Nutmeg provides quality training in all areas of our curriculum and has an outstanding artistic faculty dedicated to maintaining the highest standard. Each Nutmeg Faculty member is specialized and acknowledged as a professional in their particular discipline. Click below to read the bios of our instructors, and of our Guest Artists.

Sharon E. Dante - Founder, Executive Director
Ronald Alexander - Principal for Dance Training and Academics
Kirk Peterson - Resident Coach & Classical Repertoire Coordinator
Eleanor D’Antuono - Resident Coach & Classical Repertoire Coordinator
Victoria Mazzarelli - Associate Artistic Director
Tim Melady - Ballet Master
Susan Szabo - Pedagogy & Children's Ballet Mistress
Joan Kunsch - Senior Associate Director Recruitment & Audition Tour
Stephen Apatow - Bio Mechanics Specialist and Consultant

Denise Warner Limoli - Senior Ballet Mistress
Akemi Kerber - Principal Accompanist
Karry Orelup - Children's Ballet Program & Pilates

SHARON E. DANTE – Founder/Artistic Director
Sharon Dante founded the Nutmeg Ballet in December 1969 and has developed a training program and performance curriculum, which has attracted students from over thirty-four states and a number of countries around the world. She has been responsible for the growth and development of the training program and its related performance curriculum. She is a veteran coach of gold medalist/finalists who have attended international competitions in New York, Paris, Lausanne, Varna, and Moscow. After graduating from Endicott College (64), University of Hartford, with a BS in Business, and the Hartford Ballet in (66), Dante became a de Rothschild Scholar at the Martha Graham School in New York City in 1967. She performed as a soloist with the Charles Weidman Dance Company, Rudy Perez Dance Company, and, as a soloist for the Larry Richardson Dance Company, where she performed principal roles throughout the United States and Europe. Joining the Hartford Ballet as a performer, faculty member, and assistant to the director in 1969, she was instrumental in the development of that company’s educational programs throughout New England. In 1972, Dante began her extensive study of the Vaganova System of classical ballet training. Ms. Dante is well known for her work based on the Vaganova Method and was featured on the cover of Dance Teacher Magazine for her training programs. She is one of few Americans who spent time at the Moscow World Dance Competitions in the 1970’s and 80’s. The White House Commission has twice recognized her on Presidential Scholars as “Distinguished Teacher.” She was instrumental in the saving and re-opening of the Warner Theatre in 1984 and was a founding member of the City of Torrington’s Economic Development Commission as well as serving several Mayors of Torrington in the role of Artistic Advisor. From 1997-2001 Ms Dante and her Board of Directors took on and completed a multi-million dollar capital project in downtown Torrington. In 2000 the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts was proud to be the recipient of the Connecticut Commission on the Arts Governor’s Arts Award. Also, in 2001, the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce named her “Business Woman of the Year.” Now serving as Executive Director, she remains committed to continuing her long time relationships with many Nutmeg Alumni and current students whom she often mentors on dance and extended career planning. Her mantra in life inspired by former Governor Ella Grasso is “Grow Where You Are Planted” .

RONALD ALEXANDER – Principal for Dance Training and Academics
Mr. Alexander is a seasoned professional with experience as a ballet dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, and as an administrator in the non-for-profit and public sectors. He has performed with the National Ballet of Canada, the Frankfurt, and Hamburg Ballets in Germany, and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York, NY. He has choreographed for the Hamburg Ballet, in Hamburg, Germany, Clark Center for the Performing Arts, the Ailey School, the Harlem School of the Arts, the Dance Theatre of Harlem School, and Boys and Girls Harbor Conservatory, to name a few. He has taught at Marymount Manhattan College, Adelphi University, LaGuardia Community College, Lehman College, and the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts and was a certified dance instructor with the NYC Board of Education for 8 years. He was Chairman of the Dance Department at the Harlem School of the Arts (1987-92), and Director of School Administration at the Dance Theatre of Harlem (2005-07). He has held numerous administrative positions with the NYC Department of Education, including Principal of the High School for the Contemporary Arts in the Bronx (2003-05). Mr. Alexander has a MFA degree in Dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and a School Administrator’s certificate from City College of New York, NY. He is on the Board of the
Alpha-Omega Theatrical Dance Company and listed in the 2007/8 Honors Edition of the Cambridge Who’s Who Executive and Professional Registry. He joined Nutmeg Conservatory in 2008 as Principal of Academics, Teacher and Choreographer. He will be instrumental this year in Nutmeg’s outreach in the community and will also choreograph A Chorus Line for the Warner Theatre in November of 2009.

KIRK PETERSON – Resident Coach & Classical Repertoire Coordinator
Kirk Peterson, presently Associate Artistic Director of Canada’s Alberta Ballet, has had a distinguished career with American Ballet Theatre as Principal Dancer, Artistic Director of ABT II, Ballet Master, and Principal Character Artist and as Master Teaching Associate for the main company, ABT II, The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at ABT and the ABT Summer Intensive. He was the innovative Artistic Director of Hartford Ballet for 5 years, assistant Artistic Director of the Washington Ballet and founding member of San Francisco’s OMO dancers. He has been a principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet, English National Ballet, Harkness Ballet, and the National Ballet of Washington and was a founding member of the Harkness Youth Dancers. He has choreographed over 55 ballets to consistently high acclaim and has worked in diverse theatrical mediums from ballet and opera to Hollywood, Broadway, London’s West End, television, and regional theatre. He was a bronze medalist at the 1972 Varna International Ballet Competition and appeared in the films “Center Stage” and “The Turning Point.” He was resident choreographer of Cincinnati Ballet for 6 years and is an official repetiteur for the Antony Tudor Ballet Trust. A long time associate and friend of Nutmeg Ballet, Kirk danced in Nutmeg’s first performance in 1970 and has since been teacher and mentor to many Nutmeg graduates who have gone on to successful careers in dance.

ELEANOR D’ANTUONO – Resident Coach & Classical Repertoire Coordinator
Eleanor D’Antuono has been Nutmeg’s Resident Coach for over 20 years. At age 14, she joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, later The Joffrey Ballet, and ultimately American Ballet Theatre, where for more than 25 years she enchanted audiences as prima ballerina. She appeared at the International Ballet Festival in Havana for several years and was the first American ballerina invited to appear as a guest artist with the legendary Kirov Ballet in Leningrad. She formed memorable partnerships with the premier dancers of the century, including Erik Bruhn, Rudolph Nureyev, Ivan Nagy, Fernando Bujones, and Royes Fernandez. Ms. D’Antuono was a principal faculty member of The Joffrey Ballet, having served as Director of The Joffrey Summer Workshop in San Antonio until 2005 and is Artistic Director of the New York International Competition since 1996. She joined the Nutmeg faculty in 1986 after working with Victoria Mazzarelli at the New York International Ballet competition. She is instrumental in the training of students and is responsible for group and private coaching in the classical ballet repertoire for the year-round residency program. She spends her weekends here in Connecticut with her loving husband John Vrabel.

VICTORIA MAZZARELLI* – Associate Artistic Director
Victoria Mazzarelli was trained originally by Sharon Dante and the Nutmeg faculty. At seventeen she was awarded the only gold medal at the 1984 New York International Ballet Competition.
Invited to join the Basel Ballet in Switzerland under the direction of Heinz Spoerli, she was quickly promoted to principal dancer. Victoria not only had the opportunity to dance leading roles in much of the company’s classical repertoire, but also in works by distinguished choreographers Hans van Manen, Jiri Kylian and William Forsythe.
Victoria’s contact with Forsythe led her to join the Frankfurt Ballet 1990-1996 as principal dancer. During that time she toured extensively, and had the opportunity to work with Alonzo King, Ohad Naharin, Jan Fabre and Saburo Teshigawara.
In 1996 she returned to Switzerland to join the Zurich Ballet, as principal dancer. In the summer of 2000, Victoria continued dancing as guest artist with the Frankfurt Ballet and the Schauspielhaus Zurich. In 2001 she returned to Basel to join the newly formed Basel Ballet under the direction of Richard Wherlock.
In 2003,Victoria returned to Connecticut to join the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts as Associate Artistic Director where she currently teaches, coaches and choreographs for the next generation of dancers. She also serves as guest teacher for MOMIX and enjoys performing various engagements as guest artist.

TIM MELADY - Ballet Master
Tim Melady was born and raised in Connecticut. Early exploratory movement dance, swimming, soccer, diving and acting lessons led him toward an athletic career in dance. At the age of thirteen, Mr. Melady started his formal ballet training at Nutmeg Ballet. He then went on to Graduate from the North Carolina School of the Arts. After apprenticing with the North Carolina Dance Theater while still in school, Mr. Melady became a charter member of Miami City Ballet. After continuing in the Balanchine repertory with Ballet du Nord in France, Tim returned stateside with his wife and first child and became a principal dancer with The Hartford Ballet. Recently, Tim has been performing with the internationally acclaimed group MOMIX. Mr. Melady is proud to say he has danced around the world, performing in over forty countries and on five continents. His twenty plus year professional career includes touring, performing, choreographing, coaching, and teaching. He lives in Hartford, CT. with his two children and is dedicated to sharing the art of dance to future generations of students

JOAN KUNSCH – Associate Director, Audition Tour Director
On the Nutmeg classical ballet faculty for 21 years, Joan Kunsch has also served as ballet mistress to MOMIX and Ballet Mississippi; on university dance departments (Butler, SUNY-Binghamton); as guest teacher &/or choreographer for Stockholm’s Swedish Ballet School, London’s Royal Ballet School (White Lodge), Oslo’s Den Norske Balletthoyskole (dance college) and many others across the USA and abroad. Her choreography includes works for concert stage, sacred space, television, and outdoor sites. She has written for Pointe Magazine, and her poetry book “Playing With Gravity” was published by Antrim House in 2007. Joan has created over a dozen ballets for Nutmeg dancers and is a Director of Nutmeg’s National Audition Tour which takes place January – March each year.

STEPHEN APATOW- Bio Mechanics Specialist and Consultant
Stephen Apatow has trained and worked with Sharon Dante for over 20 years. Their collaboration has resulted in the development of a classical ballet based biomechanical analysis, correction and retraining system that is a global reference point for dance, sports development programs and the medical profession. He is founder, director of research and development for the Sports Medicine and Science Institute and the Nutmeg Conservatory Dancescience Development Program.
Sports Medicine and Science Institute
url: www.esportsmedicine.org
Nutmeg Conservatory Dancescience Development Program
url: www.edancescience.org

In addition to our year round professional faculty, Nutmeg has an ongoing guest teacher program that presents a variety of dance artists over the school year and at our summer programs. These teachers deliver a distinctive experience for our students. This year’s Guest Artists : Kirk Peterson, Ted Kivitt, Michelle Lucci, Karen Kopf, Natasha & Josh Brooksher, Emily (Patterson) & Thomas Nicholas, Andrea Spiridonakos, Jane Vorburger, Andrew Parker, James Clark, Lynn Patterson and Kate Mehan (SYREN),

In 2009/2010 our list of guest artists will be as follows: Quinn Pendleton, Ted Kivitt, Michelle Lucci, Karen Kopf, Natasha Fielding & Josh Brooksher, Emily & Thomas Nicholas, Andrea Spiridonakos, Jane Vorburger, Andrew Parker, James Clark and more and will be updated regularly. This gives our students the opportunity to train and work with world renowned dance artists.

Nutmeg Alumni return on the guest artist program as well to teach and mentor during all of our programs.

Other Guest Artists have included: Maria Youskevitch, Amanda McKerrow, Genadi Sevaliev, John Gardner, Catherine Battcheller, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Virginia Johnson, Barry Hughson (88 graduate)