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An Interview with François Perron, Managing Artistic Director of Studio Maestro and Manhattan Youth Ballet and Photos of Deborah Wingert's Student Rehearsal

by Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
December 26, 2006
Studio Maestro
48 West 68th Street
New York, NY 10023
212.787.1178
(See Introductory Lesson for Pre-Schoolers With François Perron)

About the Author:
I caught up with Managing Artistic Director, François Perron, of Studio Maestro and Manhattan Youth Ballet, just after Christmas, working hard, as was his staff, with young, aspiring ballet dancers, both boys and girls, as well as older students, filing in and out of the Studio. Parents and teachers were buzzing with excitement, as this coming year marks the opening of the brand new Studio Maestro and Not-for-Profit, Manhattan Youth Ballet. With 18,000 square feet, filling the expansive ground floor and basement level of the Element (New Condominiums at 248 West 60th Street near Lincoln Center), Studio Maestro will soon own a 110-seat theatre, with wood, stage floor (can be rented), and it will feature classes in jazz, character dance, pilates, contemporary dance, mime, dance history, and more. Manhattan Youth Ballet, a pre-professional company for 8-18 year-olds, will stage three ballets a year (with an ensemble), as well as lecture-performances in the schools.

Recent guest artists at Studio Maestro, include principals and soloists of New York City Ballet, such as Sebastien Marcovici, Janie Taylor, Daniel Ulbricht, Amar Ramasar, and Jared Angle, plus recent guest artists from other companies. Graduates of Studio Maestro (soon to be Manhattan Youth Ballet) include members of American Ballet Theatre (Roman Zhurbin, Caity Seither, and Nicole Graniero), New York City Ballet (Abigail Crutchfield, Dara Johnson), and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of Ballet (Alexandra Basmagy). Currently, Studio Maestro offers pre-ballet and toddler classes, including mother and child, plus courses in body control, jazz, hip-hop, ballroom, pilates, body conditioning, theater dance, and more. For more information see www.studio-maestro.com or call 212.787.1178. Ask for François or Rose, and tell them you saw them on ExploreDance.com.




Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty/Artistic Advisor, Level I, Level V pointe, Level VI pointe, and VII

Deborah Wingert, Artistic advisor of Studio Maestro and head Faculty, began her training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth ballet under Marcia Dale Weary, and became a scholarship student at the School of American Ballet, New York. At the age of 16. She was selected by Balanchine to join the company of New York City Ballet. During her 15 years with the company, Ms. Wingert danced over twenty five Principal, Soloist, and featured roles in productions that include Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Coppelia, Orpheus, Symphony in C, Jewels, Who Cares?, LaValse, Stars and Stripes, Prodigal Son, Bourree Fantastique, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, The Nutcracker, The Four Temperaments, and Mozartiana, Jerome Robbins' The Concert and Antique Epigraphs, and Peter Martins' The Sleeping Beauty. A Principal and Soloist with numerous nationally acclaimed companies, her film and television credits include The Nutcracker (Time-Warner), PBS "Great Performance" Dinner With Balanchine, "Dance in America" Balanchine - Serenade and Western Symphony, Peter Martins' Concerto for Two Solo Pianos and "Live from Lincoln Center" A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Deborah Wingert is a prize-winning choreographer, receiving third place in the Northeast Regional Festival for Emerging Female Choreographers for her work Six by Six: Opus 56 for the Cumberland Dance Company. She is one of a small group of artists selected by the Balanchine Trust to set his choreography. In this capacity she has traveled throughout the United States and Europe setting and staging the Balanchine repertoire for companies including the Vancouver Ballet Society, West Virginia Ballet Company, Boston Dance Company, Northeast Ballet, Ballet Center of St. Louis, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She staged The Four Temperaments for Harvard University, and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux for the New York International Ballet competition

Ms. Wingert has taught at the School of American Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Ballet Academy East, the Livingston Ballet, Boston Dance Company, and the Vancouver Ballet Society to name a few. She has been a guest lecturer and instructor for the New York City Public Library, the University of Wisconsin, and the Pennsylvania Governor's School of the Arts, the Northeast Ballet and Harvard University.
(Studio Maestro Web Notes).

See photos of Deborah Wingert's student ballet rehearsal below:
Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty, Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty,
Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Photo © & courtesy of Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower


Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty, Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty,
Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Photo © & courtesy of Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower


Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty, Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty,
Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Photo © & courtesy of Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower


Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty, Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty,
Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Photo © & courtesy of Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower


Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty, Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty,
Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Photo © & courtesy of Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower


Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty, Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty,
Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Photo © & courtesy of Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower


Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty, Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty,
Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Photo © & courtesy of Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower


Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty, Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Deborah Wingert, Head Faculty,
Manhattan Youth Ballet; Her Student Rehearsal

Photo © & courtesy of Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower

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