Faculty
Monica Proença
Masterclass
Contemporary, Etude & Repertoire
Monica Proenca is a dance choreographer, teacher, and coach with an M.A. in Dance Pedagogy for Modern and Contemporary Dance also specializing in Contemporary Ballet. Born in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, she began her dance training at an early age and went on to graduate from the San Francisco School of the Arts in the United States. Monica's professional dance career lead her to perform classical and contemporary in many independent productions all over the world.
As a Choreographer Monica has designed dance pieces for film, television, and International Dance Companies. She has taught and choreographed in renowned institutions such as San Francisco U.S.A Lines Contemporary Ballet program, for Germany's Nordhausen Ballet and Schwerin Ballet, Portugal's Kayzer Ballet, Brazil's Divina Danca and Sao Paulo Compania de Danca and in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Japan, U.S.A, Germany and all over Brazil and Canada.
Wagner Moreira
Masterclass
Contemporary, Etude & Repertoire
Artistic Director Dance Theatre & Chief Choreographer at Theater Regensburg
Wagner comes from Barbacena (Brazil). He has lived in
Germany since 2003 and works as a choreographer, performer and guest lecturer at theatres and in independent companies in Brazil, Germany, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Turkey, the Czech Republic and the USA, among others. He completed his
Master of Arts in Choreography at the Palucca University of Dance Dresden and was awarded the Saxon dance prize ‘Ursula Cain Förderpreis’ in 2019. As a contemporary dancer, he has received prizes at various festivals and the DAAD Prize. In the 2020/21 season, he was appointed Artistic Director and Chief Choreographer at the Landesbühnen Sachsen. His work is characterised by accessibility, mobility, inclusion and interdisciplinarity.
Since the 22/23 season, Wagner Moreira has been Artistic Director of Dance Theatre & Chief Choreographer at Theater Regensburg.
CourtneyRichardson
Masterclass
Ballet, Variation & Repertoire
Courtney Richardson is Principal dancer (2015) at Semperoper Ballett since 2013, with an M.A. in Dance Pedagogy for Ballet.
Before she had following acting jobs:
Royal Ballet of Flanders/Belgium (2006–2013),
Ballet British Columbia/Canada (2003–2006),
The National Ballet of Canada/Canada (2000–2003),
The Banff Center/Canada (2002)
Awards: Dance Europe »Outstanding Performance« (2015) for »Tristan+Isolde« (D. Dawson) and »Steptext« (W. Forsythe),
Dance Europe Critics’ Choice: »Outstanding Dancer of the Year« (2010),
Dance Europe Critics’ Choice: Bouquets and daggers: »Outstanding Female Dancer« (2008),
Erik Bruhn Award (2000),
Peter Dwyer Scholarship (1999)
Our teachers are professional dance artists who are passionate about teaching and their craft. They are not only masters of their field, but also dynamic, cheerful and warm-hearted people.
Fernando Coelho
Ballet, Variation, Repertoire & Methodology
Professor of ballet, pas de deux, variation and methodology/didactics at Palucca University of Dance Dresden in Bachelor Dance und Master Dance Teacher Programm.
Founder/Head of "Dance Teacher Tutorial" YouTube channel - Online Tutorial.
In the capacity as Head of the MA Dance Teacher Programme at the Palucca University of Dance Dresden from 2010 to 2021, Prof. Fernando Coelho continuously developed the dance pedagogy programmes and established them as a vibrant center of dance pedagogy education with regional, national and international significance. In 2017, he created Germany's first work-study programme with the main goal of supporting the transition from dancer to ballet master or dance teacher.
International stage experience as ballet master and assistant director.
Guest lecturer and jury member for various (dance) companies, workshops and educational institutions around the world.
Elena Gruß
Contemporary, Creative Dance , Project & Methodology
Chairperson and artistic director Puck e.V. Children's and youth dance.
Elena graduated from the Palucca University of Dance in Dresden in 2002 with a degree in dance pedagogy, Elena has been studying the pedagogical legacy of Gret Palucca for several years. She has adopted and further developed the teaching methods and principles of the exceptional personality and passionate pedagogue for Creative Children's Dance.
Since 2004 she has been working as a freelance lecturer at the Palucca University. At first she led the children's classes. From this, the dance association Puck Kinder- und Jugendtanzklassen an der Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden e.V. was founded in 2011 with Elena as dance teacher and artistic director in a permanent position.
Since 2018/19 she has been a lecturer in the new Master Dance Teacher course for the training subject of the TTI (dance, technique, improvisation).
Aurèlie Lafaye
Ballet, Variation
& Children Ballet
Born in France, Aurélie studied for seven years at the Paris Opera Ballet School under the direction of Claude Bessy (dancing in works by J. Neumeier, G. Balanchine, R. Nureyev, J. Charrat, etc.) and completed her training at the Ecole Supérieure de Danse de Cannes under the direction of M. Loudières.
She began her professional career touring in Germany and Switzerland (Swan Lake, Nutcracker, The Magic Flute) then danced in various German theaters such as in Magdeburg, Halle, Brandenburg, Halberstadt where she performed in Giselle, Don Quixote, Nutcracker, Tausenschön, Wuthering Heights, French Rhapsody, Debütantenball, Tempus Fugit, Peter Pan, etc.
She has been teaching classical dance for ten years (children, adults, gymnasts, figure skaters, professional dancers from Tanznetzdresden and the Staatsoperette Dresden). She obtained her Master's degree in dance pedagogy at the Palucca University of Dance Dresden in 2022 and is finalizing her scientific research thanks to the artistic masterclass program provided by the Palucca University of Dance Dresden.
Ronaldo dos Santos
Ballet, Variations, Repertoire,
Youth & Adults Ballet
Ronaldo began his dance career in Brazil, the country of his birth, before studying dance at the dance foundation Birgit Keil, he began his dance studies at the Akademie des Tanzes Mannheim. dance studies.
After successfully completing his studies, he joined the Karlsruhe State Ballet as a member of the ensemble in 2004. Karlsruhe State Ballet, to which he remained loyal for 14 years. During this time he danced, for example in classics such as Sir Peter Wright' s "Giselle", Frederick Ashton's "La Fille Mal Gardeé"
or John Cranko' s "The Taming of the Shrew". He has also worked in choreographies by Christopher Wheeldon, Youri Vámos, Peter Schaufuss and others.
Following his time as an active dancer, dos Santos began studying dance education at the renowned dance pedagogy at the renowned Palucca University of Dance Dresden, specializing in ballet specializing in ballet master, which he completed with a Master of Arts.
dos Santos has been working as a freelance ballet teacher since 2018.
Claudio Valentin
Contemporary, Etude &
Adults Contemporary
in 2007 he began his studies in classical ballet and modern contemporary dance in Sao Paulo at Academia Narcisa Coelho. Later he received a scholarship at the Boston Ballet School (USA) and an internship at Pro Danza (Havana - Cuba). He has danced with the Cisne Negro Dance Company (Sao Paulo) and the Sorbian National Ensemble Bautzen (Germany). He has been a member of the Musikalische Komödie Leipzig ballet ensemble since 2017. He studied in the Bachelor Program and later in 2020 Master Dance Pedagogy at the Palucca University in Dresden. He has held a teaching position at the HMT in Leipzig since 2019. He also taught dance and movement at the Mozarteum in Salzburg in 2019/20. As a choreographer, he has worked with directors such as Prof. Karoline Gruber, Prof. Matthias Oldag, Carsten Süss, Matthias Reichwald and Cush Jung.
Pedro Ferreira
Contemporary, Etude &
Adults Contemporary
Pedro Henrique Ferreira is from Paraopeba - MG, Brazil. He started to dance in a social project created in his hometown with contemporary dance classes in 2006. He has a bachelor degree in Dance by Universidade Federal de Viçosa, where he had the opportunity to be part of different projects inside the university working as a dancer, teacher, rehearsal assistant and choreographer. Together with the studies he was working as a professional dancer at Extase Cia de Dança for 3 years,. After finished the studies, in 2016 he went back to his hometown to work as a dancer, teacher and rehearsal assistant at Paraopeba Cia de Dança and came to Germany to perform at Tanzwoche Dresden in 2018 and 2019. Worked as freelance
teacher and guest dancer at Semperoper Dresden, Theater Hagen and Tanzcompagnie
Landesbühnen Sachsen in Radebeul. Was part of the projects
"PLAY.Ground" choreographed by Helena Fernandino and "Taming our
Trauma" choreographed by Andreas Reise. In 2022 graduated
at Palucca Hochschule für Tanz with a Master degree in Dance Pedagogy in
Contemporary Dance for professional dancers.
He has been living
in Regensburg since July 2022, where he spent the last two years as a solo
dancer at Theater Regensburg's season 2022/2024 and now working as freelance artist!
Ivana Ho
Ballet, Variation &
Repertoire
Ivana Ho is a former professional dancer, sought-after pedagogue, and
the Artistic Director of Bohemia Dance Productions. She was
classically trained in the Vaganova style at the Prague State
Conservatory. Ivana danced with
Pilsen Ballet, Ballet Balogh Prague in Czechia, Ballet BC, and Ballet
Victoria in Canada.
In 1998, she received an award from President Václav Havel's
Foundation VIZE 97 for her contributions to the performing arts.
As a pedagogue, Ivana strives to both teach and inspire her students. She blends the technique-driven discipline of her Eastern
European roots but with a focus on expression and individualism,
identifying and building upon each dancer’s strengths. Ms. Ho graduated with a Master’s degree in dance from the prestigious Palucca University of Dance in Dresden, Germany, in 2024. She is a guest pedagogue in many
renowned institutions, recently at Mosa Ballet School in Belgium,
Brussels City Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and Ballet Victoria,
Canada.
Ivana’s lifelong goal is to infuse dance into every aspect of our
everyday lives and communities. Her company, Bohemia Dance
Productions, specializes in bringing performance and education to all
social events, from intimate venues to professional stages.