Jonathan Charles
Assistant Professor of Dance, M.F.A. Sam Houston State University, B.A. University of Houston at Clear Lake. He has performed on Broadway and National tours of such shows as A Chorus Line, The Pirates of Penzance, Jesus Christ Superstar, Showboat, and Mame, with Juliet Prowse. Regional theatre appearances include Theatre Under the Stars in Houston, The Seattle Fifth Avenue Theatre, the MUNY Opera of St. Louis, Papermill Playhouse of New Jersey, the Alley Theater of Houston. He has also taught at the University of Houston, Fancy Dancers in New York, STEPS in New York, the Jewish Community Center in Houston, and TUTS Humphrey Musical Theater School. He teaches all levels of ballet, tap, and jazz, and currently directs the Musical Theatre Workshop for the Musical Theatre Program at SHSU
Madelyn Ho
Madelyn Ho is from Sugar Land, TX, where she began dancing at Kinard Dance School and later trained with BalletForte under the artistic direction of Michael Banigan. She recently graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Chemical and Physical Biology. While at Harvard she studied with Ruth Andrien – a celebrated alumna of the Taylor Company – and performed with the Harvard Ballet Company and Harvard Dance Program. Ms. Ho attended The Taylor School Winter Intensive and joined Taylor 2 in Summer 2008. Madelyn joins our staff courtesy of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Taylor 2.
Thom Clower
Thom is simply everyone’s favorite ballet teacher. He is one of the most energetic and inspiring teachers across the US. Extensively trained in Vaganova, Cechetti and Bournonville techniques, he trained at the Dallas Civic Ballet and School of American Ballet. Thom has served as the Artistic Director of Ballet Dallas, Ballet Master for Hubbard Street Dance-Chicago and others. He has been teaching for 30 plus years nationally and internationally, and has been guest teacher at Broadway Dance Center, associate ballet master for Les Trockadero de Monte Carlo and Hubbard Street Chicago. Thom teaches an invigorating, motivating class that the young dancers truly enjoy.
Kelly Jarrell
Ms. Jarrell received her early training in Houston, Texas with Michael Banigan. In 2003 – 2004, she attended North Carolina School of the Arts where she studied under Melissa Hayden, Kee Juan-Han, and Frank Smith. She then joined the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Graduate Program in 2005 and trained with Dennis Marshall and Marjorie Grundvig. During her tenure with this program, she performed in the company’s productions of Swan Lake, La Sylphide, Coppelia, Don Quixote, and Alice in Wonderland. Prior to joining Ballet Tucson, Ms. Jarrell was a member of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre where she worked with renowned choreographers such as Lauri Stallings, Dwight Rhoden and Septime Webre.
Andy Noble
Assistant Professor of Dance, M.F.A. Florida State University, B.A. from the University of South Florida . His performing experience includes six years with Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), where he performed in over forty choreographic works by such noted masters as Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham and Jose Limon. He also had the honor of working first-hand with many cutting edge contemporary and international artists such as Gideon Obarzanek (Chunky Move), Jo Stromgren and Zvi Gotheiner. Andy’s Choreography has been presented nationally by such organizations as Seattle’s on the Boards, RDT, New York’s University Settlement and Florida Dance Festival. He has served as a faculty member at the University of South Florida and Western Washington University.
Sally Rojas-Herrera
Sally Rojas-Herrera was born in Caracas, Venezuela and moved to Miami, Florida when she was ten. She then began her training with Thomas Annour, Robert Pike, and Judith Reese Newman at the Miami Conservatory. She went on to study at the School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. At the age of sixteen she became a member of American Ballet Theatre II where she remained and toured extensively for two years. Sally then joined the Houston Ballet where she enjoyed dancing in most of the company’s repertoire. As a soloist, Sally danced the lead role in many ballets including Swan Lake, Cleopatra, Snow Maiden, The Merry Widow, Manon, Dracula, Nutcracker and Peer Gynt. She has performed the works of many famous choreographers including George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Ben Stevenson, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Stanton Welch, Christopher Bruce, Jiri Kylian, Paul Taylor, and Glen Tetley. Sally also is currently on staff with Houston Ballet.
