Read short biographies of some of our Workshop Leaders:

Bonnie Mathis received her early training in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and went on to study with Antony Tudor, David Howard, and at the Juilliard School. Adept at a variety of styles, Mathis performed with the Harkness Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Eglevsky Ballet, American Ballet Theatre (where she became a principal dancer) and Nederlands Dans Theatre under Jiří Kylián. She also appeared in summer stock, at Radio City Music Hall, and was in the original cast of Hello, Dolly! on Broadway. In addition to founding Ballet Arts Minnesota, where she was artistic director for fifteen years, Mathis has been a member of the faculty at the University of Minnesota, coached the James Sewell Ballet, and taught American Ballet Theatre’s summer sessions. Mathis is the current Director of BBII, Boston Ballet’s apprentice company.

Gianni DiMarco, a native of Venezuela, began his training in the Professional Division of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School in Canada. From there, he went on to study with The National Ballet of Canada, the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, and in Banff under the direction of Laura Alonso. He danced for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet for seven years and then joined Boston Ballet Company in 1995. He has choreographed works for institutions such as Alvin Ailey, Opera Liepzig Choreography Workshop, Dartmouth College, and Boston Lyric Opera. DiMarco produced Raw Dance, creations by Boston Ballet dancers, from 2002-2004, choreographing three new works for each event with the collaboratation of videographers, musicians, and painters. DiMarco is currently Principal of Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education’s Citydance program, teaches BBCDE’s Adaptive Dance program, created for children with Downs Syndrome, and serves as faculty member for Boston Ballet School.

Christopher Anderson received his training at North Carolina School of the Arts and San Francisco Ballet School. He enjoyed a lengthy career dancing with San Francisco Ballet Company, reaching the ranks of Soloist and then Principal. There he performed the works of George Balanchine, Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe and danced in such classics as La Sylphide and Swan Lake. Anderson continued his career at Alberta Ballet as a Principal dancer under the direction of current Artistic Director for Boston Ballet, Mikko Nissinen. He now serves as a faculty member at Boston Ballet School and continues to educate students and professionals alike.

Christopher Hird, originally from London, England, began his training at the The Royal Ballet School. He dance professionally touring Europe before receiving a bachelor’s degree in Dance from University of Surrey (Roehampton Institute) and the Diploma in Classical Ballet Teaching from Canada’s National Ballet School. Since then, Hird has taken on numerous teaching roles with settings such as Middlesex University, Canada’s National Ballet School, and Adult Dance Camps in Richmond Virginia. He currently acts as Artistic Coordinator for Boston Ballet School, where he teaches and stages works from ballets such as Coppélia, La Bayadère, Giselle for year-round and summer program students.