Now for a Little Comparison

Mr. Herriott's Bio Vs Mrs. Hirsch's

David Herriott received his early education in Huntsville, Alabama with Huntsville Civic Ballet under Loyd Tygett. At age 16, he was awarded a scholarship to Harkness House with David Howard in New York City and the following year received a scholarship to Canada’s Banff School of Fine Arts. He began his professional training with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Professional Division in 1972. He graduated from the professional division in 1973 and immediately joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet as a corps de ballet member. In 1976 he was promoted to principal soloist. During his career, David worked with many eminent teachers and coaches including Dame Alicia Markova and Agnes de Mille, John Neumeier, Norbert Vesak, and Elliot Feld and had the privilege to appear with noteworthy dancers Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gelsey Kirkland, Valery & Galina Panov, and Evelyn Hart. He performed roles and toured internationally in “Rodeo” danced and performed the role of the Square Dance Caller, as Count Florimund in “Pas D’Action” “Nutcracker” many soloist and principal roles, “The Green Table”, “Le Patineurs” corps, soloist and principal roles, “In Quest of the Sun”, “Rondo” corps and soloist roles, “The Hands” soloist roles, “The Game”, “What To Do Till the Messiah Comes” corps and soloist roles, “The Ecstasy of Rita Joe”, and “Pulcinella Variations” corps and principal roles, “Whims of Love” soloist role, “Rite of Spring”, “Allegro Brillante” corps and principal roles and appeared on Canadian television in the “Don Quixote” Pas de Deux. He also performed at the Summer Olympic Games in Montreal in 1976 as part of the cultural component of the Olympics and later that same year performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington as part of Canada’s gift to the U.S. bicentennial.

In 1980 he joined the North Carolina Dance Theatre as a principal dancer. Under the direction of Robert Lindgren and Salvatore Aiello North Carolina Dance Theatre toured the United States and France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Mr. Herriott premiered many of Salvatore Aiello works, including “Journey” and “Clowns” and performed principal roles in Balanchine’s “Pas De Dix”, “Valse Fantasy” and “Square Dance”.

Beginning in 1984, Mr. Herriott was a dance instructor at Santa Monica College in California. He worked as tour manager for “Linda Gold Ensemble in Concert”, a professional modern dance company which performed across the United States and Europe. He worked with the Synapse Dance Theater which was the performing arm of the university dance program. At this time, he was a frequent guest artist with various companies in the South.

Mr. Herriott accepted the position of Associate Director/General Manager in 1991 for the Huntsville Ballet Company and Community Ballet School where he was also a dance instructor. In 1997, he became the Artistic Director, a position which also encompassed his former general manager duties. He choreographed for Fantasy Playhouse (children’s theatre), Ars Nova and Huntsville Community Chorus, won the contemporary division of the 1992 Panoply Choreography Competition held yearly in Huntsville, awarded the WINGS award for best male dancer and performed in Edinburgh with the Scottish American Ballet. Mr. Herriott served as treasurer of the Alabama Dance Council and taught master classes at the Alabama Dance Summit and Alabama School of Fine Arts, Looney’s Tavern Theatre and in Logan, Utah. During his time in Alabama, he served on the Alabama State Arts Council grant review panel and was Assembly Chair of the Huntsville Arts Council. He developed, along with fellow dancer, Mary Halverstadt, Arts in a Box, a program and video which was distributed to teachers in the Madison County school district that followed curriculum guide lines for dance K-5. He also served on the executive board of the South Eastern Regional Ballet Association (SERBA). Huntsville Ballet grew in stature in Huntsville and the south with Nutcracker performances growing to 4 public performances and 2 school performances raising the total attendance from 3,000 to over 10,000. The school also grew from 300 to 700 students. Visibility of the company grew because of the many festivals, lecture-demonstrations, and small tours of surrounding communities. The last year Mr. Herriott took the Huntsville Ballet to SERBA the company was awarded an Honor Company credit.

Since coming to Columbus Ballet in 2004 to serve as artistic/executive director and school director and teacher of Columbus Ballet Conservatory, Mr. Herriott has served on the grant review panel for dance with the Georgia Council of the Arts. He also served on the committee for the development of an arts magnet school which has received city funding as of September of ’09. Columbus Ballet Conservatory grew from 50 students to 250 in the five years 04-09. The Nutcracker performances grew in audience and quality. Mr. Herriott wrote and the Columbus Ballet was awarded a grant from the Mildred Miller Fort Foundation for all new costumes and scenery. Also Mr. Herriott wrote the grants to obtain the funding for the Columbus Ballet Orchestra and worked closely with the Music Director Andre Gaskins to ensure a smooth performance with the orchestra. The company also was selected to perform at the Alabama Dance Festival in Birmingham. Also, added during Mr. Herriott’s tenure was a season of dance which included Nutcracker, Columbus Ballet’s spring performance and a professional company.

Mr. Herriott has worked with the Alabama Youth Ballet since its inception in 2006 on a limited basis. He has taught master classes and set choreography including Cinderella in 2008. Since leaving Columbus he will be taking on greater responsibilities with this school and company.



Copied from the BRT of New Mexico Summer Intensive Program 2009

MARIA HIRSCH began classical ballet training at age 6 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She attended summer workshops with the School of American Ballet in New York City on scholarship and was privileged to train under famed director and choreographer George Balanchine as well as NYCB principals Melissa Hayden and Jacques d’Amboise. She also studied with the Joffrey Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. At 16 she joined Ballet de San Juan, under the direction of Ana Garcia. While dancing with the company as a soloist, she shared the stage with such greats as Dame Margot
Fontaine, Merrill Ashley, Eleanor D’Antuono, Alicia Alonso, Carla Fracci, Fernando Bujones, and Cynthia Gregory. She also completed a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Sacred Heart, San Juan, while with the company. She operated her own dance studio in San Juan, where she became the teacher of Diana Perez who went on to win a gold medal at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. After moving to the United States, Ms. Hirsch again opened a dance studio and, along with Beth Griffin, founded the Columbus Ballet in Columbus, Georgia in 1996. She staged many full-length classics, including Giselle, Cinderella, Coppelia, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker. Ms. Hirsch was an integral part of creating collaborations between local musicians and the Columbus Ballet, and she choreographed original ballets for these events.




Both bio's posted on the Web in other places. I simply pulled them up for a good
side by side look.