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Gayla Zukevich founded and served as the Artistic Director of Ballet Michigan and the Flint School of Performing Arts from 1974 to 1991. As a young dancer, Ms. Zukevich was privileged to study and learn from such masters as Ingeborg Heuser, Frederic Franklin, Alan Howard, David Lichine, Scott Douglas, Marc Wilde, Natalie Krassovska, Lilian Lanese, George Skibine, Enrique Martinez, Madame's Swoboda, and Pereyaslavec, Nikita Talin, Finis Jung, and Melissa Hayden. The last ten years of her performing career were spent studying exclusively with David Howard and Diana Cartier at the David Howard Dance Centre in New York City. Ms. Zukevich received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study and perform with the Dallas Ballet under the direction of Nikita Talin. She was also awarded a scholarship to study at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet. She was soloist for Ballet El Paso, Ballet Michigan and Teatro International. She has been a guest artist for Ballet Austin, and the Flint Musical Performing Arts Association under the direction of George Skibine. Ms. Zukevich holds a Bachelor and Master of Arts in the Field of Dance from Hamilton University. Her teaching and directing experience gives her students an unparalleled opportunity for artistic development. Ms. Zukevich has served on the Dance Faculty of Old Dominion University and has been on the Dance Faculty of The Governor’s School of the Arts for 10 years. She is also a permanent guest faculty member for the Virginia School for the Arts. Ms. Zukevich also has served as the Artistic Director of The Performing Arts School of Worcester, People To People Youth Ballet of Maine, the Zukevich Ballet Arts Center in Rhode Island, as well as Berkeley Ballet Theatre, and Minnesota Dance Theatre. She has also served as Associate Director and company teacher for the North Atlantic Ballet of Boston. While living in England from 1999 to 2002, she had the opportunity to teach at Falmouth College, the Truro Dance Center and the International Dance School of Scotland in Glasgow. Ms. Zukevich earned her Certification in the Pilates Method of Body Conditioning in 1993. She was the first certified instructor in Virginia. In 1994, she developed a Pilates Curriculum for the Dance Department of the Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, Virginia. |