GUEST ARTISTS & INSTRUCTORS
ERNESTO QUENEDIT
Instructor – Ballet
ERNESTO QUENEDIT
Instructor – Ballet
ERNESTO QUENEDIT is a native of Havana, Cuba where he graduated in 1984 from the National School of Ballet as both a dancer and teacher having trained under the direction of Alicia Alonso. He then became a member of the National Ballet of Cuba, where he was promoted to principal dancer in 1990. There he danced principal roles in classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Coppelia, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty and many other classical and contemporary ballets. Mr. Quenedit toured Latin America, Europe, and Asia with the National Ballet of Cuba. He later traveled to Mexico where he danced with both the National Ballet of Monterey under the direction of Fernando Alonso and Fernando Bujones and The National Company of Dance. In 1996 Mr. Quenedit joined the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago under the direction of Gerald Arpino where he danced Mr. Arpino’s pieces L’Air d’Esprit and Kettentanz. He has also performed as a principal dancer with Arizona Ballet in 1999, and it was the Don Quixote Pas de Deux that introduced him to audiences of Ballet Met in Columbus, OH in 2000. He later danced for three seasons with the Chicago Lyric Opera in performances such as Samson and Delilah and Romeo and Juliet. Mr. Quenedit has danced extensively in the United States as a guest artist at ballet companies such as Tulsa Ballet, Peoria Ballet, Salt Creek Ballet in Chicago, and Ballet International in Indianapolis. He has participated in many dance festivals around the world such as Biarritz, France, The 50th Anniversary of Giselle in Havana, Cuba, The Festival Grand Theatre in Havanna, Cuba, and The Miami Dance Festival. Mr. Quenedit has been a guest teacher with Ballet of Monterey in Mexico under the direction of Robert Hill, and has taught extensively throughout the Chicago area at schools such as Academy of Music and Movement, Dance West Ballet, Faubourg School of Ballet, Salt Creek Ballet, and State Street Ballet. He choreographed the full length Giselle for the students at Dance West Ballet in Naperville, IL. Mr. Quenedit has coached students for many years for The Youth America Grand Prix Regionals and Finals. In these competitions, his students won the regional junior division three years in a row, and in 2010 he had students win both the junior and pre-competitive categories in Chicago. His students have also placed in the top twelve at the Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York. In 2011 Mr. Quenedit was awarded The Youth America Grand Prix Outstanding Choreographer Award.
CATALINA GARZA
Instructor – Ballet
CATALINA GARZA
Instructor – Ballet
CATALINA GARZA was born in Monterrey, Mexico and started her ballet training at the age of eight. She trained professionally at the National Institute of the Arts in Mexico from 1982-1990. Ms. Garza joined Ballet of Monterrey under the direction of Anne Marie DeAngelo in 1990 and later performed under the direction of Fernando Bujones. In 1995, she joined the National Company of Dance in Mexico City. Ms. Garza traveled to the United States in 1997 to dance with The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago under the artistic direction of Gerald Arpino. Some of her roles include Mr. Arpino’s Confetti and Light Rain and the role of Sugar Plum in Joffrey’s Nutcracker. She also performed for Ballet Met in Columbus OH and The Lyric Opera of Chicago. Ms. Garza has toured internationally and danced in such countries as Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Israel. She has danced as a guest artist with many ballet companies including Salt Creek Ballet, Peoria Ballet, Dance West, Santo Domingo Ballet, and The Ruth Page Foundation. She is an accomplished ballerina with recognition in classical and contemporary ballets such as Swan Lake, Giselle, La Vivandiere, Allegro Brilliante, Don Quixote, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Grand Pas Classic, Etudes, Flowers Festival of Genzano, and Coppelia. Ms. Garza has had teaching experience both in Mexico and the United States at schools such as Chicago Ballet Arts, Academy of Movement and Music, and School of Dance West Ballet. She was the Director of Ballet at State Street Dance Studio in Geneva, Illinois where she created a ballet training program that included five levels of instruction for more than 65 students. Ms. Garza has staged, directed, and choreographed such projects as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Beauty and the Beast, the Nutcracker, and Etudes. She has coached students who placed in and won the junior and senior divisions in the Youth America Grand Prix Regional Competition in Chicago, and some of her students placed in the top twelve at the Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York.
Summer 2023
GISELLE FOX
Instructor – Ballet
GISELLE FOX
Instructor – Ballet
Giselle Fox was born in Havana, Cuba, where she trained as a dancer at the National Ballet School of Cuba, (ENBC) “Fernando Alonso” from 1995-2002, graduating as a dancer and teacher of classical ballet. The basic artistic training teachers she had were: Ramona de Saa (ENBC Director); Martha Iris Fernandez (Assistant Director ENBC); the recently deceased master Fernando Alonso, creator with the Prima Ballerina Absolute Alicia Alonso of Cuban Ballet School and Technique. As soon as Giselle graduated in 2002, she joined one of the most recognized and prestigious ballet companies in the world, the National Ballet of Cuba, under the direction of Alicia Alonso. As part of the company, she participated in many International Ballet Festival, in Cuba, Latin America and around the world.
Giselle danced most of the extensive classical and contemporary repertoire of the company as corps de ballet, soloist and principal roles, sharing the stage with many world-renowned dancers, among which are: Carlos Acosta, better known as Carlos Junior; Viengsay Valdes, Paloma Herrera, Alina Cojocaru, Julio Bocca, Angel Corella, Agnes Letestu, among others. Also participated in various workshops and master classes of stars like Azari Plisetski, Jewels of the Ballet of Cuba Josefina Mendez, Loipa Araujo, Aurora Bosch and Mikhail Baryshnikov among others. In 2007 she joined the Ballet de Monterrey, under the direction of Luis Serrano, where she played most of the classical and contemporary repertoire such as Giselle, Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Don Quixote and La Bayadere ballets, among others. Simultaneously the company of tango, Noctango, integrates main stage tango dancer and lounge. Throughout her career Giselle has also worked as a choreographer and teacher. Her choreographies include: Tinker Bell Ballet (classical piece in 2 acts), Nocturno (neoclassical style of tango), Just for Today (pas de deux of Argentine tango stage) etc. She begins her work as a teacher in her native Cuba, and extends to Mexico, mainly in Monterrey and the United States. Her students have participated in numerous editions of the International Meeting of Ballet Academy, the only event of its kind in the world that takes place every year in Habana, Cuba. In 2013 she moved with her husband and 3 year old daughter to San Antonio, to join as Ballet Mistress Ballet Latino San Antonio (BLSA), and Ballet San Antonio Academy, since then, she has also collaborated with International Dance Studios as Quenedit Dance School, Bravo Ballet School, San Antonio Ballet School, Trilogy Dance Center and also prepared her students for various international dance competitions like The Youth America Grand Prix where her students have been positioned in the top twelve.
PEDRO VEGA
Instructor – Ballet & Contemporary
ANA QUENEDIT
Instructor – Ballet
CAROLINA JIMENEZ
Instructor – Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop
Past Guest Instructors
MINA WILLIS
Guest Instructor Musical Theater
MINA WILLIS
Guest Instructor Musical Theater
Mina is currently a Senior at Point Park University pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Modern Dance and a Minor in English. While attending PPU, she has trained with the amazing faculty such as Garfield Lemonius, Jason McDole, Rocker Verastique, and Kiesha Lalama, as well as guest artists like Martha Nichols and Yin Yue. She has performed in many works including multiple Student Choreography Projects and Faculty/Guest Choreographer Showcases, allowing her to work with choreographers like Penny Saunders and Danny Herman.
Mina’s additional training includes summer intensives with Hubbard Street, American Ballet Theatre, and Ballet Austin. Mina was a competitive dancer in San Antonio since age 7 in ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, modern and hip hop. She has been a member of Celebrity Dance Competition’s Junior and Senior Crew, assisting the instructors and performing on their cruises for the Nationals at Sea.
Mina loves teaching and has been fortunate to be able to return to San Antonio in the summers to continue working with wonderful studios such as Quenedit Ballet School, Trilogy Dance Center, and Cibolo City Ballet.
SAVANNAH MICHALEK
Instructor Ballet & Jazz
SAVANNAH MICHALEKInstructor Ballet & Jazz
Savannah Michalek, a San Antonio, TX native, grew up training at American Dance Company, RPM Youth Tap Ensemble, and Quenedit Ballet School. Savannah also trained with the Tremaine Performance Company, Tremaine Dance Conventions Pre-Professional dance company, as a Company Member for four years. Recently, Savannah was a featured dancer with TEXAS! The Outdoor Musical seasons 52nd & 53rd at the Pioneer Amphitheater in the Palo Duro Canyon.
Savannah graduated in 2019 from Oklahoma City University at the Ann Lacy School of Dance and Entertainment, earning her B.S. in Arts Management. At the Ann Lacy School, Savannah trained in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, and partnering and was a member of the American Spirit Dance Company. With the ASDC, Savannah performed in many different choreographic styles, such as precision, Rockette-inspired dances, contemporary, ballet, rhythm tap, and jazz. Savannah also obtained her Moving Light Board Certification and held numerous technical positions such as Static Light Board Operator Assistant, Director’s Assistant to Jo Rowan, Sound Board Operator, and Assistant Company Manager. Upon graduating from OCU, Savannah was the Development Intern at the Tobin Center and taught Musical Theatre and Jazz at QBS’s summer intensive. In the Fall of 2019, Savannah moved to Dublin, Ireland to earn her M.A. in Cultural Policy and Arts Management from the University College Dublin. As part of her program, Savannah interned for John Scott, Founder, and Director of Irish Modern Dance Theatre. Savannah is now back in San Antonio, teaching jazz, tap, and hip-hop at QBS, and plans to pursue her professional dance and arts management career. She has found a passion for teaching her students and helping them grow into technical and expressive dancers.
ABIGAIL DAVIS
Guest Instructor – Contemporary
ABIGAIL DAVISGuest Instructor – Contemporary
Abigail Davis was born in San Antonio, Texas where she began her ballet training at the age of four. By thirteen she found her way to Quenedit Ballet School where she had wonderful learning opportunities including competing in YAGP, performing lead roles with QDT such as Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and was invited to travel with a group of students to Havana, Cuba to spend a week training at the national ballet school.
In 2017, after thirteen years of training almost exclusively in ballet, she decided to expand her repertoire by accepting an invitation to The Ailey School Summer Intensive in New York. At the end of the summer, she was invited to audition for the Junior Division year-round program where she was awarded a scholarship to stay in New York for training while assisting with young ballet classes on the weekend. After her initial year at Ailey, Abigail was awarded two more annual scholarships for the Professional Division.
During her time at the school, she was able to learn about the Horton and Graham modern dance techniques from world renowned masters such as Ana Marie Forsythe and Milton Myers. She also participated in many amazing opportunities with the school such as marketing photoshoots for the Junior Division program, an online commercial for the school, the filming of a new tv series soon to be released on Netflix and performing an excerpt of Mr. Ailey’s most famous ballet ‘Revelations’ for The Ailey School’s 50th anniversary during the 93rd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2019.
During her three years living in Manhattan, Abigail took open classes that allowed her to train under many amazing teachers she would come to consider mentors. These include Caridad Martínez and Graciela Lebow Kozak who Abigail met as ballet teachers at The Ailey School and now virtually demonstrates for during their regular online open classes and masterclasses. She was also introduced to Lloyd Culbreath, a member of the Verdon/Fosse Legacy LLC, who has trained her in musical theater and Fosse rep after they met at an open class done through the legacy. Her television and film credits include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, HBO’s The Plot Against America, NBC’s Manifest, Los Leones (Que León 2), (Netflix) Inventing Anna, and (Netflix 2021) Hit & Run.
GABRIELLE LUGO
Guest Instructor – Ballet
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