Guest Teachers
Larissa Ponomarenko
Ballet Master
Odessa, Ukraine
Joined Boston Ballet in 1993
Larissa Ponomarenko joined Boston Ballet's artistic staff as Ballet Master in 2011, and is a graduate of Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg. After working with Donetsk Ballet in Ukraine, she danced with Mississippi Ballet and Tulsa Ballet before joining Boston Ballet as a principal dancer in 1993.
Ponomarenko danced with Boston Ballet for 18 years. Her versatile repertoire includes Odette and Odile in Swan Lake, Kitri in Don Quixote, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty,Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Tatiana in Onegin, Kate in theTaming of the Shrew, the title roles in Giselle and Cinderella, Medora in Le Corsaire, Swanhilda in Coppélia, Nikiya in La Bayadère, and countless others. Ponomarenko has also performed a wide repertoire of Balanchine works including Symphony in C, Who Cares?, The Four Temperaments, Diamonds, Emeralds, Mozartiana, La Valse, Divertimento No. 15, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Serenade. She has danced works by John Cranko, Jiří Kylián, Nacho Duato, Kenneth MacMillan, Antony Tudor, Paul Taylor, Mark Morris, Christopher Wheeldon, and Twyla Tharp, among others. Over the years, Ponomarenko has worked closely with Boston Ballet Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo and has served as a muse for many of his ballets. She has also created roles in original works including Rhyme,choreographed for her by her husband, Viktor Plotnikov.
Ponomarenko has appeared internationally in galas and as a guest artist with English National Ballet in London, NBA Ballet Company in Tokyo, Opera Theatre of Rome, and Teatro Comunale of Florence in Italy. She was nominated for the Benois de la Danse award in 2005 and is a recipient of the E. Virginia Williams Inspiration Award.
François Perron
Ballet Master
François Perron is a graduate of the Paris Opera Ballet School where he studied under the direction of Claude Bessy. Before moving to the United States, François danced with La Scala in Milan, where Maurice Béjart invited him to Brussels as part of Les Ballets Du XXe Siecle. François has had principal contracts with the Northern Ballet Theatre of England and Ballet Du Nord as well as principal roles with the Joffrey Ballet in New York City. François danced with the New York City Ballet for six years and briefly with American Ballet Theatre. He has appeared with numerous companies worldwide as a guest artist and served as Ballet Master for New York Theatre Ballet as well as for Florence, Italy’s Maggio Danza.
In 1997, François accepted a full faculty position at Studio Maestro (now Manhattan Youth Ballet) and from 2001- 2011 was Managing Artistic Director of the school and youth company. François is regularly invited to guest teach at major dance schools including Miami City Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and American Ballet Theatre Young Dancer Summer Workshop. François’ students have been accepted at the Paris Opera Ballet School and as company members at American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet and North Carolina Dance Theatre. François is part of the Juilliard faculty and is currently coaching the boys for the Tony Award Winner Broadway show Billy Elliott.
Recently, François was the invited guest at the Titas Gala in Dallas, Texas. While in Dallas, François guest taught at The Dallas Conservatory. François was also on the faculty this summer at American Ballet Theatre's Young Dancer Summer Workshop.
François recently created the French Academie of Ballet in Manhattan.
"The best description of Francois Perron's class is, it's a lyrical experience. His style calls for elegant, seamless transitions and he could immediately determine the source of any -aws and explain what the dancer needed to do to achieve the proper execution. Based on the French School of classical technique, Francois trains dancers in the tradition of classical technique, promoting ballet in its purest form, placing emphasis on cleanness and elegance."