Dear Students and Parents:

We look forward to working with you and your children, and getting to know each of you a bit better.  We thought you might like to know something about us too, so we have added our biographies for your information.

Diane De Franco Browne is a native Californian and has been dancing and choreographing for most of her life.  She received her Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of California at Irvine.  While she was there she was awarded the School of Fine Arts Excellence Achievement Award for her Master's Thesis choreography.  Diane worked with such notables as Eugene Loring, Antony Tudor and Kurt Jooss while at Irvine.  In addition, she has studied ballet, modern jazz extensively both in Los Angeles and New York.  Diane began to work with Ms. Van Dijk in 1976, and has been Associate Artistic Director of the Pasadena Civic Ballet Company since its inception in 1980.  She has taught all levels of dance in the school and has been involved in all aspects of its operation.  She has been a main choreographer for the school and the company, and has traveled with the company to Europe and China.  She has always viewed her work with the children and young adults here as one of the most fulfilling and rewarding parts of her career.  Diane was a founding member of Los Angeles Dance Theater, a modern company that specialized in the revival of classic contemporary works.  She was also Artistic Director, choreographer and dancer with Dime-A-Dance Co., a modern collective that toured nationally in musicals, cable TV and music videos here in Los Angeles, and currently is working with several children' artists as choreographer and consultant.  She also owns and operates THEATER THREADS, a custom costume design company specializing in dance.  At the college level, Diane is Director of Dance at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, where since 1979 she has established a quality dance program that provides both training and guidance for dance students.  The Dance Ensemble is a polished performing group that represents the college in arts events in the LA area and throughout California.  They are preparing tapes of their concerts to be released on local cable channels.  Aside from Dance, Diane loves being a wife, mom and cat owner.  In her spare time, she likes to read, sew and sleep!

Tania Grafos' extensive ballet training abroad coupled with her Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from the University of Southern California give her a keen sensibility for the history and culture of performing arts.  As the youngest student accepted to the Los Angeles Junior Ballet, she had the honor of performing at such venues as the Music Center, The Pantages Theater and the Shrine Auditorium.  She also received press coverage for being the only student in North America to take class backstage with the Kirov Ballet at the Shrine Auditorium during their first US tour in over 25 years in 1984.  She set another precedent by being the only student from California accepted to the prestigious Elmherst Ballet School in London.  The training she received there from the Royal Ballet faculty has equipped Tania with a strong working knowledge of the RAD syllabus.  Upon arriving back in the US, Tania auditioned and was accepted to the renowned Hungarian State Ballet Company apprentice program, where she received training from both the Bolshoi ad the Kirov Ballet.  While living in Budapest, Tania had the privilege of performing with the Hungarian State Ballet at the Opera house.  These opportunities were made possible because of ten years of Vaganova training by the former Prima Ballerina of the Berlin Ballet and Ballet Russe, Maria DeBrovsky.  The completion of the intensive and arduous Vaganova System has provided the framework for Tania's structured teaching.  Tania also studied with Madame Grard Piere, former prima ballerina of the Paris Opera and partner to Roland Petit.

Zoë Vidalakis brings a broad range of experience to Pasadena Civic Ballet through the culmination of both her formal education and her extensive ballet training.  Zoë received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Journalism from the University of Southern California and her Masters in Entertainment Management from the Annenberg School for Communication at USC.  While attending USC, she helped pioneer "Songfest" the largest student musical in the US and directed "Thanks for the Memories", "A Tribute to Bob hope", and "A Night of Untold Tales" at the Shrine Auditorium and the Greek Theatre.  Zoë's ballet training began at the Alberta Ballet School in Canada where she studied Under Ruth Carse and the RAD Syllabus.  She performed both with the Alberta Ballet Company and the Alberta Civic Opera.  Upon moving to Los Angeles, she was accepted to the Los Angeles Junior Ballet where she continued her training under the esteemed tutelage of John Clifford.  Zoë appeared in Los Angeles Ballet Company's performances of the Graduation Ball, Stars and Stripes and the Nutcracker staged at the Wadsworth Theater, the Pantages Theater and the Music Center.  She has also made guest appearances with Long Beach Classical Ballet and Santa Barbara Ballet.  Her affinity for Russian ballet was nurtured by a decade of training with the Prima Ballerina, Maria DeBrovsky.

The European emphasis of Zoë and Tania's ballet training lead to their success as character performers.  Under the training of master Iosef Izrailvov, former soloist and choreographer for the Moiseyev Dance Company, they performed as soloists with the Hayastan Gypsy Ensemble under the direction of Sasha Kalinin, former soloist with the Bolshoi and Moiseyev companies.  In 1992 Zoë and Tania became choreographers of the Hayastan Dance Ensemble.  This 40 member folkloric ensemble performs a venue of Eastern European dances echoing the voices of past cultures in vibrant new ways.  Their dancers include former principal dancers with the Moscow Classical Ballet, the Red Army, the Georgian State Dance Ensemble, the Bolshoi Ballet and the Armenian State Ensemble.  In 1994, Zoë and Tania had the privilege of presenting their ensemble at the Ambassador Auditorium commemorating Ambassador's 20th Anniversary Spectacular.  Other performances sites have included the Alex Theater, the Wilshire Ebell and the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Los Angeles.  Of Greek and Ukrainian heritage, this sister team, feels dance transcends all barriers allowing people from all backgrounds to unite in the spirit of art.  They are very excited to be at Pasadena Civic Ballet, and feel that their diversity of training and European background will be instrumental in teaching young people ballet and character at PCB.