Summer 2008 Western Ballet Guest Faculty Patricia Barker Patricia Barker is considered one of the world’s most gifted ballerinas. She received her early ballet training from Lynne Williams in Richland, WA, studied on scholarship both at Boston Ballet School with E. Virginia Williams and Violette Verdi and Pacific Northwest Ballet School with Francia Russell, Perry Brunson and Janet Reed. Ms. Barker has danced in many of the great full length ballets and contemporary works from renowned choreographers. She has performed with Pacific Northwest Ballet extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. She appeared as a guest artist with national and international ballet companies and has performed in many Galas throughout the world. Ms. Barker danced the lead role of Clara in Nutcracker the Motion Picture, and starred as Titania in the BBC’s film, A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a celebratory re-opening of the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. She has graced the covers of Dance Magazine, Danser, Pointe Magazine, Dance Pages and Dance International. For the past 15 years she has staged, rehearsed and coached ballets for professional ballet companies such as Kent Stowell’s Carmina Burana for Texas Ballet Theater, Kent Stowell’s Duo Fantasy for Oregon Ballet Theater, George Balanchine’s Serenade for Boston Ballet School and The Slovak National Ballet. In her role as Artistic Advisor for the Slovak National Ballet, she has taught company class, coached Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadere, Raymonda, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. Ms. Barker has taught at nationally renowned ballet schools such as Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School, North Carolina School of the Arts, The Governor’s School in Greenville SC, and the Boston Ballet School. Ms. Barker was granted a patent while she consulted with Bloch on a variety of products, including pointe shoes, ballet slippers, leotards and active wear and was featured in frequent advertisement campaigns. She is currently a product development consultant for Bunheads Inc. She also collaborated with Freed of London, producing an instructional video for dancers answering dancers’ most frequently asked questions about the art of wearing pointe shoes. Ms. Barker is currently on the advisory board for Pointe Magazine, CriticalDance.com, California Ballet and Minnesota Dance Theater. She is also dedicated to bring greater awareness to bone and joint health by acting as a spokes person for the United States Bone and Joint Decade. Ms. Barker has been instrumental in creating Fit to a T programs for young dancers to spread awareness about bone health and osteoporosis. Additional Photos Iliana Lopez Iliana Lopez was born in Valencia, Venezuela, and began her ballet studies there at the age of ten, at the Nina Nikanorova School of Ballet. At the age of sixteen, she joined the Ballet Nacional de Caracas. The following year, she became a finalist at the IV International Ballet Competition, celebrated at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and was granted a full scholarship to study at the San Francisco Ballet School. Upon her graduation in 1982, she joined the Cleveland Ballet, and a season later was invited to be a soloist at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Two years later she joined the Deutshe Oper am Rhein, in Düsseldorf where she danced as first soloist. In 1987, she joined Miami City Ballet as principal dancer, beginning an unparallelled 17-year tenure as prima ballerina. Over those years, she was featured regionally and nationally in scores of publications and television and radio broadcasts. Her cover photos include Dance Magazine in 1997; Pointe Magazine in 2001, and Dancer Magazine in 2004. Also during those years, she performed nationally and internationally as a guest artist, dancing with her preferred partner, husband Franklin Gamero. Miss Lopez was invited to the White House by First Lady Hilary Rodham Clinton in 1997, following a performance gala at the Folger Shakespeare Library in which she and Franklin Gamero were the featured dance artists. In 2000, she received the Venezuelan National Medal of Arts, “Arturo Michelena”, for her outstanding contribution to the arts. She was given the key to the City of Baton Rouge, LA in 2003, while March 12, 2004 was declared Iliana Lopez Day by the City of Hialeah, FL and March 13, 2004 was proclaimed "Miami City Ballet's Sweethearts Day” by the Miami-Dade County Mayor. In 2005 Miss Lopez joined long time colleague Jimmy Gamonet De Los Heros at Ballet Gamonet. Additional Photos