DEBORAH RAYBURN - Artistic Director
Mrs. Rayburn began her dance training with Houston's Rogulio Rodriguez and continued her training with Houston's Margo Marshall, Deborah Quinam, and the Houston Ballet Academy. She performed with the ballet companies City Ballet of Houston, Houston Dance Theater, Allegro Ballet, the Repertory Dancers,  and as a Guest performer. Mrs. Rayburn earned her degree in dance and later was invited to study with Ballet Austin. She continues to take classes, study and perform locally. Mrs. Rayburn has taught dance in the Houston area for the past twenty years and is the director of the Academy of Ballet & Dance Arts. Mrs. Rayburn has studied and has been influenced by noted dance artists such as Natalia Krasavska, Fredric Franklin, John Mangus, Eugene Slavin, Christine Nadal, Rohni Maler, Pavel Fomin, Elvira Kokorina,  and Ann Marie Holmes through master classes and workshops. She is also the founding director and currently a board member of  Festival Ballet where she works with young dancers setting classical ballets and original choreographic works. Mrs. Rayburn has recently staged  for Festival Ballet the ballet's "Les Sylphides," "Paquita," and "Cinderella." She annually stages "The Nutcracker" for Festival Ballet which includes students from her school and dancers from the greater Houston area. Mrs. Rayburn also administers dance programs in public and private schools, and is a staff member of the Houston Community College Fine Arts Department. Recently nominated to the publication "Marquis Who's Who in education" Mrs. Rayburn continues to inspire dancers and share her love of the art form of dance.

Tiffany Nirider - Jazz,  Modern, Master Classes, Workshops
Tiffany Nirider is a native of Lafayette, LA, where she taught ballet, tap, jazz and acrobatics for six years. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL) in 1996. While in Lafayette, Tiffany choreographed for the UL Show Choir, Lafayettes Junior Miss Scholarship Program, Krewe of Karencro Mardi Gras Association, and for local high school dance and cheerleading teams. Tiffany comes to us from Fort Lauderdale, FL, where she performed professionally for three years with Dancesation! Entertainment throughout Florida and in California. While in Fort Lauderdale, Tiffany also worked as Marketing Coordinator for ArtServe, a non-profit arts service organization providing assistance to emerging artists and cultural groups throughout South Florida. Tiffany is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance at SHSU where she is a graduate teaching assistant. During her time at SHSU, she has performed as a soloist in Bill Evans Velorio, To Have and To Hold by Shapiro & Smith, The Nutcracker and Cinderella by Dana Nicolay, Cheval by Dr. Cindy Gratz, Triskelion by Mark Haase, From One by Jonathan Charles. She is a member of the Kista Tucker Dance Company. Upon graduation, Tiffany intends to continue teaching while working towards becoming a registered dance therapist.

 

Guest Artists

Matthew Bruno - Guest Artist
Matthew Bruno grew up in Oconomowoc, WI.  After beginning early training at the Milwaukee Ballet School, he continued with the School of American Ballet in New York and is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts.  Mr. Bruno has danced with the Miami City Ballet working with its artistic director Edward Villela and performing his choreography among others in festivals such as the Spolleto Festival in Charleston, SC.  For numerous summers Matthew danced at the prestigious Chautauqua Institution in New York, under the direction of New York City Ballet greats Jean Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride.  Here he was coached and trained for performance by masters such as Mark Diamond, Violette Verdy, Jeri Kummery, and Michael Vernon.  He was most recently a first soloist with the Milwaukee Ballet performing mainly principal roles under the direction of Michael Pink.  Mr. Bruno has had the opportunity to perform leading roles in the great classic ballets at home and in guest performances throughout the nation.  Among his favorite classical roles have been Franz in Coppelia, and Colas in La Fille Mal Gardee.  Mr. Bruno also truly excels in the contemporary repertoire.  His favorite choreographers, whose ballets he has danced in this genre, include Paul Taylor, David Parsons, Alonzo King, Alvin Ailey, Sal Aiello and Margo Sappington.

GAVIN LARSEN - Guest Artist
Gavin Larsen was born and raised in New York City.  She received her dance training from Dick Andros, Frances Patrelle, Pacific Northwest Ballet School and the School of American Ballet.  After graduating from the School of American Ballet, she was invited to join Pacific Northwest Ballet, where she was featured in ballets by such choreographers as Kent Stowell, Lila York, Miriam Mahdaviani, and Lynne Taylor-Corbett, among others.  In 1999, Ms. Larsen joined Alberta Ballet in Calgary, Alberta, under the direction of Mikko Nissinen, and most recently performed with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet.  She has toured extensively over the course of her career to such places as Melbourne, London, Edinburgh, Helsinki, and Cairo, dancing  principal roles in ballets by Christopher Wheeldon, Jean-Paul Commelin, George Balanchine, and Helgi Tomasson. 

TIM O`KEEFE - Guest Choreographer
A native Houstonian, Mr. O'Keefe was awarded a scholarship to Houston Ballet Academy in 1981, joined the company one year later, was promoted to soloist in 1985, and was named a principal dancer in 1995. In March 1997, Houston Ballet artistic director Ben Stevenson created the title role of Dracula for Mr. O'Keefe. He has performed this role across the globe, winning praise from critics in Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Toronto. In March 2000, Mr. O'Keefe danced Caesar and Alcebiades in the world premiere of Mr. Stevenson's Cleopatra. Favorite parts in other works by Mr. Stevenson include the title role in Peer Gynt; Lorenzo and the lead matador in Don Quixote; Father Frost in The Snow Maiden; Evening pas de deux with Naomi Glass; and an Ugly Stepsister in Cinderella. Other favorite roles include Monsieur G.M. in Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Manon; Danilo in Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow; Pan in Glen Tetley's Daphnis and Chloe; the Head Mistress in Graduation Ball; Madge in La Sylphide; and Hilarion in Giselle. He has also performed roles in works by Jiri Kylian, Christopher Bruce, Paul Taylor, James Kudelka, Trey McIntyre, Sean Kelly and Lila York. Mr. O'Keefe has choreographed two works for Houston Ballet's Cullen Contemporary Series, Fascinating Evening and Uncommon Valor; as well as two works for Houston Ballet Academy, Leaves and Shostakovich Suite. Mr. O'Keefe has also choreographed Love Thing and Ragtime Dance for Texas Ballet Theater and a new contemporary work for Festival Ballet.

ROB DAVIDSON - Guest Choreographer
Rob Davidson is a former member of the Sean Curran Company. He has studied on scholarship at the Pennsylvania Ballet School and with Gus Giordano Jazz Dance/Chicago, and has worked with such notable choreographers as Mr. Curran, Steve Rooks, Creach/Koester, John Adamson, Kirt Hatahaway, and Dana Nicolay. In 1994, Rob co-founded the Davidson Dance Group with his wife, and continues to perform, teach, and choreograph for the company. From 1997-2000 he served as an assistnat professor at Stephens College and was direcotr of the Stephens Summer Dance Program. His work has been presented on the Jewish Community Center of Houston's Choreographers x 6, Houston Dance Month, and the Texas Tanz Summer Dance Festival, as well as by Repertory Arts Movement of St. Louis, the Mid-America Dance Network, the American Dance Guild, The Uptown Performance Series/Bridge Dance for-NY, Dance Forum/NY, WAXworks/NY, and on the galas of several American College Dance Festivals and Regional Dance America Ballet Festivals. With his lovely wife he continues to present kinetic architecture and give big hugs to their son Gavin.