MRS. ANDREA
Ms. Maciel de Faria was born in Brazil and began her ballet studies at age 3. She trained at the prestigious Ballet Cristina Helena, under the guidance of the studio’s namesake, Pablo Moret, Ofelia Gonzalez, Tania Suares and Graca Sales. Upon Ms. Faria’s graduation, in 2003, she moved to Germany to continue her education at the Palucca School of Dresden, under the instruction of Hans-Joachim Tappendorf. Professionally, Ms. Faria has worked with the Sesiminas Company of Dance (Brazil), Columbia Classical Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Orlando Ballet, and most recently, Cirque Du Soleil’s La Nouba, where she performed the role of The Lost Ballerina. Her repertoire includes the roles of Swanilda in Coppelia; Kitri and Cupid in Don Quixote; Myrtha in Giselle; Medora in Le Corsaire; Lise in La Fille Mal Gardee; Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty; Cinderella in Cinderella; the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker; as well as leading roles in George Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie and Who Cares? Ms. Faria has appeared as a guest artist with several regional ballet companies and schools in the U.S. and abroad. Among her many awards, she received the Gold Medal in Danza Nino 97 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was also a finalist at the New York International Ballet Competition in 2005.
With more than 30 years teaching experience at all levels, Ms. Faria’s styles include ballet technique, pointe, variations, and conditioning. She is also Progressive Ballet Technique certified. Ms. Faria currently teaches at multiple locations in Central Florida, including Clermont Academy of Dance, Peaches Dance and Music Orlando, 3D Motion Dance Center and Windermere Preparatory School. Her students have been highly successful, winning awards in competitions including Youth American Grand Prix. She previously taught at V&T Dance (CA), Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet, A Touch of Class (LA), the Hammond Ballet Company (LA), the and the Sesiminas Company of Dance, among others.
MR. ANDREY
Andrey Kasatsky was born in a family of professional ballet dancers. At the age of nine he was accepted to the prestigious Academy of Bolshoi Theater where he studied for 8 years and graduated as a professional ballet dancer. After graduation Mr. Kasatsky joined The Moscow Classical Ballet as a member of the Corp de Ballet.
In 1996, Andrey joined Ballet Internationale (Indianapolis Ballet Theater). His repertoire included principal and soloist roles in works by Paul Taylor, Val Canniparolli, Eldar Aliev. He worked with famous teachers, such as Vladilen Semyonov (the teacher of Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov) and Irina Kolpakova.
Two years later, Cincinnati Ballet invited Andrey Kasatsky to join their company and a year later promoted him to the soloist rank. There Andrey worked with such remarkable teachers and choreographers as: Bart Cook, Kirk Peterson, Raymond Lukens, Adam Hougland, Freddie Franklin, Val Canniparolli, Septime Webre and Robert Moses. He was featured as principal in many ballets by George Balanchine, such as: Serenade, Four Temperaments, Jewels and Agon.
In 2004 Michael Pink, Artistic Director of the Milwaukee Ballet, offered Andrey Kasatsky a contract as the Leading Dancer. Andrey’s repertoire encompassed a wide variety of principal roles in the following ballet productions: The Nutcracker, Fancy Free, Romeo and Juliet, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hamlet, Swan Lake, Second Before the Ground.
During his 17-year-long professional career, Mr. Kasatsky has performed as a guest artist in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, China, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Russian Federation and the United States