Faculty

Vanina Wilson: Director of NEBC. Vanina was trained in classical ballet in Paris, France, by Paris Opera ballet masters Raymond Franchetti, Gilbert Mayer, Solange Golovine. She was coached by Claire Motte, Prima Ballerina of the Paris Opera, and furthered her dance education with prestigious dance masters such as Nina Vyroubova, and Yvette Chauvire, Prima Ballerina of the Paris Opera. Vanina received a First prize at the National Conservatory of Dance and Music of Versailles and won medals at international dance competitions. She danced professionally with the Varlan Companie, the Sally Amar Dance Ensemble, the Versailles Theatre Dance, and the Ballet Company of the Toulon Opera, where she danced soloist roles in Classical ballets such as Sleeping Beauty. After retiring from stage because of injuries, she became the Head of the Ballet Department at the Institute of Performing Arts in Virginia before moving to Vermont. A student coached by Vanina, and for whom she developed choreographies, advanced to the New York City finals of Youth America Grand Prix in 2007, and was accepted on full scholarship at the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2007, and the Summer Intensive of American Ballet Theatre in New York City in 2008. In parallel with teaching and choreographing, Vanina has pursued extensive research on important issues related to ballet. Her numerous articles on diverse ballet-related subjects, co-authored by her husband Dennis, have been published in Dance Europe, Dance Studio Life and the Loyola Consumer Law Review. She is currently writing a teaching ballet manual based on the French method of classical ballet.

Alexandra Lengyel Instructor in Ballet, Character Dance, Movement & Dance. Alexandra Lengyel has studied at some of the most prestigious ballet institutions in Europe and the United States. She began her training at the Hungarian Dance Academy in Budapest, where she received instruction from present and former dancers of the Hungarian National Ballet. She performed roles with the Hungarian National Ballet in The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty, and received the Academy's Special Award for Young Choreographers. In the United States she studied at the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts in Torrington, Connecticut, where she twice received the Conservatory's artistic award. She also took master courses in Vienna, Austria, and Cannes, France under the artistic direction of Marcia Haydee of the Stuttgart Ballet and Monique Loudiere, of the Paris Opera Ballet. She recently began studying at the New England Ballet Conservatory, where she was the featured performer in both 2008 shows and choreographed other performers. She teaches Movement & Dance, Pre-Ballet and Character Dance.