Direction

Susan Alexander, General Director

Born in New Brunswick, Susan Alexander studied arts and commerce at Concordia University in Montreal. Dance was always a passion, and she studied ballet with such notable teachers as Sheila Ross and Rudolf Kharatian. Since founding the Ballet Divertimento School in 1991, she has devoted herself entirely to guiding its development, including the development of projects such as the Dance-Study program. Her mission is to increase the range of courses and training available to aspiring dancers and to provide them with a fertile environment in which to germinate their talent. In 2002 Ms. Alexander co-founded with Alexandra Wells of the Julliard School the critically acclaimed Springboard Montréal Danse project (link) held each summer at the School.

Christine Cyr, Artistic and educational director

After graduating from the National Ballet School in 1981, Christine Cyr continued her studies under master teachers of the Paris Opera Ballet. Upon returning to Canada, she danced as a soloist for the Anna Wyman Dance Theatre in Vancouver and for the Atlantic Ballet Company in Halifax. From 1989 on, she worked training young dancers as a Guest Teacher for many schools and workshops. In 2008, she joined the staff of the École supérieure de ballet du Québec (ESBQ). During this time she rewrote the texts for the course of study of the college program and also redesigned for the ESBQ and the Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie the annual reports which are submitted to the Minister of Education. In 2010, she accepted a position in the dance program of Collège Sainte-Anne. Following her studies in history at the University of Montréal, she obtained her Masters in Art Education (specializing in dance) at the Université du Québec à Montréal. Since 2000, she has held the position of President of the board of PPS Dance.

Lily Barette, Administrative director

Coming from the world of International Folk Dance, Lily Barrette has worked in the field of arts co-ordination and dance education management for over 20 years. As Pedagogical Director Adjoint of the school of “Les Farandoles” of Chicoutimi for 12 years, she gained vast experience in planning, organizing and supervising dance programs while ensuring the smooth function of the school. In parallel, she became a production director and stage manager for “Paris Follies” and “Ecce Mundo” where she supervised dancers, singers and acrobats for eight years. She joined the team at Ballet Divertimento in 2007 as school coordinator and was named Administrative Director in 2018.

Alex Ursuliak, Artistic Consultant

Canadian-born Alex Ursuliak began his dance career after graduating from the Pedagogical Institute Theatre of Kiev in Ukraine. He worked for the National Ballet of Canada and the Stuttgart Ballet as both dancer and ballet master, and was director of the Ballet School of the Vienna State Opera and the John Cranko School in Stuttgart. He was also a visiting professor at some of the biggest companies in this and many other countries. A prolific choreographer, Alex Ursuliak has created and staged important works worldwide and coached many leading contemporary artists: Natalya Makarova, Martine Van Hamel, Veronica Tennant, Rudolf Nureyev and Erik Bruhn.

Owen Montague, Senior teacher

In addition to the National Ballet of Canada, Owen Montague had an international career as principal dancer with such prestigious companies as Netherlands Dance Theatre, Aterballeto, Ballet BC and Alberta Ballet. He has received many awards including two bronze medals at the first International Ballet competition in Jackson Mississippi, USA and a silver medal at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow, USSR. Owen Montague also received a bursary from the Canada Arts Council and the Peter Dwyer Scholarship. For the last 15 years, Owen has worked as an independent artist and has explored his interest in choreography, photography and costume design for motion and artistic production. He returns to Canada after 6 years as an associate professor of the department of dance and music, at the Kobe Jogakuin College of Japan.