Deborah Bailay, Director and Creator of Children’s Ballets
Miss Bailay received a B.A. degree in Biological Sciences from Indiana University. She has been a professional ballet teacher for over 25 years. She was on the faculty of the Washington School of Ballet under Director Mary Day intermittently from 1982-1998 and directed Central Maryland School of Ballet for ten years. In New York City, she was on the faculty at Steps on Broadway and the Chen Dance Center. She is the founder of In Grandma’s Attic dance program which she has directed for fifteen years and now creates original full-length children’s ballets for her students. Her great joy in teaching is guiding the growth of each and every dance student in her classes.

As a dancer she was a company member of Indiana University Ballet Theater, Diane Jacobowitz Dance Theater, Joan Miller’s Dance Players, Momentum Dance Theatre, and a soloist and principal dancer with the Greg Reynolds Dance Quintet. She danced in the original cast of Dianne McIntyre’s reconstruction of Helen Tamiris’ modern dance, “How Long Brethren”.

Her choreography on professional dancers has been reviewed in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and New York Dance Fax. Miss Bailay has been privileged to work with guest artists from such prominent ballet companies like The Washington Ballet, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York City Opera Ballet, Basel Ballet, and the Royal Swedish Ballet in her independent choreography projects. She was also a choreographer for Inner Landscapes Dance Theater in New York City.

Her students have joined ballet and modern companies including Ballet Tech, Joffrey II, Ballet West, Atlanta Ballet, the Juilliard School, The Washington Ballet, Nashville Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. Miss Bailay has many, many artistic daughters and now is enjoying a new generation of artistic granddaughters.

“Her interest and devotion to each and every student are truly great qualities in her teaching.”
– Miss Mary Day, 1986, Founder of The Washington School of Ballet.

Ashley Banks, Marketing Associate
Ashley graduated cum laude from Columbia University with a B.A. in French and Romance Philology. She has done marketing, events management, administration, and cultural programming for many prominent NY cultural organizations including the French Institute Alliance Française, the French American Foundation, the Metropolitan Opera, Women’s Expressive Theatre Company, and the Bronx Arts Ensemble. In bringing her many talents and expertise to IGA, she will have a direct hand in email and online marketing, creation and dissemination of promotional materials, partnership proposals, administration, and development paving the way towards educational, artistic and cultural contributions. She has shown genuine interest in all aspects of IGA’s vision, current activities, and future interests, and Miss Bailay is very pleased to welcome Ashley and to have a first-rate arts marketing associate and true arts lover at her side.

Elijah Kinch Spector, Administrative Assistant/Ballet Synopsis Writer
Elijah is currently finishing up the final year of a B.A. in Creative Writing from Columbia University. He assists with e-mail communication, marketing and research; administrative and technical support; and implementation of projects for development. Drawn to IGA for its creative, narrative-driven approach to teaching ballet, he is also the writer of the ballet synopsis in the printed programs for the new children’s ballet stories Miss Bailay creates.

Alison Cook Beatty, Teaching Artist
Alison taught a year for IGA and has returned after dancing with Taylor 2 Dance Company in the interim. She received a B.F.A. in Dance from The Boston Conservatory. Presently, she dances and rehearses with Seth Gertsacov, freelances with other choreographers, and dances with several dance companies, including Thang Dao Dance Company and with ZviDance as an apprentice.

Angie Blocher, Teaching Artist
Angie joins IGA this year and will be teaching classes in Washington Heights. She received a B.F.A. Degree from Elon University in Music Theatre. Angie has toured the country singing and dancing. Presently, she is a full-time student pursuing her Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education.

Elizabeth Douglas, Teaching Artist
Elizabeth earned an M.A. in Dance & Dance Education from New York University and has taught at IGA in the PreBallet Division for eight years. She now teaches workshops and birthday parties. She has performed with several companies and is currently dancing with Xodus Dance Collective which recently performed at the 2009 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.

Noemy Hernandez, Teaching Artist
Noemy earned her B.F.A. in Dance from the University of California, Irvine. She has been teaching for IGA in one of the outreach schools this past year. Besides her teaching experience with arts-in-education, Noemy also teaches classes in ballet folklorico and flamenco. She is currently an artistic associate with a dance company in NYC, and loves sharing her knowledge and creativity with little ones!

Marian Hyun, Teaching Artist
Marian taught at IGA in the PreBallet Division for five years, and more recently, she has taught the Children’s Classical Jazz class. She received a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence. She is a founder and president of Jazz Choreography Enterprises, Inc., a nonprofit organization whose goal is to encourage the creation of original works of jazz dance.

Erin Hunter Jennings, Teaching Artist
Erin received a M.A. degree in Dance and Dance Education from New York University. She has been on IGA’s faculty for eight years and studied at Miss Bailay’s school in Maryland in the early ’90s. She has danced in television, film and stage productions for many dance/theater companies and on tour and on stages such as Weill/Carnegie Hall and Teatro ala Scala. A performer in all styles of dance from modern and ballet to tap, jazz and ballroom, Erin presently teaches in IGA’s outreach program and now the Children’s Classical Jazz class as well.

Annie Nowakowski, Teaching Artist
Annie has taught in IGA’s outreach program for the past year-and-a-half. She earned a B.F.A. degree in Dance from Point Part University with a Jazz concentration. Since arriving in NYC, she has developed countless performance art and dance pieces, collaborating with some of the city’s top musicians and artists.

Shira Pelleg, Teaching Artist
Shira taught a half-year for IGA in one of the outreach schools before giving birth to her son, Lev. She now teaches IGA workshops and birthday parties. Shira earned a B.A. degree in International Relations and Sociology from The Hebrew University of Jeruslaem. In her extensive experience in teaching dancers, actors, youth, young children and people with physical disabilities, Shira has taught at various dance centers, cultural institutes and festivals. Presently, she teaches dance in public schools, and for corporate events and workshops.

Kimberly Craigie-Blonn, Consultant
Kimberly holds a B.F.A. in Dance from The Juilliard School and is a graduate of The Washington School of Ballet. She began her dance training at age four with Miss Bailay and later studied extensively with Miss Bailay as a young children’s educator. Now living in the Chicago area, Kimberly is the director of the Young Children’s Program at The Academy of Dance Arts. She was on the IGA faculty for nine years and now serves as a consultant.