Rochelle DeGrasse
Ballet, Pointe, and Creative Movement
"Ms. Chelle" is now entering her 39th year as an instructor of dance. At the age of 9 she began her studies in Russian Classical Ballet at the Virginia School of Ballet with Tatiana Rousseau and Oleg Tupin. At 16 she began performing with the Virginia Ballet Company along with well known artists, Michelle Lees, Glorianne Hicks, and Victoria Shiflet. Performances included "Swan Lake", "Giselle", "Walpurgis Night", "Romeo and Juliette", "Gayne", "Nutcracker", "Les Sylphide" and "Rhapsody in Blue" She has performed at Howard University, Wolf Trap, Watergate Theater, The Navy Yard in Washington, DC and with the National Symphony at Lisner Auditorium.
Rochelle's pedagogical training began with Tania Rousseau who, at the age of 15 was chosen to become prima ballerina for Les Ballets de Jeaunesse of Paris. (Lubov Egorova<Sergei Diaghilev) Later Rochelle began additional studies with Russian born, Oleg Tupine. Mr.Tupin held the esteemed title of premier danseur for the world famous Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo (Rene Blum<Sergei Diaghilev). Rochelle's master studies include additional instruction with Frederic Franklin, Dame Sonia Arova, Alexandra Danilova, Ivan Descheff, Yvette Chauvire', Vladimir Dokoudovsky, Walter Stroud, M. Fokine and Violette Verdy(Indiana University). As an adult, Ms. DeGrasse furthered her pedagogical studies with Mary Maus (Richmond Ballet), Elizabeth Graetzer (Prima Ballerina, Ballet Theater Austria) Leslie Peck(Richmond Ballet and Indiana University) , Charles Calhoun( Kirov Ballet), Rhodie Jorgenson (Kirov Ballet/American Ballet Theater) .
With her sisters, Colette and Johnna, Rochelle co-founded DeGrasse Dance Studio in Prince William County, Virginia. In 1990, she formed "Li'l Feet, Inc." a creative movement program for 3 and 4 year olds which she continued to develop at Fredericksburg School of Performing Arts, Orange School of Performing Arts and Academy of Ballet.
During her seven year tenure as artistic director of the Fredericksburg City Ballet Company and Academy of Ballet, Rochelle has directed annual perfomances of "The Nutcracker"at Mary Washington University. Ms. DeGrasse has choreographed and directed performances in "Swan Lake"," Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty," "La Boutique Fantasque," "Giselle", "Coppelia"," Paquita", "Don Quixote", and "La Fille Mal Gardee" She has directed for Fredericksburg City Ballet Company, Orange School of Performing Arts, Fredericksburg School of Performing Arts, and Potomac Ballet Company respectively. In addition, she has worked in conjunction with Maryland Youth Ballet and Falls Church Ballet. Rochelle is currently head of the dance department at St. Margaret's School, a private girls' boarding school in Tappahannock, Virginia.
Taking a brief hiatus from ballet in 1978, Rochelle became the first instructor and Area Director on the east coast for Jazzercise, Inc., training 180 additional instructors who now teach across the country. In 1988, while working as Fitness Director for the Marine Corps Schools at Quantico, Virginia, Ms. DeGrasse obtained the title of Physical Fitness Specialist. She is certified with the Kenneth Cooper Clinic, Institute of Aerobics Research in Dallas, TX . While at Quantico, Rochelle worked with and trained elite athletes for the olympics through the marine corps wellness program, "Semper Fit." In 1989 York Onin, chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, lauded both "Jazzercise, Inc." and "Semper Fit" for their contribution to national wellness.
Ms. DeGrasse's television and personal appearances include "Good Morning Washington", "The Charlie Rose Show", "The Morning Show with Joe Theisman", and "People Magazine." Ms. DeGrasse was also featured on national news "News 4 Washington" with Arch Campbell.
Colette LaVoy
Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, and Hiphop
"Ms. Colette" began her training in Russian Classical Ballet in 1987 with DeGrasse Dance Studio, Home of Potomac Ballet Company. In addition she studied tap, jazz, lyrical and later, hip-hop. In 1998 she joined Fredericksburg School of Performing Arts where she performed with Fredericksburg City Ballet and Maryland Youth Ballet. As a student Ms. Colette had the pleasure of working with some of the dance world's most renowned instructors and choreographers; as a performer she was a nationally ranked competitor, scholarship winner, and appeared in Nickelodeon’s Slime Time Live. Ms. Colette began teaching in 1998 and her choreography has been performed across Virginia. In 2000, she was one of fourteen students chosen in the state to attend the Summer Residential Governor’s School for dance. She currently teaches dance at St. Margaret’s School in Tappahannock, VA in addition to being an instructor and artistic director here at RichEx.
Studied Under:
Marina Chirkova (Kirov Ballet)
Roberta Dale (DeGrasse Dance Studio)
Colette DeGrasse (DeGrasse Dance Studio)
Johnna DeGrasse (DeGrasse Dance Studio)
Mimi Hellmuth (Fredericksburg School of Performing Arts)
Rhodie Jorgenson (American Ballet Theater and Kirov Ballet)
Anatoli Kurchin (Kirov Ballet)
Jolie Long (Director, Brenau Dance Ensemble)
Mary Maus-Poole (Richmond Ballet)
Leslie Peck (Assistant Professor, Indiana University)
Ricardo Porter (Fredericksburg School of Performing Arts)
Heather Powell (Fredericksburg School of Performing Arts)
Tony Powell (Director, Tony Powell/Music and Movement)
Don Tolj (Artistic Director, Evansville Dance Theatre)
Kristy Windham (American Ballet Theater)
Master Instructors:
Gus Giordano (Director, Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago)
Savion Glover (Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk)
Frank Hatchett (Broadway Dance Center)
Oscar Hawkins (Cirque du Soleil)
Christopher Horsey (Tap Dogs)
Terace Jones (Fosse)
Rasta Thomas (Movin' Out; Gold Medallist, Varna International Ballet Competition)
Awards:
1992 to 2001- Gold/Platinum competitor and High Score winner
1999- Frank Hatchett Scholarship (Broadway Dance Center)
2000- Dance Power Express Scholarship
2000- Gus Giordano invitational performer
2000- Most Outstanding Student: Fredericksburg School of Performing Arts
2000- Virginia Governor’s School for Performing Arts participant
2000- Starpower Power Pak
2001- Starpower Power Pak
Betty Wilson
Ballroom
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Dec. 3, 1933, she received much of her early education in Dublin, Ireland, the home of her father, before returning to Brooklyn. There she graduated from the James Madison High School and attended Brooklyn College for three years. Whether her family was living in Dublin or Brooklyn, Betty was enrolled in a dance school. She was only sixteen years old when her Brooklyn teacher, Earl Atkinson, declared her ready for Broadway and recommended her for a job dancing in the chorus of the original production of Guys and Dolls. Night club engagements followed.
Back in the sixties she worked as a theatrical press agent with a well know firm of publicists, Goodman and Washer, on Broadway. Before that she worked as executive secretary at Muray Associates, commercial photographers in New York City who dealt with national advertisers. She sometimes served as a model there.
At the age of 28 she met the novelist Sloan Wilson, author of THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT, A SUMMER PLACE, ( now classic movies) and a dozen other books. When he asked her to marry him and cruise aboard his boat to the Bahamas she hung up her dancing shoes and put on her yachting cap.
When their daughter, Jessica, was born they continued to cruise until it was time to go ashore and put Jessica in school. In the past (in addition to helping raise his three children and their own daughter) she helped him to type manuscripts and deal with movie producers and publishers.
She on a part time basis taught at small dance studios she started in upstate New York and in Winter Park, Florida. In Winter Park, Florida she worked at Fred Astaire's and Arthur Murray's switching from ballet and tap to ballroom. She also taught at the Winter Park Artist's Workshop.
About twenty years later Jessica married a young man who worked at the naval base in Dahlgren and who bought a farm in King George on which to settle down. To be near them Sloan and Betty tied up their boat in Colonial Beach, Va. She was hired by the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond to teach its faculty and medical students to dance. She taught ballroom dance there twelve years, also at the King George Ballet.
Sloan and Betty were married for forty three years, Sloan taught writing, while Betty taught dancing, an arrangement which made all feel fortunate, until he died in 2003.
Victoria Shiflet
Ms. Shiflet's bio is forthcoming.
