THE SCHOOL OF ASPEN SANTA FE BALLET SANTA FE FACULTY
Gisela Genschow, School Director
Ms. Genschow is the Director and principal teacher of The School of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. A native of Hamburg, Germany she trained with the Hamburg State Opera under Peter van Dyk and Victor Gsovsky. She danced professionally with the Hamburg State Opera, Ballet de Wallonie, Opera de Lyon, Ballet Theatre Contemporain, Ballet du Rhins, and Tanzforum Koln. Throughout her career she toured Europe performing classical ballets as well as contemporary works. She had the opportunity to directly work with George Balanchine as well as numerous other renowned choreographers such as Pierre Lacotte and Lois Falco. After moving to the United States, Ms. Genschow was a faculty member of Fort Worth Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre under company director Patricia Wilde and the New World School of the Arts in Miami. In 1992, she moved to Santa Fe and took over the directorship of Santa Fe Dance Foundation, now the School of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet.
Jefferson Baum, Ballet
Mr. Baum began teaching at the age of eighteen after studying at NCSA, ABT and SAB (all on scholarship) and went on to dance professionally in major companies such as Pennsylvania Ballet (corps de ballet), Ballet de Monte Carlo (soloist) Cleveland Ballet, Ballet Arizona, Milwaukee Ballet (principal) and Metropolitan Opera Ballet among others. Mr. Baum has extensive directing, teaching and choreographing (over 40 dance pieces, 5 full length ballets) experience, including an eleven year faculty position at “Steps on Broadway” in NYC, Associate Professor and Director of the Dance Department at Grand Valley State University (2000-2007), Director of Dance at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp (1989-2007), founding Director of Great Lakes Youth Ballet (2000-2007) and before joining ASFBallet was Director of Dance at National Dance Institute, NM. He has guest taught at numerous schools and companies such as North Carolina School of the Arts, Ballet Tucson, Milwaukee Ballet, National Ballet of Portugal, University of Arizona and Vassar College. Since his retirement from the stage he has devoted his energy to teaching dance and passing along his vast knowledge to aspiring young dancers. His students have gone on to professional careers with major companies such as: Pacific Northwest Ballet, Washington Ballet, Momix, Pittsburg Ballet Theatre, Milwaukee Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Tucson, Columbia City Ballet, Kansas City Ballet and most recently the New York City Ballet.
Karen Brettschneider, Early Childhood Training
Karen was born in Elgin, IL and began training with Lisa Boehm, former prima ballerina of the Deutsches Opernhaus, Berlin, Germany and the Stadt Theater, Berne, Switzerland. She began ballet at the age of six and in her teens added jazz under the tutelage of Frank Boehm. Karen appeared numerous times in the Elgin Area Performing Arts Nutcracker production, achieving soloist in 1989 and, in later years, serving as rehearsal assistant. She also trained at the Ruth Page Foundation (Chicago) under the direction of Larry Long, at the Lou Conte Dance Studio (Chicago), North Carolina School of the Arts, and Yorkshire Ballet Seminars, England where she had the good fortune to study under Sir Anton Dolin. Karen attended Barat College of DePaul University graduating cum laude with a B.A. in Performing Arts Dance. After graduating, Karen danced for several years with Zephyr Dance Ensemble but soon realized teaching was her true passion. She brings to ASFB 20 years of teaching experience in Chicago and it's suburbs. She has continued her studies at numerous teacher training courses and studios and regards the following teachers as most influential; Fury Gold, Birute Barodicaite, Warren Conover, Clare Carmichael, Robert Atwood, Russell Saltzbach, and Pamela Johnson Tanis. Choreography credits include numerous works for the North Suburban Dance Company, a company she founded and directed; Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella for the Barat College Children's Theater Department; and the North Shore Nutcracker which she also performed in as a soloist and coached several roles. She is happy to be joining the teaching faculty at ASFB and looks forward to instilling her love of dance in its young students.
Clare Carmichael, Ballet
Prior to joining ASFB in October 2007, Clare was Director of Chicago Ballet Arts for twenty years. CBA is a community outreach school for classical dance, bringing rigor and professional standards to its students and family concerts, while guiding many dancers into the professional world. She currently serves on the Board as Founder and Director Emerita of CBA. Clare received her classical training in New York City with Feodor Lensky, Alexandra Danilova, and Vitale Folkine, and continued in Chicago with Larry Long of the Ruth Page Foundation, and Warren Conover, currently Assistant Dean of Dance at North Carolina School of the Arts.
Leslie Cook, Jazz Workshop
Leslie Cook has danced, acted , taught and choreographed in film, television and on the theatrical stage for 30 yrs. She received her B.F.A. from North Carolina School of the Arts and danced professionally with the North Carolina Dance Theater and Les Grands Ballets Canadians. As a member of Screen Actors Guild she has performed in over 25 films including The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, My Blue Heaven, The Mask, Out to Sea and Scrooged. She has been featured on television programs such as Earth II, Wings, The Donny and Marie Show, numerous TV specials and has been seen as a "regular" on Paramount's Solid Gold. As a choreographer for Paramount Pictures and Working Title Films her credits include Forrest Gump, The Hi Lo Country and Star Trek Nemesis. Leslie was commissioned by The Ohio Ballet between 2000 and 2004 to create three contemporary jazz ballets, all receiving critical acclaim. Leslie was on the dance faculty for The College of Santa Fe, The Santa Fe Community College and the Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles.
Kate Eberle, Dance Conditioning
Kate trained on full scholarships in Birmingham (UAB) and Chicago before dancing professionally in both Chicago and New York City. In addition to her varied background in dance, she brings the discipline and strengthening elements gained in Tae Kwon Do, in which she holds a Black Belt. In the spring of 2004, Eberle co-founded the tiny Santa Fe-based contemporary company Two Women Dancing. She teaches Modern and Dance Fitness classes in Santa Fe as well as Dance Conditioning+ at BODY.
Carol LaRue Liebmann, Adult Ballet, Tap, Jazz
Carol received her BFA in Dance Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. She danced with Ballet Oklahoma and has performed in many musical theatre productions in roles such as Val in A Chorus Line, Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street, Lily St. Regis in Annie, and Consuelo in West Side Story. Teaching credits include the School of Ballet Oklahoma, Children's Theatre Company and School in Minneapolis, and New Mexico Dance Theatre in Los Alamos.
Joan Lombardi, Modern
Following 15 years of professional performing for many renowned choreographers such as Pina Bausch, Robert Butler, Robert Joffrey, Donya Feuer, Phyllis Lambert, Alwin Nickolais, Paul Sanasardo and Anna Sokolow, Joan Lombardi established the Joan Lombardi Dance Company in 1976 to concentrate on her own distinctive approach to choreography. Ms Lombardi has taught nationally at both the university and professional levels. Her company has performed at all the New York dance/theatre venues and across the U.S. She has been honored with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, among others. Joan moved to Santa Fe in 2007 and continues to teach and choreograph.