Andrea Hill, Founder and Artistic Director (click here to see Andrea and her students at work)
Andrea Hill began dancing at age five, when she first appeared on stage in Boston Ballet’s The Nutcracker. Her training includes many of the finest ballet teachers in North America: Marcia Dale Weary (CPYB); Christine Hennessy (Royal Winnipeg Ballet); Winthrop Corey (National Ballet of Canada); Arthur Mitchell (Dance Theatre of Harlem); and instructors of the Joffrey Ballet School, where she was a scholarship student. While in NYC, Andrea was invited to attend a National Ballet of Canada company class with Rudolf Nureyev and Erik Bruhn. Andrea has danced professionally with the Festival Ballet of Rhode Island, as a soloist with the Dallas Metropolitan Ballet, and has worked with numerous dance companies and theatre organizations.
Andrea has earned national recognition in the ballet community from The School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theater, The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, North Carolina School of the Arts, and many other prestigious schools and companies. Her students have received numerous awards and recognition, including two recipients of American Ballet Theatre's "National Training Scholarship" in 2003 and 2004, an annual award given to only 15 to 20 dancers among thousands nationwide which provides a tuition award to allow students to continue their training at outstanding schools in their own community. Another of Andrea's students was recently awarded admission to Suzanne Farrell's highly selective "Cedar Island" program, open to only about a dozen exceptional students from around the world.
A highly acclaimed choreographer, Andrea has taken beloved tales from classical literature and brought them to life with rich musical scores that she has carefully selected and arranged. She has created a variety of ballet repertoire including Phantom of the Opera, Peter Pan, The Crucible, along with her own versions of ballet classics such as The Firebird, Peter and The Wolf, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Boutique Fantasque, Graduation Ball, and a highly acclaimed version of The Nutcracker based on the history of Central Pennsylvania, where she resided until 2010 as founder and Artistic Director of the Ballet Theatre of Central Pennsylvania.
After twenty years living and teaching in Central Pennsylvania, Andrea and her husband Alex (a choral and orchestral conductor) relocated to Wilmington, NC in 2010. They are the proud parents of six beautiful children, and are excited to begin working with families in the Wilmington area.
Andrea has earned national recognition in the ballet community from The School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theater, The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, North Carolina School of the Arts, and many other prestigious schools and companies. Her students have received numerous awards and recognition, including two recipients of American Ballet Theatre's "National Training Scholarship" in 2003 and 2004, an annual award given to only 15 to 20 dancers among thousands nationwide which provides a tuition award to allow students to continue their training at outstanding schools in their own community. Another of Andrea's students was recently awarded admission to Suzanne Farrell's highly selective "Cedar Island" program, open to only about a dozen exceptional students from around the world.
A highly acclaimed choreographer, Andrea has taken beloved tales from classical literature and brought them to life with rich musical scores that she has carefully selected and arranged. She has created a variety of ballet repertoire including Phantom of the Opera, Peter Pan, The Crucible, along with her own versions of ballet classics such as The Firebird, Peter and The Wolf, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Boutique Fantasque, Graduation Ball, and a highly acclaimed version of The Nutcracker based on the history of Central Pennsylvania, where she resided until 2010 as founder and Artistic Director of the Ballet Theatre of Central Pennsylvania.
After twenty years living and teaching in Central Pennsylvania, Andrea and her husband Alex (a choral and orchestral conductor) relocated to Wilmington, NC in 2010. They are the proud parents of six beautiful children, and are excited to begin working with families in the Wilmington area.
Merlee Hill, Instructor for Ballet and Modern
Merlee Hill began ballet at the age of 2 years old at the Ballet Theatre of Central PA and has continued her study of ballet for over 18 years. She was a principle dancer with the Ballet Theatre of Central PA where she danced such roles as The Sugar Plum Fairy partnering with American Ballet Theatre’s Arron Scott in The Nutcracker, The Princess in The Firebird, Abigail Williams in a ballet interpretation of the play The Crucible, and many others. Merlee has been invited to perform with Louisville Ballet, Pilobolus Dance Company, and North Carolina Dance Theatre. She has received acceptances into summer programs with The Joffrey Ballet in their Advanced Trainee Program and attended American Ballet Theatre summer intensives in Irvine, California in 2003 and Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2006. She has worked with guest teachers from The Vaganova Ballet Academy, American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, The Washington Ballet, The Martha Graham Dance Company, Philadanco, Limon Dance Company, and others. In addition to ballet, Merlee has also studied Modern dance and was a principal dancer with Brio, a modern dance company in State College PA. She has a love for theatre and has performed in many plays and musicals in the State College community. Merlee is a student at Cape Fear Community College and is excited to be involved in the arts culture here in Wilmington.
Kym Paterniti, Instructor for Ballet
Kym Paterniti began her ballet training at the age of three under the direction of Kathleen Anderson at the Academy of Dance Arts in Jamestown. At the age of nine, she joined the Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet where she studied under the direction of many great instructors, including Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Chelsea Destefano, Beth Elkins and Monika Alch. She also attended many summer intensive programs, including workshops at Ballet Met, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, and Chautauqua Institution. Ms. Paterniti left the Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet in 2004 to pursue a college education, attending the State University of New York at Fredonia, where she earned a bachelors degree in psychology in 2009. She returned to the Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet in 2008 to continue dancing and was added as an adjunct faculty member in 2009. Ms. Paterniti joined the City Ballet Company in 2011, and became a member of the faculty in Jan. 2012. (Photo: City Ballet's The Snow Queen 2012)
Nina Danilova, Guest Teacher
Ms. Danilova is a 1978 graduate of the Lunatcharski University of the Arts in Moscow, Russia. A doctoral candidate at the State Institute of Theatrical Arts, Ms. Danilova specializes in teaching, staging classical ballets and choreography. She is also a graduate of the Vaganova Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Ms. Danilova has danced with the Kirov Ballet Company in Russia, was a Principal dancer with the Moscow State Ballet Theatre and since 1983 has taught and staged ballets around the world, including Russia, Poland, Italy and the United States.
Ms. Danilova has served as editor for the magazine “Soviet Ballet” and the book “Thirty Variations from Classical Ballet Repertoire.” She also served on the faculty at Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, Washington from 1991 to 1996, when she left to join theNorth Carolina School of Arts. In addition to teaching, she has also staged classical ballet for NCSA and created several original choreographic pieces.
Nina has been a frequent guest teacher for Andrea Hill in Pennsylvania, and is looking forward to working with The City Ballet of Wilmington students.
Ms. Danilova has danced with the Kirov Ballet Company in Russia, was a Principal dancer with the Moscow State Ballet Theatre and since 1983 has taught and staged ballets around the world, including Russia, Poland, Italy and the United States.
Ms. Danilova has served as editor for the magazine “Soviet Ballet” and the book “Thirty Variations from Classical Ballet Repertoire.” She also served on the faculty at Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, Washington from 1991 to 1996, when she left to join theNorth Carolina School of Arts. In addition to teaching, she has also staged classical ballet for NCSA and created several original choreographic pieces.
Nina has been a frequent guest teacher for Andrea Hill in Pennsylvania, and is looking forward to working with The City Ballet of Wilmington students.
Arron Scott, Guest teacher
Raised in State College, Pennsylvania, Arron Scott started his training with Andrea Hill at the Ballet Theatre of Central Pennsylvania at nine. He has danced on full scholarships at American Ballet Theatre, Pacific Northwest BalletSchool and the School of American Ballet summer programs as well as being 2002-2003 ABT National Training Scholar. Scott trained for two years at the School of American Ballet where he was awarded a Rudolf Nureyev Scholarship.
Scott joined ABT’s Studio Company in September 2003 and the main Company as a member of the corps de ballet in April 2004. His roles with the Company include the Bronze Idol and the Head Fakir in La Bayadère, Lead Fieldworker in The Bright Stream, Lead Gypsy in Don Quixote, the Masks in Christopher Wheeldon’sVIII, Nocturne in Fall River Legend, Njegus in The Merry Widow, Butler and Majordomo in Alexei Ratmansky'sThe Nutcracker, a Fairy Knight in The Sleeping Beauty, the Neapolitan Dance in Swan Lake, Eros in Sylvia and leading roles in Airs, Brief Fling, Dumbarton, Everything Doesn't Happen at Once, Glow-Stop, Gong, In the Upper Room, The Leaves Are Fading and Mozartiana.
He created a role in the Russian Dance in Ratmansky's The Nutcracker and a role in One of Three.
At the 2005 Culinary Pas de Deux Scott danced Cucurrucucu Paloma Duet from Laura Gorenstein Miller’s Milk Pool. (Photographer Gene Schiavone, ABT Swan Lake)
I feel lucky that my job gives me much opportunity to perform both nationally & internationally, and take classes from teachers with extremely diverse backgrounds. As my experience grows and I encounter different teaching methods, I find myself consistently gaining more appreciation for the methodology presented first to me at the BTCP. Few teachers in the world posses the fine balance of discipline & care that the Hill's do. They have always made learning fun, while maintaining a respect for the curriculum they pass on.
Arron Scott
Scott joined ABT’s Studio Company in September 2003 and the main Company as a member of the corps de ballet in April 2004. His roles with the Company include the Bronze Idol and the Head Fakir in La Bayadère, Lead Fieldworker in The Bright Stream, Lead Gypsy in Don Quixote, the Masks in Christopher Wheeldon’sVIII, Nocturne in Fall River Legend, Njegus in The Merry Widow, Butler and Majordomo in Alexei Ratmansky'sThe Nutcracker, a Fairy Knight in The Sleeping Beauty, the Neapolitan Dance in Swan Lake, Eros in Sylvia and leading roles in Airs, Brief Fling, Dumbarton, Everything Doesn't Happen at Once, Glow-Stop, Gong, In the Upper Room, The Leaves Are Fading and Mozartiana.
He created a role in the Russian Dance in Ratmansky's The Nutcracker and a role in One of Three.
At the 2005 Culinary Pas de Deux Scott danced Cucurrucucu Paloma Duet from Laura Gorenstein Miller’s Milk Pool. (Photographer Gene Schiavone, ABT Swan Lake)
I feel lucky that my job gives me much opportunity to perform both nationally & internationally, and take classes from teachers with extremely diverse backgrounds. As my experience grows and I encounter different teaching methods, I find myself consistently gaining more appreciation for the methodology presented first to me at the BTCP. Few teachers in the world posses the fine balance of discipline & care that the Hill's do. They have always made learning fun, while maintaining a respect for the curriculum they pass on.
Arron Scott
