Faculty/Artistic Consultants
- Thomas Vacanti, M.F.A., Artistic Co-Director of the Company & School
- Maryanne Delisle Kodzis, M.F.A., Artistic Co-Director of the Company & School
- Onalie Arts, Ballet Mistress & Instructor
- Cassandra Ferreira, Office Manager & Instructor
- Lisa Harty, Instructor
- Haley Pierson, Instructor
- Christopher Phillips, Instructor
- Daniel D. Rist, M.F.A., Technical Director
- Emily Dunn, Costume Design
Thomas Vacanti, M.F.A.
Artistic Co-Director of PVB's Company & School
Thomas L. Vacanti is a member of the dance faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and adjunct faculty at Amherst College. He was Artistic Director of the School at the Academy of Performing Arts on Cape Cod. He holds a BS in Dance from Skidmore College and an MFA in Dance from Smith College, as well as a Certificate in Costume Design from Boston University. He started dancing at the age of 9 and received his training at the Festival Ballet of New York, Boston Ballet, and Skidmore College. He has danced professionally with the Empire State Ballet, Florida Ballet, Tampa Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Ballet Mississippi, Ballet Michigan, and Ballet de Panama. He was one of only 10 dancers chosen nationally by Jacob’s Pillow to represent the US in its Russian/American Exchange Program, where he worked with internationally renowned choreographers and teachers while performing extensively throughout Russia. After returning to the US he became co-director of the North Atlantic Ballet in Boston. Mr. Vacanti has received many awards and grants for his choreography and work in public schools, and has choreographed for many local theatre and dance companies.
Maryanne Delisle Kodzis, M.F.A.
Artistic Co-Director of PVB's Company & School
Maryanne L. Kodzis received her training from Gail Giere Collins at Pioneer Valley Ballet. She began dancing at the age of 4, and danced in the party scene of PVB’s first Nutcracker at the age of 8. She received a full scholarship to the “Young Choreographers Conference” in New York at the age of 14. She has performed throughout the country and extensively in Greater New England. Some of the companies she has danced with include Berkshire Ballet, Laura Glenn Dance Company, William Soleau, Doug Varone, Connecticut Dance Theatre, Jin Win-Yu, and Contempo Dance. She received her BFA in Dance from the University of Massachusetts and her MFA in Choreography and Performance from Smith College. She has set choreography for many dance companies, schools and colleges throughout Greater New England. She has extensive experience teaching Ballet and Dance History at the collegiate level. Some of the colleges she has taught at include University of Massachusetts, Smith College and Dean College, where she was on faculty for six years.
Onalie Arts
Instructor
Onalie Arts began her training at the Boston School of Ballet, and was awarded a scholarship to attend Walnut Hill School of Performing Arts in Natick. She received a BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase, and performed extensively with the SUNY Dance Corps, dancing solo roles in Balanchine’s Elegy and Serenade, Tudor’s Dark Elegies, Nijinska’s Les Noces, and Enrique Martinez’s Coppelia. She has performed classical and contemporary works with Connecticut Ballet Theater, New Jersey Ballet, Minnesota Dance Theater, North Atlantic Ballet, Ballet Theater of Boston, and as guest artist with Ballet New England. Ms. Arts has taught ballet to all ages and levels for schools throughout New England and Northern Virginia. She has choreographed extensively for school shows and for full-length productions of Snow White, Peter and the Wolf, and Nutcracker.
Cassandra Ferreira
Instructor; Office Manager
Cassandra Ferreira began her dance training at Dance Workshop in Ludlow where she studied ballet, pointe and modern with Maryanne Kodzis and Jazz with Brenda Mikulski. She continued her dance training at Keene State College in New Hampshire where she earned a BA in dance, studying a myriad of different courses in modern technique, choreography and dance history and performing in many dance productions. Ms. Ferreira has also had the wonderful opportunity to work with Robert Battle, Shawn Currin and Axis Dance Company. In addition to being PVB’s office manager, she teaches Pre-Ballet I, Pre-Ballet II, Ballet I, and Adult Ballet.
Lisa Harty
instructor
Lisa is a graduate of the Juilliard School with a B.F.A. in Dance. She has studied at the Boston Conservatory, Jacob’s Pillow, Jose Limon Institute and Skidmore College. Her performance credits include the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, Lincoln Center Institute, Jacob’s Pillow, Boston Dance Theatre, New England Dance Theatre and more. She was a contributing writer/dance critic for Bravo Newspaper. Lisa has served as the Director/Owner of Dance Arts in Westfield for 15 years and was the Director of Dance at Suffield Academy as well as taught ballet at Hartford Conservatory. Lisa currently teaches at our studios in Easthampton and at the Community Music School of Springfield Prelude Pre-school program.
Haley Pierson
instructor
Haley Pierson received her ballet training from Gail Giere Collins. She has danced various roles in Nutcracker since age seven. She earned a degree in biology at the University of California at Berkeley. While on the west coast, Haley performed with State Street Ballet and Berkeley Ballet and has also attended the adult program at Boston Ballet. Haley currently teaches pre-ballet at the Center for the Arts in Northampton, MA.
Christopher Phillips
instructor
Christopher Phillips grew up on the sandy beaches of Cape Cod, where he realized he was born to perform on the stage. Beginning at the age of 3, Christopher chose to pursue a career in dance and is now a proud danseur with PVB, as well as a faculty member. He started his dance career at the Academy of Performing Arts, under the direction of Thomas Vacanti, and recently received his BFA in Dance Performance & Choreography from SUNY Purchase. Christopher has danced in a variety of different works, such as Serenade by George Balanchine, Inferno by Jonathan Reidel, and has performed all of the major roles in the SUNY Purchase productions of The Nutcracker.
Daniel D. Rist
Producer of The Nutcracker
Technical Director
Daniel D. Rist holds an MFA in Production/Design from Carnegie-Mellon University and has been the Technical Director for Smith College Theater for the last 30 years. He has also designed for Smith College Dance including Rodger Blum’s ballets Barbara Allen, Billy Tombs, and The Broken Cane. He has created lighting for Boston Ballet Theater, Albany Berkshire Theater, Arena Civic Theater, the Stoneleigh Burnham School, and the Children’s Theater of Massachusetts. He is also the resident set and lighting designer for New Century Theater. Mr. Rist is also the resident lighting designer for The Majestic Theater in West Springfield, where he has designed over 20 productions.
Emily Dunn
Costume Designer
Emily Dunn has been the Costume Designer for PVB for the last 7 years. She also works in the Costume Department at Smith College and freelances across the Pioneer Valley. She has won numerous awards, including two Zoni Awards for her costumes with the Mesa Youtheatre and an IRNE for costumes with the New Repertory Theatre.
