Theatre of Ballet Arts dancers pose with one of their instructors, Sabirjan (Sasha) Yapparov, at the recent Southeastern Regional Ballet Association conference.
HIGH POINT, N.C. -- During the first week of May, dancers from The Theatre of Ballet Arts (TTBA) participated in this year's Southeastern Regional Ballet Association (SERBA) conference.
"It is a great honor to be invited to participate with this prestigious group of dance companies," says TTBA artistic director Jo Rosser.
Several of the TTBA company dancers traveled to High Point for a rigorous weekend of dance classes and performances. "This weekend gave me a much clearer vision with which to set my personal goals," commented one of the young TTBA dancers when asked about the eight consecutive hours of dance classes each day.
TTBA now faces the process of adjudication to become a standing SERBA member company.
The 2008 SERBA faculty was selected to stretch the abilities of all of the dancers in attendance. It was quite an impressive group of instructors.
One of the instructors, Sabirjan (Sasha) Yapparov, won an immediate spot in the hearts of all of the TTBA dancers. His easy manner created an excellent atmosphere of learning. Yapparov was born in Russia and received his academic and ballet training at the Perm State Ballet School, Russia. He danced as a soloist with the Sverdlovsk Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet and the Bolshoi Theater in Usbekistan.
His repertoire included leading roles in the classical, neo-classical, and contemporary ballets. He has won numerous prestigious awards for his highly creative works and artistic performances and has spent many years working with the Sarasota Ballet in Florida.
