Artistic Director
Lise Houlton became Artistic Director
of Minnesota Dance Theatre in 1995, succeeding her mother
Loyce Houlton, who founded the company in 1962. A native of
Minneapolis, best known for her effortless, fluid style and
dramatic sensibility, she began her dance career with MDT,
then moved at the age of 19 to the renowned Stuttgart Ballet
under the leadership of Glen Tetley. After two years in Germany,
she joined American Ballet Theatre where she danced principal
roles for many of the great choreographers of the last half
century, among them Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Glen Tetley, Antony
Tudor, Paul Taylor and Jerome Robbins. She has choreographed
several works for the MDT repertory including Sidetracks,
House on Fire, Bred in the Bone, Alchemical Wedding, A Piece
A Chord, Rumblings, The Enchantment: Twelve Dancing Princesses, and Point of Departure.
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Executive Director
Frank McGovern was a founding member of the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis where he spent twelve years, then went on to earn an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago. After leaving Chicago, he managed a variety of arts organizations across the country and was awarded a fellowship in performing arts management from Theatre Communications Group. He then moved to higher education, attended the Harvard University Graduate School of Education Institute for Education Management, and for the past 15 years has, as vice president, managed major capital campaigns for several national colleges and universities. |
Associate Artistic Director
Originally from Venezuela, trained with Ballet Nacional de Caracas Teresa Carreño School, and his early performing career included both of Venezuela’s leading companies: the Ballet Nacional de Caracas under the direction of Vicente Nebrada and Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas under the direction of Zhandra Rodriguez. He has danced in works by Ailey, Barbuto, Loyce and Lise Houlton, King, Limón, Nebrada, Rhoden, Sands and Tudor among others. Abdo has been with MDT since 1998 and holds the position of Associate Artistic Director. He is a recipient of a 2007 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Dancers, administered by the Southern Theater and funded by the McKnight Foundation.
Lirena Branitski,
School Principal
Born and trained in the former Soviet Union, Lirena Branitski was first soloist of the Kiev State Theatre of Opera and Ballet and a frequent guest performer on the stage of the famed Bolshoi Theatre. She became a touring member of the Bolshoi Theatre concurrently with renowned ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. She has performed on stages throughout Europe, Canada and South America. M. Branitski has a vast performance repertoire of soloist and principal roles in both classical and contemporary ballets. She has performed under all the master Russian choreographers, including the world-renowned Peter Gusev, Vakhtang Tchabukiani, Raisa Struchkova, and Alexander Lapauri. In addition to teaching ballet and character classes at the Dance Institute, Lirena has choreographed for student performances. At Minnesota Dance Theatre & the Dance Institute, she teaches technique class, and coaches company dancers in classical repertoire. Her direct link to Russian classical ballet technique, repertoire and character dance is a rare privilege for MDT/DI. In 2009, M. Branitski was appointed School Principal of the Dance Institute.
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School Director
A South Carolina native, Jeffrey is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He continued his studies at the School of American Ballet, Dance Theatre Of Harlem, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, and Koln Dance Academie in Germany. Jeffrey was a principal dancer with the Des Moines Ballet and Ballet D’Angelo and performed a wide variety of classical roles. He then moved to New York City and joined Alvin Ailey Repetory Ensemble directed
by Sylvia Waters. Jeffrey danced with Elisa Monte Dance Company and was a frequent guest artist with Joyce Triscler Dance Company before joining Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. During this period he taught ballet and modern dance while touring throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, and was Ballet Master at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center under the direction of Denise Jefferson.
Broadway credits: The King And I (starring Lou Diamond Phillips), Little Me (starring Martin Short), Ragtime, Jerome Robbins Broadway (starring Tony Roberts), Damn Yankees (starring Jerry Lewis), Follies, and Susan Stromans A Christmas Carol.
Jeffrey has appeared in film and television and wrote his first short film Obedience, which made its world premier at the New York International Independent Film Festival in September 2002 and has been screened at 6 major festivals around the world. Jeffrey moved to Minneapolis/St. Paul June of 2003 and was Ballet Master for Minnesota Dance Theatre. Jeffrey’s final stage appearance was the role of Drossylmeyer in the 2004 production of Loyce Houlton's Nutcracker Fantasy for Minnesota Dance Theatre.
Administrative Staff
Chris Martin, Interim Marketing Director
Stacy Trenda,
Accountant
Steve Michaels-Boyce,
Graphic Designer
Photographers
Jeffrey Pederson
Brad Rolfs
Eric Saulitis
Jim Smith
Medical Consultants
Jonathan Reynolds, MSc, PT
J.C. Coetzee, MD
Brad Moser, MD |
