2025 Summer Intensive Program
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Daily & Weekly Class Schedule:
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Week 1: July 7th - 11th
Melissa Rector (Assistant Artistic Director of Koresh Dance Company)
9:00 am – 1:00 pm Contemporary Dance
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Week 2: July 14th – 18th
Valerie Amiss (formerly of The Pennsylvania Ballet Company)
9:00 - 10:45 am Ballet Technique
11:00 - 11:45 am Pointe Technique
12:00 - 1:00 pm Variation
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Week 3: July 21st – 25th
Meredith Rainey (Formerly of Pennsylvania-Milwaukee Ballet)
9:00 - 10:45 am Ballet Technique
11:00 - 11:45 am. Pointe Technique
12:00 - 1:00 pm Variation
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Week 4: July 28th – August 1st
Meredith Rainey (Formerly of Pennsylvania-Milwaukee Ballet)
9:00 - 10:45 am Ballet Technique
11:00 - 11:45 am. Pointe Technique
12:00 - 1:00 pm Variation
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Cost per week is $350
​Contact Sarah Beck at Sarah@Brandywineballet.org with questions or to schedule an audition.
Join us this summer for our Intensive Program. Train in ballet, pointe, variations, and contemporary by renowned master instructors.
Current Brandywine Ballet & Contemporary Company dancers may register without an audition.
2025
Summer Intensive Instructor Biographies
Week 2: July 14th - 18th
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 21st - 25th & July 28th - August 1st
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: July 7th - 11th
Melissa Rector
Originally from West Virginia, Melissa Rector started dancing at a young age
with Monica Folio. She graduated from the University of the Arts in 1993. Melissa
has been dancing with Koresh Dance Company since its inception in 1991 and is
the company’s Assistant Artistic Director. She is also an instructor at the Koresh
School of Dance, where she teaches her unique style that blends modern jazz
and Luigi technique. Her work has been performed locally at the Philadelphia
Fringe Festival, the Annenberg Center, Drexel University, the Grier School, and
Brandywine Ballet. She frequently travels around the country to perform, teach
master classes, and set choreography on students. In 2008, Melissa helped to
establish the Koresh Youth Ensemble and serves as their Artistic Director,
setting both original choreography and company repertory on the group.
