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Choreographer & Composer Biography Information

Guest Choreographer: Mary LeGere

A native of Rotterdam NY, Mary LeGere began her dance training at age nine. In 1976, she won a scholarship to the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet where she studied with Barbara Weisberger, Benjamin Harkarvy, and Lupe Serrano. In 1980, she joined the Pennsylvania Ballet, and in 1986 was promoted to soloist. Working under the artistic direction of Benjamin Harkarvy and Robert Weiss she danced lead roles in George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, Symphony In C, Tarantella, Symphony in Three Movements, and Steadfast Tin Soldier, as well as Sugar Plum Fairy and Dew Drop in The Nutcracker. She was featured in Calcium Night Light by Peter Martins, and in works by Lynn Taylor Corbett, Merce Cunningham, and Paul Taylor. In 1990, she retired with an acclaimed performance of Myrta in Giselle. After moving to NC with her husband, Ms. LeGere joined the faculty of The Raleigh School of Ballet. She became Associate Director of Raleigh Dance Theatre in 1991, and served as Artistic Director of Carolina Ballet during its 3 year transition to a professional company. Ms. LeGere became the Director of the reestablished Raleigh Dance Theatre until her retirement in June 2021. Ms. LeGere choreographed 17 works for Raleigh Dance Theatre, many that were chosen to be performed at the RDA/SE annual festival. In April 2016, Ms LeGere received the Regional Dance America National Choreography Recognition Award. Ms. LeGere was recently named President of Regional Dance America. Ms. LeGere co-directed The Raleigh School of Ballet, where she taught for 30 years. She was honored with the 2006-2007 NC Dance Alliance Annual Award. This prestigious award honors individuals who have made significant life-time contributions to the growth and development of dance in North Carolina. Ms. LeGere continues to pursue her passion for arts education. In August of 2021, Ms. LeGere was named Artistic Director Emeritus of Raleigh Dance Theatre and the RDT Board of Directors established a fund in her honor. She continues to work with RDT, setting her ballets and overseeing the George W. Newton School Performance Initiative and other outreach activities. In March 2022, she was elected to the Board of Directors of NC Arts in Action, an independent associate of the National Dance Institute. Ms. LeGere is enjoying guest teaching and setting her ballets on companies all over the US.

Artistic Director: Christine Cervino Grider

Christine Grider has over 20 years of directing and teaching experience, and has taught all levels of students in ballet and pointe at such notable schools as The School of Ballet Memphis and Pittsburgh Youth Ballet. Christine has choreographed and set such major ballets as Giselle, Twelve Dancing Princesses, and Cinderella, and was awarded the Emerging Artist Grant by the Durham Arts Council for her staging of The Sleeping Beauty. Her original choreography has been chosen through adjudication for performance at Regional Dance America's national festival in 2007, as well as Regional Dance America's Southeast Regional festivals in 2010, 2011, and 2014. Ms. Grider became Greensboro Ballet's Artistic Director in August, 2022 and has most recently choreographed an entirely new production of The Nutcracker for Greensboro Ballet. She has also choreographed and/or staged Greensboro Ballet's 2023 Sleeping Beauty Suite and The Big Umbrella, 2024 Coppelia Suite, and this season's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Choreographer : Liz Stillerman Anderson

Liz Stillerman Anderson is a performer, dance educator, and choreographer from Covington, GA. In her professional career, Liz has danced with Chicago Repertory Ballet, Chicago Civic Ballet, Elements Ballet, and Kit Modus where she performed works by Jillian Mitchell, Ruben Julliard, Mark Caserta, and Yoshito Sakuraba. Her choreography has been presented at the North Carolina Dance Association, the Experimental Music & Dance Film Festival, and the Millenium Park Summer Film Series in Chicago, as well as here in Greensboro at the Greensboro Project Space and UNCG Dance Theatre. Liz has created full-length ballets for Covington Regional Ballet in Georgia, where she also served as Artistic Director. Liz holds a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Elon University. While at Elon, Liz received funding to study at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance in Israel where she performed works by Jacopo Godani, Barack Marshall, and Crystal Pite, as well as presented her own choreography. Currently, Liz is pursuing an MFA in Dance Choreography at UNC Greensboro, while being an instructor at UNCG and the School of Greensboro Ballet.

Composer: Robert Eugene Ward

Robert Eugene Ward (1917–2013) enjoyed a career as a composer, conductor, administrator, educator, and publishing executive. He studied composition at the Eastman School of Music in the 1930s before pursuing post-graduate studies in composition and conducting at The Juilliard School. Ward served as a United States Army band director during World War II and afterward taught at both Juilliard and Columbia University. He later became executive vice president and managing editor of Galaxy Music Corporation and Highgate Press (1956–1967), posts he held until his appointment as chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts (1967–1974). In 1974, Ward stepped down as chancellor to become a professor. From 1979 until his retirement in 1989, he was a music professor at Duke University. His compositions include eight operas, seven symphonies, and three concerti. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1962 for his opera The Crucible, based on the play by Arthur Miller. Mr. Ward created a really charming young audiences piece for narrator and orchestra called Jonathon and the Gingery Snare in 1949.

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