Deborah Mason takes her passion and commitment to the class and community. She inspires young dancers, setting high standards for creative excellence and physical prowess. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Deborah Mason School of Dance, which has served as a training ground for dancers since 1975. She is the Founder and Executive Director of the Cambridge Youth Dance Program, a non-profit dance and performing arts program for serious dancers in the Cambridge area. Her credits include a leading role in the musical Cinderella in SummerStock, touring New York City, Chicago, Kansas City, and Boston. Deborah  has worked with some of the finest dancers in the dance world such as Brenda Buffalino of the American Tap Dance Orchestra, Leon Collins, Sue Ronson, the Nicholas brothers, Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, and Luigi. Having served the City of Cambridge for 37 years, she was commissioned by Mayor Reeves to serve on the Board for the Arts in Cambridge. She has been honored with the Key to the City of Cambridge, and has been cited from the city of Boston for her continued success. She has been honored by Mayor Sheila Russell for her dedication to young women’s development, received the Galluccio Award for her commitment to youth sports, was recently cited by the United States Senate in DC for providing a high quality arts education for decades, and was recently nominated for Coca Cola Company’s Distinguished Teachers in the Arts award program. Deborah’s expertise in training continues to produce accomplished dancers and the studio’s outstanding faculty is the tradition of excellence that is synonymous with the name Deborah Mason School of Dance.

Nina Pillar, a child prodigy and Boston’s first prima ballerina, began studying at the age of 7. She was the protege of Mme. Ana Roje, and now carries on the legacy of Nicholas Legat (the Legat System) at the Deborah Mason School of Dance. Nina danced her first principal role at age thirteen, and two years later, in 1963,  made her professional debut with the Boston Ballet, dancing the role of Lisette in La Fille Mal Gardee. While studying privately with Ana Roje, she performed as principal dancer with several concert dance companies in New York and in Boston. Although most of Nina’s ballet training has been in the Legat System, she has studied with E. Virginia Williams, Leon Danielian, Patricia Wilde, Hector Zaraspe, Vera Nemtchinova, George Balanchine, Norman Walker, and others. Nina has danced in Stars and Stripes, Scotch Symphony, Les Sylphides, Pas de Quatre, La Fille Mal Gardee, Balanchine’s Variations, Norman Walker’s Reflections, Pas de Dix, and Sleeping Beauty. She has performed with Leon Danielian, Anton Dolin, and Edward Vilella. Her gift for teaching and the experience of her professional career provide dance students of all levels a unique opportunity to study a powerful system of “Legat Ballet” known for it’s virtuosity and elegance.

Zabelle Margosian began her dance training at the age of four in her hometown of Belmont, MA. In 1974, she began studying with Mme. Ana Roje, protege to the Russian master, Nicholas Legat. While studying intensively, she performed with the Boston Ballet and with the modern company, Dance for the New World. She performed with the Concert Touring Company in Yugoslavia, which led her to join the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb. Upon her return to this country, she joined the Copley Square Ballet in Boston and became a featured dancer. From 1986 to 1994, Zabelle served as director of the Ana Roje School of Ballet as well as ballet mistress for the Copley Square Ballet’s productions of Scrooge. In 1999, she served as ballet mistress for Bermuda Civic Ballet’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Since 1980, Zabelle’s extensive teaching experience includes all levels of classes, private lessons, and several summer intensive programs from beginner to professional levels at Brandeis University, Boston College, Scotland, Bermuda, New Hampshire, Cambridge, Worcester, Newton, and the Skating Club of Boston. She has attended teaching seminars in the Russian technique of classical ballet in Jackson, MI, Boston, and the Nicholas Legat School in Sussex, England.

Cyrus Brooks began his career at a young age when his mother, Janice, took him on a concert tour of Japan and the Unite States. He soon enrolled in African dance lessons, which was followed by an open casting call for the PBS series ZOOM in 1994. Though very young, Cyrus began his acting career with serious stage roles in The Miracle Worker, The Good Times Are Killing Me, and most recently, Universal Soldiers. Cyrus continues to develop his talents and skills with private and group acting, vocal, tap (hoofing), hip hop, b-boy/beak dancing, street tumbling, ballet, modern, African, and krump dance sessions. Cyrus recently choreographed, and was a featured dancer in Overtures production of On the Twentieth Century, which won the 2006 Elliot Norton Award for best musical performance. Cyrus was a featured dancer in the July 2006 issue of Dance Magazine. He has given lecture demonstrations on tap history at Berkley College of Music, Yale University, and Harvard University. Cyrus recently started his own dance group called The Old Skool DropOuts, who are currently on a steady rise in the dance world. He actively participates in street performances with the New York City Transformers Break Dance Team and throughout Boston. Cyrus is a member of both Actors Equity and Screen Actors Guild.

Emily K. Beattie is a Dance Educator, Choreographer, Movement Artist, and Adjunct Professor at Brown University. Her professional dance experience includes Prometheus Dance Company, and Lorraine Chapman “The Company”.

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