SCOTTSDALE
Dance Academy

7850 East Evans Rd.
Suite # 106
Scottsdale AZ 85260

480 - 948 - 8202




About the Directors

Sibylle Acatos-Dadey

Ms. Acatos-Dadey began her formal ballet training her native Switzerland. She furthered her studies at the Academie de Danse Rosella Hightower in Cannes, France and the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart, Germany. Ms. Acatos was a prize winner of the prestigious Prix de Lausanne, and in a career that spanned 22 years she danced with the Zurich Ballet, Ballet de Grand Theatre de Geneve, and Ballet Arizona.


With the Zurich Ballet Ms. Acatos danced solo roles in over 20 ballets by George Balanchine, as well as the works of Jerome Robbins, Jiri Kylian and William Forsythe, Hans van Manen, Donald Dadey, and Robert North. She remained with Zurich Ballet under the direction of Uwe Scholz until her departure in 1988.

Sibylle and Donald Dadey Sibylle & Donald Dadey
Most notable in her career with that company were performances with Rudolf Nureyev at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. with the Zurich Ballet.

Upon joining Ballet Arizona in 1988 as a Principal Dancer, she danced the leading roles of the "Sugar Plum Fairy" in The Nutcracker, "Odette" in Swan Lake Act II, and World Premieres of Donald Dadey's Ghost Town, Jean Paul Comelin's Phoenix Rising, and Michael Uthoff's Cimerosa. She also had many roles created for her while under the direction of both Comelin and Uthoff. Since her retirement from the stage in 1996, Ms. Acatos has dedicated her time to the teaching and training of future dancers. She was a faculty member of the Arizona Ballet School and under the direction of Kee-Juan Han, where she coached such dancers as Ginger Smith, David Hallberg and Carolyn Reardon, and also served as Ballet Mistress. She has taught for The Arizona School for Arts, Tempe Dance, and as a company teacher for Ballet Arizona. Most recently she was invited to teach at the prestigious North Corolina School for the Arts and will return to Greenboro for two weeks of master classes.

Donald Dadey

Mr. Dadey began his studies in his native Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania under Jean Gedeon, John Occipintti, and Edward Caton. Upon receiving a full scholarship he furthered his studies In New York City at the School of American Ballet with Stanley Williams, Antonia Tumkovsky, Richard Rapp. He also studied at the Harkness House of the Arts with David Howard.

His professional career began at the age of 16 dancing with Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. After studies in New York he joined the Lyric Opera Ballet of Chicago under the direction of Maria Tallchief and worked with George Balanchine in the opera Orpheus and Eurydice. For the next several years his time was shared between the Dallas Ballet, The Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet, and the School of American Ballet.

In 1978 upon invitation from George Balanchine, he joined the Zurich Ballet in Zurich, Switzerland under the direction of Patricia Neary. He danced in over 20 ballets by Balanchine including leading roles in Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Liebeslieder Waltzer, Western Symphony, Episodes, and Allegro Brilliante. During his 10 years in Zurich he worked with and performed solo roles in: Five Tangos, Adagio Hammerklavier by Hans van Manan; Love Songs by William Forsythe; Death and the Maiden by Robert North; Die Schopfung by Uwe Scholz; Romeo and Juliet by John Cranko, Don Quixote, Manfred by Rudolf Nureyev; Return to a Strange Land, Transfigured Night and Symphony in D by Jiri Kylian; and Ghost Dances by Christopher Bruce. In 1983 he was invited by Karin von Alroldingin to the Paris Opera in Paris, France to assist in the staging of Balanchine's Stravinsky Violin Concerto.

In 1988 he returned to America to dance with Ballet Arizona under the direction of Jean- Paul Comelin. Here he danced all leading male roles with company including "The Prince" in The Nutcracker, "Franz" in Coppelia, and "Prince Charming" in Cinderella. and danced many principal roles in the work of Reid Anderson, Jean-Paul Comelin, and Robert North. He also appeared as "Guest Artist" with Nevada Dance Theater in Las Vegas Suite, and as "Romeo" in Romeo and Juliet. Most recently he has performed in Center Dance Ensemble's productions of A Streetcar Named Desire as "Stanley" and "Count Dracula" in Dracula.

Mr. Dadey acted as Associate Artistic Director of Ballet Arizona from 1992 until his departure in 1997. His contributions included choreographing, staging repertory on the company, and founding the successful, Joy of Dance and Jump-start Programs, which are multi-faceted educational outreach programs for the public school system and inter-city children. He has taught as ballet instructor at Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, The Dance Connection, Dance Theater West, New School for the Arts, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Ballet Arts of Tucson , Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, and at many other schools. As a choreographer he has created numerous works on Scottsdale Dance Academy, School of Ballet Arizona, Ballet Arizona, Zurich Ballet, Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, Houston Dance Theater, New World Ballet, and Ballet Yuma. He has created works for the past 8 years for the leading Modern dance company in Phoenix, Center Dance Ensemble.



 
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All Photos © Maria McCay and Donald Dadey
Directors photo © Paul VanDerWielen.
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