BB's Dance & Circus Arts of Tampa Bay

Who's Teaching?

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. 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.	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. Miranda Heitz Childrens' Dance Mrs. Miranda Heitz has been teaching Preschool through Adult in Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, Contemporary, Musical Theater and Hip Hop for the past 14 years.  She was a dance major at Ball State University and has choreographed Theater productions, High school dance teams and many Studio Competition Companies. She also obtained her Royal Academy of Dance certificate and was awarded "Highly Commended" on her ballet exams. She has trained under many amazing instructors around the world; some including Jazz dancer Frank Hatchett, professional Modern choreographer Bill Evans & Tap master Sam Fiorello. She is a teacher first and foremost and believes in making the students comfortable by encouraging them to expand their minds and bodies, be creative, confident in themselves and know that this is an beautiful art form we call dance!
Marsha Wilson  Classical Ballet Workshops 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.   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 Contortion under Catie Brier and Mongolian coach Serchmaa Byamba at the San Francisco Circus Center, along with various aerial coaches nationally in Hammock, Lyra and Tissue. Taylor was specifically invited to perform in LA for the past 2 years for Author Services International Awards Ceremony and has performed locally for Big Brothers Big Sisters, Saks Fifth Ave., One Voice Foundation, Casa Tina's Mexican Restaurant, Push Lounge & various corporate events.  Kurt Krynski Circus Arts Kurt is trained in classical ballet, modern, contact improv and aerial work. He has worked in NYC with the Jose Limon Dance Company and Fly By Night aerial/dance company. He has delighted audiences at Busch Gardens for years and you might even have a picture of him at the gate with your kids if you've visited there! Kurt is the strongest little man we have ever run across and takes great pride in training our students to professional, polished levels. Tieli Rasmussen Advanced Aerial Tieli comes to us from Brazil. We are fortunate enough to have found her after touring with Ringling Brothers. She brings a wealth of teaching knowledge, performance experience and attention to safety issues to our aerial program. She is utterly amazing to watch perform. (You can catch her at Casa Tina's Mexican Restaurant!)	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. 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. Chelsea was also specifically invited to perform in LA for the past 2 years for Author Services International Awards Ceremony, Writer's of the Future.
Catie holding her handstand while being interviewed by Charlie Belcher of Good Day 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, Teatro Zinzanni 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.