A Master Teacher for nearly 40 years, Adrienne Dellas has trained and coached dancers all over the world. As her reputation as a teacher grew she was asked in 1975 to go to South Korea to initiate the Ballet Department of the famed Little Angels Arts School, finding the response to classical ballet unprecedented. On the basis of that success Ms. Dellas was able to establish the internationally acclaimed Universal Ballet Company in Seoul with her world-renowned Principal Dancer Julia Moon.As the company’s first Artistic Director, she choreographed over 35 ballets, including original works, such as Shim Chung- the Blindman’s Daughter, Ulysses, Joie de Vivre, The Three Gates, A Time There Was, The Birthday Gift, as well as many of the classics including The Nutcracker, Giselle, La Sylphide, Swan Lake, Cinderella, Coppelia, and Paquita. She was awarded South Korea’s prestigious Gold Medal for Artistic Achievement in Teaching and Choreography. Madame Dellas, as she is known, came back to America to help create the world-renowned Kirov Ballet Academy in Washington, D.C.As the only American teacher on the esteemed Russian faculty, she trained an incredible cast of young dancers whose names now appear on the rosters of major ballet companies the world over. Among them is American Ballet Theater’s Principal Dancer, Michelle Wiles, Guest Artist of American Ballet Theater, Complexions and Dance Theater of Harlem Rasta Thomas, Principal Danseur of the Royal Swedish Ballet Dragos Mihalcea, Principal Dancer of Germany’s Stuttgart Ballet Sue Jin Kang, and Broadway’s newest rising star, Vivian Nixon of Hot Feet and West Side Story. Being invited to become the Director of the exciting Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles, California was a wonderful opportunity. For seven years Madame Dellas worked with the truly amazing Founder/Artistic Director Debbie Allen, to open, develop and expand the school. Master Teachers of ten different dance disciplines taught the Academy’s talented student body under the direction of Madame Dellas.She trained such gifted dancers as Brandon O’Neal of The Lion King, Torri Counts of Columbia City Ballet and numerous others, as well as those now on full dance scholarships at Fordham University, Columbia University, the University of Arizona, Suny- Purchase-New York and UCLA. Included in her expertise Madame Dellas has choreographed for television programs, directed and taught in ballet intensives, judged major competitions and conducted teacher seminars. Now that their three children are grown, Adrienne Dellas and her husband Michael Thornton live in Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna Valley, where she is presently teaching, coaching and choreographing.
