Archives: Honorary Members

Born in London, England, to Canadian parents, Bliss grew up in Canada and danced with the National Ballet of Canada from 1956 until moving to New York in 1962. She performed as a guest artist with the American Ballet Theatre, the Joffrey Ballet, and was a principal dancer with the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera. In 1969, she co-founded and subsequently served until 1986 as artistic director of The Joffrey II Dancers. Since 1969, she has also been a master teacher, guest lecturer, and adjudicator of dance festivals throughout the United States and Canada. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan appointed her for a six-year term to the National Council on the Arts.

Upon Antony Tudor’s death in 1987, Bliss was named Trustee of the Antony Tudor Ballet Trust, created to license the rights to his dances and to stage them in a manner that preserves their style and integrity. Under her leadership, the Tudor Trust has become known throughout the international dance community for its distinctive generosity in enabling not only large-scale, world-renowned ballet companies but smaller, regional companies and university dance programs to learn and perform Tudor’s works. At this point there is a special committee creating the Antony Tudor Dance Studies Program.

Sally Brayley Bliss left NYC in 1995 to become Executive Director of Dance St. Louis and was name Executive Director Emeritus after 11 years of service. She shaped Dance St. Louis’ destiny for longer than any other executive director since the not-for-profit dance presenter was founded in 1966. Among her accomplishments since she became executive director in May 1995 were widely expanding Dance St. Louis’ education and outreach programs, and establishing the organization’ s first in depth fundraising programs including an endowment, as well as maintaining an unbroken tradition of bringing extraordinary dance to St. Louis audiences.

In recognition for her contribution to her profession, the Canadian Women’s Club of New York City honored her as Woman of the Year in 1988. In May 1992 Bliss was honored by The Dance Notation Bureau of New York as the recipient of the Bureau’s Tenth Annual Service Award. Bliss has served extensively on many Boards of Directors, including: The Board of the Joffrey Ballet; Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the North Carolina School of the Arts; Board of Trustees of New England College, Henniker, New Hampshire; Advisory Board of the Kathryn and Gilbert Miller Health Institute for Performing Artists (NY); and the Paul Taylor Dance Foundation. Ms. Bliss has also served on the boards of Dance USA, Regional Dance America, the Dance Notation Bureau, and the National Society of Arts & Letters, St. Louis Chapter and is an Honorary Member of the Corps de Ballet International.

Ms. Bliss has received local recognition for her work in Missouri: the 2000 YWCA St. Louis “Academy for Leaders” award; under her leadership Dance St. Louis received the Arts & Education Council of Greater St. Louis’ 2001 “Excellence in the Arts”; the 2006 Missouri Arts Council’s “Leadership in the Arts” award given by the Governor; the 2010 Grand Center “Visionary Lifetime Achievement Honorary” award; and the 2011 Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri “Girls & Women of Distinction for Remarkable Achievement in Creative Arts” award.

Bliss was married to the late Anthony Bliss, former General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera and has two grown sons, Mark and Timothy and two granddaughters McKenna and Parker. She also has six stepchildren, seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren among her extended family. She currently lives in St. Louis, with her husband Jim Connett, General Manager of the Radio Arts Foundation, the new classical music station in St. Louis, where she avidly supports her beloved New York Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals.

Artistic Director, Pacific Northwest Ballet
Director, Pacific Northwest Ballet School

Peter Boal was raised in Bedford, New York. At the age of nine, he began studying ballet at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet. Mr. Boal became a member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet in 1983 and became a principal dancer in 1989. In 2005, he retired from New York City Ballet after a 22-year career with the company. Mr. Boal was also a full-time faculty member at the School of American Ballet from 1997 to 2005. In 2003, he founded Peter Boal and Company, a critically acclaimed chamber ensemble.

Among the many ballets in which Mr. Boal was featured at New York City Ballet are George Balanchine’s Agon, Apollo, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon), and Prodigal Son; Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering and Opus 19/The Dreamer; Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels; and works by William Forsythe, Peter Martins, Twyla Tharp, and Christopher Wheeldon.

Tyrone Brooks joined The Tallahassee Ballet as the Artistic Director in the 2013-2014 season. Brooks has a wide-range of professional experience including 18 years as a Principal Dancer at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York City (DTH). Brooks has been featured in a number of acclaimed performances including Alvin Ailey’s The River, Eugen Loring’s Billy the Kid, Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, Michael Smuins’ A Song for Dead Warriors, Medea, and John Butler’s Othello. Brooks has also performed internationally in Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Japan, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela, South Africa, and Russia. Additionally, Brooks has been featured in performances by celebrated choreographers George Balanchine, Agnes DeMille, Geoffrey Holder, Garth Fagan, Jerome Robbins, Glen Tetley, Alonzo King, John Butler, John McFall, Robert North, John Taras, Billy Wilson, and DTH Founder and Artistic Director Arthur Mitchell. 

In 1984, Brooks was nominated for the Dancers Choice Award in London for his performance as Alan Strange in Equus. Brooks’ work has also been in a number of television features including the NBC presentation of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Creole Giselle, the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics, the PBS series Dance in America, CBS 60 Minutes with Ed Bradley featuring DTH, the PBS presentation of Live at the Kennedy Center The Making of Firebird, and the 1993 Kennedy Center Honors. Brooks also choreographed Black Explosion for the 2004 televised production of the Trumpet Awards. 

In addition to his experience as a Principal Dancer and performer, Brooks has accumulated extensive experience as a dance faculty member and administrator. For over 25 years, Brooks served as full-time Ballet Faculty at DTH. During that time he also served as the Associate Director of the DTH community outreach program, Dancing Through Barriers Ensemble. As Associate Director, Brooks represented DTH as a teaching artist in New York City Public Schools and commenced professional development workshops for teachers in curriculum development. He also conducted master classes and outreach programs in South Florida and for the Dance Theatre of Harlem-Kennedy Center Residency in Washington, D.C. and the Northern Virginia region. Mr. Brooks has also taught at the various institutions; Hofstra University, Mary Mount Manhattan College, Florida State University School of Dance, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New World School of the Arts, Thomas Armour Youth Ballet, Flint Institute of Music- Flint Youth Ballet, Interlochin Center for the Arts, Ballet Hispanico, Hampton University, Norfolk State University and New Orleans Ballet Theatre. 

In 2004, Brooks joined the Virginia School of the Arts as the Director of Community Dance and was subsequently appointed as the Executive Director of the Virginia School of the Arts by the Board of Directors. During his tenure at the Virginia School of the Arts, Brooks became an active member of the Lynchburg community and developed community partnerships with Opera on the James, The Academy of Fine Arts, Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra and the E.C.C. Glass High School Theatre Department. Brooks’ community engagement extended to his service on the advisory panel for the Virginia Commission for the Arts Tour and Performing Arts Directory, James River Diversity Council, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the James River Council for the Arts and Humanities and The Florida Division for the Individual Artist Fellowship panel. 

Mr. Brooks has a Certificate in Advanced Business Administration from Lynchburg College and was a Visiting Artist for the Florida State University School of Dance. Mr. Brooks serves on the Florida State University Friends of Dance Board of Directors and was recently inducted into the (MOBB) Museum of Blacks in Ballet.

Following a career as soloist with the Royal Ballet, England, Hilary progressed into teaching and coaching with this company, eventually becoming Artistic Director with Winnipeg Royal Ballet, Netherlands Dans Theater 11, before coming to the USA. She has also spent periods of time in Brazil and Argentina in a similar capacity, and remains constantly involved with this aspect of her work.

Hilary was a co-founder of GYROTONIC®, with Juliu Horvath, since its initial conception and development. Amongst others, she helped to establish the system in Florence, Italy, Amsterdam, Holland and with the Scottish Ballet in Glasgow, where she still has a close association with the latter.

In addition, Hilary teaches her  “Yoga for Dancers” developed along the lines concurrent with her own experience and expertise. She conducts annual intensive retreats in “Yoga for Dancers” in  Tuscany, Italy. Puerto Rico, Morocco, and Costa Rica, as well as smaller retreats throughout the States and Europe.

As a member of the Ashton Foundation she also stages ballets,and coaches the classics both with major companies and private individuals. She is a substitute teacher at Juilliard when In New York, and has a long and close association with the Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet, both at home and on tour.

Dr. Reed Doob was a Professor Emerita of Dance, English and Women’s Studies at York University. The recipient of Woodrow Wilson, Kent and Guggenheim Fellowships, her teaching and research included medieval and Renaissance studies, dance history and criticism, sexual stereotypes in opera, literature and dance, and non-fiction writing. She was the co-author of Artistic Director Karen Kain’s 1994 autobiography Movement Never Lies and wrote three books: Nebuchadnezzar’s Children: Conventions of Madness in Medieval Literature (Yale University Press), The Idea of the Labyrinth from the Classical Period through the Middle Ages (Cornell University Press) and, with C. Morse and M. Woods, The Uses of Manuscripts in Literary Studies (Western Michigan University Press). Professor Reed Doob’s dance reviews and feature articles appeared regularly in publications such as The Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen, Dance Magazine, Ballet News, Performing Arts in Canada and Ballet International. She developed more than 20 documentaries for the CBC Radio program The Dance, and has written extensive historical programme notes for The National Ballet of Canada and the Kirov Ballet’s North American tour. Dr. Reed Doob was active as a facilitator for strategic planning in several arts and academic organizations in Canada and the U.S.A. During a three-year stint in the early 1990s as founding president of Reed MacFadden, a medical research company focusing on HIV/AIDS, her work included clinical trial design, fundraising, statistical analysis and health-related quality of life research. She was a long-time director of the Actors’ Fund of Canada and the World Dance Alliance.

Irene Dowd is on the dance faculty of the Juilliard School, Movement Research and the Hollins University/ADF MFA program in dance. She has been a regular guest at Canada’s National Ballet School and NYU Tisch School of the Arts for many years. Irene is the recipient of the 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Chair for Distinguished teaching at ADF, and also the recipient of the 2015 John Erskine Faculty Prize at the Juilliard School. Author of Taking Root to Fly, (now in the 10th printing of the 3rd edition), she has maintained a private practice in kinesthetic anatomy and neuromuscular re-education for 45 years in NYC. Irene has choreographed for Peggy Baker, Margie Gillis and other solo dancers. Her work has been taught in schools and dance companies across the US and Canada.

John Gardner was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he began his ballet training with Gwen Ashton. He subsequently trained at the National Academy of Dance in Champaign, Illinois, under the direction of Michael Maule. He received a scholarship to the American Ballet Theatre School summer program in 1977, and was invited to join the second company thereafter. In 1978 Mr. Gardner joined the main company of American Ballet Theatre, and was promoted to the rank of Soloist in 1984. Mr. Gardner’s diverse repertoire included many Soloist and Principal roles, represented an extensive range of styles, and afforded him the opportunity to work with many of the master choreographers of the twentieth century, including Antony Tudor, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Agnes DeMille, Martha Graham, and Twyla Tharp.

In 1991 Mr. Gardner was invited to dance with Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project. He danced with the company for five years, and worked closely with many acclaimed modern dance choreographers, most notably Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Mark Morris, Lar Lubovitch, and David Gordan. Mr. Gardner created numerous roles during his time with White Oak Dance Project, and toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. He returned to American Ballet Theatre as a Soloist in 1996, and continued to perform with the company until 2002.

After retiring from the stage Mr. Gardner began to pursue a career as a teacher and coach. He taught the graded level program at Ballet Academy East in New York City for three years. During this time he also taught at various dance studios around the city, including Broadway Dance, where he had the privilege of working as a substitute teacher for the Master Teacher David Howard upon his request. Mr. Gardner has enjoyed his development as a teacher, coach, ballet master, and choreographer over the years, and has worked extensively at both the professional and student levels. He is a sanctioned repetiteur for the Antony Tudor Ballet Trust, and also stages the ballets of Agnes DeMille and Benjamin Millepied. He has been invited to work in these many capacities for ballet companies and schools around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, Colorado Ballet, Ballet West, Houston Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, and Washington Ballet. Mr. Gardner is married to fellow dancer and repetiteur Amanda McKerrow.

Linda Hamilton, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of New York where she specializes in the performing arts. She danced with New York City Ballet (NYCB), while attending both college and graduate school full-time to get her doctorate in Clinical and Research Psychology. Her interest in reducing stress and enhancing performance has led to an extensive body of research and clinical work with different performers—from the film, stage, music and other industries. In addition to her private clinical practice, she is the Wellness Consultant for NYCB. Dr. Hamilton’s ongoing research into the mental and physical stresses of performance has led to more than 300 presentations, 55 academic and mainstream articles, and three books on the occupational stresses in this arena. She also created a popular monthly advice column for Dance Magazine that is now a video series, and is one of the key designers of NYCB’s wellness program, which has reduced the actual weeks of disability in the Company by 46%. This program is outlined in depth in her recent book The Dancer’s Way. Her knowledge of eating disorders, especially in dancers, has led to many media interviews, including the highly informative NOVA documentary narrated by Susan Sarandon “Dying to Be Thin.” Dr. Hamilton also has shared her expertise in the entertainment industry in venues, such as CBS’ News Report, ABC’s Good Morning America, The Fox News Channel, National Public Radio, The New York Times, Playbill, New York Magazine, and Backstage, among others. Her work with performers is featured in “A Vision to Heal,” a documentary by European Media Support.

Sandra Noll Hammond’s career in dance has embraced ballet, modern dance, and baroque dance performance; teaching, choreography, and administration in university dance programs; and research, lectures, and publications on ballet technique and history in national and international venues.  Her professional training was primarily with Antony Tudor, Margaret Craske, Thalia Mara, and Arthur Mahoney, with a major influence from Martha Hill when Hammond was a student at Juilliard.

She has performed with Ballet Repertory Dancers in New York, the Connecticut Opera in Hartford, Pacific Ballet in San Francisco, and the Arizona Dance Theatre.  As a baroque dance specialist, she performed nationally with early music ensembles.  At the University of Arizona and the University of Hawaii, Hammond taught ballet technique, dance history, and historical dance forms.  She was Director of Dance at both institutions.

Her publications include two college text books, Ballet Basics (now in its 5th edition, with recent editions in Korea and Finland), and Ballet: Beyond the Basics (re-issued in 2010 by Waveland Press).  Her research into the history of ballet technique has appeared in articles for Dance Chronicle, Dance Research Journal, Dance Research (London), Journal of Social History, International Encyclopedia of Dance, and Le Dictionnaire de la Danse.  She has contributed numerous chapters in edited books, including: “Dancing La Sylphide in 1832:  Something Old or Something New?” (In La Sylphide, Paris 1832 and Beyond. Dance Books, Great Britain, 2012); “In the Dance Classroom with Edgar Degas: Historical Perspectives on Ballet Technique” (In Imaging Dance. Visual Representations of Dancers and Dancing. Olms Verlag, Germany, 2011); “The Rise of Ballet Technique and Training: The Professionalization of an International Dance Form,” (In The Cambridge Companion to Ballet. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007); “International Elements of Dance Training in the Late Eighteenth Century” (In In Search of the Ballerino Grottesco: Gennaro Magri and his World, Univ. of Wisconson Press, 2005); “Sor and the Ballet of His Time” (In Estudios sobre Fernando Sor/Sor Studies, Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, Madrid); “Dances Related to Theatrical Dance Traditions” and
“T B’s Technical Terminology” (in The Extraordinary Dance Book T B. 1826, Pendragon Press, 2000).

A brief list of venues where Hammond as guest artist has presented her work (as dance teacher, lecturer, and/or conference presenter of research)  include UCLA, UCSB, Stanford University, California State University at Long Beach, York University, Indiana University, Mills College, Jacksonville University, Towson University, Boston College, Boston Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Early Music Society, and internationally in Copenhagen, Paris, London, Ghent, Toronto, Leuven, Sydney, Turku, Helsinki, Mexico City, and Merida, Yucatan.  She has been an annual guest instructor and lecturer for the New York University/American Ballet Theatre graduate program in ballet pedagogy since its inception in 2009.

Hammond has served on the Board of Directors and on the Editorial Board of the Society of Dance History Scholars.  She is the recipient of research grants from the University of Arizona, the University of Hawaii, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.  She received the President’s Citation for Meritorious Teaching at the University of Hawaii, and in 2009 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from CORPS de Ballet International, of which she is an Honorary Member.