FACULTY & ADMINISTRATION

She went on to apprentice with the Pennsylvania Ballet. Ruth received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from S.U.N.Y Purchase. She has taught at New Haven Ballet since 1987. She has also taught at Pioneer Valley Ballet in Northampton, Massachusetts and at East Street Ballet in Hadley, Massachusetts, which she founded with her husband, Noble.

and studied under Noble Barker, Philip Otto, John Carney, and Jared Redick. She was a member of the New Haven Ballet Company for 5 years and performed many soloist and principal roles in NHB’s “The Nutcracker.” She supplemented her training by attending summer dance intensives at Briansky Saratoga Ballet Center, the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, DeSales University, and Adelphi University. While attending Adelphi University, Ms. Bishop studied under Jennifer Kreichman, Frank Augustyn (former principal dancer with National Ballet of Canada), Flavio Salazar of American Ballet Theater, and Elke Schepers of Nederlands Dans Theater. She was featured in Pascal Rioult’s “Bolero,” excerpts from “Swan Lake” and “Don Quixote,” and performed soloist roles in “La Bayadere” and “The Talisman.” She joined the NHB faculty in 2024 and is thrilled to be able to come back to the place that instilled her love for dance and share that love with the next generation of dancers.

her mentor Karen Davidson in her teaching method. She danced in the Grinnell College Dance Ensemble under Shawn Womack, with whom she also studied dance theory, history, and choreography. Ms. Davidowitz has studied the Balanchine technique with Ruth Barker and Misha Sachnoff (New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet). Other teaching engagements include Neighborhood Music School and Horizons at Foote. In her children’s classes, students master technical building blocks in a developmentally safe and fun space, discover the joy of movement and music, and begin their artists’ journey.

including modern, hip-hop, contemporary, Afro-dance, African dance, and House styles. He has worked with Angel Feliciano, Kanu Dance Theatre, Franck Muhel, Kotchegna, and Eva Dean Dance. Mr. Kanor performed at the United Nations and NHB Today Show, and recently made his film debut dancing in the Hallmark movie, “Holidays for Heroes.” Mr. Kanor has been a teaching artist with Elm City Dance Collective for many years and served on the faculty at Connecticut College. Mr. Kanor joined New Haven Ballet’s Children’s Division faculty in 2023.

Telling Voices, to children and adults in underserved and often invisible populations in the community, schools and residential treatment facilities. Ms. Kincy is a core faculty member with New Haven Ballet’s Shared Abilities Outreach Program, where dancers with and without physical disabilities work in partnership to create performances. She has worked with the Judy Dworin Performance Project, Inc., and at York Women’s Prison. She also performed in the professional version of Dreaming that was presented to the public at the Charter Oak Cultural Center. Ms. Kincy graduated from Trinity College with a self-designed degree in Learning, Movement, and Social Development, studied Expressive and Creative Art Therapies at Salve Regina, The New School and Movement Therapy at Antioch University and completed her Masters in Community Psychology at the University of New Haven.

While at Juilliard she had the honor of performing works by Robert Battle, Margie Gillis, José Limón, and Ohad Naharin. After graduation, Laurel worked with choreographers Sue Bernhard, Pat Catterson, Stephan Koplowitz, and Dusan Tynek before joining the Mark Morris Dance Group in 2006. During her time at MMDG, Laurel participated in creating dozens of new works and interpreted several roles originally performed by Mark Morris in addition to teaching master classes and MMDG company classes. Laurel retired from MMDG in December 2021 and moved to New Haven, where she is excited to open a new chapter of dancing, teaching, gardening, and making art.

she began her formal training at The School of Hartford Ballet. She has danced with Jose Mateo’s Ballet Theatre, Ken Pierce Baroque Dance Co, Ballet New England, and Kathy Westwater, among others. Her choreographic, film, and collaborative work has been presented at several venues throughout NYC and beyond. In October 2019 she will co-present at the 2019 NDEO conference, The Creative Process: Choreography, Choice-Making, and Communication. Ms. Manzella is currently a faculty member at ACES/Educational Center of the Arts in New Haven, CT. She lives in Brooklyn, NY where she continues to choreograph, teach and make art. Ms. Manzella joined the faculty of New Haven Ballet in 2019.

composition. He’s danced professionally for ABT, Merce Cunningham Co., Mark Morris, and Twyla Tharp, as well as with the Broadway productions of A Chorus Line, The Phantom of the Opera, and West Side Story, as Riff: For which he won two Best Actor Awards and was complemented by the story’s author, Arthur Laurents, in his last memoir, The Rest of the Story (2012). Most recently, Mr. Simeone performed the leading role of “Calogero” in A Bronx Tale, on Broadway. Mr. Simeone has also written the book, music, and lyrics for an original musical, titled, Cafe Nadine, (a true story about life in East Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall), which is being mentored by Stephen Schwartz, directed by Scott Schwartz, with musical supervision by Patrick Vaccariello, and is slated for a full Broadway production in 2024.

Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Kaatsbaan, and Perry Mansfield. Mr. Taylor is a graduate of the Ballet Performance Program at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he was coached by Violette Verdy and Michael Vernon. At IU, he performed in works by George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Agnes de Mille, Dwight Rhoden, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, and Antony Tudor. His professional performance career includes dancing for such companies as Boulder Ballet, FJK Dance, Indianapolis Ballet, and New Jersey Ballet. Mr. Taylor has taught for Peridance Capezio Center, Brooklyn Ballet, Colorado Ballet Academy, and 92NY. He has been commissioned to choreograph new works for Boulder Ballet, Colorado Ballet Academy, New England Ballet Theatre, IU Opera Theatre, SoCal Choreography Festival, and Philadelphia Ballet.

former Soloist with Miami City Ballet, Jeremy Cox, former Principal with Miami City Ballet, and Lisa Sanborn, NHB Artistic Director. She also studied contemporary, jazz, and tap at Gloria Jean’s Studio of Dance. She performed for five years as a member of the New Haven Ballet Company where she performed many Principal and Soloist roles and variations, including “Giselle” (Giselle), “Medora” and “Odalisque” (Le Corsaire), “Gamzatti” and “Third Shade” (La Bayadere), in addition to roles created for her by Tom Gold, former soloist with New York City Ballet (Joplin Suites; Symphonic Nonsense). Ms. Vendetto has performed as the Snow Queen, Dew Drop and numerous soloist and demi-soloist roles in New Haven Ballet’s The Nutcracker at the historic Shubert Theater in New Haven. Ms. Vendetto joined the NHB faculty in 2016.

the last fifteen years. A native of Puerto Rico, Lucy received her degree from Charter Oak State College.  Lucy has served as the treasurer of the Guilford Community Fund in Guilford, CT, the Bookkeeper for the Community Dining Room in Branford, CT and is currently the treasurer of Team Pff:) in Guilford, CT.  Lucy works with several small businesses  as their bookkeeper and tax preparer. Lucy enjoys spending time with her daughter Stephanie, son Scott, husband Brian and taking long walks with her dog Diego.

and acquired a teaching certificate in the Vaganova Method in South Korea. She relocated to New York to expand her studies in modern and contemporary dance at the Merce Cunningham School, and continued her studies at SUNY Purchase. Her studies culminated in 2015 with an MFA in dance from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a focus on pedagogy and choreography. In 2013 Ms. Yu established As Arts NY Dance, a collaborative contemporary dance project that creates a bridge for artists to exchange and share experiences, as well as an opportunity to bring audiences closer to the diverse expressions of contemporary dance. Ms. Yu is the recipient of a CUNY Dance Initiative Residency at The City College of New York. Her choreography has been shown throughout NYC, including Bassin Performing Arts Center, Dixon Place, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, Symphony Space, and the Kaye Playhouse. She has taught and choreographed at Tufts University, Sacred Heart University, AileyCamp Baltimore at Johns Hopkins University, American Youth Dance Theater, Broadway Dance Center, and New Haven Ballet. Ms. Yu is an American Ballet Theatre Certified Teacher who successfully completed the ABT Training Intensive in Primary through Level 5 of ABT’s National Training Curriculum.