MICHELLE JARVIS, professor and chair of the Department of Dance, received her B.A. and M.A. from Butler University. She joined the Jordan College of Fine Arts dance faculty in 1986 after teaching at Millikin University (Decatur, Illinois) and the Jordan College Academy of Dance. Ms. Jarvis is a former company member of Dance Kaleidoscope and later became their company teacher for the 1985 season; she has also performed with the Indianapolis Ballet Theatre. In addition to her duties at Butler University, Ms. Jarvis has been guest teacher at the Hartford School of Ballet, the American College Dance Festival, Springfield Ballet, Young Audiences of Indiana, Summer Arts Institute and most recently at Ballet Arkansas.

In 1999, Ms Jarvis was named resident choreographer for Indianapolis Opera where her choreographic work began in 1987. Choreography includes Rigoletto, Hansel and Gretel, La Traviata, Tales of Hoffman, and The Flying Dutchman. The Rake's Progress, Carmen, Die Fledermaus, Aida and Romeo and Juliet are among the most recent works. As a former artistic director for Butler Ballet II, Ms. Jarvis received the Monticello Award in 1984 for choreographic work presented at the mid states Regional Ballet Festival. Other choreographic experiences include Gifts of the Magi for Indiana Repertory Theatre, Ragtime and Hoop-La for Springfield Ballet, 1940s Radio Hour for Civic Theatre of Indianapolis and Nocturne for Dance Kaleidoscope. In 1990, Ms. Jarvis reconstructed the original dances from the National Touring Company of the original production of Oklahoma! for the Jordan College of Fine Arts presentation of the musical. Among her extensive choreographic credits for Butler Ballet are Graduation Ball, Nothin' But Gershwin, Slavic Suite, and Maiden and The Nightengale. Classical repertoire includes substantial portions of choreography for The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Petrouchka.

Ms. Jarvis teaches Ballet Technique, Teaching Analysis of the Classical Techniques, Spanish Character Dance, Tap, Theatre Dance Forms, Pointe and Dance Teaching Practicum. She developed and taught The Making of The Nutcracker, a course for the Honors Program. Ms. Jarvis is a member of the National Society of Arts and Letters, Corps International and serves on the Education Advisory Council for Clowes Memorial Hall.

MAREK CHOLEWA , associate professor of dance, came to Butler University from the National Ballet of Panama where he was assistant artistic director, master teacher, repetiteur, and choreographer. From 1983 to 1995 he served as the Dance Advisor for the Latin-American Dance Chapter to the Panamanian Ministry of Culture. He obtained his Masters Degree as repetiteur/choreographer in 1982 from the Rimsky-Korsakov State Music Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia, prior to which he studied at the National Institute of Ballet in Poznan, Poland. He has been a soloist with the National Ballet of Poland and performed principal roles of nineteenth century classical ballet repertoire.

As a professional choreographer, Mr. Cholewa has worked on a commission basis since 1982, and his work has been performed throughout the United States, Central and South America, and Europe. In 1995 he directed a study tour of Butler University dance majors to the Rimsky-Korsakov State Music Conservatory in St. Petersburg. Two years later he served as the artistic director and choreographer of Butler Ballet while the company performed in Taipei, Taiwan.

Mr. Cholewa's areas of special expertise are the full Vaganova syllabus and nineteenth century classical ballet repertoire learned in St. Petersburg under Marius Petipa expert, Peter A. Gusiev. He has reconstructed several ballets in Butler Ballet s classical repertoire, including La Bayadère, Les Sylphides, Sleeping Beauty Acts I and III, La Vivandire and Swan Lake Act II. Mr. Cholewa teaches Ballet Technique, Men's Allegro, Variations, Pas de Deux and Slavic Character Dance. He was a Fulbright Scholar in 2003 continuing his research and teaching in Poland.

STEPHAN LAURENT, professor of dance, chairman of the department 1989 - 2003. He joined Butler University after six years as the artistic director of the Des Moines Ballet (later known as Ballet Iowa), for which he produced and choreographed over 20 works. He was the recipient of the 1986 Iowa Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award for his production of Cinderella, which was broadcast by the Iowa Public Television Network and received its Indiana premiere by the Butler Ballet in April 1991. Some of his other contributions to the Butler Ballet have been Journey Into Elsewhere, Roeslein, Three Preludes, Waldszenen, Songs of Ophelia, and The Rite of Spring for the Midwinter Festivals; most of Act I and Act II of Coppelia (televised in 1996 by WTBU-TV); substantial portions of Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake; and Prologue, Mars, Uranus and Neptune for the 1990 World Premiere of The Planets: A Childs Space Fantasy, which he also conceived and directed.

Mr. Laurent immigrated to the United States from his native Switzerland in 1973 after a professional career with a number of European companies, including the Ballet Royal de Wallonie in Belgium, the Scapino Ballet of Amsterdam, the Ballett des Staatstheaters Braunschweig, the Freiburg Ballett, and the Bayreuther Feltspiele in Germany under John Neumeier. He received his M.F.A., summa cum laude, from Southern Methodist University, and while pursuing his degree, served as ballet master for the Repertory Dance Company of the Southwest in Dallas and as resident choreographer and ballet master for the Ballet del Monte Sol in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Following receipt of his M.F.A., Laurent was appointed assistant professor of dance and ballet master for the Dance Department at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

Mr. Laurent teaches Ballet Technique, Choreography, Theory and Philosophy, and Masterworks of Dance. He is a member of the Board of Directors of NASD, the National Association of Schools of Dance, and serves on the Board of Advisors of Dance Kaleidoscope.

CYNTHIA PRATT , associate professor of dance, has been a faculty member since 1994. She received her B.A. degree in Ballet from Virginia Intermont College and her M.F.A. degree from Temple University. She has a wide range of performing experiences both in the United States and Europe in ballet, modern, and jazz companies including work with Lynn Simonson in New York. In addition, she has worked on television and in musical reviews with Jon de Mal Productions in Amsterdam, Holland and with numerous independent choreographers. Ms. Pratt has taught and choreographed extensively at such institutions as the North Carolina School of the Arts, New York University, Steps, Philadanco, the National Balletacademie Theatre School in Amsterdam, the Goteborg Balletakademien in Goteborg, Sweden, and Dance Space Center in New York. She has worked as an auditioner for the Jacob's Pillow Summer Dance Festival Jazz Project and has been the artistic director for several choreographic showcases established to exhibit the work of new choreographers at Evolving Arts in New York.

Since relocating to Indianapolis, Ms. Pratt has choreographed many works for Dance Kaleidoscope as well as serving as a company teacher. She has also worked with Indianapolis Repertory Theater and Butler University Department of Theater and continues to teach and choreograph on companies and in universities throughout the U.S.

In addition, Ms. Pratt is a Certified Movement Analyst and holds a degree from the Laban Institute for Movement Studies. She teaches Laban Movement Analysis, Jazz, Ballet Technique, Body Placement, World Dance and Jazz Teaching Analysis. She also choreographs for the Butler Ballet and was the Artistic Director for the premier performance of Butler Chamber Dance.

SUSAN MCGUIRE, associate professor of dance, was a principal dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 1977 to 1988, and served as rehearsal director in 1989. Prior to joining the Taylor Company, Ms. McGuire danced as a soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company, which she joined in 1973. During the sixties she danced in a regional ballet company and taught ballet in Cleveland, Ohio. She has been on the faculties of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, the Paul Taylor School, the summer programs at Jacob's Pillow and Juilliard, and the American Dance Festival. In 1989 and 1990 she held the Sage Cowels Land Grant Chair in Dance at the University of Minnesota. Ms. McGuire was Artistic Head of London Contemporary Dance School from 1991 to 1998. She has revived or reconstructed Paul Taylor's work for American Ballet Theatre, the Gulbenkian Ballet of Portugal, the Rambert Dance Company in England, Houston Ballet, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, as well as several universities. Ms. McGuire was Director of the Martha Graham School and a rehearsal director of the Martha Graham Dance Company from January through June 2000. Since August 2000 she has been Director of Taylor 2 and of the Paul Taylor School.

Aside from dance, and her love of music and literature, Ms. McGuire has had a lifelong passion for the Adirondacks, camping with her family in the wilderness whenever she can, canoeing and kayaking the lakes and the rivers.

DEREK REID, assistant professor of dance, began his training at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet in his native Washington, D.C. He subsequently studied in intensive programs with Rosella Hightower in Cannes, France, Milwaukee Ballet, Richmond Ballet and Butler University, from where he holds a B.F.A. in Dance.

Mr. Reid's professional dance career spanned fourteen years, during which time he performed with the Louisville Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and Ballet Met in Columbus, OH. He performed and created leading roles in works by such internationally acclaimed choreographers and Choo San Goh, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Nacho Duato, James Kudelka, Mark Morris and Ohad Naharin. His repertoire ranged from the classical to the contemporary, as he performed roles as varied as the prince in The Nutcracker to roles on works by choregraphic masters such as Antony Tudor, Vaslev Nijinksy, Irina Nijinksa, Agnes de Mille, and George Balanchine.

Mr. Reid's television credits include PBS's production of Dance Theatre of Harlem's Fall River Legend, choreographed by Agnes de Mille, as well as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Dancers for Life gala, in which he performed the pas de deux from Nacho Duato's Rassemblement. Another highlight of his career was dancing Duato's Cor Perdut at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, with the Gala des Etoiles.

Prior to teaching at the Fort Wayne Ballet, Mr. Reid taught summer workshops at The Northwest Florida Ballet. His choreographic contributions at the Fort Wayne Ballet include Ceremony, Jeu deEnfants and The Firebird.

An avid sports fan, Derek is married to Jennifer Reid who is a Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch. They have two daughters, Hannah and Olivia.

TONG WANG, assistant professor of dance. For the last twenty years, Tong Wang has enjoyed a successful international dance career as a principal dancer. After graduating from Beijing Dance Academy in 1986, he worked with companies such as Shanghai Ballet, Tulsa Ballet Theatre, Dayton Ballet, Colorado Ballet, and most recently, Ballet West. He has performed almost every leading role in the classical ballet repertoire and also danced a full range of contemporary ballets created by world-renowned choreographers such as George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Frederick Ashton, John Cranko, Paul Taylor, Glen Tetley, Birgit Culberg, Choo-san Goh, William Forsythe, Ben Stevenson, and Hans Van Manen. While dancing professionally, he completed his B.F.A and M.F.A degrees with the University of Utah Ballet Department and also worked as a guest faculty member from 2000-2005. In addition, he has enjoyed a choreographic relationship with Ballet West, the University of Utah Ballet Department, Wright State University, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, DanceOhio and Ballet West Conservatory. For the past two years, Tong has served as Assistant Professor of Dance at Wright State University. Internationally, Tong taught and set his work in varies schools and companies.

LARRY A. ATTAWAY , director of the Jordan College Academy of Dance, the pre-college affiliate school for the Butler Ballet and Butler University , joined Butler in September of 1997 after a twenty-five-year association with the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles . He served CalArts in many capacities: faculty member (1972-97), associate dean of the School of Dance (1976-97), president of the Academic Senate, and faculty trustee.

From 1973-97, he was composer-in-residence and associate director for Bella Lewitzky and the Lewitzky Dance Company, touring extensively throughout the U.S. , Europe , Asia , and Africa . He and Ms. Lewitzky collaborated on over sixteen works in the company's repertoire. His most recent composition, No Word, is a song set based on the poems of Stevie Smith. His choreographic works include, Marat/Sade, I/Con, Lysistrada, Tom Paine, and The Lost Arts. In 1980 he choreographed the reconstruction of the 1912 Russian avant-garde opera Victory Over the Sun for the LA County Museum, the Smithsonian, the Berlin and Amsterdam Festivals, and BAMs Next Wave Festival. As artistic director of the Jordan Dance Ensemble, he is collaborating with Erik Stark, director of the Butler Madrigal Singers, on a new staging of Menotti s The Unicorn, The Gorgon, and the Manticore.

In 1990 he became a founding member of the International Guild of Musicians in Dance, an organization dedicated to the advancement of those musicians that have devoted their art to the world of dance. Currently, he is the guild's president and editor of its publication, Journal. He is a member of ASCAP, the National Association of Schools of Dance, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (Epsilon Iota Chapter), and has served the Indiana Council on the Arts as an advisory panelist. Mr. Attaway teaches Choreography and Music for Dance.

ROSANNA RUFFO , adjunct instructor of dance, began her ballet training at the National School of Ballet in Panama . In 1987 she received a scholarship to study at the prestigious Russian Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg . While in Russia , Ms. Ruffo performed in The Maryinsky Theatre (former Kirov) productions of Les Sylphides, The Nutcracker, Paquita, La Bayadre and others.

In 1985 after her return to Panama, she was promoted to the rank of principal dancer. Under the artistic direction of Dame Margot Fonteyn and Nitzia de Martin, Ms. Ruffo performed the leading roles in La Bayadre, Swan Lake, Giselle, The Nutcracker, and Les Sylphides. Ms. Ruffo was a finalist in the Third USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson , Mississippi in 1986. Two years later she joined Indianapolis Ballet Theater and performed leading roles in productions of The Nutcracker, Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Raymonda, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Variations Brilliante, and George Balanchines Night Shadow. In 1993 she began working with regional schools and dance companies in St. Louis and Chicago , teaching ballet technique and pointe, and re-staging and coaching ballet productions.

Ms. Ruffo joined Butler s dance faculty in 1995 where she teaches Ballet Technique and Pointe and coaches dancers for Butler Ballet company productions.

DANIEL PEELOR, staff musician of the dance department, received his B.M. in piano performance from Southwest Missouri State University, prior to which he studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He has served as company pianist for the Indianapolis Ballet Theatre, Dance Kaleidoscope, Springfield (MO) Ballet and the Jordan College Academy of Dance. Mr. Peelor has worked throughout the country as class/rehearsal pianist for both ballet and modern companies and is also a performing artist whose specialty, among others, is ragtime. In addition to teaching Music for Dance, Mr. Peelor supervises the department s four part-time accompanists, plays for ballet and modern technique classes and is the Butler Ballets company pianist.

DELANE WOOD, staff costumer for the Butler Ballet and Butler Chamber Dance, has a rich history of wardrobe experiences. A member of the Wardrobe Union since 1979, Delane has dressed many prominent starts in the Broadway Series, has been affiliated with Yuletide Celebration for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and serves as the costume coordinator/supervisor for the Indianapolis Opera. Delane teaches classes in dance costume construction.

BECKI TAYLOR, Departmental Secretary, Dance, is a 1989 Butler graduate with a BS degree in Public and Corporate Communication. She held marketing and counselor positions after graduation and her most recent pursuits have been as a volunteer for numerous organizations.