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Faculty
Study with Mercyhurst and Lake Erie Ballet faculty, guest teachers and special visiting artists.
Gina Ness
Gina Ness, a San Francisco native, received her early training with Merriem Lanova, Penelope Lagios-Coberly, and Benjamin Reyes in San Francisco, performing and touring with Ballet Celeste. At 15, she was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at San Francisco Ballet School with Anatole Vilzak and Ludmilla Shollar of the famed Diaghilev Ballets Russes. Ms. Ness also studied under scholarship at Harkness House in New York City with David Howard and Ben Stevenson. She studied and performed with Marc Wilde (Marc Wilde Ballet), Richard Gibson (Peninsula Ballet Theater and, currently, Academy of Ballet in San Francisco), and Alan Howard (Pacific Ballet) before rejoining San Francisco Ballet as a full company member in 1972. Ms. Ness was promoted to soloist in 1974 and became a principal dancer in 1976. During her 13-year professional career at SFB, Ms. Ness was privileged to take classes from many wonderful guest instructors. She has studied with Erik Bruhn (Royal Danish Ballet and international star), Brian Shaw (Royal Ballet principal dancer), and Terry Westmoreland (company instructor of the Royal Ballet) to name just a few in addition to her directors, Lew Christensen and Michael Smuin. She has danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Snow Queen, and the Rose in Lew Christensen’s The Nutcracker, lead in Lew Christensen’s Airs de Ballet, Lise in Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardee, and Cinderella in Lew Christensen’s and Michael Smuin’s Cinderella as well as principal roles in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Symphony in C, Concerto Barocco, Divertimento No. 15 and The Four Temperaments. Ms. Ness was on the faculty of Sonoma Ballet Conservatory for 15 years where she created a full-length “Coppelia” in 2002. She has been on the faculty of Santa Rosa Dance Theater since September of 2005. Ms. Ness staged and directed her full-length “Coppelia” for SRDT in the spring of 2008 and 2010. She has co-choreographed and served as assistant director of SRDT’s annual Nutcracker for Artistic Director Tamara Statkoun, former principal dancer of the Kirov and the Maly. Ms. Ness served as a regisseur for Smuin Ballet in San Francisco during the early years of Mr. Smuin’s company. She is a moderator for CriticalDance.com. Ms. Ness is married to former SFB dancer Gardner Carlson. Her brother is former SFB dancer Anton Ness.
Michael Patterson
Michael Patterson was born in Titusville, PA and began his training at the age of twelve with the Lake Erie Ballet where he studied for six years under the direction of Sharon Filone. There he performed many leading roles in ballets such as The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and A Midsummer’s Nights Dream. While at the Lake Erie Ballet Mr. Patterson had the opportunity to work with choeographers and teachers such as Melinda Howe, Karl von Rabenau, Robert Vicary, and Duncan Noble. In 2001 Mr. Patterson studied at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, on full scholarship, under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary, where he had the opportunity to perform the lead in Candy Cane in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, in addition to performing works by Leigh Witchel, Gennadi Vostrikov, Melinda Howe, Jason Reed, and Alan Hineline. In September 2002, Mr. Patterson became a member of Pennsylvania Ballet II, the Joyce and Herbert Kean Trainee Program, where he danced Principal roles in Pennsylvania Ballet’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. While at Pennsylvania Ballet Mr. Patterson danced various roles in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Theme and Variations, Prodigal Son, Western Symphony, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. During the 2003-2004 season, Mr. Patterson had the opportunity to work with the contemporary dance company JUNK, under the direction of Brian Sanders, where he performed the solo “Cellophane” for the 2004 benefit performance for the MANNA Foundation. In 2005, Mr. Patterson had the opportunity to work with Christopher Wheeldon and perform his Swan Lake at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival. Mr. Patterson has also had the opportunity to work with choreographer Matthew Neenan to create 11:11 and Carmina Burana. Mr. Patterson has also performed Fredrick Aston’s Le Fille Mal Gardee, John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet, James Kudelka’s The Firebird, and Marius Petipa’s Giselle and Paquita as well as other works by Christopher d’Amboise, Trey Mcintyre, Peter Martins and Jerome Robbins. Mr. Patterson is currently on faculty at the Barbara Sandonato School of Ballet and has been guest faculty at the Lake Erie Ballet as well as Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.
Kelly Stolar
Kelly Stolar is a native of the Buffalo,N.Y. area. She graduated from Allegheny College with a B.A. Kelly had the wonderful opportunity to learn and work alongside her mother who taught dance in the Greater Buffalo area for 55 years. Following graduation Kelly established and operated a voluntary, free dance program for over 10 years in one of Pittsburgh's inner-city communities. During this same time, she was also a dance instructor at Michele's Dance Center.
Since moving to Erie in 2000, Kelly has been an instructor at the American College Dance Festival, Kristin's Dance Company, and Mercyhurst College’s Summer Dance Experience. Kelly is currently an instructor at the Erie Dance Conservatory and is on the Executive Committee and was the previous Master Class Chair of the Erie Dance Consortium.
Kelly continues her tap education on a yearly basis and most recently studied with Michelle Dorrance, Jason Janas, Lisa LaTouche, Aaron Tolson, and Danny Wallace. Besides her love for dance, her main love is for her husband, Dave, and their four children, Greg, Mike, Nick, and Kaeli.
Bruce Marks
Bruce Marks is a freelance consultant, teacher, choreographer, and Artistic Director. He studied at the High School of Performing Arts, the Juilliard School, and with Tudor and Craske. He began his career in 1956 with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, becoming a soloist in 1958. He also danced with H. Ross in Spoleto in 1959. From 1961 to 1971 he was one of the premier dancers at American Ballet Theatre. He was guest with the Royal Swedish Ballet, London Festival Ballet, and the Royal Danish Ballet, joining the latter as a principal dancer (1971-76). He choreographed several ballets including Dichterliebe (mus. Schumann, 1972) and Asylum (mus. C. Ruggles, 1974). From 1976 he was artistic co-director of Ballet West in Utah. From 1985 to 1997 he was artistic director of the Boston Ballet. He introduced modern dance works to the repertoire, developed new choreography, and secured new premises for the company. In 1985 he reconstructed Bournonville's 1855 ballet Tales of the Arabian Nights: The Story of Abdallah for Ballet West, and later staged it for the National Ballet of Canada (1997). He had discovered Bournonville's handwritten scenario for the forgotten ballet at Sotheby's in New York in 1971. Mr. Marks was also the Artistic Director of the Orlando Ballet 2006 - 2008.
C. Noelle Partusch
Ms. Partusch also acts as advisor to the Mercyhurst College Liturgical Dance Ensemble where she mentors the next generation of leaders in Liturgical dance. It is with this ensemble that she has traveled to New York City, Atlanta, and most recently, Sydney, Australia in October 2010 to attend “Project Dance” and present her choreography. Ms. Partusch has danced in many churches and worship settings as well as set
Ms. Partusch is married to Tony Partusch, a licensed journeyman plumber who is currently the purchasing agent for V.P. Plumbing Supply in Erie, PA. Tony is an avid fisherman and a fantastic cook! Tony & Noelle are the very proud parents of 6-yr-old twins, Krista & Anton and 4-yr-old Kara. Noelle attributes her success to a lot of hard work, a great amount of faith enabling her to take many leaps, and the ongoing and amazing support of her family.
Christina Maria Adelhardt
Christina Maria Adelhardt, is the former Artistic/Executive Director of Lake Erie Ballet, Erie. She began her early training in Detroit, MI at Charmaine’s Studio of Dance before moving to Dallas to train with Madame Nathalie Krassovska. She continued training under scholarship with the Dallas Metropolitan Ballet, Honor Company of the Southwest Regional Ballet Association, San Francisco Ballet Summer School and School of American Ballet for summer training. Later, she joined Boston Ballet II and danced extensively with the company. Ms. Maria arrived in 1989 as a member of the first professional ballet company in Erie. As a dancer, Ms. Maria is widely recognized for her dramatic ability. Her style is attributed to her wide and varied background in many forms of dance other than classical ballet. In 1996, she was proclaimed Artistic Director of Lake Erie Ballet after many years of dancing various leading roles and choreographing original works such as “Old Time Religion,” “Ballet in Silhouette,” “DanceBodies,” “Five O‘Clock Shadow“ and several children‘s ballets, “Beauty and the Beast,” “Peter and the Wolf,” “The Little Mermaid“ in conjunction with the Erie Playhouse and Rodgers and Hammerstein‘s “Cinderella“ which is the only production of its type to be granted permission. Also including through invitation, Greg Bach’s “Legend” for the 1999 Summer Festival of the Arts and the full-length children’s ballet, “Grimsby: The Great Lakes Sea Serpent” in 2002.
Lesley Bories-Scalise
Lesley Bories-Scalise is a freelance teacher and choreographer. She trained at the National Ballet of Canada, Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Interlochen Arts Academy, North Carolina School of the Arts and was one of six young dancers chosen from across the U.S. to attend a summer intensive with Suzanne Farrell and Paul Mejia in New York. Mrs. Bories-Scalise has danced with the Chicago City Ballet under the direction of Maria Tallchief, Ballet Chicago under the direction of Daniel Duell and The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre under the direction of Patricia Wilde and Terrence Orr. She has performed numerous principal roles, some of which include: Balanchine’s Square Dance , Western Symphony , Jewels , Apollo , The Four Temperaments , and The Nutcracker . Other Principal roles include Daniel Duell’s Hansel and Gretel , Marius Petipa’s Sleeping Beauty and Lisa de Ribre’s Amazing Grace
Teena Custer
“Teena Marie” Custer is a b-girl and hip hop dance theatre artist. Teena battles and performs internationally with her crew, Venus Fly Trap, an all female street dance crew. Her solo “The Be-Girl Diaries” was performed at the Breakin’ Convention in London, England, and in addition to theatrical works, she has won underground freestyle dance battles such as Underground Movement 5, Enter the Cypha I, and was also seen on an episode of MTV’s MADE. Under the directorship of Erika Randall Beahm, Teena was also a featured dancer and assistant choreographer with world champion ballroom dancer/choreographer Melanie LaPatin for the feature film “Leading Ladies” starring Benji Schwimmer.
In addition to being a part of hip hop culture, Teena has an extensive background in contemporary dance. She earned a BA in Dance from Slippery Rock University and an MFA in Dance Performance from The Ohio State University. She has been on faculty at both schools where she taught hip hop styles and contemporary dance, and has also been on faculty at the prestigious American Dance Festival and Interlochen Summer Arts Camp. She has choreographed hip hop dance theatre pieces for various university dance programs and companies, and has performed with Dance Alloy, Attack Theatre, and Ursula Payne. She also represented CM² (Columbus Movement Movement) in Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch” in 2007.
Justin Hogan
Justin Hogan is from Cincinnati, Ohio where he began dancing at the School for the Creative and Performing Arts at age 13. During his high school years, Justin furthered his training with the Cincinnati, Boston and Houston Ballets. After graduating, Justin attended Mercyhurst College and received his B.A. in Dance from the institution. Professionally, Justin has danced with the Lake Erie Ballet, Ballet Concerto, North Carolina Dance Theatre II and is currently a member of the St. Louis Ballet. His choreography has been performed by the Mercyhurst Dancers, North Carolina Dance Theatre and St. Louis Ballet among others.
Carla Hughes
Carla Hughes is a professional dancer, choreographer and actress, who currently teaches dance for the Erie School District. She holds a B.A. in dance from Point Park University, and an M.F.A. in performance and dance education, from Ohio State University. Carla is the artistic director of her solo performance company, SheWorks Dance Theatre and a rostered teaching artist with ArtsErie. She has been teaching for over 15 years with special focus in Jazz and Modern, and ten years in Hip Hop. Carla incorporates traditional Horton and Graham techniques with her own style of release and contemporary movement.
Tauna Hunter
Tauna Hunter is the Dance Department chair, associate professor of dance and artistic director of the Mercyhurst Dancers. She comes to the Mercyhurst Dance Department from an extensive and diverse background as a professional dancer, choreographer and dance educator. She began her dance training with Willam F. Christensen and continued on at the University of Utah where she earned B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees in ballet performance and choreography. During her affiliation with Ballet West, she worked under the guidance of Bruce Marks and Toni Lander and received critical acclaim as one of the company’s leading ballerinas. She toured internationally and danced as a guest artist with numerous regional companies throughout the United States. By special invitation Ms. Hunter toured Great Britain as a guest artist with England’s Northern Ballet Theatre. She spent two years as an artist in residence with The Colorado Ballet and appeared as a principal dancer with The Dallas Ballet. She has been honored as one of the “Outstanding Young Women of America” for her personal and professional achievements. She co-founded DANSOURCE, a networking and information service and for a decade connected dancers and companies nationwide. As its managing director she was highlighted in “Megatrends 2000” and featured in “Success” and “Dance Magazine” as a trendsetter in the future of the arts. Ms. Hunter has appeared in all the major roles of the classical repertoire and has choreographed and taught for companies, universities, and private schools throughout the country. She serves on the Advisory Boards of Ballet Concerto (Dallas, TX) and Lake Erie Ballet and as President of The Erie Dance Consortium.
Michael Vernon
Michael Vernon studied at the Nesta Brooking School of Ballet and the Royal Ballet School in London with such legendary teachers as Dame Ninette de Valois and Leonide Massine. He performed with the Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera Ballet, and the London Festival Ballet before coming to New York in 1976 to join the Eglevsky Ballet as ballet master and resident choreographer. He was artistic director of the Long Island-based company from 1989 to 1995.
He has choreographed many ballets for the Eglevsky Ballet, in addition to ballets for many other professional companies in the United States and worldwide. Mikhail Baryshnikov commissioned him to choreograph the successful pas de deux In a Country Garden for American Ballet Theatre (ABT). His solo S'Wonderful was danced by ABT principal Cynthia Harvey in the presence of President and Mrs. Reagan and shown nationwide on CBS television. He also served as the assistant choreographer on Ken Russell's movie Valentino, starring Rudolph Nureyev and Leslie Caron.
Vernon continues to teach classes at New York-based Steps, works regularly for the Manhattan Dance Project, and is artistic advisor to the Ballet School of Stamford. Since 2000, he has taught and choreographed the ballet company and ballet school at the Chautauqua Institute. His annual activities also include a long association with Ballet Hawaii.
Vernon was company teacher for the ABT from 2001 to 2002 and worked as a company teacher for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet from 1994 to 1998. He was also a guest teacher for the Juilliard School in 2001 and has had long associations with Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Alvin Ailey Co
Peter Zohos
Peter Zohos is a native of the Cleveland, Ohio area. His parents are both from Greece and when Peter was 7 they decided to move back to Greece for a few years sparking Peter’s pursuit to learn and preserve folk dances of the Greek islands. Peter teaches Greek folk dancing to both adults and children in both the Cleveland and Erie areas. He has worked extensively with Guardians of Hellenism, and recently co-founded the Lesvian Dance Preservation Society, which aims to preserve the traditional dances of the island of Lesvos by teaching it to children and young adults. Professionally, Peter has danced with the Zivili Dance Company from Columbus, Ohio. Peter is an Instructor in both the Hospitality Management, and the Business Programs at Mercyhurst College.
Musicans
Charles W. Hall is a percussionist, bassist, vocalist and composer with experience in and a love for dance accompaniment. While playing bass for Jr. High orchestra, Charles played drums for marching band as well. At the age of fourteen he started playing bass with a jazz trio in local night clubs. Moving to Los Angeles, Charles worked with bands and artist in variety of genre; but not until later would his talents find a new life in the field of dance. He started by accompanying jazz and modern dance classes at Regina's and the California Dance Center dance studios. Work was soon found at LA Contemporary Dance, Universal Dance, Debbie Reynolds Dance, Moro Landus Dance, Main Street and Dancers Home dance studios, for a start. Next Charles was honored to both perform and work as a primary accompanist with Loretta Livingston and Dancers, The Kin Dance Co., Whinafred Harris (Between Lines), The Pacific Dance Ensemble and others. Charles could now also be found regularly accompanying dance at UCLA, Loyla Marymount University, Plaza De La Raza and the California Institute of the Arts. Returning to Pittsburgh Charles joined the staff of The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Point Park University, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Academy and the Dance Alloy. He has also worked closely with Mary Miller Dance Co., Expressions Contemporary Dance Co., LABCO and Attack Theatre. Charles has also worked as an artist and educator for Gateway to the Arts, and is presently on the staff of the Pennsylvania Govenors School for the Arts, as an artist and educator.
Rhonda Berlin is a ballet pianist in the Mercyhurst College Dance Department. She studied piano and vocal music at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. She serves as Director of Music at Summit United Methodist Church and is the choral accompanist for the Wattsburg Area School District. Rhonda is a frequent performer at the Erie Playhouse. During the school year she can be seen playing piano or flute in the orchestras of several high school musicals throughout Erie County. She has served as a guest clinician for the Pennsylvania Music Education Association District Band Festival. An active artist, one of Rhonda’s original theatrical works recently made its debut at the Station Dinner Theatre. Rhonda feels very blessed that her husband Ken shares her love of music. Together they enjoy passing this joy along to their daughters, Katie and Mandy.
Jesse (Norbie) Gavin II, percussionist, has a large gospel background, but ventured into secular music with the encouragement of Rusted Root percussionist, Freedom. He has performed with Soul Clap, Chaka, Spooner, the Valerie Horton Project and is forming a new band with Erie singer, Lindsay Vendetti. However, his work as drummer for the Steven Johnson Band remains his first priority.
Cheryl Giles, pianist graduated from Cornerstone University with a B.M. in piano performance, with an organ minor. She has taught at Cornerstone University and Mercyhurst Conservatory and privately for 25 years. Cheryl has done a wide variety of accompanying for large ensembles in churches and at Gannon University, small ensembles in churches and schools as well as amateur and professional soloists. She also has composed a children's musical and accompanied for the performances.
