FACULTY & ADMINISTRATION

She went on to apprentice with the Pennsylvania Ballet. Ruth received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from S.U.N.Y Purchase. She has taught at New Haven Ballet since 1987. She has also taught at Pioneer Valley Ballet in Northampton, Massachusetts and at East Street Ballet in Hadley, Massachusetts, which she founded with her husband, Noble.

including modern, hip-hop, contemporary, Afro-dance, African dance, and House styles. He has worked with Angel Feliciano, Kanu Dance Theatre, Franck Muhel, Kotchegna, and Eva Dean Dance. Mr. Kanor performed at the United Nations and NHB Today Show, and recently made his film debut dancing in the Hallmark movie, “Holidays for Heroes.” Mr. Kanor has been a teaching artist with Elm City Dance Collective for many years and served on the faculty at Connecticut College. Mr. Kanor joined New Haven Ballet’s Children’s Division faculty in 2023.

Telling Voices, to children and adults in underserved and often invisible populations in the community, schools and residential treatment facilities. Ms. Kincy is a core faculty member with New Haven Ballet’s Shared Abilities Outreach Program, where dancers with and without physical disabilities work in partnership to create performances. She has worked with the Judy Dworin Performance Project, Inc., and at York Women’s Prison. She also performed in the professional version of Dreaming that was presented to the public at the Charter Oak Cultural Center. Ms. Kincy graduated from Trinity College with a self-designed degree in Learning, Movement, and Social Development, studied Expressive and Creative Art Therapies at Salve Regina, The New School and Movement Therapy at Antioch University and completed her Masters in Community Psychology at the University of New Haven.

she began her formal training at The School of Hartford Ballet. She has danced with Jose Mateo’s Ballet Theatre, Ken Pierce Baroque Dance Co, Ballet New England, and Kathy Westwater, among others. Her choreographic, film, and collaborative work has been presented at several venues throughout NYC and beyond. In October 2019 she will co-present at the 2019 NDEO conference, The Creative Process: Choreography, Choice-Making, and Communication. Ms. Manzella is currently a faculty member at ACES/Educational Center of the Arts in New Haven, CT. She lives in Brooklyn, NY where she continues to choreograph, teach and make art. Ms. Manzella joined the faculty of New Haven Ballet in 2019.

Dance Education. She performed numerous soloist and corps de ballet roles with Joffrey Ensemble, Boston Ballet, Hartford Ballet and Pittsburgh Ballet. She was a soloist in both a promotional film aired on Oprah and an unreleased film choreographed by Alex Tressor. Ms. Ratkovicz is the recipient of Platinum Medal awards as well as High Point and Overall competition scores from New York Dance Champions, Rochester Invitational, Rising Star, New York Dance Olympics, Star Power, North American Dance Experience and Starbound. Her modeling photos have been seen in Dance Teacher, Pointe Magazine, book covers, Discount Dance Supply, and Art Stone the Competitor. Ms. Ratkovicz is an instructor at Broadway Dance Center Children & Teen Program in NYC. She has been presented with Choreographer Awards from Nexstar, Beyond the Stars, Groove and Headliners and Entertainment Awards from Groove, Headliners, and Beyond the Stars Nationals. Ms. Ratkovicz is excited to bring her instruction and choreography to New Haven Ballet, having joined the faculty in 2020.

composition. He’s danced professionally for ABT, Merce Cunningham Co., Mark Morris, and Twyla Tharp, as well as with the Broadway productions of A Chorus Line, The Phantom of the Opera, and West Side Story, as Riff: For which he won two Best Actor Awards and was complemented by the story’s author, Arthur Laurents, in his last memoir, The Rest of the Story (2012). Most recently, Mr. Simeone performed the leading role of “Calogero” in A Bronx Tale, on Broadway. Mr. Simeone has also written the book, music, and lyrics for an original musical, titled, Cafe Nadine, (a true story about life in East Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall), which is being mentored by Stephen Schwartz, directed by Scott Schwartz, with musical supervision by Patrick Vaccariello, and is slated for a full Broadway production in 2024.

former Soloist with Miami City Ballet, Jeremy Cox, former Principal with Miami City Ballet, and Lisa Sanborn, NHB Artistic Director. She also studied contemporary, jazz, and tap at Gloria Jean’s Studio of Dance. She performed for five years as a member of the New Haven Ballet Company where she performed many Principal and Soloist roles and variations, including “Giselle” (Giselle), “Medora” and “Odalisque” (Le Corsaire), “Gamzatti” and “Third Shade” (La Bayadere), in addition to roles created for her by Tom Gold, former soloist with New York City Ballet (Joplin Suites; Symphonic Nonsense). Ms. Vendetto has performed as the Snow Queen, Dew Drop and numerous soloist and demi-soloist roles in New Haven Ballet’s The Nutcracker at the historic Shubert Theater in New Haven. Ms. Vendetto joined the NHB faculty in 2016.

the last fifteen years. A native of Puerto Rico, Lucy received her degree from Charter Oak State College.  Lucy has served as the treasurer of the Guilford Community Fund in Guilford, CT, the Bookkeeper for the Community Dining Room in Branford, CT and is currently the treasurer of Team Pff:) in Guilford, CT.  Lucy works with several small businesses  as their bookkeeper and tax preparer. Lucy enjoys spending time with her daughter Stephanie, son Scott, husband Brian and taking long walks with her dog Diego.

and acquired a teaching certificate in the Vaganova Method in South Korea. She relocated to New York to expand her studies in modern and contemporary dance at the Merce Cunningham School, and continued her studies at SUNY Purchase. Her studies culminated in 2015 with an MFA in dance from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a focus on pedagogy and choreography. In 2013 Ms. Yu established As Arts NY Dance, a collaborative contemporary dance project that creates a bridge for artists to exchange and share experiences, as well as an opportunity to bring audiences closer to the diverse expressions of contemporary dance. Ms. Yu is the recipient of a CUNY Dance Initiative Residency at The City College of New York. Her choreography has been shown throughout NYC, including Bassin Performing Arts Center, Dixon Place, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, Symphony Space, and the Kaye Playhouse. She has taught and choreographed at Tufts University, Sacred Heart University, AileyCamp Baltimore at Johns Hopkins University, American Youth Dance Theater, Broadway Dance Center, and New Haven Ballet. Ms. Yu is an American Ballet Theatre Certified Teacher who successfully completed the ABT Training Intensive in Primary through Level 5 of ABT’s National Training Curriculum.