Ballet

Mary Beth Hansohn received her professional training at The Arlington Center for Dance in Arlington, VA, and with Peter Stark, at The Maryland Youth Ballet. She joined The Ohio Ballet as a full member at age 18, and went on to dance in works by Heinz Poll, Donald Byrd, Laura Dean, Ann Marie DeAngelo, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Stephen Mills, Septime Webre, Salvatore Aiello, Dermot Burke, Christopher Fleming, and Jeffrey Hughes. Mary Beth has performed with Dayton Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, The Cleveland Opera, D.C.

Liane Plane was a former soloist with American Ballet Theatre and Latin America's Ballet Alicia Alonso. She was a cast member of the original Broadway production of West Side Story and Bob Fosse's Redhead. BDC was fortunate to have her on Faculty for so many years as a beloved Ballet Teacher. 

Liane passed away on December 10, 2023 at the age of 92. 

Yuka Kawazu was born in Kanagawa, Japan. She has performed throughout the United States and Japan as corps, soloist and principal dancer with many distinguished ballet and theater companies.

Deanna Doyle (she/her) is the fourth generation in her family to be a professional performing artist, starting with her great-great- aunts, who had a sister act on the vaudeville circuit.

Juan Antonio Rodriguez, began his training as a scholarship student at The Ailey School, under the direction of Dennis Jefferson, where he received the Donna Wood Award. He furthered his studies achieving a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Juilliard School.

Juan went on to perform professionally with The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and has freelanced and guest taught with many others.

Elizabeth Goheen received her early classical ballet training at the Fort Wayne Ballet and at the National Academy of Dance in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. After graduating as a full-tuition scholarship recipient, the diverse repertory she performed included the ballet classics, modern dance, and musical theater.

Andrey Silantyev was born in Moscow, Russia. He attended the Moscow Ballet Academy and upon graduation joined the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre as a soloist for 20 years and toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, Japan and the United States. His diverse repertoire included major roles in ballets: Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, and Spartacus. He has been teaching classical ballet for 25 years.

Dariusz R. Hochman's work is highly praised by prominent dancers:

"Mr. Hochman is an excellent dance professor and very experienced ballet master. As a pedagogue, he is patient, efficient and well appreciated as he has always been able to establish positive contact with young people. The dance programs in which he taught were always extremely successful. His outstanding works as well as his thorough knowledge of the arts makes him a person who deserves to be considered with the greatest attention." ~ Rosella Hightower

Master ballet teacher Dawn Hillen's expert, gentle, and fun approach to training dancers of all levels and ages makes her classes unique in ballet today. With her appealing imagery, understanding of how to overcome technical difficulties, and flowing combinations at the barre and centre, Ms. Hillen offers a class that appeals to both the serious student and to novice dancers. Her supportive approach is rooted in her own experience watching her mother study ballet. "My mother and I became ballet dancers together!

A native Israeli and BDC teacher since 1993, Dorit Koppel first studied and performed with internationally renowned Bat-Dor and Bat-Sheva companies of Israel. She received a MFA in Dance from NYU Graduate School of the Performing Arts, after completing a BA in Dance at Sarah Lawrence College. Dorit was the Artistic Director and owner of Progressive Dance Studio in Englewood, NJ, where she developed a ballet training program for children, teens and adults.