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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.  

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.

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.

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. 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.