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Artists Biographies
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Susan Cade, Co-Director:
BA Music/Dance, Ithaca College; MEd Early Childhood Education,
University of Illinois. While working in Washington D.C., performed
various soloist roles in The Nutcracker, La Sylphide, Pas De Quatre,
Paquita, Concerto Barocco, and contemporary choreography with
The Arlington Ballet, Fairfax Ballet, McLean Ballet, and Arlington
Dance Theater. In addition, performed Stravinsky's "The Soldier's Tale"
and was an extra with ABT in Sleeping Beauty and Romeo and Juliet at
the Kennedy Center. Presently, Susan choreographs for a local elementary school. Her most recent
productions were Cats and a Broadway revue. She also studies at the Pennsylvania Academy
of Ballet and is co-director of Pages to Pirouettes.
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Michele MacDonald, Co-Director:
BA Spanish with a minor in Dance, Principia College. Prior to college, she performed
with the Alexandra Ballet Company and the Adair School of Ballet in
St. Louis. Upon moving to Pennsylvania, Michele performed as a member
of the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet Society in The Nutcracker, Paquita,
and various roles in contemporary choreography. She has also completed
Vaganova teaching seminars. Presently Michele is adjunct Professor of Dance at Temple University as well as working towards her masters degree. In addition she
guest teaches and choreographs at her alma mater and Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet. Michele is Co-Director
of Pages to Pirouettes.
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Thomas Blair:
BA Physics/Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania. A former
principal dancer with the Los Angeles Ballet. Tom is an actor, dancer, and choreographer. He
recently choregraphed Kiss Me Kate and Bye Bye Birdie for King Of Prussia Players. His recent acting
roles include "Dancing At Lughnasa" at Stagecrafters, "Blithe Spirit" at King Of Prussia Players, "Quad"
for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, "Once Upon A Mattress" and
"Twelfth Night" at the Forge Theater, and Dr. Stahlbaum in the
Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet's Nutcracker. Tom studies at the
Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet and performs with Pages to Pirouettes as Dr. Coppelius
in Coppelia, Herr Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, and Don Quixote in Don
Quixote.
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Alex DiMatia:
Alex is a former student at The Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet. He performed as the Nutcracker Prince in
The Pennsylvania Academy's production of The Nutcracker. Alex made his debut with Pages to Pirouettes
as the Prince in Cinderella. He has also performed the roles of
Nutcracker Prince, Franz in Coppelia, Basil in Don Quixote, and Siegfried in Swan Lake. Alex is
currently studying with the Houston Ballet School.
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Heather Lyn Holajter was born and raised in the Philadelphia
area where she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet
under John White and Margarita deSaa. During that time
Heather was a member of the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet
Society and performed roles including Nutcracker, Coppelia
and Fille Mal Gardee. She then joined Colorado Ballet,
performing soloist roles in Nutrcracker and Swan Lake as well
as a soloist in Serenade. She has also performed the role of
Cupid in Don Quixote with the International Stars of Ballet.
Currently Heather is teaching and performing with the First
State Ballet Theatre and is happy to be a
part of Pages to Pirouettes.
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Marina Kec:
Marina has indulged her passion for ballet as a student of the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet since the
ge of nine. Her training has given her the opportunity to dance her way through many roles in their
annual production of The Nutcracker as well as performing in their Spring Tea. She also participates
in educational outreach demonstrations offered by PAB to elementary school children. In the
spring of 2005, she was part of an ensemble who danced in the Bryn Mawr College Faculty
Dance Concert under the direction of Laura Katz Rizzo. A senior at Upper Darby High School,
Marina is excited and honored to be a part of Pages To Pirouettes and hopes to continue to
improve her skills and express her love of the art of ballet.
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Maria Martyak:
A graduate of Central Bucks West High School, Maria began her dance
training at the age of twelve at Budzynski Studios of Ballet. At
age 13 she joined the pre-professional company attached to the school,
Dance Theater of Pennsylvania, where she performed in numerous ballets,
including the Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. At the age
of sixteen, she became a student of the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet,
performing in the annual Nutcracker as well as the spring teas. She
has had the privilege to study at the Cecchetti Council of America,
the Kirov Academy of Ballet, and the Nutmeg Conservatory. She joined
Pages to Pirouettes, in September of 2003 and dreams of becoming
a professional dancer.
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Michael Novak:
Michael’s dance career began at the age of eleven. For seven years he studied and competed in hip-hop,
lyrical, and tap dance before moving to Philadelphia in 2001 to pursue his BFA at the University of the Arts.
It was in college, he discovered (and excelled) in ballet, and later that year was offered an apprenticeship
to train at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet. He withdrew from the university, and trained there until moving
to New York City in 2004. He is a former principal dancer of Contempra Dance Theatre, and has performed
at The Kimmel Center (PHL) and Carnegie Hall (NYC). Michael is currently pursuing his BA at Columbia
University majoring in dance and religion, and studying under Joe Williams, a master of Francois Delsarte’s
System of Expression. He has been a member of Pages to Pirouettes since 2002, and gladly makes the
commute to be with such an amazing group of artists.
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Jennifer Zellers:
Jennifer began studying ballet intensely at the age of thirteen under the tutelage of Viktor Yeliohin and
has continued her training at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet in their pre-professional division. She
has been featured in the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet’s performances of the Nutcracker and
annual spring tea since 2003. She has also performed principal roles in excerpts from Paquita,
Le Corsaire, and Don Quixote with local ballet studios. She was a finalist in the Youth America
Grand Prix’s Senior Classical Division in 2002. A recent graduate of Arcadia University majoing in biology,
Jennifer is looking forward to studying physical therapy at Columbia University, and is grateful for the
opportunity to perform with Pages to Pirouettes.
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