JOHN MEEHAN (Professor of Dance)
Australian born, John Meehan has been a member of the international dance world as performer, teacher, choreographer, adjudicator and artistic director for more than 50 years. Meehan studied at The Australian Ballet School, joined The Australian Ballet in 1970 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1974. He joined American Ballet Theatre as Principal Dancer in 1977 where he danced leading roles in all of the classics as well as contemporary works by many of the world’s leading choreographers.
Meehan was a frequent guest artist with the New York City Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada and has partnered many of the world’s great ballerinas including Dame Margot Fonteyn, Natalia Makarova, Merrill Ashley, Gelsey Kirkland, Cynthia Gregory, Eva Evdokimova, Karen Kain and the Australian ballet stars Marilyn Rowe and Marilyn Jones.
John began choreographing early in his career. His ballets entered the repertoire of The Australian Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Washington Ballet, Metropolitan Opera Company and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. He was Artistic Director of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet from 1990 to 1993, and of The American Ballet Theatre Studio Company from 1997 to 2006. Meehan’s former ABT Studio Company students became principal dancers in the following companies: ABT, New York City Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, the Bolshoi Ballet, The Dutch National Ballet, The Boston Ballet, Miami City Ballet and the Houston Ballet.
Meehan has twice served as President of the Jury at the Prix de Lausanne and has been a juror at the Moscow International Ballet Competition, the Youth America Grand Prix as well as the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson Mississippi. In 2015 he was named to succeed Edward Villella as President of the Jury of the USA IBC. In 2005-06 John was invited to teach at Vassar College as Professor of Dance before traveling to Hong Kong where he was appointed Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Ballet in 2006. He returned to Vassar in 2009 to join the faculty of the Department of Dance as Professor of Dance and Director of Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre. In 2013 Meehan was named to the Frances Daly Fergusson Chair in the Humanities at Vassar College.
STEVE ROOKS (Resident Choreographer/VRDT Director)
Steve Rooks began his dance training in Washington, D.C. He continued his training in New York City as a scholarship student at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. Mr. Rooks danced and toured with the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, and the Martha Graham Dance Company, where he performed for over a decade and achieved the rank of Principal Dancer.
He was a 2004 winner of the National Choreographic Competition at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and created two solos for the 2004 Youth American Grand Prix Ballet competition.
Mr. Rooks is currently Professor of Dance and Resident Choreographer at Vassar College, and a guest teacher with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, The Martha Graham Dance Company, American Academy of Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Mexico, and the International Summer School in Sydney, Australia. He has been awarded Vassar Research grants to travel to Latvia, Zambia, and (Turku)Finland in 2014, where he choreographed “Plate Tectonics” on 24 dancers. Mr. Rooks has served as an adjudicator for the American College Dance Association, and a contemporary solo “Vista” premiered at the 2014 International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi.
Mr. Rooks has taught as a guest instructor for Project Dance in Lima, Peru and San Jose, Costa Rica. He also served as an Artist-in-Residence at the Escuela Adolfo Prieto and the Escuela Superior de Musica y Danza in Monterrey, Mexico. In 2017, Mr. Rooks returned to Mumbai, India to create a new work for Sumeet Nagdev Dance Arts. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Martha Graham Dance Company.
LISA HARVIE (Faculty Choreographer)
Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Lisa Harvie is a New York City based dancer, educator and choreographer. She holds her MFA in Dance from Montclair State University and is a graduate of the University of Toronto. She is a member of Actors Equity and of the Royal Academy of Dance (A.R.A.D.).
Ms. Harvie is a long-standing faculty member at Steps on Broadway, teaching for both the open Professional Division and for the Steps Youth Program. As well as teaching at Vassar, she is on faculty at Montclair State University and is a guest artist at Iona College. She has taught at NYU’s Strasberg Institute, Joffrey Ballet School, The School at Columbia, Connecticut Dance Conservatory, Cumbrae Dance Center, and has given master classes for Open Jar Institute, Verb Ballets, Destination Broadway, the British Association of Dance, and the Elan Awards in New York City. She has choreographed for the Foolish Theater Company in New York City, as well for Gateway Playhouse (Associate). She has showcased a multitude of pieces at Steps on Broadway and has worked with high school theater departments in setting full length musicals.
National and regional performance credits include West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Carousel, Singin’ in the Rain, Oklahoma, Footloose, Kiss Me Kate, and Scrooge. Lisa performed at the Hudson Theater in a tribute to the late Broadway producer David Merrick, with choreography set by Karin Baker. She worked with Patricia Wilcox for the 20th Anniversary Concert Performance of Rags at the Nokia Theater, and appeared in the New York workshop production of The Great White Way. In addition to her work in musical theater, she has danced with the Ottawa Ballet at Canada’s National Arts Center.
MIRIAM MAHDAVIANI (Chair of Dance/Faculty Choreographer)
Miriam Mahdaviani danced for the New York City Ballet after being invited by George Balanchine to join his company. During her dancing career, she performed in over 40 Balanchine ballets, and worked with other notable choreographers including Jerome Robbins, Lar Lubovitch, Twyla Tharp, Jacques d’Amboise, and Peter Martins. She has performed as a guest Principal dancer in regional productions of The Nutcracker, and was invited to dance overseas as a featured guest artist at the Kremlin in Moscow and in cities throughout Italy. On screen, she has appeared in the Dance in America series on PBS, and in NYCB’s movie of Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.
Ms. Mahdaviani has choreographed over 20 ballets for dance companies across the country, and her work has been seen internationally at dance festivals in Florence, Italy, Edinburgh, and Scotland. Additionally, Ms. Mahdaviani has staged Balanchine ballets for the Israel Ballet in Tel Aviv.
At Vassar College since 2004, Ms.Mahdaviani teaches ballet at the beginner through advanced levels, and choreographs new works for Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre. She also teaches master classes and workshops in Balanchine technique at ballet schools, college dance programs and summer intensives throughout the Northeast. Ms. Mahdaviani has choreographed ten works for VRDT.
LESLIE PARTRIDGE SACHS (Assistant Director VRDT/Faculty Choreographer)
Born and raised on Manhattan’s upper west side now a resident of New Paltz, NY, Leslie has spent the majority of her life as a dance artist, teacher, performer and choreographer in New York City. Leslie’s training and performance began with New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater. With her foundations in classical movement she entered the contemporary dance world through study of a wide variety of modern dance techniques; Cunningham, Horton, Graham, Lewitzky, etc. She is an alumna of the High School of Performing Arts, Bard College and the University of Washington, the latter from where she received her MFA in dance.
Leslie has held positions at Purchase College Conservatory for Dance, Balettakademien in Stockholm, University of Massachusetts, Neuchåtel Switzerland summer festivals, Dance Space Center & Dance New Amsterdam in NYC, to name a few. Her work has been presented in venues across the US and in Europe.
DANIEL PRESSLER (Musical Director)
Daniel Pressler has worked in dance accompaniment for the past 20 years. He has played for a wide variety of dance styles and in both professional and educational settings. He was company and rehearsal pianist for American Ballet Theater, The Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Ballet Chicago. He has worked in the dance departments of Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Barnard College, Bard College, S.U.N.Y. Purchase and is presently Adjunct Artists in Ballet Accompaniment at Vassar College as well as Musical Director for the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre.
DAVID FERRI (Lighting Designer)
David Ferri, Lighting Designer and Technical Director, has worked with prominent choreographers such as Pina Bausch, Shen Wei, Doug Varone, Jane Comfort, Eiko and Koma, David Rousseve and Ballet Preljocaj. He has been the Production Manager for the prestigious American Dance Festival since 1996 training upcoming designers in America. Recipient of 1987-1988 Bessie Award for his design of Doug Varone’s “Straits,” and 2000-2001 Bessie Award for Sustained Achievement in Lighting Design, Mr. Ferri was also resident lighting designer and technical director at PS 122 in NYC from 1985-1991. Mr. Ferri lives in New York between his travels and projects.