2020 Int/Adv Ballet Intensive Instructor Bios
Elizabeth Lowe Ahearn (Monday, August 10th)
Elizabeth Lowe Ahearn, dancer, choreographer, and educator is a Professor and Dance Program Coordinator at Goucher College. Originally from Oklahoma, her early training was with Yvonne Chouteau, Joy Feldman, Conrad Ludlow, Bojan Spassoff, and Stephanie Wolf. Continuing her studies in New York with Bettijane Sills, Rachel List, June Finch, Valmai Stretton, Gus Solomons Jr., Linda Tarnay, and Rosanna Seravalli, she earned her BFA and MFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes. She has performed with the Metropolitan Ballet Company under the direction of Conrad Ludlow and Joy Feldman, Ballet Oklahoma under the direction of Edward Villella and Bojan Spassoff, The Second Avenue Dance Company in New York City, Kinetics Dance Theatre, Surge Dance Company of Baltimore, and Ordinary/Extraordinary Dance Theatre. Her repertory has included experimental, contemporary, historical, and classical works by Agnes de Mille, June Finch, Robert Gladstein, Eleanor King, Daniel Levans, Conrad Ludlow, Doris Humphrey, Mark Morris, Bill T. Jones, Jan Van Dyke, Mel Wong, and Arnie Zane and her own work has been presented internationally.
Elizabeth received her Pilates Teacher Certification in 1989 from the Pilates Studio under the tutelage of Romana Kryzanowska and Sari Mejia Santo and is currently a Romana’s Pilates Level 5+ Senior Instructor. The results of her work can be found in the World Book Encyclopedia and in her article “The Pilates Method and Ballet Technique-Applications in the Dance Studio” which was published in the Journal of Dance Education and presented at conferences internationally and nationally. Her most recent research, The Effects of Pilates Training on The Alignment of the Pelvis in Dancers Ages 17-22, has been presented at the Pilates Method Conference in Arizona, the 6th Annual Somatics Conference in Geneva, NY, the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science in Houston, and published in the December 2018 issue of the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science, and is an extension of her work as Founding Director of the Pilates Center at Goucher College. Elizabeth has served as as Vice President for Regional Planning for the American College Dance Association and currently serves as Vice President for Policies and Procedures.
Deborah Engerman (Tuesday, August 11th)
After returning from touring Europe as Ballet Mistress with Rock the Ballet, Mrs. Engerman took on the role of Director of Maryland Classical Dance Academy at Centre Pointe Performing Arts and also teaches at Susquehanna Dance Center near Lancaster, PA. She trained early in life with the Baltimore Ballet in the RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) tradition, passing her graded exams. Later while pursuing her BA in International Policy at Dickinson College, she continued her study of classical ballet with the teachers of Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Her dance training also includes Vaganova Technique, French Methodology, and the Dance Education Program at Towson University. Mrs Engerman has staged ballets to include the Nutcracker and Swan Lake, Act II.
Dancers trained by Ms. Engerman have earned professional contracts and danced with Universal Ballet, ABT, Complexions, The Washington Ballet, The Vienna Opera Ballet, Boston Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Inc, Texture Ballet, Hubbard Street, and on Broadway, among numerous others. She has also been a coach to dancers succeeding at numerous international ballet competitions, such as The Prix de Lausanne, the Varna IBC, and The Youth America Grand Prix. Her student, Adrienne Canterna, took the Junior Gold Medal at the 1998 Jackson USA International Ballet Competition. She is currently happy to continue to train dancers in MD and PA, while living with her husband and two dogs, in South Central PA.
Luciana Paris (Wednesday, August 12th)
Luciana Paris is a Soloist with American Ballet Theatre. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Luciana Paris began her ballet training at the age of seven with Elena Perez. She won a Gold Medal at the Latin American Dance Competition in 1995. In 1996 Paris was invited by Maximilano Guerra to join Ballet Camara and tour with the company in Argentina.
In December 1996 Paris joined Julio Bocca’s Ballet Argentino as a principal dancer and became Bocca’s dance partner. From 1997 to 2001, Paris and Julio Bocca danced together a vast classical, neoclassical and modern repertoire. Paris went on many national tours in Argentina and international tours around the world with Julio Bocca and the Ballet Argentino. Paris appeared at the 1997 Birmingham Ballet Gala in England dancing the Coppélia Pas de Deux with Julio Bocca.
Luciana has been dancing with ABT since 2001, and has been performing as a guest artist throughout the world. Paris's most recent guest appearances include the Ballet Now Gala 2015 in Los Angeles, dancing The Talisman pas de deux with Kleber Rebello, the 5th Buenos Aires International Ballet Gala, dancing Nutcracker pas de deux and Liam Scarlett's With a Chance of Rain, and the Fire Island Dance Festival 20th Anniversary dancing Romeo and Juliet, Balcony Scene pas de deux with Marcelo Gomes.
She was guest artist, partnered by Herman Cornejo, at the Dance Open Ballet Festival 2013 (Saint Petersburg) in Alexei Ratmansky's Seven Sonatas, the Festival des Arts de Saint-Saveur 2013 (Montreal) performing The Black Swan das de deux, and at the Roberto Bolle and Friends Gala at the New York City Center in September 2013 dancing Twyla Tharp's Sinatra Suite. Paris portrayed the principal role of Nikiya in a full-length production of La Bayadère in Argentina in August 2013, with Herman Cornejo as Solor, and, partnered by Cory Stearns, she danced Romeo and Juliet, Balcony Scene das de deux at the Brandon Ballet Gala in November 16, 2013. As a Guest Artist she danced for Buffalo Ballet in their Nutcracker Production.
In 2017, Luciana was invited to participate in the Australian Ballet Gala, Chile Gala of Ballet Starts, Danzar Por la Paz en Buenos Aires, among others. Luciana was given the dance artistic Achievement Award in 2018 by FINI Dance Festival in New York. In 2012 American Ballet Theatre designated Paris as a Certified Teacher. Luciana has been a guest teacher with American Academy of Ballet since 2016 as well as Fabrica de Arte School, Julio Bocca’s School.
Florian Rouiller (Thursday, August 13th)
Florian Rouiller is a dance teacher, choreographer, and performer who has worked extensively across three continents. Rouiller has an MFA in Dance from the University of Maryland, where he choreographed and performed the original productions Profondeur Inconnue and Wave while continuing extensive performance with local dance companies outside the university.
Rouiller began his dance career with training at the prestigious John Cranko School in Stuttgart with a BFA, and performed with the Stuttgart Ballet in productions such as Sleeping Beauty and Giselle. Upon immigrating to the United States, he danced with Merce Cunningham Dance Company as an apprentice, Ohio Ballet, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet Chicago, Ballet International Eldar Aliev, Ballet Metropolitano de Caracas, and Ballet Contemporanea de Caracas in Venezuela, as well as Goteborg Ballet in Sweden, performing soloist and principal roles and working with choreographers such as Alonzo King, Jiri Kylian, Simon Dow, Robert North, Jorma Uotinen , Jean-Paul Comelin, Lynne Taylor Corbett, to name a few. He has also performed with many companies throughout the United States and taught extensively, including at the Kirov Academy in Washington DC, the Washington Ballet School, and City Dance Ensemble. In the DC area, he has performed with City Dance Ensemble, Dana Tai Soon Burgess, and Lucy Bowen McCauley, Karen Reedy.
His piece Fragments was at the finals in the 2010 Korean Ballet competition and his Female solo Verge won the 3 prizes at YAGP competition in 2013. He also won a 3 prizes in the Men division 2015 at YAGP.
Tamako Miyazaki (Friday, August 14th)
Tamako Miyazaki of Tokyo, Japan, is in her seventh season with The Washington Ballet after dancing with Columbia Classical Ballet. Prior to that, Miyazaki was a member of The Washington Ballet Studio Company for two seasons. She has studied at Kaneta Kono Ballet Academy, Michiko Aoyama Ballet Studio, and the Reiko Otsuka Ballet Studio.
Her many awards include: first place in the Youth America Grand Prix finals in 2002, the silver medal at USA International Competition Jackson, Mississippi in 2014, second place at the YAGP regionals in Toyko in 2004 and second place in the All Japan Ballet Union Competition and YAGP finals in 2006. Miyazaki has earned full scholarships to many recognized programs, including Canada National Ballet School’s Summer Program, Briansky Saratoga Ballet’s Summer Program, The Washington School of Ballet’s Summer Intensive, and La Scala Ballet School in Milan, Italy for two years.
She has performed principal roles as Medora in Le Corsaire, Gamzatti in La Bayadére, Sugar Plum and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, and the Pas de Trois in Swan Lake with Columbia Classical Ballet. She was invited to perform in several galas as a guest artist with Japan Ballet Association, International Ballet Festival in Miami, Associazione Culturale Artedanza Rossana in Italy in 2009, All Stars of Dance gala in Orlando in 2011, The Dream Celebration dance gala co-produced by Rasta Thomas, the International Ballet Gala in homage to Alicia Alonso in Johannesburg and Chicago Dance Festival 2013. Miyazaki was recently featured in a web commercial by the Japanese telecom company KDDI.