2023 Summer Intensive Overview
Summer Intensive Schedule:
Join us this summer for our Intensive Program. Train in ballet, pointe, and choreography by renowned master teachers. Current Brandywine Ballet Company dancers may register without an audition.
Daily Class Schedule:
9:00 - 10:30 am Ballet
10:45 - 11:45 am Pointe/Variations
12:00 - 1:00 pm Choreography
Week 1: July 3rd – 7th
Ballet – Aynsley Inglis (formerly of Universal Ballet Company & First State Ballet Theatre)
Choreography – Nancy Page (Resident Choreographer, Brandywine Ballet)
Week 2: July 10th – 14th SOLD OUT!
Ballet – Valerie Amiss (formerly of The Pennsylvania Ballet Company)
Choreography – Nancy Page (Resident Choreographer, Brandywine Ballet)
Week 3: July 17th – 21st SOLD OUT!
Ballet - Meredith Rainey (Formerly of Pennsylvania-Milwaukee Ballet)
Choreography - Nancy Page (Resident Choreographer, Brandywine Ballet)
Week 4: July 24th – 28th
Ballet - Meredith Rainey (Formerly of Pennsylvania-Milwaukee Ballet)
Choreography - Nancy Page (Resident Choreographer, Brandywine Ballet)
Contact Sarah Beck at Sarah@Brandywineballet.org with questions or to schedule an audition.
Summer Intensive Instructors:
Week 2: July 10th-14th
Valerie Amiss
Valerie began her training at age eight at the Regency Ballet. At age 12 joined the Pennsylvania Ballet School. At age 15, Ms. Amiss spent a summer studying in Saratoga Springs, NY with members of New York City Ballet. She was nominated for the prestigious Princess Grace Award in 1994. In 1995, she performed at the Algur H. Meadows Award Ceremony and performed with the Chautauqua Ballet Company. In 1997, she performed at the St. Bart’s Music Festival on the island of St Bart’s.
Ms. Amiss joined Pennsylvania Ballet as an apprentice in. She became a member of the corps de ballet in 1993 and was promoted to soloist in 1999. In the summer of that year, she also represented the company at the Sintra Festival in Portugal. In 2005, Ms. Amiss performed at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and performed Matthew Neenan’s 11:11 and Carmina Burana at New York City Center. Additionally, she had the honor of performing twice at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as with Susan Jaffe and Nicole Hlinka for a Rock School benefit.
In the summer of 1995, Ms. Amiss taught ballet and pointe classes at summer sessions for The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet. She has been a guest instructor at schools throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. For seven years, she was co-ballet mistress for the Academy of Ballet NJ in West Berlin, NJ. In 2016, Ms. Amiss joined the faculty of The School of Pennsylvania Ballet where she taught pre ballet through trainees. She was a senior lecturer at the University of the Arts and a guest lecturer at Drexel University. In 2019, she joined The Princeton Ballet School, where she currently teaches in both the Cranbury and Princeton, New Jersey locations.
In 2018, Ms. Amiss was asked by Pennsylvania Ballet to teach classes for children with Down syndrome. She has taught several ballet classes for children with special needs at St. Katherine Day School in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. She produced her first Nutcracker for St. Katherine's Day School, where the entire cast were dancers of different abilities. Valerie also helped create Audrey’s class for children of all abilities at the Princeton Ballet School. She enjoys teaching children of all ages and abilities, pre-ballet through pre-professional levels
Week 3 & Week 4: July 17th-21st & July 24th-28th
Meredith Rainey
Meredith began dancing at 15 in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale. In 1985 he became the first African American dancer of the Milwaukee Ballet. In 1987, he was invited to join the newly formed Pennsylvania-Milwaukee Ballet, when the collaboration ended, he remained with the Pennsylvania Ballet for 17 years—the majority of the time as a soloist—until his retirement in 2006.
Among other awards and fellowships, Meredith has been the recipient of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship (1995 & 2002), the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Artist as Catalyst Grant (2001), the Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts (2002), a finalist for the Pew Fellowship in the Arts (2003), and a Pew Center for Arts and Heritage Grant (2010).
Meredith has been commissioned to create works for Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet X, Delaware Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, National Ballet De Cali, Danse4Nia Repertory Ensemble and institutions such as The University of the Arts, Drexel University, Stockton University, Goucher College, Swarthmore College and Bryn Mawr College. His work has been performed in North and South America and throughout Spain.
In 2009 Meredith founded and directed Carbon Dance Theatre a contemporary ballet company in Philadelphia. In 2014 after deciding to concentrate on more artistic projects Meredith closed the company and remained a sought-after teacher, mentor, and independent choreographer.
In the Fall of 2019 Meredith graduated with top honors as a member of the first cohort of candidates for the Masters of Fine Arts in Dance from The University of the Arts.
Week 1 - Week 4: July 3rd – 28th
Nancy Page
A native of West Chester, PA, Ms. Page trained at a young age at The Dance Center under the direction of Donna Muzio and was promoted to principal dancer with the Brandywine Ballet during her high school years. She won full scholarships to train with the Milwaukee Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet upon graduation. She apprenticed with the Pittsburgh Ballet before accepting a company position with Florida Ballet, where she danced the Gold Medal Pas de Deux choreographed by world-renowned choreographer Norbert Vasak. She later became a member of the Tampa/Colorado Ballet, dancing solo and principal roles in classical and contemporary works. Ms. Page eventually accepted principal positions with Sarasota Ballet and Ballet Eddy Toussaint USA, dancing many original, contemporary ballets that were set on her as well as performing the various classics, such as Paquita, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker.
Ms. Page returned home in 1993 to perform as Principal Dancer with the Brandywine Ballet. In 1994, she danced the title role in the company's premiere of David Kloss' Cinderella, with long-time partner Steven Jackson. While dancing full-time with Brandywine Ballet, Ms. Page continued to guest alongside professional dancers from Ballet West and Joffrey Ballet and also performed with the Pennsylvania Ballet. In 1998, she was the first Principal Dancer in the newly formed Brandywine Ballet Theatre, the professional arm of the company, dancing alongside Zdenek Konvalina (presently with the English National Ballet) for two years.
In 2000, she had the pleasure of working with the Samuel Barber Foundation to set one of her first ballets, Voices, to his magnificent score Adagio for Strings. In 2008, the Brandywine Ballet collaborated with the Brandywine Singers, and Ms. Page choreographed Mozart’s Requiem, bringing together a powerful array of dancers, vocalists, and musicians. Ms. Page has also choreographed several full-length ballets, such as Dracula, which has been performed numerous times since 2004, Beauty and the Beast, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and most recently The Rock Ballet, another collaboration, performed with vocalists and musicians from the School of Rock. In addition, Ms. Page is a principal teacher at The Dance Center, Official School of Brandywine Ballet, and continues to mentor and train dancers at The Dance Center and Brandywine Ballet.
Ballet Instructors:
Week 1: July 3rd – 7th
Aynsley Inglis
Aynsley’s passion for dance began in Wilmington, DE at age 3. By seven, she was dancing at the Academy of the Dance. By age 14, she was accepted into the ABT NYC Summer program and the Kirov Academy Summer Intensive in Washington DC. She attended the Kirov’s summer intensive and was accepted to the year-round program. After training at the Kirov Academy for two years, she went to the ABT NYC summer program, then returned home to Delaware to continue training at the School of First State Ballet Theatre. Upon graduating high school from Ursuline Academy, she started college at the University of Delaware and joined First State Ballet Theatre. In 2010, Aynsley was accepted into the Jackson International Ballet Competition, which is considered the Olympics of ballet. After that, she accepted a job with the Universal Ballet Company in Korea. She moved there and was on their world tour. While living in Korea, she received the Ye Cheon Miji award, modeled for the designer Kuho, and was in a television commercial.
Returning home to the US in 2012, she started her free-lance career, first with choreographer
Christopher Fleming in Philadelphia and then as a guest company member at Tulsa Ballet. She then moved to NYC to work with Christopher Caines and premiered two of his works, the Fairy Queen and La Revue De Cuisine. She guested in Coppelia in Houston TX, Kitri in Minnesota, and the Nutcracker in Pennsylvania. Aynsley was a semifinalist on So You think you can dance, the tv-show going to Vegas in 2015. She also received the Wilmington Award for the Arts.
In 2016, she moved back to Delaware to finish her degree at the University of Delaware and graduated in 2018 with a bachelor’s in arts. During this time, she also met and married her husband. She taught at the Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and the Wilmington Ballet before helping found a pre-professional training program for Monarch School of Dance in NJ. Living in Oaklyn, NJ, she continues to teach and perform with the Poetico Dance Collective.
