Dancers
HANNAH BETTES (Next Generation New Artist) began dancing jazz at The Dance P.A.D. under the direction of Tera Primm at the age of 7 and continued in ballet at Central Florida Ballet before coming to the Patel Conservatory two years ago. She won the Gold Medal at the 2011 New York finals of Youth America Grand Prix and a silver medal at the World Ballet Competition. Ms. Bettes was the subject of a feature article in Dance Spirit magazine and has recently danced in gala performances as a distinguished guest in New York, Miami and Indianapolis along side principal dancers from American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet and New York City Ballet. She has danced leading roles with NGB including Snow Queen in The Nutcracker and Tatiana in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ms. Bettes turned down offers from many prestigious international ballet schools to continue her studies with Next Generation Ballet.
LAUREN BLAKENEY (Next Generation New Artist) began her training in Houston, Texas, where she studied under various teachers in the area, including Marlana Walsh-Doyle of the Houston Met, and Richard d’Alton with the International Ballet of Houston. In 2008, she attended the prestigious Juilliard School’s Summer Dance Intensive with a full scholarship. She competed at the Youth American Grand Prix Regional’s in 2010 and placed in the top 12, and in 2011 she placed third in the Contemporary category at the Philadelphia Regional’s. Ms. Blakeney attended Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Penn., where she had the honor of performing the lead as a freshman in Trey McIntyre’s work, Blue Until June. She has also had the opportunity to assist and work with many choreographers around the U.S. including, Travis Wall, Stacey Tookey, Chebar Williams and Peter Chu.
WILLIAM DUGAN (Next Generation New Artist), age 14, began training in ballet at the age of 10 at the Patel Conservatory under the direction of Peter Stark. Dugan has performed as Fritz in The Nutcracker with Orlando Ballet and Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Next Generation Ballet. Last year, Dugan won third place in the Men’s junior division at the 2011 YAGP regional competition in Tampa, Fla. This summer he studied on full merit scholarship at the School of American Ballet and Jose Carreno Dance Festival. When not dancing, he is busy with school, bike riding and being a teenager.
CALVIN FARIAS (Next Generation New Artist) began his training at age 8 under the instruction of Diane Partington and Rey Dizon at Diane Partington Studio of Classical Ballet. At the age of 12, Farias stepped back from ballet to focus on school studies and Ballroom dancing. His sophomore year in high school he involved himself in community theater but the lure of classical ballet pulled him back to the dance studio in 2010. He returned to ballet training under Diane and Rey where he was featured in many of their dance performances. He is honored to now be training with Next Generation Ballet after attending their summer intensive program on full scholarship.
MARTA ELIZA MONROY KELLY (Next Generation New Artist), age15, is the daughter of Zara Kelly. She was home schooled and completed High School requirements through Florida Virtual School in August 2011. Ms. Kelly studied classical ballet for two years with Magaly Suarez, and five years with Marcia Dale Weary at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She trained with Ms. Weary, Richard Cook and Rafael Gregorian. Ms. Kelly was featured in many ballets including Cinderella’s Ball, Madeline, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and danced the leading role in Snow White. She has danced George Balanchine ballet’s including, Walpurgisnacht, La Source, Valse-Fantaisie and Serenade and was the Dew Drop in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.
KAMRON VAZIRI (Next Generation New Artist) grew up in Vestal, N.Y. He first studied modern dance at Amber Perkins School of the Arts at age 15. His first introduction to ballet was in his high school production of Carousel in which he danced the pas de deux as Carnival Boy. He and his family then moved to Peachtree City, Ga., where he enrolled in Atlanta Ballet Center for Dance Education in their pre-professional program where he began classical ballet training at the age of 16. The following year, he was promoted two levels and was given the opportunity to dance in Atlanta Ballet’s professional productions of The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty. He also danced the principal role in the student production of Coppelia. Mr. Vaziri received full scholarship to Next Generation Ballet summer intensive 2011 where he was offered a position as a New Artist with Next Generation Ballet.