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Former Principal Dancer, Pennsylvania Ballet
Born in Richmond, Virginia, Amy Aldridge is a graduate of the North Carolina School for the Arts, where she received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence and had the privilege of studying with Alonzo King, Jacques d'Amboise, Melissa Hayden, and Arthur Mitchell. Ms. Aldridge began her dance training at the School of Richmond Ballet and continued with The School of American Ballet and the Boston Ballet School.
Ms. Aldridge rose through the ranks at Pennsylvania Ballet to a promotion to Principal Dancer in 2001. Ms. Aldridge has performed principal roles in numerous works, including The Taming of the Shrew, Cinderella, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Sleeping Beauty, La Fille mal gardée, George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™, Square Dance, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, and Ballo della Regina. She has also performed featured roles in Twyla Tharp's Push Comes to Shove and Nine Sinatra Songs ("That's Life"); William Forsythe's In the middle, somewhat elevated and The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; Peter Martins' Barber Violin Concerto; and George Balanchine's Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Allegro Brillante, Theme and Variations, The Four Temperaments, Agon, Apollo, Serenade (Russian Girl), Valse Fantasie, Who Cares?, Monumentum pro Gesualdo, and Movements for Piano and Orchestra. In addition, Ms. Aldridge has created original roles for Dwight Rhoden's 2x7, Trey McIntyre's Plush and Cantilena, Matthew Neenan's Keep and As It's Going, and Jorma Elo's Pulcinella.
Ms. Aldridge has appeared internationally as part of the Sinatra Festival in Portugal, the Northwest Phalen Tanz Festival in Germany (with choreographer Kevin O'Day) and with the Stars of New York Ballet in London. In May 2004, she performed as a guest artist with New York City Ballet dancing Tarantella as part of the George Balanchine Centennial Celebrations. She has also appeared with BalletX in Neenan's Broke Apart, Elo's Scenes View 2, and at Jacob's Pillow in Summer 2006.
Instructor of Ballet and Partnering for Swarthmore Ballet and the School of the Philadelphia Ballet
Former Principal Dancer, Pennsylvania Ballet, Director of Pennsylvania Ballet II and head of the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet
William DeGregory lives in New Jersey with his wife, Tamara Hadley. In 1975, when they were both principal dancers with Pennsylvania Ballet, Bill and Tammy were paired by the P.B.C. director Benjamin Harkarvy, to dance the greatest love stories ever composed. They touched thousands of people who sensed their connection to each other in the resonance of every movement.
Bill joined Pennsylvania Ballet at age 18. His excellent technique, strong partnering skills, and winning stage presence quickly advanced him to Principal Dancer. Bill has danced most of the classical principal roles including: Siegfried in Swan Lake, James in La Sylphide, Franz in Coppélia, and many Balanchine ballets, including: Theme and Variations, Square Dance, Symphony in C, Cavalier in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. Robert Weiss created the role of Nicholas for Bill in his full-length ballet, Winter Dreams. In September 1996, the legendary modern dance choreographer Merce Cunningham featured Bill in the world premiere of his acclaimed Arcade.
In February 2002, Bill DeGregory became Director of Pennsylvania Ballet's newly-formed training company, Pennsylvania Ballet II. He retired from performing at the end of the 2001-2002 season. With Pennsylvania Ballet II, the Company was able to greatly expand the scope and depth of its outreach effort through theatre and non-theatre-based performances at Philadelphia area schools and other venues.
Artistic Director
Swarthmore Ballet Theatre founder and artistic director Lori Ardis began performing as a dancer in 1940, in Washington D.C. She is a retired member of The American Guild of Musical Artists, the union for professional ballet dancers and opera singers. She has taught ballet since 1952. The Lori Ardis Ballet, a nonprofit educational organization has been giving dancers opportunities to perform since 1975.
Dancers trained by Lori Ardis have gone on to dance with professional companies including: Boston Ballet, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Chicago City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Koresh Dance Company, and Laura Dean Dancers.