Kait Weber - Executive Director

Kait Weber received her early dance training at The Dance Center, the official school of the Brandywine Ballet.  She went on to train at the Washington Ballet, Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts and Wilmington Academy of Dance.  Kait is a graduate of Towson University where she earned her BA in Mass Communications as well as pursued the Dance Performance major, graduating Cum Laude.  While an honors scholarship recipient at Towson, she performed with the Towson University Dance Company and performed lead roles in the Nutcracker as well as several other classical and contemporary works.  She also performed with the Baltimore Ballet in various productions and taught ballet, modern and jazz at the school for five years. After graduation, Kait pursued her communications career, working as an account executive for advertising and public relations agencies in Baltimore. Kait joined Ballet Chesapeake in 2010 and is the current Executive Director of the Ballet Chesapeake and Managing Director of the Dance Conservatory of Maryland.

Barclay Gibbs is the Artistic Director of Ballet Chesapeake and the Owner and Artistic Director of the Dance Conservatory of Maryland (DCM). Barclay received her early dance training at the Peabody Preparatory, Towson University's Children's Dance Division, the Baltimore School for the Arts, and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. As part of her training in the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus, Barclay completed both the Advanced Ballet and Solo Seal examinations. Barclay performed professionally with Ballet British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and with Charleston Ballet Theater in South Carolina. Barclay has performed in many classical ballets as well as in works by leading choreographers such as Jill Bahr, John Alleyne, George Balanchine and Paul Taylor. Barclay received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in Dance Performance graduating summa cum laude from Towson University. Barclay has taught and choreographed ballet and modern dance at schools throughout the mid-atlantic area including the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Towson University’s Children’s Dance Division, Baltimore Ballet, and the Peabody Preparatory of Johns Hopkins before joining Ballet Chesapeake in 2008.  

Sarah Brown received her early dance training at Towson University’s Children’s Dance Division, Rage Box Contemporary Dance Center, and Carver Center for Arts & Technology. She went on to train at Point Park University’s Conservatory of the Performing Arts as a Jazz Dance major, where she participated in master classes with a number of professional artists including Sonya Tayeh, Desmond Richardson, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. Sarah finished her schooling at Towson University, where she earned her BA in Mass Communications, Public Relations. She spent the past 4 years dancing and performing with the Baltimore Blast Cheerleaders and was Captain on the team for 2 of those years. Sarah loved the platform the team gave her and was humbled to be a part of their community outreach opportunities. Sarah has worked professionally in the event planning and marketing field for the past several years and is excited to join DCM. 

Shana O’Brien has been a faculty member at DCM since 2002, teaching ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance. A graduate of Goucher College with a degree in dance performance and choreography, Shana has performed in works set by dance professionals such as Steven Mills of Ballet Austin, Rachel Berman, formerly of Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Christopher d’Amboise, both former principals with New York City Ballet. She has presented choreography in many diverse venues including the American College Dance Festival, the Maryland Council for Dance Choreographer’s Showcase, and the Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition. In addition to her training at DCM, Shana has studied under Marilyn Gaston at the Ballet Academy of Baltimore, Laura Dolid of the Sudbrook Arts Center, and at the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet. She has experience performing in such varied settings as the Nutcracker at the Lyric Opera House, musicals in regional dinner theater, and competitions held by Dance Masters of America.

John Gardner began his ballet training at age twelve. In 1978, he joined American Ballet Theatre and was promoted to the rank of soloist in 1984. Mr. Gardner's diverse repertoire include many soloist and principal roles, representing an extensive range of styles and affording him the opportunity to work with many of the great choreographers of the 20th centruy, including Antony Tudor, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Twyla Tharp. In 1991 Mr. Gardner joined Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project. Mr. Gardner created numerous roles during his time with White Oak Dance Project and toured extensively. He returned to American Ballet Theatre in 1995, where he danced a wide variety of roles until 2002. He is currently working at both the professional and student levels, and has taught, choreographed, and staged ballets for professional companies and schools in the U.S. and Europe.

Catherine Horta-Hayden is an Associate Professor of Dance in Towson University’s Department of Dance. Mrs. Horta-Hayden received her Master in Fine Arts from Florida State University. She came to Towson University in 2000 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Dance teaching all levels of the Ballet technique, pointe, variations, Ballet Repertory, and Modern technique. She was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor in 2006. Mrs. Horta-Hayden also served as the Artistic Director of the Towson University Dance Company coordinating residencies by renowned International Artists during her time as faculty in the Department of Dance. Mrs. Horta-Hayden also served as Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs at Towson University from 2007-2010. The Division of Academic Affairs has more than 1,025 FTE faculty, 300 staff and administrators and eight colleges. In this capacity, Mrs. Horta-Hayden was responsible for the administration of internal and external academic proposals for the institution, represented the Division of Academic Affairs in institutional initiatives and oversaw all aspects of Towson University off campus programs and articulation agreements with Community Colleges, including programs at four satellite locations. She lead the partnership to create the first Towson University Harford Campus, which will provide students in Harford and Cecil Counties, as well as military and their families affected by the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC), the opportunity to obtain four-year college degrees from Towson University in Harford County. Mrs. Horta-Hayden has performed extensively in Florida, Maryland, Washington D.C and Boston. She was invited to research the pedagogy of the National Ballet School of Cuba and taught at the Lizt Alfonso Cuban Dance Company while in Havana. She has created and restaged numerous works and has taught Master classes throughout Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. She most recently has been invited to serve on the Board of Trustees for WYPR 88.1 Maryland’s NPR news station. She is also the proud wife of Eduardo Hayden and mother of Alessandra and Jonathan Hayden.

Maeghan McHale, named one of Dance Magazine’s Top 25 to Watch in 2010, was born in Baltimore, MD. She studied at the Baltimore School for the Arts where she performed works by David Parsons, David Grenke, and John Clifford. She received a full scholarship to Dance Theatre of Harlem, where she performed with the Dancing Through Barriers Ensemble. While in New York, Maeghan studied at Steps on Broadway and performed with Extended Dance Company, as well as off-Broadway under the direction of Tony-award winner, Hinton Battle. She has also participated in the Jazz Dance World Congress, The Miss America Parade, and Dancers Responding to Aids Benefit. In 2005 Maeghan received a full scholarship to GDS, and in 2006 became a performing apprentice. 2007 marked her first season with GDC, making this her sixth season. Along with establishing herself as a well recognized dancer, she has grown as a choreographer. Her work, “The Winner Is,” was performed opening night of Dance Chicago. In March her choreography was part of Youth America Grand Prix’s “Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow” tour. In May 2011 her choreography, "Angelica," was performed as part of Dancin’ Downtown at The Joyce where it received the Performance Award. 

Amanda McKerrow has enjoyed a career as one of America's acclaimed ballerinas. She has the honor of being the first American to receive a gold medal at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow in 1981. Ms. McKerrow joined American Ballet Theatre in 1982. Since then, she has been the recipient of numerous other awards, among them, the Princess Grace Foundation Dance Fellowship in 1986, the Deane Sherman Award for Excellence in the Field of Dance in 1988, and the New York Woman Award for Dance in 1991. In 2000 Ms. McKerrow, together with her husband John Gardner, began staging the works of Antony Tudor for the Antony Tudor Ballet Trust. Since retiring from performing in 2006, she devotes the majority of her time to teaching, coaching, and staging ballets for professional companies around the world.

Mr. Munoz has been teaching and coaching young dancers for over 30 years, both in the USA and abroad. Mr. Munoz served as Director of the Conservatory of Dance and Music Point Park College (now University) from 1983-1995. There, he created two successful programs for young aspiring dancers, The Pre-Professional Division and the International Summer Dance Program. In 1995, Mr. Munoz was invited to be part of the faculty at Baltimore School for the Arts. From 1997-2005, Mr. Munoz was Ballet Master/Coach for both Pittsburgh Ballet Theater’s Company and its school. In 2005, he became Executive Director and Ballet Master at Gulfshore Ballet in Florida. Mr. Munoz’s former students are recognized for their high level of professionalism and their artistic and technical achievements. Most have gone on to successful careers with major companies across the US and Europe.  Mr. Munoz has been a guest Master Teacher at a number of Ballet Companies, including Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Arizona, Ballet Met, Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and Colorado Ballet, amongst others. Mr. Munoz is the program co-founder and Director of the Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive and the Vail Valley Dance Intensive Programs. 

Mr. Pawlyshyn is originally from Winnipeg, Canada. He is a graduate of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and later joined the Company. Mr. Pawlyshyn also is a graduate of the Pavlo Virsky Character Academy in Kiev, Ukraine. In his career he has danced numerous roles with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Louisville Ballet and Nevada Dance Theater, where he also served as Assistant Ballet Master. He appeared as Guest Artist with Boston Ballet in John Cranko's production of Onegin.  Upon retiring he was invited to join the staff of the Boston Ballet School (under Bruce Marks and Anna Marie Holmes) where he spent seven years at the school as a teacher and coach for Ballet, Character, Pas de Deux, Men's Variations and Repertoire.Mr. Pawlyshyn served as Associate Artistic Director / Ballet Master for six years, under Toni Pimble at Eugene Ballet. Later he was appointed School Director for Kansas City Ballet where he spent four years.  Other teaching credits include at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, International Ballet Competitions in Jackson, Mississippi, Hartford Ballet, Joffrey Ballet II, Atlanta Ballet, Harvard University, University of Iowa, Stephens Collage, Southern New Hampshire Dance Theater, the Cecchetti Council of America, Cecchetti Society of Canada, Dance Masters of America, the Royal Academy of Dance, to name a few. Mr. Pawlyshyn has coached and restaged numerous ballets, as well as choreographed such ballets as Cinderella, La Boutique Fantasque, Natalia (an original full length production) and Tango.

Anton T. Wilson began his study of dance with Anne Waugh Allen and Edward D. Stewart before receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the North Carolina School for the Arts. He has performed with: Ballet Theater of Maryland; Parnassus Dance Theater, Japan; Diazzex, Holland; Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo; Martita Goshen’s Earthworks; Jennifer Muller/The Works, New York; among others. He has taught, choreographed, and toured internationally for twenty-eight years. Anton is a 2007 and 2009 recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council’s Individual Artist Award for choreography. He was one of four choreographers selected to initiate the Four Steps Forward choreography project in The Hague, Holland. Locally, he has choreographed productions for the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Opera Vivente among others. In addition to workshops and master classes, Anton currently teaches at the Baltimore School for the Arts and the Kirov Academy of Ballet as well as maintaining his lifelong involvement in equestrian competitions.