Catherine Fair, Director 

CATHERINE FAIR , Director, has been employed by Amherst Ballet since 1997 where she began as an instructor, was promoted to Assistant Director and currently serves as Director. She has taught ballet and jazz to hundreds of students in Massachusetts and Virginia where she founded The Southside School of Ballet and also served as the Artistic Director of the Academy of Emporia Ballet. Fair passed her teaching examinations with merit in 1998 with the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) and is an RAD certified teacher. She has entered students in RAD examinations since 1991 with excellent results. Fair has created and choreographed numerous works including Amherst Ballet's production of The Magician's Nephew and An Evening of Music and Dance with Johann Sebastian Bach. Recently, she was the choreographer for Amherst Ballet's The Very Lonely Firefly and The Honeybee and the Robber performed at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Fair received her Bachelor's degree from George Mason University in 1985 and currently lives in Amherst with her husband and three children.

SUEANN TOWNSEND: (Upper School Ballet Senior Instructor) began ballet class as a child with instructor Dale Black and later with Toni Introvia.  She graduated from the Interlochen Center for the Arts as a dance scholarship student receiving the Fine Arts Award in Dance upon graduation. 

Continuing her training at New York Conservatory of Dance, she studied with such prominent instructors as Vladimir Davidov, Hector Zaraspe, Sallie Wilson, Nicholas Orloff, Igor Youskevitch, Ramzi El-Edlibi and Ramon Ramos.  

She has danced with Ballet Theatre Internationale, Ft. Worth Ballet, Connecticut Ballet, Dance Theatre of Long Island, Ramzi El-Edlibi Dance Company, and Louisville Ballet.  She has been featured as a guest artist with Nevada Ballet Theatre, Sayville Ballet, Albano Ballet, National Grand Opera Company, Kentucky Opera, Thoughtforms Dance Company and the American Music Festival.  She has appeared at the Deutschen Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Leipzig, and Staatsoper Wien.  

Her modern dance experience with Afterimages Dance Company included principal company dancer, Director of the company’s school, and Co-Director/Chorographer for ADC II.  She has participated in modern dance residencies with Twyla Tharp, Bella Lewitzki, Daniel Nagrin, Laura Dean, and Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company.

She spent one season as the featured ballerina in the Dino Kartsonakis Show in Branson, MO, under the direction of R. L. Peterson.

As a serious committed dancer, it is only natural that her astute study of the history, costumes and music of dance ranks equal to physical training.  Her study and knowledge in these areas are deep and comprehensive.

Since retiring from the stage, Sueann has devoted herself to teaching ballet technique with a special emphasis on the Classical Repertory.

SHANNON GAUTHIER, received her BFA in dance performance from Butler University in 1999. She also received a Master in Arts Degree in Dance/Movement therapy from Antioch New England Graduate School in 2006. Shannon is a registered dance therapist and a member of the American Dance Therapy Association. She has studied ballet, tap, Simonson, Limon, Graham, Horton, and Dunham techniques. She received her training at Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey American School of Dance, The Limon Institute, Butler University and Dance New Amsterdam (formally DanceSpace Center). She has been dancing in the Boston area since 1999 with various choreographers including Heather Bryce, Kelly Donovan and Judy Wombwell. Shannon is thrilled to be a part of Amherst Ballet.

SHERYL HOLMES, (Lower School Ballet & Creative Movement) home educating mother of nine, returns to the dance world.  She attended the Walnut Hill School of Performing Arts during her high school years. Sheryl studied & performed with the Northampton School of Ballet & Pioneer Valley Ballet as a dancer, teacher, rehearsal mistress and assistant stage manager for PVB’s Nutcracker.  Sheryl majored in Dance & received the Chancellor’s Talent Award Scholarship at the University of Massachusetts, earning a BFA in Dance.  She holds a Master’s Degree in Dance Movement Therapy from Antioch University.  Holmes is excited to get back into teaching children the love of movement & dance as a ballet and creative movement teacher at Amherst Ballet.

KAREN MICHAELS, (Lower School Ballet, Modern Dance guest teacher) received her BFA in Dance from The Boston Conservatory of Music. With a primarily modern dance background, Karen has trained extensively in the techniques of Graham, Limon, and Cunningham, and has performed with dance companies including Tslila Goldstein and Dancers, Choreo, and Lightning Dance, and in works by choreographers including Deborah Wolf, Jim Coleman, Krisen Day, and Therese Freeman.  Karen has studied ballet with teachers including Marcus Schulkind, Margo Parsons, Roseann Ridings, and Joanna Duncan, and modern with teachers including David Hatch Walker, Takako Asakowa, Laura Glenn, Carla Maxwell, Diane Arvanitis, Marcus Schulkind, and Paul Dennis.  Karen is also trained as a musician.

A certified Embodyoga teacher, licensed massage therapist, and certified Zero Balancer, Karen also teaches yoga, Dynamic Movement, meditation, and workshops in Dynamic Wellness, and Stress Management and Reduction.  

JOSH GOLD is a self taught Teacher, Director, Choreographer, and Performer from Western MA who specializes in Hip-Hop Dance, Funk Styles, Mime, Blacklight Theater, Visual Art, and Costumes.  Gold has over a decade of experience teaching all age groups and skill levels spanning from Springfield to the Berkshires, and everywhere in between.  Although Josh enjoys performing and producing his very own original glow-in-the-dark dance theater shows, he shines the brightest while in the classroom or studio with his students - spreading his wealth of knowledge of movement, isolation, technique, and conditioning.  Josh has worked with and choreographed for dancers from the show So You Think You Can Dance, performed as a special guest for Hip-Hop celebrity Nas at the Umass Mullins Center, and even traveled to Japan to collaborate and teach aspiring young dancers.  Gold takes pride in working with youth and sending a positive message to the world around him, encouraging people to discover their dreams, and helping to make them come true.

JANA FUGATE, (Ballet, Variations)
Jana Fugate trained for 19 years at the School of American Ballet in New York City.  Her professional dance experience includes the Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet and the Albany Berkshire Ballet where she performed the principal roles in ballet such as Romeo and Juliet,
Cinderalla, and Valse-Fantasie.  Ms. Fugate was a 1966 recipient of a Ford Foundation Scholarship and a 1990 recipient of the Monticello Award for choreography through Regional Dance America.  Since 1996, she has worked at Deerfield Academy as Ballet Specialist, choreographer, and costume designer.
 

BETH LIEBOWITZ, (Jazz 1 and 2)
Beth Liebowitz is currently earning her BFA in dance at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she holds the honor of being a Chancellor’s Talent Award student. She has studied at Broadway Dance Center, Peridance Center, the Alvin Ailey School, NYU Tisch, Studio B Dance Center in Westchester, New York, and has worked with world-renowned companies such as Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence Dance Company. Ms. Liebowitz attended LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City, the “Fame” school, where she was a Music Major and had the amazing opportunity to perform as a dancer and singer at major private and public venues such as Lincoln Center and Symphony Space.
            Beth has been teaching dance to children for the past five years and feels incredibly lucky and excited to continue to share her passion and enthusiasm at Amherst Ballet.
This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Amherst Cultural Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.


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