AB School at Anaheim Children's Festival
This FREE family arts festival runs from 11:00am-3:00pm at Pearson Park. Visit Anaheim Ballet School’s booth for crafts and at 12:15pm watch AB School students perform onstage! No tickets or rsvp required!
This FREE family arts festival runs from 11:00am-3:00pm at Pearson Park. Visit Anaheim Ballet School’s booth for crafts and at 12:15pm watch AB School students perform onstage! No tickets or rsvp required!
From the impact of the pandemic to other obstacles, youth are facing greater challenges than ever before. YOU can help turn barriers into bridges by donating on ImpACT Anaheim Giving Day, a fundraiser dedicated to helping underserved Anaheim youth and teens.
By supporting Anaheim Ballet on ImpACT Anaheim Giving Day, you will assure that Anaheim youth and teens thrive in their educational, physical, and emotional development. Help impact the future of Anaheim youth with bus-in performances, outreach programs, and scholarships.
Anaheim Ballet is the city’s resident ballet company providing a community outreach program, a training school and a performing company. Whether providing community outreach programs for youth, professional concerts or world-class training, our goal is to serve the community with excellence and positivity. Your donation will help students develop nobility of carriage, and values of discipline and beauty appreciation that last a lifetime.
Join us on June 5, 2024 by making a donation of any size: https://impact-anaheim-giving-day.ocnonprofitcentral.org/organizations/anaheim-ballet
See Anaheim Ballet School students present their hard work in a showcase filled with talent and fun! Also featured will be Anaheim Ballet School’s award-winning Youth America Grand Prix participants. Tickets to the show may be purchased for $20 until June 6th by visiting Anaheim Ballet School or contacting ABS at 714-520-0904. Tickets at the door will be $25 (box office opens one hour before showtime).
The performance will feature Summer Intensive program students in a staging of a classical ballet, along with student choreography and other dance styles studied during the program.
FRIDAY, JULY 19, 2024 6:30 P.M.
Pearson Park Amphitheatre
401 N Lemon Street
Anaheim, CA 92805
Free show! All seats are general admission.
For directions and parking please visit: Anaheim Community Services
Join Anaheim Ballet School on Saturday May 11th from 2:00-4:00pm for a free event with ballet-themed crafts, a chance for children to dress up in tutus, ballet costumes and pointe shoes, along with a performance by Anaheim Ballet School students, and free mini dance classes! Best for children ages 3 - 12. No tickets or RSVP required.
Hands on Dance is a proud partner of Arts Orange County's Imagination Celebration.
Clinton Luckett was a dancer with American Ballet Theatre for 10 years, from 1992-2002. His professional career spanned 15 years and began at the National Ballet of Canada. As a dancer he created roles in original works by Glen Tetley, William Forsythe, John Neumeier and James Kudelka among others and appeared in featured roles in most of the full-length ballets in the classical repertoire. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he began his dance training there, and after two years of study at the National Ballet School in Toronto, joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1987. In 1992, Luckett came to American Ballet Theatre where he was featured in the works of Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Agnes De Mille, Martha Graham, Jiří Kylián, Lar Lubovitch, Kenneth MacMillan, Mark Morris and Antony Tudor. He appeared on television in the PBS/Dance in America programs ABT Now and Le Corsaire, and in the CBC/Rombus Media productions of Glen Tetley’s Alice and La Ronde.
In 2002, Luckett became the Artistic Associate for the Education and Training Department at ABT. In that position he worked closely with the ABT Studio Company, was a regular faculty member at the ABT New York Summer Intensives, and also served as a Company Teacher at ABT. In September 2006, he assumed the position of Ballet Master with the artistic staff of ABT. Luckett has been a guest teacher for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and taught ballet at New York University.
Luckett performs the roles of the Tutor in Swan Lake, Escalus and Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote in Don Quixote, Galifron in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, a Dacha Dweller in The Bright Stream and the Duke in Lady of the Camellias.
Luckett was appointed Assistant Artistic Director in August 2016 and Associate Artistic Director in September 2020.
About Valery Lantratov
Mr. Lantratov had a distinguished career as a dancer in the companies of Vladimir Vasiliev, Maya Plitsetskaya and Ekaterina Maximova and international tours with Rudolf Nureyev. Most recently he has made international headlines for his role as Czar Nicholas II in a production of the new ballet Rasputin, with Farouk Ruzimatov of the Marinsky Theater (Kirov) and for successful international tours of Don Quixote and original choreography for the annual festival for the goddess Aphrodite in Cypruss.
A graduate of the Moscow Academic Choreographic College, Lantratov was selected as a first soloist with the Moscow Stanislavski Ballet. With the theater he danced principal roles in such ballets as Don Quixote, Copellia and Romeo and Juliet. He has received accolades in the Russian and international press for his strong technique, personality and expressiveness. In 1993, Lantratov began working for the Kremlin Ballet. This same year, he formed the Russian National Ballet Foundation. He has toured as a solo guest artist in such countries as Japan, Germany, Italy, Greece, France, Portugal, Spain and the United States. The Russian National Ballet Foundation has toured in Europe, Asia, The Middle East and the United States. In 1997, Russian president Boris Yeltsin named Valery Lantratov “ People’s Artist of Russia,” the Russian Federation’s highest artistic honor.
AB School's four-week Summer Intensive is for intermediate and advanced students and focuses on classical ballet technique along with supplemental classes in other dance styles such as jazz, modern, musical theater, hip-hop and others. There will be a free public performance at Anaheim’s Pearson Park Amphitheatre for the students to share their dedication and hard work during the program. Recent programs have featured students learning and performing such ballets as Chopiniana (Les Sylphides), Swan Lake (excerpts) and Sleeping Beauty (excerpts).
Summer Intensive: June 24 - July 20, 2024
10-20 years old, intermediate/advanced levels (ABS Levels 4 & 5), ladies en pointe
Location: Anaheim Ballet Studios at 280 E. Lincoln Ave. Anaheim, CA 92805
Date: Sunday January 28, 2024
Registration/Check-in: 1:30pm
Class Time: 2:00-3:30pm
Ages: 10-20, intermediate/advanced levels
Audition Fee: $30, payable at audition class
Please bring:
Completed Audition Form (or can be completed at Check-in)
Photo in first arabesque & headshot/portrait
Short write-up of “What dance means to me”
Ladies, bring your pointe shoes
AB School's Junior Intensive for younger intermediate students offers a full slate of ballet classes in a one-week session. The Junior Intensive is an excellent preparatory program and introduction to intensive training for younger ballet students. Students will take a few classes in other dance styles, and will be coached daily to learn a classical ballet variation. Students will present an in-studio showcase to parents at the end of the week.
Junior Intensive: July 22 - July 27, 2024
9-12 years old, high beginning/ intermediate levels (ABS Levels 2 & 3), en pointe not required
Location: Anaheim Ballet Studios at 280 E. Lincoln Ave. Anaheim, CA 92805
Date: Sunday January 28, 2024
Registration/Check-in: 12:15pm
Class Time: 12:45-1:45pm
Ages: 9-12, high beginning/intermediate levels
Audition Fee: $30, payable at audition class
Please bring:
Completed Audition Form (or can be completed at Check-in)
Photo in first arabesque & headshot/portrait
Short write-up of “What dance means to me”
Anaheim Ballet School students will take the stage at South Coast Plaza's Carousel Court to perform during the annual Festival of Children. See you there!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2023
2:30 P.M.
South Coast Plaza, Carousel Court
For more information about Festival of Children visit: Festival of Children Foundation
Free Show, No Ticket Required
About Larissa Saveliev
Larissa Saveliev is the Founder and Artistic Director of Youth America Grand Prix. Born in Moscow, she trained at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and danced with the Stanislavsky Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet, before emigrating to the United States in 1994. She went on to perform with the Los Angeles Classical Ballet, New Jersey Ballet and Tulsa Ballet, and began an active teaching career. In 1999, together with Gennadi Saveliev, Larissa founded Youth America Grand Prix, in order to fill the void in connecting students and teachers with school and company directors, and to provide continuing educational and professional opportunities to dancers worldwide. Larissa Saveliev is the 2014 recipient of the Dance Magazine Award, recipient of the 2014 “Educator of the Year” award from the Russian-American Foundation. In 2015 she was recognized by the Society of Foreign Consuls in New York for her Outstanding Achievement and Contribution to Community Improvement. In 2017 Larissa Saveliev was named one of the top 25 most influential people in dance by Dance Magazine, and is a part of the Dance Magazine Advisory Board.
About Gennadi Saveliev
Gennadi Saveliev trained with the great master teacher, Pyotr Pestov at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, and with Stanley Williams at the School of American Ballet. Mr. Saveliev was a member of Bolshoi Ballet before he joined American Ballet Theatre in 1996, upon winning a Silver Medal at the New York International Ballet Competition. In his 16-year tenure as a soloist with American Ballet Theatre, Mr. Saveliev has toured extensively and appeared as a Guest Artist in galas around the world. In 1999, together with Larissa Saveliev, he co-founded Youth America Grand Prix. He has taught at The Royal Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, Zurich Dance Academy and other prominent dance institutions around the world. He currently serves as a Company Teacher for the American Ballet Theatre, and appears as a Guest Master Teacher in the United States and internationally.
The performance will feature Summer Intensive program students in a staging of Chopiniana (also known as Les Sylphides), along with student choreography and other dance styles studied during the program.
FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2023 6:30 P.M.
Pearson Park Amphitheatre
401 N Lemon Street
Anaheim, CA 92805
Free show! All seats are general admission.
For directions and parking please visit: Anaheim Community Services
See Anaheim Ballet School students present their hard work in a showcase filled with talent and fun! Also featured will be Anaheim Ballet School’s award-winning Youth America Grand Prix participants. Tickets to the show may be purchased for $20 until June 1st by visiting Anaheim Ballet School or contacting ABS at 714-520-0904. Tickets at the door will be $25 (box office open one hour before showtime).
This free family arts festival runs from 11:00am-3:00pm at Pearson Park. Visit Anaheim Ballet School’s booth for crafts and watch AB School students perform onstage! No tickets or rsvp required!
Join Anaheim Ballet School on Saturday May 6th from 2:00-4:00pm for a free event with ballet-themed crafts, a chance for children to dress up in tutus, ballet costumes and pointe shoes, along with a performance by Anaheim Ballet School students, and free mini dance classes! Best for children ages 3 - 12. No tickets or RSVP required.
Hands on Dance is a proud partner of Arts Orange County's Imagination Celebration.
Clinton Luckett was a dancer with American Ballet Theatre for 10 years, from 1992-2002. His professional career spanned 15 years and began at the National Ballet of Canada. As a dancer he created roles in original works by Glen Tetley, William Forsythe, John Neumeier and James Kudelka among others and appeared in featured roles in most of the full-length ballets in the classical repertoire. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he began his dance training there, and after two years of study at the National Ballet School in Toronto, joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1987. In 1992, Luckett came to American Ballet Theatre where he was featured in the works of Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Agnes De Mille, Martha Graham, Jiří Kylián, Lar Lubovitch, Kenneth MacMillan, Mark Morris and Antony Tudor. He appeared on television in the PBS/Dance in America programs ABT Now and Le Corsaire, and in the CBC/Rombus Media productions of Glen Tetley’s Alice and La Ronde.
In 2002, Luckett became the Artistic Associate for the Education and Training Department at ABT. In that position he worked closely with the ABT Studio Company, was a regular faculty member at the ABT New York Summer Intensives, and also served as a Company Teacher at ABT. In September 2006, he assumed the position of Ballet Master with the artistic staff of ABT. Luckett has been a guest teacher for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and taught ballet at New York University.
Luckett performs the roles of the Tutor in Swan Lake, Escalus and Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote in Don Quixote, Galifron in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, a Dacha Dweller in The Bright Stream and the Duke in Lady of the Camellias.
Luckett was appointed Assistant Artistic Director in August 2016 and Associate Artistic Director in September 2020.
AB School's Junior Intensive for younger intermediate students offers a full slate of ballet classes in a one-week session. The Junior Intensive is an excellent preparatory program and introduction to intensive training for younger ballet students. Students will take a few classes in other dance styles, and will be coached daily to learn a classical ballet variation. Students will present an in-studio showcase to parents at the end of the week.
Junior Intensive: July 24 - July 29, 2023
9-12 years old, high beginning/intermediate levels (ABS Levels 2 & 3), en pointe not required
Location: Anaheim Ballet Studios at 280 E. Lincoln Ave. Anaheim, CA 92805
Date: Saturday February 18, 2023
Registration/Check-in: 2:15pm
Class Time: 2:45-3:45pm
Ages: 9-12, high beginning/intermediate levels
Audition Fee: $20, payable at audition class
Please bring:
Completed Audition Form (or can be completed at Check-in)
Photo in first arabesque & headshot/portrait
Short write-up of “What dance means to me”
AB School's four-week Summer Intensive is for intermediate and advanced students and focuses on classical ballet technique along with supplemental classes in other dance styles such as jazz, modern, musical theater, hip-hop and others. There will be a free public performance at a local amphitheatre for students to share their dedication and hard work during the program.
Summer Intensive: June 26 - July 22, 2023
10-20 years old, intermediate/advanced levels (ABS Levels 4 & 5), ladies en pointe
Location: Anaheim Ballet Studios at 280 E. Lincoln Ave. Anaheim, CA 92805
Date: Saturday February 18, 2023
Registration/Check-in: 12:30pm
Class Time: 1:00-2:30pm
Ages: 10-20, intermediate/advanced levels
Audition Fee: $20, payable at audition class
Please bring:
Completed Audition Form (or can be completed at Check-in)
Photo in first arabesque & headshot/portrait
Short write-up of “What dance means to me”
Ladies, bring your pointe shoes
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Nancy Raffa received her early training with Madame Gabriella Darvash. In 1980, she became the youngest and first American female to win the Gold Medal at the Prix de Lausanne competition in Switzerland. New York Times Dance Critic Anna Kisselgoff wrote of her: “(she is)…a young and extremely talented dancer” who “made mini-history in ballet. The dance is in her.”
Raffa joined Makarova and Company on Broadway and then, at 16, became a member of the corps de ballet with American Ballet Theatre. She went on to become principal ballerina at Ballet de Santiago, Chile and Ballet National Française de Nancy, France. She returned to the U.S. as principal ballerina with Miami City Ballet. During her career, Raffa partnered with ballet legends Rudolph Nureyev, Patrick Dupond and Fernando Bujones. She has also worked with prominent choreographers including Twyla Tharp, John Neumeier, Roland Petit, Hans Van Manen, Merce Cunningham, Birgit Cullberg, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Ben Stevenson, Ulysses Dove and George Balanchine. Her repertory as a principal dancer has been extensive and diverse.
Raffa began her teaching career as an adjunct faculty member in Miami at the New World School of the Arts. Transitioning from dancer to coach and stager, she became Senior Faculty member and Assistant to the Director at Miami City Ballet School, directing its Summer Intensive and Apprentice Program.
In 2005, Raffa was named Director of American Ballet Theatre’s (ABT) Summer Intensive programs, Company teacher, Director of Repertoire for ABT II and faculty member for the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.
Raffa was appointed Director of Repertoire at ABT in June 2007. In addition to her Repertoire duties, she performs roles in ABT’s Cinderella, Giselle, La Sylphide, Onegin, On the Dnieper, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.
At ABT, Raffa has assisted Ratmansky on nearly all of his work since his appointment as Artist in Residence in 2009. She has re-staged many of Ratmansky’s creations for ABT at Atlanta Ballet, Het National Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, The Paris Opera and The Washington Ballet.
Raffa assisted Twyla Tharp in the workshop production of Tharp’s Tony Award®-nominated Broadway show Come Fly Away. She has also staged Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove for Tulsa Ballet and In the Upper Room for ABT in collaboration with Shelley Washington.
Raffa has judged the Prix de Lausanne and Youth America Grand Prix in several countries. She delivers Master Teacher Classes by request and has taught all over the United States, Europe, South America, Japan and Asia.
In 2019, Raffa was nominated for the Isadora Duncan Dance Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Restaging/Revival/ Reconstruction” for her re-staging of Ratmansky’s Shostakovich Trilogy (2013) for San Francisco Ballet.
Raffa holds an Ace certification in exercise physiology, graduated magna cum laude in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from St. Thomas University in Miami and is certified as an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor. She is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in Ayurvedic Medicine.
About Rasta Thomas
Rasta Thomas studied martial arts before training in ballet. At the age of 13 he became the youngest person ever to receive the Jury Prize at the Paris International Dance Competition. Already a seasoned performer despite being a minor, he was given a special dispensation, and was permitted to perform in the senior division of the USA International Ballet Competition (USAIBC). Thomas won the gold medal, and at 16 years old became the youngest to win in the senior division, beating Mikhail Baryshnikov's previous record age of 18. Upon returning to the US, he went to Los Angeles to begin his commercial career: he hired an agent, danced in a GAP commercial and had a solo in the Debbie-Allen choreographed for the Academy Awards. Thomas has appeared as a guest artist with such companies as: Dance Theater of Harlem, Washington Ballet, City Dance, Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Company, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Loundin Ballet, Orlando Ballet, K Ballet, Alonzo King’s Lines Contemporary Ballet Company, Complexions, DanceBrazil, Rafael Amargo Dance Company, Universal Ballet, Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, American Ballet Theater, Kirov Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Le Jeune Ballet de France, Joffrey Ballet, Maryland Youth Ballet, Arlington Dance Theater, Tulsa Ballet Theater, Victor Ullate, National Ballet of China, Hartford Ballet, Inoue Ballet, Philadanco, Imperial Russian Ballet.
He debuted on Broadway as the lead character Eddie in the hit musical Movin' Out and went on to work with the Movin' Out touring company.
Thomas founded the Bad Boys of Dance company (BBD). BBD selected dancers with strong technical backgrounds from competitions, Broadway, Juliard etc. Their debut performance was at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.
Rasta Thomas’ “Rock the Ballet” was created to showcase BBD. They made their international debut at the St. Pauli theater in Hamburg, Germany. In this show BBD incorporated jazz, hip hop, tap and gymnastics into ballet to some of today’s most popular songs. Over the years BBD featured alumni of So You Think You Can Dance (including Craig DeRosa, Nick Lazzarini and Danny Tidwell).
Today he continues to share his art and knowledge as a dancer, teacher, choreographer, producer and director.
Anaheim Ballet School students will take the stage at South Coast Plaza's Carousel Court to perform during the annual Festival of Children. See you there!
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2022
2:00 P.M.
South Coast Plaza, Carousel Court
For more information about Festival of Children visit: Festival of Children Foundation
Free Show, No Ticket Required
About Gennadi Saveliev
Gennadi Saveliev trained with the great master teacher, Pyotr Pestov at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, and with Stanley Williams at the School of American Ballet. Mr. Saveliev was a member of Bolshoi Ballet before he joined American Ballet Theatre in 1996, upon winning a Silver Medal at the New York International Ballet Competition. In his 16-year tenure as a soloist with American Ballet Theatre, Mr. Saveliev has toured extensively and appeared as a Guest Artist in galas around the world. In 1999, together with Larissa Saveliev, he co-founded Youth America Grand Prix. He has taught at The Royal Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, Zurich Dance Academy and other prominent dance institutions around the world. He currently serves as a Company Teacher for the American Ballet Theatre, and appears as a Guest Master Teacher in the United States and internationally.
About Larissa Saveliev
Larissa Saveliev is the Founder and Artistic Director of Youth America Grand Prix. Born in Moscow, she trained at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and danced with the Stanislavsky Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet, before emigrating to the United States in 1994. She went on to perform with the Los Angeles Classical Ballet, New Jersey Ballet and Tulsa Ballet, and began an active teaching career. In 1999, together with Gennadi Saveliev, Larissa founded Youth America Grand Prix, in order to fill the void in connecting students and teachers with school and company directors, and to provide continuing educational and professional opportunities to dancers worldwide. Larissa Saveliev is the 2014 recipient of the Dance Magazine Award, recipient of the 2014 “Educator of the Year” award from the Russian-American Foundation. In 2015 she was recognized by the Society of Foreign Consuls in New York for her Outstanding Achievement and Contribution to Community Improvement. In 2017 Larissa Saveliev was named one of the top 25 most influential people in dance by Dance Magazine, and is a part of the Dance Magazine Advisory Board.
The performance will feature Summer Intensive program students in a staging of excerpts of Swan Lake, along with student choreography and other dance styles studied during the program.
FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2022 6:30 P.M.
Pearson Park Amphitheatre
401 N Lemon Street
Anaheim, CA 92805
Free show! All seats are general admission.
For directions and parking please visit: Anaheim Community Services
See Anaheim Ballet School students present their hard work in a showcase filled with talent and fun! Also featured will be Anaheim Ballet School’s award-winning Youth America Grand Prix participants. Tickets to the show may be purchased for $15 until June 3rd by visiting Anaheim Ballet School or contacting ABS at 714-520-0904. Tickets at the door will be $20 (box office open one hour before showtime).
This free family arts festival runs from 11:00am-3:00pm at Pearson Park. Visit Anaheim Ballet School’s booth for crafts and watch AB School students perform onstage! No tickets or rsvp required!
Join Anaheim Ballet School on Saturday May 14th from 2:00-4:00pm for a free event with ballet-themed crafts, a chance for children to dress up in tutus, ballet costumes and pointe shoes, along with a performance by Anaheim Ballet School students, and free mini dance classes! Best for children ages 3 - 12. No tickets or RSVP required.
Hands on Dance is a proud partner of Arts Orange County's Imagination Celebration.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Nancy Raffa received her early training with Madame Gabriella Darvash. In 1980, she became the youngest and first American female to win the Gold Medal at the Prix de Lausanne competition in Switzerland. New York Times Dance Critic Anna Kisselgoff wrote of her: “(she is)…a young and extremely talented dancer” who “made mini-history in ballet. The dance is in her.”
Raffa joined Makarova and Company on Broadway and then, at 16, became a member of the corps de ballet with American Ballet Theatre. She went on to become principal ballerina at Ballet de Santiago, Chile and Ballet National Française de Nancy, France. She returned to the U.S. as principal ballerina with Miami City Ballet. During her career, Raffa partnered with ballet legends Rudolph Nureyev, Patrick Dupond and Fernando Bujones. She has also worked with prominent choreographers including Twyla Tharp, John Neumeier, Roland Petit, Hans Van Manen, Merce Cunningham, Birgit Cullberg, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Ben Stevenson, Ulysses Dove and George Balanchine. Her repertory as a principal dancer has been extensive and diverse.
Raffa began her teaching career as an adjunct faculty member in Miami at the New World School of the Arts. Transitioning from dancer to coach and stager, she became Senior Faculty member and Assistant to the Director at Miami City Ballet School, directing its Summer Intensive and Apprentice Program.
In 2005, Raffa was named Director of American Ballet Theatre’s (ABT) Summer Intensive programs, Company teacher, Director of Repertoire for ABT II and faculty member for the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.
Raffa was appointed Director of Repertoire at ABT in June 2007. In addition to her Repertoire duties, she performs roles in ABT’s Cinderella, Giselle, La Sylphide, Onegin, On the Dnieper, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.
At ABT, Raffa has assisted Ratmansky on nearly all of his work since his appointment as Artist in Residence in 2009. She has re-staged many of Ratmansky’s creations for ABT at Atlanta Ballet, Het National Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, The Paris Opera and The Washington Ballet.
Raffa assisted Twyla Tharp in the workshop production of Tharp’s Tony Award®-nominated Broadway show Come Fly Away. She has also staged Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove for Tulsa Ballet and In the Upper Room for ABT in collaboration with Shelley Washington.
Raffa has judged the Prix de Lausanne and Youth America Grand Prix in several countries. She delivers Master Teacher Classes by request and has taught all over the United States, Europe, South America, Japan and Asia.
In 2019, Raffa was nominated for the Isadora Duncan Dance Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Restaging/Revival/ Reconstruction” for her re-staging of Ratmansky’s Shostakovich Trilogy (2013) for San Francisco Ballet.
Raffa holds an Ace certification in exercise physiology, graduated magna cum laude in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from St. Thomas University in Miami and is certified as an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor. She is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in Ayurvedic Medicine.
Anna Laudere was born in 1983 in Sigulda, Latvia. She was educated at the Riga Ballet School and the School of the Hamburg Ballet, before joining the Hamburg Ballet in 2001. In 2008 she was promoted to First Soloist and to Principal Dancer in 2011.
John Neumeier created the roles Kalliope in Orpheus and the title role in the ballet Anna Karenina, premiered in Hamburg in 2017. Her extensive repertoire with the Hamburg Ballet includes amongst others Ophelia in Hamlet, Giselle and Myrtha in Giselle, Solvei and Aase in Peer Gynt, Tatjana in Onegin, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Louise and La Fille du Pharao in The Nutcracker, Marguerite Gautier and Manon Lescaut in Lady of the Camellias.
Anna Laudere was awarded with the Dr.-Wilhelm-Oberdörffer-Prize in 2008. In 2018 she won the Positano Award for Dance with her husband Edvin Revazov.
The 2022 in-person summer programs will include a four-week Summer Intensive for intermediate and advanced students, as well as a Junior Intensive for younger intermediate students.
AB School's four-week Summer Intensive focuses on ballet technique along with supplemental classes in other dance styles such as jazz, modern, musical theater, hip-hop or others. There will be a free culmination presentation for students to share their dedication and hard work during the program.
AB School's Junior Intensive offers a full slate of ballet classes in a one-week session. The Junior Intensive is an excellent preparatory program and introduction to intensive training for younger ballet students. Students will take a few classes in other dance styles, and will be coached daily to learn a classical ballet variation. Students will present an in-studio showcase to parents at the end of the week.
Summer Intensive: June 27 - July 23, 2022
10-20 years old, intermediate/advanced levels (ABS Levels 4 & 5), ladies en pointe
Junior Intensive: July 25 - July 30, 2022
9-12 years old, high beginning/intermediate levels (ABS Levels 2 & 3), ladies en pointe not required
Date: Saturday February 26, 2022
Check-in Time: Zoom meeting will open for check-in at 3:30pm PST
Audition Class Time: 4:00-5:30pm PST for both Junior Int. and Summer Int. applicants.
For Summer Int. applicants, pointe combinations given during the audition class will be optional, subject to your available space/physical safety.
Registration Deadline: Students must register no later than Thursday February 24. AB Staff will process registrations and follow-up with Virtual Audition Form/Audition Fee payment request. Please submit the form and other required materials by Friday February 25. The Zoom link will only be sent to registrants who complete/submit the required information.
After Registering for the Audition Class, you will be asked to complete/email:
Virtual Class Audition Form
Photo in first arabesque & headshot/portrait
Short write-up of "What dance means to me"
Pay $20 Audition Fee via paypal
The 2022 one-week Junior Intensive is for younger intermediate students. As of January 2022, we are planning to hold the Intensive program in-person.
AB School's Junior Intensive offers a full slate of ballet classes in a one-week session. The Junior Intensive is an excellent preparatory program and introduction to intensive training for younger ballet students. Students will take a few classes in other dance styles, and will be coached daily to learn a classical ballet variation. Students will present an in-studio showcase to parents at the end of the week.
Junior Intensive: July 25 - July 30, 2022
9-12 years old, high beginning/intermediate levels (ABS Levels 2 & 3), en pointe not required
Location: Anaheim Ballet Studios at 280 E. Lincoln Ave. Anaheim, CA 92805
Date: Saturday February 19, 2022
Registration/Check-in: 2:00pm
Class Time: 2:30-3:30pm
Ages: 9-12, high beginning/intermediate levels
Audition Fee: $20, payable at audition class
Please bring:
Completed Audition Form (or can be completed at Check-in)
Photo in first arabesque & headshot/portrait
Short write-up of "What dance means to me"
The 2022 four-week Summer Intensive is for intermediate and advanced students. As of January 2022, we are planning to hold the Intensive program in-person.
AB School's four-week Summer Intensive focuses on ballet technique along with supplemental classes in other dance styles such as jazz, modern, musical theater, hip-hop or others. There will be a free culmination presentation for students to share their dedication and hard work during the program.
Summer Intensive: June 27 - July 23, 2022
10-20 years old, intermediate/advanced levels (ABS Levels 4 & 5), ladies en pointe
Location: Anaheim Ballet Studios at 280 E. Lincoln Ave. Anaheim, CA 92805
Date: Saturday February 19, 2022
Registration/Check-in: 12:30pm
Class Time: 1:00-2:30pm
Ages: 10-20, intermediate/advanced levels
Audition Fee: $20, payable at audition class
Please bring:
Completed Audition Form (or can be completed at Check-in)
Photo in first arabesque & headshot/portrait
Short write-up of "What dance means to me"
Ladies, bring your pointe shoes
Anaheim Ballet School students will take the stage at South Coast Plaza's Carousel Court to perform during the annual Festival of Children. See you there!
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2021
2:00 - 2:30 P.M.
South Coast Plaza, Carousel Court
For more information about Festival of Children visit: Festival of Children Foundation
Free Show, No Ticket Required