2011 Nutcracker Staff
Laszlo Berdo- Choreographer
Choreographer and Master Instructor Laszlo Berdo was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he began taking tap classes at the age of five. At age 11 his mother gave him a pair of tights and through him into an audition for a local nutcracker production. Initial resistance turned into a life-long passion as Berdo performed on stage for the first time.
Directly following graduation from the National Academy of the Arts in Urbana, IL, Mr. Berdo joined Ballet Austin for a short time and then on to Louisville Ballet. He was then hired by choreographer Ivan Nagy as a Guest Artist and immediately hired as a Soloist with Cincinnati Ballet. Mr. Berdo joined the ranks of Boston Ballet under the direction of Bruce Marks in 1990 as a Corps de Ballet member and quickly rose through the ranks. Mr. Berdo would spend the last five years as a Principle Dancer with Boston Ballet, retiring in 2000.
Mr. Berdo has danced numerous Principal roles in ballets by McMillan, Balanchine, Bournonville, Hynd, Stevenson and Cranko, for who he premiered the Lead role in Eugene Onegin in the United States. Mr. Berdo also excelled in performing contemporary works by Tharp, Taylor, Feld, Butler, York and others.
Mr. Berdo began choreographing in 1993 and since has created numerous short works for companies such as Boston Ballet and the Norwegian National Ballet. Most recently, Mr. Berdo staged Four Hands for the Finnish National Ballet in Helsinki which premiered in October, 2002 and the one-Act ballets Snow White (2008) and Peter Pan (2009) for the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Mr. Berdo, a member of the faculty of CPYB, also teaches internationally for several companies and summer intensives. Mr. Berdo is excited to be creating his first full-length ballet, a remake of The Nutcracker for the Eglevsky Ballet Company of Long Island.
Katie Moorehead - Ballet Mistress
David Fernandez - Asst. Ballet Master
John Ferrentino - Student Coordinator
JoEllen Gillooley - Office Manager
Jackie Mantell - Costume Designer
Burke Willmore - Lighting Designer and Production Manager
Jinny McGivern - Stage Manager
Elliot GouldElliot Gould - Web Designer
Elliot Gould, owner of Render Edge Media (www.renderedgemedia.com), has over 30 years of film, video, photography, and graphic arts experience. Elliot works with a wide range of companies and organizations to help them craft compelling visual images to sell products and services via video, still imagery, and websites. Elliot's client list includes restaurants, grocery stores, engineering companies, dentists, hearing aid office, schools, and Cornell University.