Previous Guest Artists

Bonnie Pickard was born in Wilmington, Ohio where she trained locally until the age of eleven, at which time she began studying at the Dayton Ballet School.  Ms. Pickard began her professional career with Chautauqua Dance Company and has since danced with North Carolina Dance Theatre, Tulsa Ballet Theatre, Montgomery Ballet, and for Margo Sappington and Valentina Kozlova's Daring Project.  She performed as a soloist at the Opening Ceremonies of the 1198 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.  Ms. Pickard is currently a member of DanceGalaxy, a New York City based touring company directed by Judith Fugate and Medhi Bahiri.  She has also appeared in Europe with Stars of American Ballet.  Ms. Pickard was recently a member of Suzanne Farrell Stages the Masters of 20th Century Ballet where she danced roles in Divertimento No. 15 and The Donkey Pas de Deux from A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as Apollo and Tzigane.  Her repertoire includes a wide range of ballets from Balanchine's Who Cares? and The Nutcracker to Forsythe's Artifact II and classics from Giselle to Rodeo.

Valentina Kozlova was a principal dancer of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet before she defected to the U.S. while on tour with the company in Los Angeles.  After appearing as a guest artist with major ballet companies and in On Your Toes on Broadway, she joined the New York City Ballet in 1983, dancing leading roles until 1995.  She has appeared in international ballet events around the world.  In 1991, Ms. Kozlova was afforded a triumphant return to Moscow with NBC News on hand to cover her performances at the Kremlin with NJB.  She returned to Moscow the following year to premiere a solo created for her by Margo Sappington.  Ms. Kozlova now makes her home in New York City   

    Ms. Kozlova continues to appear as a guest artist with major companies worldwide.

Ben Huys was born in Ghent, Belgium and studied at the Municipal Ballet School in Antwerp under Jos Brabants.  In 1985, Mr. Huys won the Prix de Lausanne and went to the School of American Ballet in New York.  The following year, he joined the New York City Ballet where he danced principal roles in over thirty of George Balanchine's ballets including Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Jewels, and Swan Lake.  Mr. Huys also danced principal roles in Jerome Robbins' Glass Pieces, Dances at a Gathering, In the Night, and the Goldberg Variations.  While with NYCB, Mr. Huys originated the role of Prince Desire in Peter Martins' production of the Sleeping Beauty and was featured in Martins' Mozart Serenade, Four Gnossiennes and Black and White.  In 1996, Mr. Huys returned to Europe and joined the Zurich Opera House where he danced principal roles in works by Heinz Spoerli and William Forsythe and guested with LeGrand Theatre de Geneve in works by Maguy Marin, Oscar Araiz, James Kudelka, Nacho Duato and Ohad Naharin.  Since 1998, Mr. Huys has been a guest artist with the Asami Maki Ballet and Stars Dancers Ballet in Tokyo, Japan.  In the fall of 1999, he joined Suzanne Farrell Stages the Masters of 20th Century Ballet and performed principla roles in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Maurice Bejart.  Mr. Huys continues to perform in Galas and Music Festivals throughout the world.