We welcome all CVYB alumni to join us at any of our performances. Please let us know if you plan to attend via email. Ticket information is available on the homepage of this web site.

Even if you are far away and cannot join us for the performance, we would love to stay in touch with you. Please email us your latest news, photos, and information at sallen@uakron.edu.


Jackson Sarver

Jackson began as a guest dancer in Francis Patrelle’s American Vignettes when he was 10 years old and became a scholarship student at Nan Klinger Excellence in Dance. He became a member of the company the following year, joining his sister Suzanne who had been a company member since 1988. As a junior in high school, he made the commitment to become a professional dancer and completed his junior and senior year to graduate from Tallmadge High School as valedictorian a year early. He attended North Carolina School of Dance in Winston Salem, NC for two years, completing three years of academic work as well as becoming a principal dancer in the college productions. He chose to begin his professional career with BalletMet and is now in his fourth year as a member of the company. He has continued to take academic courses to fulfill his graduation requirement from NSCA and hopes to graduate in 2008 with his BFA.

“ I have been privileged to continue my experience with original choreography started at CVYB, said Jackson. This summer he had a ten minute solo created by James Kudlka as part of BalletMet’s 30x30 performances honoring their 30th Anniversary season, as well as having five other pieces created on Jackson and company dancers. This fall, he was thrilled to dance the role of Dracula in David Nixon’s Dracula as well as the role of Dr. Jack Seward. “It was wonderful to see Carol Klinger when she came for the performance.” For the Nutcracker season, you can see him as the Rat King, the Cavalier, Arabian, Mother Ginger and in a comic role of a Snooty Guest in the party scene in Act One. “I so appreciate the strong dance foundation I had under Nan Klinger’s tutelage which was continued as I studied under Melissa Hayden at NCSA.”

Kate Lieberth
Company C and Oakland Ballet

Kate began her professional training in Ohio as a member of the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet, under the direction of Nan Klinger. During this time she danced in the International Children's Festival in Taipei, Taiwan. She also attended various summer programs including Chautauqua Institution, Boston Ballet, and the School of American Ballet. Kate continued her studies at The University of Utah where she was a member of Utah Ballet and a trainee with Ballet West. She has danced professionally with Richmond Ballet, Ballet Memphis, and Oakland Ballet, performing lead roles in a variety of ballets including Balanchine's "Sylvia Pas de Deux", Amy Seiwert's "Monopoly" and Robert Moses' "Lone Woman". Kate is currently a member of Company C Contemporary Ballet in Walnut Creek and instructs Ballet at Stage One.

SKILLS FOR DANCING, SKILLS FOR LIFE
"Being a part of the Nan Klinger's Excellence in Dance studio and the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet was one of the most valuable experiences of my childhood. Not only did I build a wonderful foundation for a career in professional ballet, but I also built a wonderful foundation for life. I learned how to accomplish my goals. I learned discipline, focus, respect, perserverence and I learned how to express myself. It is so important for everyone to learn these things, to be successful in anything that they do. Nan Klinger's Excellence in Dance Studio and the CVYB provide an ideal atmosphere for learning these things through the training of a beautiful art form."

"Ballet has taught me so many things over the years and has helped shape who I am. Through ballet, I learned to be more disciplined, diligent, respectful, and passionate about the arts. No teacher demanded those values as much as Nan Klinger did, and I am so thankful she did. It not only made me a stronger dancer, but it also made me a stronger person. Ballet is a part of me and always will be. No matter how hard I may try, it is something of which I can never let go. It has become a part of my soul, and I have found it is the best way for me to express myself. There is nothing more freeing than dancing, and I would not have that freedom had I not taken ballet. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to work with Nan Klinger and to be a member of the CVYB. It is a gift I will forever cherish."

“As a child, my direction in life was family, school and Excellence in Dance. This is what made me a successful adult. With my studies at Excellence in Dance and as a member of the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet, I was part of a community outside of regular academia. It enhanced and contributed to my success as a well-rounded student because I was challenged and inspired as a student and artist. The discipline, instructed direction, and ethics instilled in those years molded me as a teacher with a professional training to draw from, strong work ethics and the experience of being a team player. My years there have made it possible for me work in many different environments, both pre-professional and professional. To learn the importance of being a member of a team has made me a success in the world of dance education.”

"Studying ballet and being part of the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet growing up was in invaluable experience for me. It taught me self-discipline, confidence, and creativity. I learned first hand what it meant to be a team player and the dynamics of working with others. These skills I learned as a youth are basic values that all children should learn no matter what profession they choose. Even though, I am not part of the ballet community as an adult, my passion for creativity has led me into my career of being a designer for one of the top architectural firms in the country. I will always love ballet but now it is just from a different perspective, the audience."

"When first I began my pursuit of becoming a ballet dancer, my mother was told if I wanted quality training, I was to go to Nan Klinger's Excellence in Dance. To anyone who knew, Nan Klinger was synonymous with serious ballet training. "Miss Nan", as we reverently called her, equipped me with the strength of technique, discipline, grace, and direction to chart out my dreams of becoming a ballerina. In my almost 10 years of professional dance with companies such as; Boston Ballet, Miami City Ballet as a principal, Ballet Met, overseas and guest appearances with Fernando Bujones. I have Nan Klinger and the CVYB to thank for helping to mold me into the dancer and person that I am today. She was in the business of training not only dancers, but competent and confident individuals. CVYB became a second "family" to me and out of that, grew close bonds of friendship, and an ability to work together, which is an essential tool in any professional scene. My path has evolved into becoming a teacher at the New Albany Ballet Company. For the past 6 years, my students are getting accepted into prestigious schools across country, and are striving for the excellence that was instilled in me. I am modeling our pre-professional company off of the concept of CVYB, and continuing the legacy Nan Klinger began with a new generation of dancers. My accomplishments are reflective of the solid foundation I was given by Nan Klinger and the CVYB. "Miss Nan" still lives in spirit through my teaching, and her voice resonates within me."

"I was a pudgy little awkward kid when I first arrived at Nan's school of Dance and emerged a lithe, graceful, experienced performer. I, shortly after, moved to New York to pursue a career in dance where I implemented all the tools I had acquired from Nan and the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet. I have since done five Broadway shows, a couple of television series and numerous television commercials having never lost the love, discipline and respect for the art of dance that stemmed from my early years with Nan and the CVYB. I have many fond memories of that time in my life and I want to thank Nan, her family and the CVYB for giving me such a strong beginning to a wonderful and very full life, which now includes a six week old baby. My greatest accomplishment to date!"