Michael Owen
Director
Received training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet with Marcia Dale Weary, the School of American Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. Studied with Stanley Williams, Andre Englevsky, Mikhail Baryshnikov, David Howard, and others. Danced with American Ballet Theatre from 1973 to 1998. Featured in films and PBS specials and Live from Lincoln Center. Taught at New York University, SUNY Purchase, American Ballet Theatre, New Jersey Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Alabama Ballet.
Diane Arvanites Noya
Diane Arvanites Noya joined the faculty at Walnut Hill in 1988. Her focus as a teacher,choreographer, have evolved together for the past twenty years. During this time she has choreographed over fifteen works at the school and over thirty solo and collaborative works with Co Director Tommy Neblett for their company Prometheus Dance. Her work has been produced in New York City by the Joyce SoHo Theatre, New York University, Downtown Baca, La Mama, at Lincoln Center's Out-of-Doors Festival and at Avery Fisher Hall; in Massachusetts by the Celebrity Series, Jacob's Pillow, Opera Boston, The Yard, Dance Umbrella, Crash Arts, First Night, Emerson Stage and The Boston Conservatory. Her choreographies have been presented internationally in Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico, Spain and France and have included special performance exchanges with students from Walnut Hill School. Ms. Noya has received choreographic awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, and nemerous local Cultural Councils. A long time educator of dance in the Boston area, she also teaches at The Boston Conservatory where she received her BFA in 1980 and a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2002.
B.A. Boston Conservatory
Samuel Kurkjian
Received training with Richard Ellis and Christine Duboulay of Sadlers Wells Ballet and at School of American Ballet. Studied choreography on fellowship with George Balanchine at Saratoga, New York. Former resident choreographer for Boston Ballet and Ballet Master to Boston Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Basel Ballet (Switzerland).
B.A. University of Illinois
Kathy Kozul
Ms. Kozul is a former member of Boston Ballet and Boston Repertory Ballet. She has danced leading roles in Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Concerto Borocco, Allegro Brillante, and Tarantella. Ms. Kozul is currently on the faculty at Walnut Hill School and has taught at the Sherry Gold Dance Studio, where her students have been recipients of national titles, including the Capezio Award for Excellence in Ballet, the Gold Family Award for Excellence, and the Gus Giordano Award. Ms. Kozul also is a master teacher at numerous studios and has served as an adjudicator at many competitions.
