The Community School of Ballet

The Community School of Ballet

Faculty
CAMILLA CHIAPURIS, A.R.A.D.(Dip. PDTC 78) studied with Olga Preobrajenska in Paris and at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo School in NY. As a child she had started her training with Ludmilla Schollar and Mikhail Mordkin. She appeared as a soloist with the Baden State Ballet, the Oran Opera Ballet, and in NY at the Radio City Music Hall as well as in concerts and TV. She trained as a teacher at the Royal Academy of Dancing and received a teaching diploma from the Professional Dancers' Teaching Course (1977-1978).
JOHN CHIAPURIS trained at the Ballet Russe School, the School of American Ballet, with Vincenzo Celli in NY and Rouseanne Sarkissian and Ana Ilic in Paris. He was soloist with the Baden Ballet, the Oran Opera Ballet, Marvin Gordon's Ballet Concepts, Radio City Music Hall, and in musicals and touring productions. He retired from dance at 34 and studied anthropology, receiving a PhD. from the University of Michigan. In 1997 both John and Camilla were given the Annie Award for Dance in the individual performing arts category from the Washtenaw Council for the Arts.
ALEXANDRA CHIAPURIS O'DONNELL, A.R.A.D., graduated from the National Academy of Arts, a professional dance school, and then studied with Marika Besobrasova at the Princess Grace Academy in Monaco, Monte Carlo. Alexandra has successfully completed the Advanced Executant Exam of the Royal Academy of Dancing. She subsequently danced with New York Theatre Ballet for several years. A serious illness interrupted her career. In 1997 Alexandra received a degree in psychology from the University of Michigan. She is the mother of an eleven-year-old boy and twin nine-year old boys. All three study dance with their grandfather.
KIM MUNTZ has trained at the Community School of Ballet since the age of fifteen, and successfully completed the Grade 8 examination of the Royal Academy of Dance in 1996. Kim received a Master of Arts in Counseling from the University of Nottingham, England.

TAMARA WILCOX is the Examinations pianist for the Community School of Ballet.

The Faculty ‘on Stage’

This photo is from a newspaper, Echo Dimanche, circa 1959, and features the ballet soloists of the Opera d’Oran (a French national theatre in North Africa!); from left: Camilla DuBois Chiapuris, Tony Pardina (étoile), Thèrèse Baldovino (étoile), Daniel Sander, Yvonne Sourt, Rhamy Amphoux, Nicole Martin, John Chiapuris, Christiane Gifford.

This NYC performance photo of New York Theatre Ballet shows Alexandra Chiapuris (then) O’Donnell (now) in 1987 in the Spanish Dance of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, in a 1-hour version, always a sellout.

Camilla as Moyna, 2nd act of Giselle, after a performance, in front of the curtain of the Karlsruhe theatre (late fifties).
John appeared in a principal role in the world premiere of American composer Dominick Argento’s ballet, The Return of Don Juan; choreography Ladislaus Häusler, set design Wilfried Otto, conductor Frithjof Haas. The still photo was taken by someone on a team from a film institute, a team that also filmed the premiere. The team also took still and moving pictures of rehearsals.
It's a film I've never seen, but, of course, I’m very curious. I have no recollection what city the team came from. Maybe Dominick Argento, the composer of the score, received a copy. One of the film institute’s rehearsal photos follows.

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617 East University Avenue Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104 USA

Children's Classes

Boys’ Program

A2 Ballet Workshop

Royal Academy of Dance (RAD)

Photo: Kenn Duncan LTD- Steve Speliotis

Photo: Badisches Staatstheater