STAFF: The Choreographers

Jorge Cano

Jorge Cano Jorge Cano, former Ballet Master of Compañia Nacional Classica, the national ballet company of Mexico, has choreographed for Austin Contemporary Ballet, Victoria Ballet Theater, San Antonio's Incarnate Word College Ballet and Corpus Christi Concert Ballet. Mr. Cano has choreographed A Midsummer Nights's Dream for CCCB and taught acting and dance classes at the Regional School for the Deaf and Chula Vista Academy of Fine Arts.

Mr. Cano trained with the School of American Ballet and Ballet Arts School in New York City. Mr. Cano has worked with the Compañia National Classica since 1963. He has served as the ballet master and assistant director for Ballet El Paso.

An artist of international merit, Mr. Cano has danced professionally with Ballet Classico de Mexico, Ballet Natioñal de Cuba, Ballet Concierto de Mexico, and Ballet of San Salvador. He has performed in major productions of Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Coppelia, and The Nutcracker. A talented actor, he has performed in such operas as Aida, Don Giovanni, Pagliacci, Faust, The Merry Widow, and My Fair Lady.

Thom Clower

Known as one of the most energetic and inspiring teachers across the country, Thom Clower's "evangelistic" approach to teaching has touched the lives and careers of dancers across the country for over 25 years. With extensive training in Vaganova, Balanchine, Cechetti, and Bournonville, Mr. Clower combines the qualities of each one of these styles to present a technique that is true and versatile.

Making his stage debut at the age of 6, Mr. Clower began his professional training with George Skibine and Marjorie Tallchief at the Dallas Civic Ballet in 1968. He received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to the School of American Ballet in New York for two consecutive years, and also trained in Paris, Amsterdam, and London. Beginning his teaching career in 1974, he joined Dallas Ballet in 1978 where he spent eleven seasons with the company under Mr. Skibine and Flemming Flindt, and served as assistant Ballet Master for Dallas Ballet's 1980 South American tour.

As Ballet Master, Mr. Clower assisted Flindt in staging his full-length NUTCRACKER, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, and PHAEDRA, and personally administrated the staging of Alvin Ailey's THE RIVER, John Cranko's JEU DE CARTES, Jeri Kylian's ENGULFED CATHEDRAL, Fokine's PRINCE IGOR and LES SYLPHIDES, and many others. In this capacity, he helped take the company to a level where it was invited to tour Scandinavia in 1988.

Mr. Clower served as Founding Artistic Director of Ballet Dallas and it's affiliate school, the Dallas Conservatory of Ballet. Under his direction, Ballet Dallas was the resident professional Ballet Company for the Dallas area for 8 years.

As representative of the George Skibine Trust, Mr. Clower oversees the administration of rights to twenty Skibine ballets internationally, and is personally charged with maintaining the integrity of the works. He served on selection panels for the City of Dallas, Tarrant County, and both the Texas and Arizona Commission on the Arts Peer Review Panels. He was awarded the prestigious Legacy Award for Achievement in the Arts by the Dallas Dance Council in 2000.

Mr. Clower served as Ballet Master for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. In this capacity, he was primary teacher for the company, and rehearsal director for works by: Twyla Tharp, Nacho Duato, Daniel Ezerlow, and Kevin O'Day. Mr. Clower then served four seasons as Artistic Director of Yuma Ballet Theater, and Ballet Master of its affiliate school, Dancers Workshop.

Believing very strongly in Regional Dance America, Mr. Clower served as the Director of Ballet at the 36th, 38th, and 41st RDA's Craft of Choreography Conferences, and for the 2003 Glenda Brown Choreography Project. He has been a guest teacher for Regional Festivals every year since 1992, and was a guest teacher at the first National Festival in 1997. He proudly serves in the capacity of Adjudicator for the RDA Festivals, most recently serving as Adjudicator for the Mid-States Festival in 2003.

Mr. Clower has staged and created ballets for companies all over the United States. He has also worked with many opera companies, including the Santa Fe Opera, the Dallas Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Dallas. All over the world, companies have performed his choreography.

Since the beginning of 2002, Thom Clower has been working around the world as a freelance teacher and since that time, he has literally worked with a different company every week. Mr. Clower's work has included regional companies and schools, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Atlanta Ballet, as a guest at Broadway Dance Center, Ballet Master for Tanzsommer 2002, and as Associate Ballet Master for Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo on their Australian/New Zealand Tour. In the fall of 2003 he will join the ballet faculty at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan.

Victoria Lee Ramsay

Victoria Lee Ramsey Victoria Lee Ramsey spent her formative years in Dallas training with George Skibine and Marjorie Tallchief. Her professional career began at the age of 18 in Europe with the Royal Ballet de Wallonie in Belgium achieving soloist status, and the Irish National Ballet achieving principal dancer status. During her 10 year term in Europe, Ms. Ramsay had the unique opportunity to work with many prestigious choreographers who set and created roles for her. Included in those are Sir Anton Dolin, Peter Darrell, Domy Reiter-Soffer, and Hans Brenner.

Upon returning to the United States, she danced with the Dallas Ballet under the direction of Fleming Flindt. With the demise of the company she became a founding member of ballet Dallas under the direction of Thom Clower, where she danced principal roles and was on staff at the Dallas Conservatory of Ballet. Some of her diverse repertoire includes Swanhilda in Coppelia, Giselle, Cinderella, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Odette in Swan Lake, Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and Lise in La Fille Mal Gardee.

Ms. Ramsay has performed as a guest artist and teacher with many companies throughout the United States and Europe. For the past few years Ms. Ramsey was Ballet Mistress for the Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet Company in Jackson, where she taught intermediate and advanced students, rehearsed, choreographed, and set ballets for the company. She has been active with various dance organizations throughout the state of Mississippi including the International Ballet Competition.

Ms. Ramsay has returned to Dallas and continues to teach and set ballets in Mississippi and Texas. She performed the title role in the 1990 performance of Corpus Christi Concert Ballet's Cinderella.

Mark Schneider

Mark Schneider Mark Schneider's serious training began while attending Texas Christian University graduating with a BFA Degree in Ballet. He danced professionally with Pittsburg Ballet Theater, Fort Worth Ballet, Ballet Metropolitan, and American Festival Ballet. Mr. Schneider has been on the faculties for the National Academy of the Arts, Virginia School of the Arts, Mercyhurst College, and Dance Theater of Harlem School.

His choreography is in the repertoires of Northwest Florida Ballet, Victoria Ballet Theater, Texas, Festival Ballet of Rhode Island, Metropolitan Ballet of Wichita, Ketchikan Ballet Theater, and Ballet Alaska.

Mr. Schneider received his Master of Fine Arts Degree in Theater at the University of Arizona with a specialization in design for dance and performance production.

In 1997 Mr. Schneider choreographed Joplin and Alice's Adventures for CCCB, and performed in both , including the hilarious role of "Big Alice". The following year Mr. Schneider returned to Corpus Christi to serve as a guest artitist-in-residence for Wynne Seale Fine Arts Academy and choreograph Once Upon a Pea for CCCB.

Randall Soileau

Randall Soileau Randall Soileau affiliation with CCCB over the past 15 years has been extensive; performing, teaching, and choreographing new works. Some of his ballets for Concert Ballet include The Nutcracker, The Red Shoes, Carmen, and Aurora's Wedding.

Mr. Soileau, a native of Baton Rouge, began his training with Louisiana Ballet. He continued his training as a scholarship recipient with the American Ballet Theater, Robert Joffrey, and Texas Christian University. Mr. Soileau was a principal dancer with the Fort Worth Ballet, Casa Mañana Musicals, and Dallas Summer Musicals, and later joined Ballet West of Salt Lake City. He danced in the National Tour of Fiddler on the Roof and has worked in Los Angeles for L.A. Chamber Ballet and in several rock videos, musicals and the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival.

In 1985, Mr. Soileau received critical acclaim as Producing Artistic Director for Ballet Alaska in Anchorage. He returned to Texas to found the Austin Contemporary Ballet and Texas Youth Ballet. As Director of ACB/TYB for seven years he choreographed many Texas premieres including Carmen and the first American staging of The Red Shoes.

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