ARB Position: Teacher

Alexia is a junior at Mason Gross School of the Arts, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree with a minor in Theater and Arts Administration at Rutgers University. With 15 years of dance experience, she recently choreographed her first musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, in December 2024. She currently serves as the Dance Coordinator and Associate Producer at Cabaret Theater, where she contributes her expertise in movement and production to Rutgers’ thriving arts community.

Eddy Tovar trained at the National Ballet School in Havana. He began his  professional career in Brazil at the Bale do Estado de Goias before joining the  Orlando Ballet under the direction of Bruce Marks and the late Fernando  Bujones. Eddy rose through the ranks of Orlando Ballet to that of principal  dancer, while also serving as the resident guest artist of the Los Angeles Ballet.  He retired from the stage after dancing for Texas Ballet Theater as a principal  dancer, under the direction of Ben Stevenson. 

Eddy has performed principal roles in virtually every full-length classic ballet, as  well as roles in works by George Balanchine and Twyla Tharp. He has won  numerous medals in competitions all around the world and appeared as a guest  artist on the TV show “So You Think You Can Dance”. From 2012 to 2014, Eddy  served on the faculty of the Hartt School of Dance Department at the University  of Hartford. Throughout his career, he has staged ballets as well as instructed  students of all levels.  

In 2016, Eddy became Ballet Master for Philadelphia Ballet II (formally  Pennsylvania Ballet) and was promoted to Director of Philadelphia Ballet II in  2018. During this time, he guided many dancers as they transitioned from  student to professional, helping them not only with their technique and artistry, 

but also with their partnering skills and their performance capabilities.  As a  member of the artistic team of Philadelphia Ballet, Eddy also taught company  class for the main company and coached them in  many leading roles including  Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty and Coppelia as well as Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and Who Cares?  He is married and has a daughter.

Anna Fredeen (B.A. Dance Science, Rider University) has danced with multiple dance studios in Connecticut and New Jersey where she trained in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, musical theater, choreography, modern, and leaps and turns. Before attending Rider University, she studied at Texas Christian University for two years in the School of Classical and Contemporary Dance. Fredeen has attended residential dance intensives in New York City and performed with dance companies at venues such as The Joyce Theater, Peridance, Disney World, and The Orange Bowl, where she had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Tyler Gilstrap, Sidra Bell, and Chris Judd. In the most recent years, Fredeen participated in American Dance Festival and the National Choreography Intensive, and has become a satellite member of the modern dance company Luminarium, based out of Boston, MA. She has received awards from various institutions, including Rider University and the National Choreography Intensive, for her choreography and involvement in the dance community. Fredeen currently teaches dance at local studios and works with many studios over the summer as a guest artist. As a committed dancer, teacher, and choreographer, Fredeen strives to pass down her knowledge and experience to students, using Dance Science to bring awareness to the physicality required of dancers to ensure a safe environment for all.

Emily Cordies-Maso started her training at her mother Rebeca Maso’s studio in Somerset, NJ at a young age. At age 12 she attended Ballet Hispanico under the direction of Dr. Ana Maria Correa and later with current director Michelle Manzanales. Cordies-Maso was part of the Pre-Professional program for her last three years there under a full scholarship. During that time she was able to travel to Cordoba Mexico for the Festival de Danza and to Havana Cuba for the Ballet Nacional Festival International de Danza. In 2019 Cordies-Maso started studying under the direction of Aydmara Cabrera at the Princeton Ballet school and was later a trainee with the ARB/PBS in 2021. In December 2020 Emily left to Switzerland to study as a stagiare at Ecole Rudra Bejart in Lausanne with a full scholarship, under the direction of Micheal Gascard and Julio Arrozarena where she got to perform at Vaison la Roman, France and Martingy, Switzerland. Cordies-Maso has also attended various summer intensives including Sarasota Cuban Ballet School, Taina Morales and Jesus Corrales Summer Intensive in Montreal, Canada, and Leonel Morales & Friends Dance Course in Granada, Spain. Her American Repertory Ballet credits include The Nutcracker, Da’Von Doane’s Kaleidoscope Mind, Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle, Arthur Mitchell’s Holberg Suite, and Stiefel’s VARIANTS.

Carol Bellis received her training on scholarship at the School of American Ballet, official school of the New York City Ballet. She danced with the Garden State Ballet and has taught for Garden State Ballet School, Gloria Govrin’s New Hope Ballet Academy, the School of Performing Arts at Somerset Vo-Tech, and NJ Governor’s School. Bellis has been a member of the Princeton Ballet faculty for over 30 years, and is the principal of the Cranbury studio and the Coordinator of Princeton Ballet School’s summer programs. She is a two time recipient of the Audrée Estey Award for Excellence in Dance Education. Bellis is also an Adjunct Professor of Ballet at Rider University.

Born in Juneau Alaska, Anna McDowell received her ballet training at Juneau Dance Theatre under the direction of Julie Diana and Zachary Hench. As a student she danced the roles of Dew Drop Fairy and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Myrtha in Giselle, and attended summer programs at Carolina Ballet, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Atlanta Ballet, Indiana University and Cincinnati Ballet. She joined ARB/PBS as a trainee in 2018 and danced the roles of Snow, Flowers and Spanish corps in Nutcracker with ARB and danced in PBS’s production of Don Quixote in Seguidillas and Dryad corps. She started teaching for Princeton Ballet School in 2020. Anna has choreographed works for Harvard Ballet Company, Princeton Ballet School students and trainees, and has created several pieces for Juneau Dance Theatre including a work titled Blurred Visions created in collaboration with composer and conductor, William Todd Hunt.

Yuliya Rakova was born in Russia and began her ballet training at the age of ten at the Perm State choreographic college in Russia, home of the famed Russian ballet traditions, where her studies included classical ballet, history of theater, history of art and music, acting, stage makeup, history of European and American ballet, character, historic dance, and pas de deux. Upon graduation in 1995, she was invited to join the Perm Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theater. Rakova danced with the company for five years before moving to Moscow. She joined the Moscow Dance Theater of Alexei Fadeechev as a soloist. She was featured in the modern dance choreographer Stanton Welsh`s world premiere Opus X. In 2001 she was invited to join Russian National Ballet and danced with the company until she moved to the United States to teach. She toured nationally and abroad, enjoying great success and quickly building a classical repertoire while performing such roles as Odile, the Sugarplum Fairy, Lilac Fairy and Maria Taglioni from Pas de Quatre. Rakova has worked with notable choreographers such as Trey McIntyre, Ben Stevenson and Alexei Ratmansky. Her repertoire includes soloist roles in Swan Lake, Coppelia, Don Quixote, Paquita, Raymonda, Nutcracker, Chopiniana, The Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire and others. She taught for professional ballet schools such as Kirov Academy of Ballet, Ellison Ballet, Joffrey Ballet School, and Pennsylvania Ballet. Rakova continues to teach as well as stage classical productions and original works around the country and abroad. As an accomplished dancer and experienced teacher, Rakova would like to share her knowledge with passion for young dancers.

Shari Nyce starting her training as a dancer. She was a Principle ballet dancer with several east coast companies. She then found her true love in modern dance. She worked in NYC with Keith Young’s dance company. Nyce decided to move west and continue her dance career doing company work but also film, television, commercial, and video. After working with Twlya Tharp, Nyce decided to try her hand at choreography. As well as doing her own work, she continued working with companies such as Hysterica Dance and working in the Hollywood scene.