VIRTUAL GRAND PRIX
DANCE OPEN AMERICA

Alyssandra Katherine Wu

Alyssandra Katherine Wu is the artistic director of Alyssandra Katherine Dance Company and its mission is to create innovative and culturally relevant works of art that promote awareness around topics of mental illness, East Asian identity, and female empowerment. AKD has presented work around the Bay Area (CA), Los Angeles (CA), London (UK), Tempe (AZ), Rochester (NY), and New York City (NY). They are the official winners of the audience choice award for PUSHfest 2016 and one of the six companies/choreographers to be selected for ODC's Pilot 68 program. In 2018, AKD was invited to be a part of the San Francisco Movement Arts Festival, RAWDances' Concept Series, and Joe Goode's Feedback series. Thereafter, the company has been selected to take part in Doug Varone & Dancers DEVICES, teach and present at the Nazareth College MAD Festival, perform at APAP through the Peridance Capezio Center, and show work at CONDER|Dance Breaking Ground Festival. AKD is a proud recipient of the Fleishhacker Opportunity Fund and Dancers' Group CA$H Grant.

Lidice Nuñez

Lidice Nuñez was born in Havana, Cuba. She studied and graduated from the National School of Art and the Superior Institute of Art of Cuba with Honors and became a first dancer and principal choreographer at the Contemporary Dance Company of Cuba.

She studied choreography in Paris under the auspices of the Brownstone Foundation and has the Ulpam Emshej Diploma Certification from the Hebrew University. She was a guest choreographer for the Mexico City Ballet Company, which was nominated for the Lunas Awards of the National Auditorium in 2017. She is also a member of the International Dance Council CID UNESCO.

Ms. Lidice has performed and created for several International Dance and Ballet Festivals in Havana and on worldwide tours.

Some of the most important international ballet and dance festivals include:

> International Dance Festival - Sintra, Portugal

> Dance Festival of Northwestfalia - Germany

➢ International Dance Festival - NRW, Germany

> International Festival - Padua, Italy

➢ II Dance Bienal, LE FENICE - Venice, Italy

> International Dance Season at the Harbourtfront Center -

Toronto & Ottawa, Canada

> Festival Les Meridiannes Toulouse, France

➢ International Dance Festival "Itálica" - Sevilla, Spain

> Netherlands Dance Festival - The Hague, Holland International Dance, among others.

Ms. Lidice was a professor at the Superior Institute of Art and at the National School of Dance in Cuba.

She is a member of the National Council of Performing Arts and also a member of the National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists.

Recently, she was invited to teach at the Feijóo Ballet school .

She has received numerous awards, including the high distinction awarded by the Ministry of Culture of Cuba: Distinction for National Culture, in addition to the First award for choreography and interpretation awarded by the Art Criticism. Her work as a choreographer is registered in the Book of Honor of the Great Theater of Havana, awarded by a jury that was chaired by the famous Alicia Alonso.

Dancers such as,Matthew Rushing- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater ; Miguel Altunaga-Rambert dance Company; Victor Alexander artistic director of the Ruth Page Center; Cervilio Amador-National Ballet of Cuba-Cincinnati Ballet ; Yacnoi Abreu-Ballet Preljocaj; Maray Gutiérrez- Hedwig dances ; Alexis Fernandez- La Macana; Alain Rivero- LaMov; Yaday Ponce- Carlos Acosta dance, and many others, have danced Ms. Lidice’s choreographies.

Maximiliano Guerra

Dancer Argentine, born in 1967, and belongs to a family of musicians. He began his dance studies at age 10 under the tutelage of Wasil Tupine, and expanded his training at the school of the Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires, where joined in 1979 and made his entire career. He made his debut with the Ballet Argentino of la Plata. He was a dancer of the Teresa Carreño Foundation of Caracas, and in 1985 became part of the Ballet of the Teatro Colón. In 1987, he began his international career as a guest dancer of the Ballet of Los Angeles, and a year later joined the English National Ballet Dancer as a star. Since 1991 has been guest principal dancer in various companies, including the Deutsche Oper of Berlin, of the Kirov Ballet, the Ballet of Novosibirsk, the Stanislavsky Ballet, the Scala Theatre, the Ballet of the Opera of Rome, the Universal Ballet and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. He won the gold medal in the category Senior of the XIII contest international of Ballet de Varna (1988)

Peter Stark

Peter Stark
President and Director, The Rock School for Dance Education
Peter Stark is an internationally renowned ballet teacher and coach who has been
influential in dancers’ successes across the United States and Europe. Stark was the
School Director at Orlando Ballet, Founding Director of Next Generation Ballet, and
Associate Director of Boston Ballet II and Head of the Men’s Program with Boston
Ballet, before assuming his current position as President and Director of The Rock
School for Dance Education.
Stark danced leading roles at Washington Ballet, Washington National Opera, Boston
Ballet, and New York City Ballet. In his 25-year teaching career, he has coached students
to top prizes at major international ballet competitions, including the Youth America
Grand Prix, Helsinki International Ballet Competition, YoungArts, and Princess Grace
Foundation among others. He has served on granting panels for The National Endowment
for the Arts and has been featured on the cover of Dance Teacher Magazine.

Runqiao Du

Runqiao Du, Founder and Artistic Director of “Runqiao Du Ballet Coaching”, an online ballet
program that provides quality live ballet lessons for worldwide access. Mr. Du was born in
Shanghai, China. At the age of 11, he was selected and awarded a scholarship to study at the
famed Shanghai School of Dance. Upon graduating with honors, Mr. Du moved to the
United States to begin his performing career with The Washington Ballet. During his nearly
20-year tenure with TWB, he performed various leading roles in classical and neoclassical
ballets including Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Albrecht in Giselle, Prince Charming in
Cinderella, Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Prince in Swan Lake and Sleeping
Beauty, and the Cavalier in The Nutcracker.
He also had the opportunity to dance leading roles choreographed by some of the most
influential choreographers including works by Jerome Robbins, Christopher Wheelden,
Nacho Duato, Mark Morris, Edwaard Liang, Septime Webre, Twyla Tharp, William Forsythe,
Trey McIntyre, Lila York, and Jiri Kylian.In 2000, while maintaining his principal position
with The Washington Ballet, he accepted an invitation from the legendary ballerina,
Suzanne Farrell, to join her brand-new company The Suzanne Farrell Ballet as a principal
dancer. Under her coaching, Mr. Du danced some of the most important works created by
George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Maurice Bejart.
In 2008, after his illustrious performing career, Mr. Du accepted a lecturer position from
the Dance Department of Towson University where he teaches Ballet Technique to the top
level BFA Majors. He also teaches Ballet Repertory, Men’s Ballet Technique, Partnering, and
is the Artistic Director of the Towson Dance Company for the fall semester. In the Dance
Department, Mr. Du has played a major role in cultivating an environment for male dancers.
He has written a new comprehensive curriculum to train male ballet students in college.
He has also developed a new course called Method of Teaching Ballet Technique as a part
of the K-12 teaching curriculum.
Mr. Du joined the American Dance Institute faculty in 2009 and was the Artistic Director of
the ADI School from 2010 to the spring of 2015. He also formed Ballet ADI, the resident
company of American Dance Institute from 2010 to 2015. The company produced two
highly acclaimed productions each year during its tenure. In 2010, he completed an entire
production of The Nutcracker for the ADI School students. The school performed The
Nutcracker annually at the ADI Theater as well as benefit performances at The Children’s
Inn at NIH and Walter Reed Army and Naval Hospital in Bethesda MD. In 2016, as
Co-Director, Mr. Du created and successfully launched ADI’s Future Artists Initiative to
promote and support diversity in dance.
In 2018, Mr. Du was invited to join the renowned Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington,
DC as a master teacher to teach a Career Seminar Course, Ballet Technique, and a
Choreographic Composition Class to the school’s pre-Professional level and Senior level
students. He became Artistic Director of Kirov Academy 2019-2021, under his direction,
Kirov Academy was awarded Outstanding School at YAGP in 2020 and 2021. Mr. Du was
awarded Outstanding Choreographer in 2020.
In the summer of 2018, Mr. Du was invited to participate as a master teacher in the Master
Class Summer Intensive that was part of the 6
th Shanghai International Ballet Competition.
He taught the Senior level Men’s class and choreographed a new work for the class to be
performed at the culmination of the Intensive.
Mr. Du has been a guest artist, master teacher, repetiteur, and adjudicator nationally and
internationally. He has choreographed over 30 classical and neoclassical works for various
companies, schools, and universities, including his own version of the full-length ballet,
Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker. His choreographic work has
also been presented in festivals and competitions, including Youth America Grand Prix,
VelocityDC Dance Festival, New Jersey Youth Ballet Competition, and the Millennium Stage
at The John F. Kennedy for the Performing Arts Center.
Mr. Du is happily married to his long-time on-stage partner, Erin Mahoney Du, they are
blessed with two beautiful daughters

Rolando Yanes

Rolando Yanes
Freelance Ballet Teacher, choreographer, and coach
Former director of Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy and MBII
Rolando Yanes is a native of Villa Clara, Cuba. He received training at the Professional School
of the Arts and the Vocational School of Ballet in Santa Clara, Cuba. While in Cuba, Mr. Yanes
was a principal dancer with Ballet de Camaguey under the direction of Fernando Alonso. In
1995, he was awarded the Silver Medal at the prestigious International Ballet Competition in
Brasilia, Brazil. Mr. Yanes came to the United States in 1996 as a principal dancer with
Milwaukee Ballet Company.
Mr. Yanes expanded his diverse classical and contemporary repertoire while at Milwaukee Ballet
dancing leading roles in such ballets as Romeo & Juliet, Swan Lake, Coppélia, The Nutcracker
and Giselle. His powerful technique and unparalleled partnering skills led to principal roles in La
Esmeralda, Spartacus, Troy Game, Who Cares?, Diana and Acteon, and Le Corsaire, as well as
major works from leading choreographers like George Balanchine, Choo-San Goh, Robert
Joffrey and Kathryn Posin. He has performed with numerous companies such as Ballet Taller de
San Juan (Puerto Rico) and in The International Ballet Festivals in Havana, Cuba and Maracaibo,
Venezuela.
Mr. Yanes’ became the director of The Nancy Einhorn Milwaukee Ballet II Program in 2001.
Since 2004, Mr. Yanes has also been directing Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy. He has
created original work for the school including Alice in Wonderland and The Adventure of the
Cipollino and The Giant’s Garden. He has been a judge in international and national ballet
competitions including the American Youth Competition, DATE Competition in Sendai, Japan
and the Japan Grand Prix.

Garrett Smith

Garrett Smith was born in Salt Lake City, Utah where he began his training with the Utah Regional Ballet. Garrett was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts where he was honored to meet George W. Bush at the White House, and was presented with and award by Mikhail Baryshnikov. He studied at the Houston Ballet Academy and created five works for Houston Ballet II’s repertoire. Garrett joined Houston Ballet and danced works by Stanton Welch, Jorma Elo, Nicolo Fonte, Christopher Bruce, Christopher Wheeldon, and Ben Stevenson. Garrett was presented with an award at Houston Ballet by Peter Martins from the New York Choreographic Institute Fellowship.
Mr. Smith joined Norwegian National Ballet where he worked personally with choreographers Jiři Kylían, Nacho Duato, Alexander Ekman, and danced other works by William Forsythe. Garrett was commissioned by Houston Ballet to create new works in the 2013, and 2015 seasons. Other recent commissions include The Mariinsky Ballet, Les Grands Ballets De Montreal, Bolshoi Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Ballet West, Texas Ballet Theater, Milwaukee Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Salt Contemporary Dance, and Odyssey Dance Theater. Mr. Smith was a selected choreographer to make a new work for the National Choreographers Initiative 2014.
His choreography Mortal Form took 1st place at the 2015 Genesis International Choreographic Competition. Smith’s choreography Solace was recently premiered in Deauville, France as part of the Festival de L’Art Russe, as well as a U.S. premiere of his work Imitations with Norwegian National Ballet, for the 2018 Dance Salad Festival. Garrett co-choreographed a new Swan Lake production on ice at the Dynamo Stadium in Moscow, combining figure skaters, acrobats, and ballet dancers, such as Olympic Gold Medalist, Evgeni Plushenko and prima ballerina Olga Smirnova.
Garrett Smith worked on Symphony no. 5 for the evening Dancing Beethoven from Les Grands Ballets 2019-2020 season.