Our Faculty
Jean Gedeon
Jean Gedeon, our Artistic Director, founded the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet School in 1983 and established The PYB Company in 1990. A former soloist with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, she studied with Frano Jelencic, Duncan Noble, Frederick Franklin, Nicolas Petrov, Leonide Massine and Edward Caton. She taught for over twenty years at Carnegie Institute, Carlow University Campus School, Point Park University and was featured in a two-year weekly television series on PBS. She served as Ballet Mistress with Pittsburgh Opera Theatre’s month-long tour of Germany and Switzerland as well as two PYBC’s tours to Austria, Germany and Venice Italy. She appeared in and directed students in an award-winning commercial for PNC Bank. In 1999 she was elected as a lifetime member to the National Registry of Who's Who. Mrs. Gedeon has been recognized in Pittsburgh Magazine as an Artist to Watch receiving the Harry Schwalb Excellence in the Arts Award. She has been featured in the September 2000 Edition of Dance Magazine and the January and February issues of Dance Teacher Magazine. She has been awarded the "Best Artist/Teacher of the Year" 2003 award from the Chautauqua Institute and "Best Dance Teacher Award" from Dance Teacher Magazine and was credited in Dance Magazine August 2010. Mrs. Gedeon is a dedicated teacher, has a supportive husband, four married daughters, and eleven grandchildren.
For more information on Jean Gedeon, please visit her biography and an article from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Tamar Rachelle
Tamar Rachelle received her early training at the Ithaca Ballet Guild. Later she spent a season touring the United States with the Israeli Classical Ballet. In 1978, Tamar joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre where she was promoted to soloist and eventually principal. Acclaimed for her dramatic ability and versatility, Ms. Rachelle was equally at home performing both classics and more contemporary works. Title roles include Romeo & Juliet, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and among her favorite contemporary roles are Antony Tudor's Jardin Aux Lilias and Jiri Kylian's Return To The Strange Land. Ms. Rachelle has been a teacher and ballet mistress for Pittsburgh Youth Ballet since 1993 and has been on the faculty of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre since 1998.
Dana Arey
Dana Arey has an extensive career as dancer, ballet master, working in a variety of styles and disipolines. As a principal dancer with Pennsylvania Ballet, she performed works by Balanchine, Limon, Van Manen, Tudor, Taylor-Corbett, Butler, Harkarvy and many more, in additoin to the full-length classics. She began her professiional career with Eliot Feld's first ballet company in New York City. .Upon retiring from a performing career, she became Ballet Master with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, working closely with Patricia Widle, Artistic Director for 16 years. At Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre she has also been Principal and Director for the school. Ms. Arey has been a guest teacher and has staged ballets for Milwaukee Ballet and Sacramento Ballet. She has been teaching and rehearsing ballets at PYBC since 2008.
Andrew Blight
Andrew Blight began studying ballet in his hometown, Los Angeles, at Le Studio and the School of the Pasadena Dance Theatre. He also received full scholarships to study with Pacific Northwest Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, and the Houston Ballet Academy. His professional career began at the Louisville Ballet, where he was noted for his portrayal of Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, and the pas de deux Little Improvisations, by Antony Tudor. In 1996, he was invited by Patricia Wilde to join Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre where he danced for three seasons. As a choreographer, Andrew's work has been commissioned by such companies as Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera, Louisville Ballet, Playhouse Dance Company, Dance Corps, and the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, as well as creating numerous works for The Move, a company he founded and directs. Andrew maintains a full teaching schedule and has taught ballet for children at Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, the Pittsburgh Women's and Children's Shelter, and the Urban League of Pittsburgh Charter School.
Hallie Neill Leach
Hallie Neill Leach is a graduate of Duquesne University where she receied both her Bachelor and Master degree in Education. She currently works as a secondary English teacher at Mount Alvernia High School in Millvale. Hallie's dance backgrouond began as a student of Jean Gedeon's at age eight and continued for more than ten years. Hallie's dance training also took her to Point Park Conservatory of Dance, Pittsburgh Ballet Theate, North Carolina School of the Arts and the PA Governor's School for the Arts. Currently she teaches preschool dance at PYB.
Sherry Mascio
Sherry Mascio, MSPT, N.C.S., graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy in 1989. Her ballet training began at the Wilkes Barre Ballet Theater (founded by Barbara Weisberger) under the artistic direction of Mary Hephner. She received training under Francesca Corkle of the Joffrey Ballet. She currently teaches ballet, preschool classes and conditioning classes at PYBC using her background in dance, physical therapy, yoga, Pilates and various other exercise forms to enhance dancers' training for strength, stamina and injury prevention.
Cynthia K. Ridler
Cynthia K. Ridler was born in Anchorage AL and brought up in Salt Lake City, UT where she studied extensively with the renowned Master Teacher and Choreographer Willam F. Christensen. As a student Ms. Ridler received scholarships to train with Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Aspen Summer Dance School and the Harid Conservatory. After attending the University of Utah on the Christensen Scholarship for Ballet she joined the company of Ballet West and later the Cincinnati Ballet. Throughout her career Ms. Ridler was privileged to perform Ms. Ridler also had the opportunity to perform many of Balanchine's great works such as Theme and Variations, Who Cares?, Concerto Barroco, Symphony in C, Agon, The Four Temperaments, Scotch Symphony and Divertimento #15 and work with such great contemporary choreographers as Paul Taylor, Val Caniparoli, John Neumier, Mauricio Wainrot and Kirk Petersen. Her classical repertoire includes Swan Lake, the Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadere, Giselle, Paquita and Raymonda. Upon retiring, Ms. Ridler began to teach ballet full time while also completing a degree in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati. She and her daughter Lucy recently relocated to Pittsburgh from Jackson, MS, where she served as ballet mistress for the Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet, to be with her husband, Peter LeBreton Merz. She is currently on the adjunct faculty at Point Park University.
Peter Merz
Peter Merz choreographed his first ballet at the age of 12. Mr. Merz studied at the San Francisco Ballet School, the Washington Ballet, the Burklyn Ballet School and the University of Cincinnati. He performed with the Dayton Ballet School and the Cincinnati Ballet. Mr. Merz joined the faculty at Point Park Universoty where he is currently a tenured Assistant Professor of Dance and Head of Ballet. He teaches several levels of ballet technique, pointe technique, male technique and dance composition. He has created ballets for numerous companies and this year was named as Best Choregrapher at the Youth America Grand Prix.
Taryn Frey Misner
Former PYBO dancer, and current teacher, Taryn is proud to be working with her alma mater. The years spent at PYBO, taught by world-renowned artists such as Jean Gedeon, Tamar Rachelle, Ernest Tolentino, Kevin and Patty Maloney, Gelsey Kirkland, Ib Anderson, and Stephen Mills in ballet and modern, led her to spread knowledge to young dancers. As a member of PYBCO, she danced in Balanchine ballets such as Serenade, Who Cares, and Concerto Barocco. She Earned a theater degree under George Jaber and Kevin Maloney, followed by a B.A. in Performing Arts/Dance with Arts Management from La Roche College. Her choreography has been acknowledged as "attention getting", "Clean line and proper technique" and "that's what dance is about."