The Nutcracker 2019 - December 07 - December 08, 2019

The Kintz-Mejia Academy of Ballet

 Meet the Directors 

 

   

Linda Kintz was born in St. Louis and trained under Stanley Herbert, a former principal dancer of (American) Ballet Theatre. After moving to New York with a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet School at 15 years of age, she joined Harkness Ballet Company and was part of its European tour. Upon return, Ms. Kintz received an invitation to join as Soloist with National Ballet of Washington (DC), directed by Ben Stevenson and Frederic Franklin. When it disbanded, she became Prima Ballerina of the Maryland Ballet in Baltimore, its youngest ever. As an accomplished professional dancer, prize winner of major international competitions in Varna (Bulgaria), Moscow, and Osaka, and as the founder of The Kintz-Mejia Academy of Ballet, Ms. Kintz offers her extensive experience to young students interested in learning classical ballet in the Russian method. The KMAB also incorporates her own system of teaching for pre-ballet levels, a unique approach that has rendered astonishing results.

 

Mark Mejia, principal dancer, teacher, choreographer, and co-director of The Kintz-Mejia Academy of Ballet, brings a wealth of experience and professional knowledge. In addition to upper-level student training, which includes all aspects of ballet technique, pas de deux, and character dance, he has staged and choreographed a long list of productions for KMAB as well as other schools and professional companies. He was born in Los Angeles and studied under Stefan Wenta, former premier danseur and choreographer of Warsaw’s National Opera-Ballet. At age 18, he joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and was promoted to the rank of Soloist after one year. From Pittsburgh, he joined National Ballet of Canada, touring with Rudolf Nureyev and Erik Bruhn. After making his debut in Le Corsaire with Boston Ballet, he was invited to perform with numerous companies and organizations. During his entire career as a dancer and choreographer, Mr. Mejia has dedicated himself to the pursuit of learning, understanding, and applying the Russian ballet pedagogy.

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