Eastern Connecticut Ballet Faculty

The excellence of a school is a reflection of the experience and excellence of its faculty.

Lise Reardon (Founder and Executive Director) Ms. Reardon taught classical ballet in southeastern Connecticut for 21 years before devoting her full time efforts to school development. In 1992, Ms. Reardon established Eastern Connecticut Ballet as the region’s only non-profit training school for young dancers. Before this, she ran the Riveredge School of Ballet and Ballet de Jeunesse in Niantic for 11 years. Under Ms. Reardon’s direction, Eastern Connecticut Ballet’s school has grown from 60 to over 330 students, expanded its programs to offer modern, jazz, character, hip-hop, Pilates and other forms of dance, and established a place in the community as a premiere arts resource.

Ms. Reardon majored in dance at the Juilliard School of Music and holds a bachelor of arts, cum laude, in elementary education from the University of North Carolina. She performed with the Ruth Page Ballet Company, the Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet Company, and the St. Louis Civic Ballet.

In Chicago, she trained with Ruth Page, Larry Long and American Ballet Theater principals Ruth Ann Koesun and John Kriza. In New York, she studied with Antony Tudor, Alfredo Corvino, Sallie Wilson, Michael Uthoff, and modern dance greats José Limón, Betty Jones, and Kazuko Hirabayashi.

Ms. Reardon serves on the Advisory Board of the Connecticut Dance Alliance.

Gloria Govrin (Artistic Director) A product of the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet, Gloria Govrin was the vanguard of the tall-is-terrific look of modern ballet. Ms. Govrin's strength, stature, and stamina made her a star soloist for many years. George Balanchine often choreographed roles specifically for her because of her stage presence and unique abilities. Roles such as Hippolyta in A Midsummer's Night Dream, Coffee in Nutcracker, the Princess in Firebird, and La Bonne Fee in Harlequinade were so stamped with Ms. Govrin's identity, that the entrances and exits on the scores were marked with her name rather than that of the role. Mr. Balanchine also established her in high-profile roles and ballets such as Stars and Stripes, Western Symphony, Apollo, Agon, Dewdrop in Nutcracker, and many others.

Upon retirement, Gloria opened her own school and company in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In 1986, Robert Weiss asked her to come to the Pennsylvania Ballet to teach and from there, she became principal teacher at the Rock School, the official school of the Pennsylvania Ballet. At the school, Gloria choreographed showcases, conducted audition tours, created and presented lecture demonstrations, taught company classes and assisted in staging Balanchine repertoire. In 1999, she was invited by Helgi Tomasson to be the Associate Director of the San Francisco Ballet School. During her 8 years there, she trained many students who went on to professional careers with San Francisco Ballet, as well as many other companies world-wide.

Over the years, Gloria Govrin has been an invaluable mainstay to the Ballet World. People still refer to her strength and personality as a dancer on stage, but she has yet to find a greater passion in this art than teaching. Ms. Govrin is
considered one of the leading masters of ballet technique and she brings her years of experience into every class she teaches. Along with her illustrious career, Ms. Govrin is most proud of her daughter, Olivia, a graduate of Berklee College of Music, who currently teaches music for the Boston Public Schools.

Krystin Baribault (Associate Director) Krystin is originally from Baltimore, Maryland where she began her dance training at the age of two. She later trained and graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts. She has also trained at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Washington Ballet and Boston Ballet. Krystin has had the pleasure of dancing many lead and solo roles while in school; however found through college she had a deep passion for teaching. Krystin graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Hartford, The Hartt School with a BFA in Ballet Pedagogy and a Minor in Business Administration. Krystin teaches a wide range of classes, from pre-ballet through the advanced levels, as well as directing many aspects of the Nutcracker and Spring productions.

Vanessa Murgio (Ballet). Murgio started her ballet studies in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at the age of 8 and graduated at Especial Academia de Ballet in 1998. During her training, Duarte-Murgio was awarded Best Up-and-Coming dancer of Sao Paulo (1996), Best Soloist Dancer in Sao Paulo (1998), among several medals and prizes at national and international dance competitions. With Especial Company, Sao Paulo, she performed several leading roles such as Kitri and Mercedes (Don Quixote), Odile/Odette (Swan Lake), Nikiya (La Bayadere), Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty), among others. In 2000 Duarte-Murgio was awarded a Scholarship to Akadmic de Tanzes-Mannheim, Germany, where she completed her Masters degree in Dance and Practice in 2 years. In 2002 she joined Dresden Ballet in Germany where she performed both ballet and modern pieces by John Neumeier and Uwe Sholtz including Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Nutcracker, Die Shoepfung, and Illusions, Wie Schwanensee. From 2003 to 2007, she joined Stadttheater Bremerhaven Ballet, under Joerg Mannes and later, Sergei Vanaev’s direction. Besides performing with Bremerhaven Ballet, she was also involved with several youth dance projects and performances, teaching, directing, assisting, and sharing her experiences with students of all levels. She also performed as a guest artist with the Mark Sieczkarek Company in Essen-Germany. From 2007 to 2009 she was engaged with the Mystic Ballet School and Company as Director of Education, Ballet Mistress, and Performer. Since 2010, she has been a part of ECB’s faculty, where she continues to share her experiences, passion, and enthusiasm for the art of dance.

Marylu Clark (Ballet) has been teaching Ballet and Movement Education in Southeastern Connecticut schools and studios for 20 years.

Ms. Clark is a graduate of the School of Hartford Ballet Teacher Training Certification Program and holds a BFA degree from Eastern Connecticut State University. Performing credits include works from the Denishawn Repertory, Collaborations, Creative Theatre Dancers sponsored by Eugene O’Neill Theatre and Pfizer Players.

Libby Nye (Modern) graduated from The Juilliard School and was a soloist and principal dancer with many dance companies including the José Limón Company and the American Dance Theatre at Lincoln Center. She was director and choreographer of her own company in New York City for many years and has taught and reconstructed Jose Limón’s works throughout Europe, Canada and the United States. Ms. Nye served on the faculties of the Centro Interrazionale de Danza (Rome), International Tanzwerk (Germany), and Centre International de la Danse de Paris (Paris). She was also on the faculty at The Juilliard School, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and the José Limón School. Libby has been a coach and teacher for the José Limón Company in New York City. For the last ten years, Ms. Nye was a Professor of Dance at the Folkwang Hochschule Essen in Germany, where she taught and reconstructed Limón repertory.

Ms. Nye trained in modern dance with José Limón, Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham, and in ballet with Alfredo Corvino, Antony Tudor and Margaret Craske.

Cristin Cawley (Modern) has a BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase. She has performed a wide variety of repertory including works by Pascal Rioult, Gayle Young and Paul Taylor. She also studied composition from the world-renowned Kazuko Hirabayashi. Ms. Cawley completed work at the Limón Institute and at the Paul Taylor School.

Bo Parish (Modern), a teacher, choreographer and performer, received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance from The Boston Conservatory and a master's degree in Education from Boston University. She has been awarded Dance Educator’s Fellowships and grants for study at the Bates College Dance Festival for the past several years. In addition to working with many companies and choreographers as a freelance dancer, she was a dancer/soloist with Tslila & Dancers and a member of the Boston Dance Theatre. Ms. Parish also performed in repertory with The Cliff Keuter Company and Frances Alienikoff Company. Ms. Parish was the Head of the Dance Department at Brookline High School in Brookline, Mass., and is currently the Director of Dance at The Williams School in New London. She has also been a faculty member and contributing choreographer at a variety of dance studios and schools. For the past 18 years, Ms. Parish has created a diverse repertory of choreography for both professional and student groups. Her works include Musical Theatre, Jazz, Contemporary Modern Dance, Ballet, and Early Modern Dance styles. Her choreography has been described as “upbeat, energetic . . . with a confident air” and “elegantly sophisticated."

Brittany Danek (Jazz and Tap) is originally from upstate NY and is currently living in CT. She has been dancing since the age of four and has traveled around the world for dance including Canada and Germany. For three years she was part of the USA Tap Team where she traveled to Reisa, Germany to compete in the World Championships and won the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals, as well as being named the back-to-back Junior World Champion. Brittany was featured as a guest performer during half time at the Orlando Magic Game, along with being recognized in Dance Spirit Magazine as an Up & Coming Rising Dancer.  Brittany has been the recipient of many titles and high score awards on a regional and national level as well as being named Young Choreographer of the Year for New Haven at American Dance Awards. She currently teaches & choreographs at many studios and travels around the United States and Canada as a Judge, Teacher, and Assistant.

Amy Brady (Jazz and Tap)was raised in a performing arts family and began her studyof dance as a young child, going on to perform in many productions as

a member of her studio’s senior and adult dance companies.  As a

dancer with the Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston, Ms. Brady had

the pleasure of dancing alongside many Broadway professionals in

productions such as 42nd Street and Me & My Girl.  While pursuing her

bachelor of arts in Psychology at Colby College in Maine, she further

studied many aspects of dance, choreography and production.  Now in

her most satisfying role of mother to two young girls, Ms. Brady

enjoys sharing her passion for dance through teaching.

Dorothea Buchholz (Natural Stretch) has been a Movement Specialist for the O’Neill Theater Center’s Creative Arts in Education Program. She is also one of the founders of the Institute of Movement Exploration, Inc. and a developer of the Masters in Movement at Wesleyan University. She developed The Natural Stretch program in response to student needs and requests.

Kim Stirtan (Pilates) is a certified Stott Pilates Instructor. She has taught Stott Pilates since 1999 and is certified on all pilates equipment. She has been awarded through IDEA Health and Fitness Association, as a PFT Master (personal fitness trainer), their highest recognition. Kim is well qualified having a Bachelor of Science in Health and Fitness and is certified through American Council of Exercise (ACE) as a group fitness instructor and personal trainer.

Beth Newton-Girard is a 1999 ODK National Leadership Honor Society graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, with a degree in dance and a minor in physical education. She has been a Professor of Dance at Eastern Connecticut State University for nine years and has been coaching, choreographing and judging dance and cheer for 15 years, holding a USASF Certification in both. Beth has danced and cheered for semi-professional basketball teams, including the CBA Connecticut Pride and the ABA Boston Frenzy. She also was an NFL New England Patriots Cheerleader for the 1999-2001 seasons. After coaching at the collegiate level, Beth began coaching all-star dance. She is in her fourth season, currently undefeated across the United States, with her Senior Street Elite Hip Hop Team at ECB. Her team received "Second in the World" at the Dance World Championship in 2010 and was "First in the World" in 2009. She looks forward to greater success and to maintaining her #1 spot in New England again in 2011.