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Australian Chamber Ballet,
principals' resumés:
Robert Kelly
...began ballet studies at age 16 in Canberra
under the tutelage of Adrian Dimitrievitch.
In 1992 he began his professional career,
touring Australia with the Dimitrievitch
Ballet, where he performed solo roles in
Paquita, Swan Lake, and Le Corsaire pas de
deux. From 1996-1999 he was principal with
the Ballet of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and
from 1999-2003 he was soloist with the Landestheater
of Salzburg, Austria. Mr. Kelly joins the
ACB in 2003.
Yanis Pikieris
...was the recipient of the silver medal
in Jackson, and the prestigious gold medal
at the Moscow International Ballet Competition.
He has performed as a principal dancer with
the International Ballet of Caracas, the
Bavarian National Ballet and the Miami City
Ballet, and as a guest artist with Ballet
du Nord, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Nagoya Ballet
and the Australian Ballet among others. As
a choreographer he has created many works
for the Maximum Dance Company in Miami, USA.
He has created works for the Bavarian National
Ballet, Ballet Centrum Berlin, Ballet Randolph,
Ballet du Nord, Ballet Theatre of Miami,
Ballet Metropolitano de Medellin, Juegos
del Arte Dance Ensemble and the Tampa Bay
Ballet Theater. Most recently he choreographed
the dance sequences in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene
Onegin for the Florida Grand Opera. He previously
served as Artistic Director for Ballet du
Nord, Juegos Dance Ensemble and the Ballet
Metropolitano de Medellin.
Lisa Gabeler
...studied in Sydney and began her professional
career in 1979 as a principal with the Ballet
company of Regensburg, Germany. In 1980 she
moved to the Städtisches Theater in Hof,
and then in 1983 to the Staatstheater München,
all of these engagements as soloist. She
returned to Australia and held solo positions
with the Queensland Ballet from 1985, the
Sydney Festival Ballet from 1986, and the
Australian Opera Ballet from 1987-1988. From
1988 to 1990 she was a guest instructor at
the Paris Dance Centre in France, and in
1991 performed solo roles with the Meryl
Tankard Dance Company. From 1992- 1996 she
was a principal artist and assistant director
of the Dimitrievitch Ballet. She became a
founding member of the the ACB in 1996.
Stan Kornel
...studied violin in Canberra with Ernest
Lewellyn and later in Bydgoszcz, Poland,
where he earned a Bachelor of Music Degree.
He furthered his studies in £ódz, obtaining
a Master's Degree in peformance, and later
studied viola d'amore with Catherine Mackintosh
and baroque violin with Sigiswald Kuijken.
From 1985-1987 he was a member of the Orchestra
of La Fenice and the chamber orchestra Vivaldiana,
both based in Venice. During the summer seasons
of those years he performed with the orchestra
of the Festival of Verona. Since 1987 he
has been a member of the Sydney Symphony
Orchestra. As well as being concertmaster
of the Australian Chamber Ballet, he is also
soloist and director of the Sydney Consort
Baroque Ensemble and concertmaster of the
Gallery Players Ensemble. Since 1996 he has
been a professor of violin at the Sydney
Conservatorium of Music and the Sydney International
Grammer School. He has recorded 8 compact
discs of violin music of Australian and Irish
composers.
Anthony Baldwin
...studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of
Music, graduating in 1972. In 1973 he won
First Prize in the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation's State Concerto Competiton with
his performance of Prokofiev's Concerto No.
2. From 1973 - 1981 he taught piano at the
King's School, Sydney. In 1982 he began his
long association with the Sydney Symphony
Orchestra as their principal keyboard player,
touring with them to the USA for their "Australian
Bicentennial Tour" in 1988. He has been
a member of the faculty of the Sydney Conservatorium
since 1981. He has embarked on various concerto
tours within Australia, performing the concertos
of Beethoven (3 & 4), Rachmaninov (2),
Schumann, and Gerschwin, and has been in
demand as an accompanist and chamber musician
in Sydney for 3 decades. He has been the
Principal Pianist with the ACB since its
founding in 1996.
Chenoa Bonic
...trained in London and Sydney, and was
a semi-finalist at the 1995 Asia-Pacific
Ballet Competition in Tokyo. She toured Europe
as a member of the Zagreb Ballet Company
from 1992-1994. Upon returning to Australia
she was appointed to the corps de ballet
of the Queensland Opera, where she served
from 1996-1998. In 1999 she performed solo
roles at the Edinburgh Festival in their
choreographed production of MacBeth, and
later in that year returned to Sydney, where
she joined the Bondi Ballet and the Central
Performance Project. She has been a member
of the Australian Chamber Ballet since 1996.
Thomas Tsai
...studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of
Music, where he completed his DSCM, majoring
in cello. Following graduation he was invited
by Lynn Harell to join his Gregor Piatigorsky
Cello Class at the University of Southern
California, completing a Masters in Music
Performance (cello). During that time he
was awarded various scholarships including
being the first recipient of the Japan-American
Symphony Scholarship for Outstanding Musical
Performance. In the USA he performed as soloist
and member of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra
and the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra.
In 1993 he moved to Italy, where he became
a member of the Rome Chamber Orchestra. He
returned to Australia in 1995 and since then
has performed as a soloist, chamber recitalist,
and as a member of the Australian Chamber
Orchestra, and has made numerous recordings
for the ABC and 2MBS FM radio stations. He
is currently on the faculty of the Sydney
Conservatorium of Music and Barker College,
teaching cello and chamber music. He has
been a member of the Australian Chamber Ballet
since 1996.
Christine Draeger
...studied at the Tasmanian Conservatorium
of Music, and at the University of Adelaide
as a student of Zdenek Bruderhans, graduating
with an Honours Degree. Whilst in Adelaide
she performed with the Adelaide Symphony
Orchestra and the State Opera of South Australia.
She was a member of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
from 1981-1986. She has been a founding member
of the Seymour Group, one of Sydney's premier
contemporary music ensembles, since 1982,
and has appeared as a guest artist with the
ensembles Synergy, Perehelion, Symeron and
the Song Company. She has also performed
on numerous occasions with the Australian
Opera Ballet Orchestra and the Tasmanian
Symphony Orchestra. In 1992 Christine founded
the Tucana Flute Quartet and has composed
2 quartets for this ensemble. In 1999 she
was awarded First Prize in the Australian
Flute Composition Competition for her solo
flute work, Melusina's Dream. In addition
to her career as a performer she has recorded
an extenisve repertoire of contemporary flute
music. She joins the ACB in 2003.
Felicity Wyithe
...completed her studies at the Sydney Conservatorium
of Music under the tutelage of Alexander
Todecescu and Esther van Stralen, earning
a Bachelor of Music Degree in 1999. From
1997-1999 she was a member of the viola section
of the Sydney Sinfonia, and was awarded a
contract position in the Sydney Symphony
Orchestra in 1999. She became a permanent
member of the Sydney Symphony in 2000. She
joined the ensemble of the Australian Chamber
Ballet in the year 2002.
Kim Holgate
…undertook her formal training in dance and
drama at the Victorian College of the Arts
and the Australian College of Theatre and
Television, and furthered her studies at
The Dance Factory and the St. Martin’s School. Throughout the 1990’s she was a member of
the ballet company of the Victorian State
Opera, and taught through the Australian
Dance Federation in Hong Kong. Among her many other dance affiliations can
be counted the Dance Factory and National
Theatre in Melbourne, and the Opening Ceremonies
of the 2000 Summer Olympic games in Sydney. Kim joins the ACB in 2003.
…graduated from the Korean National Academy
of Traditional Performing Arts, majoring
in Korean Traditional Dance, and later studied
contemporary dance at E-Hwa Women’s University. In 2000 she furthered her dance studies at
the University of California at San Diego
and the California Academy of Performing
Arts. In 1994 She began her professional dancing
career as a member of the National Theatre of Korea, and in 1996
was awarded 2nd Prize at the Han-Yang University performing
artists competition. During this time she honed her skills as
a choreographer, and was promoted to the
position of soloist in the same ensemble. In 2001 she appeared as a soloist at Korea’s
Annual Dance Festival in the Seoul Arts Centre. She has continued her classical training
at Ballet Australasia under the tutelage
of Mr. Dimitrievitch, and joins the ACB in
2003.
…carried out her early training in Sydney
at Halliday Dance Centre, Dynamite Dance
Studio, Sydney Dance Company, and the Bodenweiser
Studio. In 1996 she earned an Associate Degree in
Dance at the Queensland University of Technology. She furthered her training in New York at
the Alvin Ailey School, Paul Taylor Dance
Company, Broadway Dance Center, Steps, and
Dance Space, and then in London at Danceworks,
Jerwood Dance Space, and Pineapple Dance
Studio. Her extensive performance career began in
Sydney with the Freelance Dance Company and
in Brisbane at the Cherry Herring Space,
before she moved to New York, where in addition
to her training she joined the Reflections
Dance Company in 1997. During her time in London, from 1998–2002
she performed with the Yozo Fass Dance Company,
Jouvet Productions at the Cochrane Theatre,
and the Green Candle Dance Company. Yasmin becomes a member of the ACB in 2003.
Rodolfa Biasotto
…studied ballet in Wollongong and Sydney,
and from 1983-1988 was a Principal Dancer
and Balletmistress with Folkorico Australia,
later known as the Shell National Folkloric
Festival. During this time she also performed as a
member of the Australian Opera Ballet Company. From 1988-1990 she studied in Moscow at the
GITIS State Theatre Arts Institute and at
the Moiseyev School, and attained a Certificate
of Advanced Teaching Studies. From 1992-1995 she danced in gala performances
at the Bolshoi Theatre, taught at the Russian
Seasons Dance Company and the New Humanitarian
University in Moscow, and choreographed for
the Bashkortostan State Ballet Theatre. During her residence in Russia she was a
contributing editor for various Russian dance
magazines, including the Moscow Guardian,
the Moscow Revue, the Moscow Times, and Nesavisimaya
Gazeta, and also edited the English version
of the Russian Ballet Journal. She returned to Australia in 1997, when she
became Artistic Director of “Los Guitaristas”
flamenco group, and she joins the ACB during
their 2003 season.
Deborah Blake
After early studies in her native Adelaide,
Deborah completed her diploma in dance at
the Ballet Rambert School in London. After performances with the Sadlers Wells
company (1989-1990) she embarked on a career
as soloist and corps-de-ballet in Germany
(1991-1997), firstly at the Staatstheater
Saarbrucken, then the Landestheater Coburg,
and finally at the Staatstheater Meiningen. In 1997 she returned to Australia and performed
with the Dance Theatre of Victoria and the
New South Wales Ballet Company, where she
performed the solo role in Orpheus. From 1998-2001 she worked in the field of
contemporary dance with Bodies, the Heera
Yoo Dance Company, and the Ichiro Harada
Dance Group. In addition to her dance career she has many
engagements as a professional actor, amongst
which are included the role of Judy Davis’
double in “The Man Who Sued God”. She joins the ACB in 2003.
Andrew Obst
…was trained at the Australian Ballet School
and joined the corps de ballet of the Australian
Ballet in 1988. In 1991 he was promoted to the position of
Coryphée of the same company. During his tenure with them (1988-1993) he toured to
the USA, the UK, Italy, China, Taiwan and
Japan. In 1993-1994 he was a guest soloist with
the Dancers Company in the states of New
South Wales and Victoria. The years 1996-1997 saw him perform as a
soloist with both the Scottish National Ballet
and the City Ballet of London, the latter
with whom he toured to France. From 1998-2002 he was a member of the Royal
New Zealand Ballet. He appears as a guest artist with the ACB
from 2003.
Lisa Herrick
…received her Advanced Certificate B.M.A.A.D.
at the Edouard Borovansky Memorial Ballet
Academy in 1991. Since that time she has
been a teacher there as well as at the Zoop
Performing Arts Studios and the E.B.M.B.A.,
where she trains in both the classical and
contemporary genres. She began her career as a performer and choreographer
in 1992, firstly with the E.B.M.B.A., then
as a member of “Bodies” and “Art in Motion”. In 1998 she performed in various contemporary
works at the National Dance Week. From 1998-2000 she furthered her training
through open classes in New York and Los
Angeles, and returned to Australia in 2000
to perform with the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival. In 2003 Lisa will complete her apprenticeship
as an instructor of Pilates, and in the same
year becomes a member of the A.C.B.
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