Artistic Staff
Dermot Burke | Director
As Director of Dayton Ballet Association, Dermot Burke serves in a dual capacity as the Company's Chief Administrative Officer, as well as its Artistic Director. He has directed Dayton Ballet into a secure and stable financial position. His leadership in and out of the dance studio has helped Dayton Ballet develop new and expanded performance opportunities. On a national level, his contributions to dance include his service on the Board of Trustees of Dance USA. In 2001, Mr. Burke and the Dayton Ballet Board of Trustees made the public announcement of the venture philanthropy project, Vision 20/20, which in its first 15 months met its goal of $3 million. Vision 20/20 raises funds to produce new full-length story ballets to increase the library of available works for all ballet companies. Over the past five years, Mr. Burke has been nationally recognized for encouraging U.S. ballet companies to form new co-operative collaborations. To date, these partnerships have resulted in the presentation of Alvin Ailey's Feast of Ashes, Lila York's Gloria and Christopher Fleming's Play Ball! by a number of mid-size ballet companies which previously would not have been able to afford works of such stature. Additionally, Mr. Burke formed a first-of-its-kind collaboration with his colleague, Jeffrey Graham Hughes, Artistic Director of Ohio Ballet. Their companies performed two full-length productions in each of their home cities, Dayton and Akron, as well as a third city, Cleveland, bringing to the stage productions that neither company could afford on their own.
Prior to joining Dayton Ballet in August 1992, Mr. Burke enjoyed a 13-year association with the American Repertory Ballet Company (formerly the Princeton Ballet). His tenure with ARBC included positions in which he served as Ballet Master/Resident Choreographer and later as Artistic Director. As a professional dancer, Mr. Burke began his career in the Joffrey Ballet in 1965 when it was still based in New York. Mr Burke had the good fortune to work with the founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino at the height of their creative and physical powers .It was a time when the Joffrey’s impact on the art form was enormous and is still felt today. While a member of the Joffrey, he was featured as a principal dancer in major works by renowned choreographers, such as George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, among others.
During a leave of absence from the Joffrey to pursue other professional opportunities, Mr. Burke appeared in an Emmy award-winning dance special entitled, A Patchwork of Love. Before he returned to the Joffrey in 1975, he was also featured as a dancer in the Houston Opera’s premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale, performed as principal dancer with The National Ballet in Washington, D.C., and co-directed the NYC-based Eglevsky Ballet. While in Washington, he testified before Congress for a renewal of the original legislation for the National Endowment for the Arts. At the Joffrey, Mr. Burke resumed his role as principal dancer and was named Associate Ballet Master. After two years, he went on to join Milwaukee Ballet as that Company’s Resident Choreographer. In 1980, the Princeton Ballet named him to its artistic staff. Other companies he has choreographed for include: the Pacific Northwest Ballet, American Repertory Ballet and Dayton Ballet.
Mr. Burke is married to former dancer Karen Russo and is the father of Daniel, Kevin and Margaret Kathleen.
Karen Russo
Ballet Mistress/Director, DB II Senior Company
Winner of an Ohio Arts Council Excellence in Individual Creativity Award in 2006 and honored by American Repertory Ballet for her commitment and excellence in the field of dance in 2005, Karen Russo feels it’s her turn to give back.
As a professional dancer for eleven years with the American Repertory ballet, she danced leading roles in ballets by dance icons Anthony Tudor, Jose Limon, Gerald Arpino, John Butler, George Balanchine and current choreographers such as William Whitner and Septime Webre. Her artistic range identified her in such roles as “Juliet” and “Swanhilda” in the classic full-lengths. Karen also taught in the
Now, in her thirteenth year at Dayton Ballet, she teaches in the Dayton Ballet School and, since 1998, has been Director of Dayton Ballet II Senior Company, where she has choreographed many works for the pre-professional company that are performed in and around the area. In 1997, Ms. Russo was the coordinator of the outreach program DANCE POWER.
Since 2000, Karen has choreographed eight repertory pieces for Dayton Ballet including Into the Blue, a well-received tribute in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Flight. She has also premiered many ballets for Dayton Ballet, including the critically acclaimed A Streetcar Named Desire,--to an original score-- the magnificent Canyons and the very athletic woman’s ballet Freudian Slip.
In addition to the Dayton Ballet, Ms. Russo also choreographed for American Repertory Ballet and has taught at
Sharon Lancaster | Ballet Mistress
SHARON LANCASTER was a member of the Dayton Ballet Company from 1997 to 2007. She danced the role of the "Sugar Plum Fairy" in The Nutcracker, "Mina" in Dracula, "Marie" in Cinderella, “Tiger Lilly" in Peter Pan, "
Abigail Beam
Director, DB II Junior Company / Outreach Coordinator
Abigail Beam studied extensively with Dayton Ballet and Pontecorvo Ballet Studios and has performed with Dayton Ballet II and Ballet de Jeunesse. Ms. Beam’s summer studies included the Boston Ballet, Chautauqua School of Dance, BalletMet and Hartford Ballet programs. She teaches at the Dayton Ballet School. Ms. Beam’s most recent role was as the Mother in the 2006 Dayton Ballet production of Septime Webre’s Swan Lake.
