Resident Faculty

Sasha Janes is Associate Professor of ballet at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

He was born in Perth, Australia, and received his formal dance training from the Australian Ballet School. He has danced professionally with West Australian Ballet, Australian Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, and Dayton Ballet, performing principal roles in works by Jiri Kylian, George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Jean Pierre Bonnefoux, Marius Petipa, Septime Webre, Anthony Tudor, Dwight Rhoden, Alonzo King, Twyla Tharp, Alvin Ailey, and many others.

At the invitation of Jean Pierre Bonnefoux and associate artistic director Patricia McBride, Janes joined Charlotte Ballet in 2003. In 2006, he was commissioned to choreograph his first ballet, Lascia la Spina, Cogli la Rosa, and has since choreographed several ballets for Charlotte Ballet, including Carmen, Dangerous Liaisons, We Danced Through Life, Last Lost Chance, Shelter, At First Sight, Loss, The Four Seasons, The Red Dress, Utopia, Playground Teasers, The Seed and the Soil, Chaconne, Queen, Sketches from Grace, and Rhapsodic Dances, which was performed as part of the Kennedy Center’s Ballet Across America series in June 2013. The Washington Post called Janes “a choreographer to watch.”

Janes was a participant in New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute and has been a guest choreographer for Richmond Ballet’s New Works Festival. He was a principal dancer with Charlotte Ballet for eight seasons before being named rehearsal director in 2007 then associate artistic director in 2012 and adding the title resident choreographer in 2013.

In fall 2016, Janes premiered his latest ballet, Saudade, for the Jacobs School of Music, where he served as guest faculty. In spring 2017, he premiered his newest work for Charlotte Ballet, inspired by Emily Bronte’s classic novel Wuthering Heights.

Born in France, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux joined the Paris Opera Ballet at age 14 and was named Danseur Etoile at 21. He has danced with the Bolshoi and Kirov Ballets and in 1970 became a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet under the direction of George Balanchine. In 1977, Bonnefoux joined the faculty of the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet, and began to realize his lifelong ambition of training young dancers. His final performance was in 1980, after which time, he dedicated himself to work as an artistic director, choreographer and teacher. Bonnefoux’s choreography includes works commissioned by the New York City Ballet, The Lincoln Center Institute, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company, and the Pennsylvania Ballet. Bonnefoux has served as choreographer and ballet master for the Pittsburgh Ballet, as Chairman and Artistic Director of the Ballet Department in the School of Music at Indiana University. He joined the Charlotte Ballet and School of Charlotte Ballet in 1996 where he served as the President and Artistic Director until 2016.

Former distinguished prima ballerina with the New York City Ballet. She has been celebrated as the outstanding American ballerina of our day and is a star of international stature. In 2014 she received one of the Kennedy Center Honors for her lifetime contributions and achievements in dance. Her career with the New York City Ballet spanned more than three decades and provided audiences with dazzling performances of some of the greatest masterpieces in dance. George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins created many of their master works for her. She is a teacher of technique and variations classes for both Festival and Workshop dancers and stages a Balanchine work every summer.

A native of Armenia, Sarkis Kaltakhtchian began his ballet training at the Armenian Choreography Academy in Yerevan, where he studied the Vaganova method under Seda Yegorovna, Tatevik Gharibyan, Samuel Abramian, and Maxim Martirosyan.

After graduating with honors, he joined the Armenian National Ballet Theater. In 1989, Mr.Kaltakhtchian was invited to join Ballet Classique De Montreal. As a Dancer he performed, with Banff Festival of the Arts, Classical Ballet of Costa Rica, Ottowa Ballet, Hartford Ballet, (NCDT) Charlotte Ballet, and Tulsa Ballet Theatre. During his tenure as a soloist and principal dancer, he had the opportunity to work with world-renowned teachers and choreographers Roudolf Kharatian, Alla Yevgenyevan Osipenko, Patricia McBride, Franco De Vita, Raymond Lukens, and many more. His repertory included the works of George Balanchine, Marius Petipa, Choo-San Goh, Alonzo King, Val Caniparoli, William Forsythe, Paul Taylor, Nacho Duato, and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux.

In July 1998, Kaltakhtchian performed for First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House Millennium Council.

Mr. Kaltakhtchian started his teaching and choreographing career at Ballet Divertimento De Montreal, where he mastered his Vaganova method pedagogy under the guidance of Maxim Martirosian, former Artistic Director of Bolshoi Ballet Academy. In 2005, Mr. Kaltakhtchian became the Head Instructor for the Centre for Dance Education at Tulsa Ballet, and Director of Tulsa Ballet II, where he continued to further his teaching knowledge with Maestor Jacques Beltrame. He joined Charlotte Ballet Academy in 2010, was promoted to Artistic Vice Principal in 2014 where he created a curriculum for Charlotte Ballet Academy under the guidance of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux.

In 2017, he joined the Hartt Community Division at the University of Hartford as a faculty, and in 2019 was promoted to Artistic and Education Director. He has been a guest teacher, and choreographer with the Chautauqua Institution in New York since 2008, and adjunct faculty member for Hartt’s BFA Dance Division since 2017.

Some of the Mr.Kaltakhtchian’s former students has been accepted into prestigious universities, and companies like IU, OU, School of the Arts, The National Ballet of Canada, Hohg Kong Ballet, BalletMet, Charlotte Ballet, and more.

René Olivier’s professional dance career started in 1990 with the Natal Performing Arts Council (NAPAC) in South Africa. From there, she danced with Alberta Ballet in Alberta, Canada for their 1998-1999 season. She joined Tulsa Ballet Theater in 1999 and got promoted to Soloist in 2006. During this time, she started teaching part time for Tulsa Ballet Theater Center for Dance Education’s Preparatory Level. In 2010 she became a faculty member at Charlotte Ballet Academy. Ms. Olivier taught and choreographed for all levels year round, as well as for their summer intensives. She acted as assistant for visiting artist, Valentina Kozlova who set Corsaire, La Bayadere, Raymonda, and Paquita for Charlotte Ballet’s summer intensives, as well as Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Three Overtures. In addition, she was responsible for setting Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Danses Brillantes on Charlotte Ballet Company, alongside Sarkis Kaltakhtchian. In 2012 she started teaching for The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In 2017 she became a faculty member at the Hartt School Community Division Dance Department, and in 2019 started teaching as adjunct faculty for The Hartt School’s BFA Dance Program at the University of Hartford. She choreographed Carnival of the Animals for Level A, B and C (Division I). From 2021 to present she teaches as a quest faculty for Ballet Hartford in Connecticut. She will be returning this summer as faculty member at the Chautauqua Institution‘s Dance Summer Intensive.

Dancing offered Ms. Olivier the opportunity to perform in countries like China, Taiwan, India, Italy, Alaska, Canada and Germany. Favorite lead roles performed included the lead in George Balanchine’s Rubies and Serenade. Titania in Mark Hawkins a Midsummer Night’s Dream. Firebird in Jean-Paul Comelin’s Firebird. Lady Capulet in Michael Smuin’s Romeo and Juliet. Featured roles in Jerome Robbins In the Night and Fancy Free. Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra songs. Paul Taylor’s Black Tuesday. Danny Pelzig’s Nine Lives. Val Caniparoli’s Going for Baroque. Galina Samsova’s Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. Christopher Wheeldon’s Carnival of the Animals. Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella and Ma Cong’s Carmina Burana. She received her Solo Seal Award from The Royal Academy for Dancing in 1988. In 1990 she was awarded “Most Promising Dancer” award by NAPAC. She is the recipient of the 1997 FNB Vita Award for her performances with the Playhouse Company in Natal, South Africa.

A Milwaukee native, Kara Wilkes is an educator, choreographer, dancer, visual artist, and filmmaker. Her expertise in classical and contemporary ballet is extensive and supported by her twenty-year career performing with Milwaukee Ballet Company, Ballet Victor Ullate, Charlotte Ballet and Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Kara has danced leading roles in works by Alonzo King, Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, Nacho Duato, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Dwight Rhoden, George Balanchine, Darrell Grand Moultrie, and others. She has been named one of “25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine and one of “12 Standout Performances of 2015” by Pointe magazine; in 2016, she performed in the TEDWomen Conference in San Francisco. Kara has also served as Ballet Master for LINES and continues to teach workshops and répertoire for the organization. She has taught all levels of dance, including master classes for Duke University, University of Iowa, UC Santa Barbara, University of Georgia, and abroad in Dublin, Ireland. In 2019, Kara earned her MFA in Dance from Hollins University and has since been on faculty at Florida State University, Wake Forest University, Mills College, and Santa Clara University.

Kara is currently a Toulmin Choreography Fellow through NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts and National Sawdust. Most recently, she choreographed works for FSU, Traverse City Dance Project (New Voices Choreography Fellow), Texas Christian University, and the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Kara’s choreographic research investigates inherited trauma, addiction, and healing; it also focuses heavily on the Digital Age’s impacts on society and our planet…she embraces collaboration and experimentation. Kara is a movie enthusiast whose creations are often cinematic, offering non-linear narratives; viewers are exposed to various artistic mediums and theatrical elements, such as props, facial expressions, poetry/speech, singing, and gestures.

Michael Deeb Weaver is an accomplished dancer, actor, instructor, and choreographer based in Buffalo, NY. His experience as a performer ranges​ from concert dance to musical theatre to commercial work – and (almost) everything in between. He holds a BFA in Dance from the University at Buffalo, and is a faculty member at both UB and at Nazareth College, teaching jazz, tap, and musical theatre dance styles.

Michael’s performance credits have taken him all over the world, including National Tours of A Chorus Line (Mike), and Young Frankenstein the Musical (Swing). As a member of the Actors’ Equity Association, he has served as Dance Captain, Assistant Choreographer, and/or Assistant Director for productions of Kinky Boots, Thoroughly Modern Millie, My Fair Lady, Gypsy, Mame, and Young Frankenstein the Musical (West Coast regional premiere). Additional regional theatre credits include West Side Story, Hello, Dolly!, Saturday Night Fever, Singin’ in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, A Chorus Line, Joseph…, and Beauty and the Beast. In addition to numerous industrials, Michael has performed for Celebrity Cruises and Six Flags. In 2017, he was part of the pre-Broadway choreography lab of Beetlejuice the Musical. These experiences have allowed him to work with notable directors and choreographers like Baz Luhrmann, Connor Gallagher, Baayork Lee, Jeff Whiting, Jeffry Denman, Marc Robin, and Susan Stroman.

Michael’s choreography has most recently been featured on the famous Las Vegas Strip as a part of Picturesque, a new burlesque tap revue. In 2021 he co-directed and choreographed for The Center in Motion, a filmed dance concert at the University at Buffalo’s Center for the Arts. He has also set choreography on UB’s Zodiaque Studio Dance Ensemble, and was a guest instructor at Montclair State University. Nationally, Michael has served as an instructor and adjudicator for dance conventions including Platinum National Dance Competition and Turn it Up Dance Challenge. Additionally, he has held positions as a faculty member and choreographer for award-winning dance studios across the country.