, I’m good enough already.”  At the age of six, she realized this was not actually the case, so she began formal study of all things dance.  Upon graduating from high school, she spent a few years in New York City, training at Marymount Manhattan College, Steps on Broadway, and Broadway Dance Center.  Kasondra has toured Europe with the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp International Ensemble, danced in the off-Broadway production of Break The Floor, and has been a professional member of West Michigan’s Cherry County Playhouse.

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Jessica Watson
Circus Arts
Jessica hails from Sarasota, where she grew up in the circus. Her grandmother did circus, her mother did circus and now we have Jessica! She trained with the P.A.L. Sailor Circus for 10 years, eventually becoming Ringmaster and mastering every circus skill she could manage. She has worked with Universal Studios in various show capacities. She also spent several summers at circus camps training lots of children and creating shows for lots of children. Jessica is trained in spotting and accident prevention.

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Taylor Lubecki
Circus Arts

Taylor has trained through her younger years in diving & gymnastics. She is also trained in Classical Ballet, Modern & Jazz. Bringing all of that to our Circus Arts program makes her an impressive performer and instructor. She has trained for the past 4 years under Catie Brier, Contortion, and Aerial with Ileigh Reynolds & Carrie Heller. She recently returned from the San Francisco Circus Center where she trained Contortion under Mongolian coach Serchmaa Byamba, along with various aerial coaches in Hammock, Lyra and Tissue. She has performed locally for Big Brothers Big Sisters, Saks Fifth Ave., One Voice Foundation, Casa Tina's Mexican Restaurant, Push Lounge & various corporate events.

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Chelsea Meredith
Children's Program &
Circus Arts
Chelsea is a graduate of Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School. In the middle of that, she caught wind of aerial training nearby, hence becoming one of the first aerial dancers in Pinellas County. Chelsea is trained in Classical Ballet, Modern, Jazz & Tap. For her Senior Project at PCCA, thinking outside the box, she hooked up with Celin Rodriguez (hand balancing adagio master on Rola Bola, see photo) who trained and instructed at the Cuban Circus School. Under his intense tutelage, she learned Rola Bola adagio and performed for her Senior Project and also "Fairies, Inc." 2009. Chelsea performs locally every weekend at Casa Tina's Mexican Restaurant, and has been seen locally at Saks Fifth Ave., Push Lounge and various corporate events.

   
   

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Catie Brier
Acrobatics & Contortion

After a full schedule of dance training for years, Catie decided to run off and join the circus. Since then she has trained with Mongolian Contortionist, Sergima and
Master Lu Yi of China at the San Francisco Circus Center. Catie now performs at many events throughout the US, including performances at Alcatraz, the Queen Mary cruise ship and Super Bowl 2008. Catie manages to fit into her intense training and performing regime returning to the Tampa Bay Area for workshops and performances with Dance & Circus Arts.
You can see her perform in our upcoming "Fairies, Inc." production www.fairiesinc.org.
Or see more of Catie at  
www.catiebriercontortion.com to see her demo and photos.  

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Master Class Series
Schedule to be Announced
Sir Brock Warren/Horton Technique
Travis Mesman/Limon/Acro ModernTechinque
Megan Brazil/Graham Technique
Ronnie Demarco/Jazz

   



Testimonial from one of our Instructors:

"I love coming to teach at BB's Dance & Circus Arts. This studio is extremely professional and friendly.
The students are eager to learn and grow as performers. It's truly a wonderful environment for both the aspiring dancer as well as dance educators."

-Dori Harnly-Allwein

 




Dance & Circus Arts of Tampa Bay
727-461-0098
1610 N. Hercules Ave., Suite G&H, Clearwater, FL. 33765
 Beth Brier/Artistic Director     director@danceandcircusarts.com