Beth Gulledge Brown – Artistic Director

Beth began dancing with her Mom at the age of 3. She continued her training with Joseph Giacobbe (Delta Festival Ballet) in New Orleans, Margo Marshall (City Ballet) of Houston, and Leo Ahonen and Soilie Arvala (Texas Ballet). Beth studied jazz with Delia Stewart and Keith Cross and later received scholarships with Broadway Dance Center in New York and Joe Tremaine in Los Angeles. Beth received her dance degree from the University of Capetown in South Africa. While there she performed with U.C.T. Ballet Company and the CAPAB Ballet Company. Beth’s performance experience in Houston includes Delia Stewart Dance Company, Texas Dance Theatre, and Joan Karff’s New Dance Group. Beth has had the opportunity to teach with many studios in Houston, South Africa, and New York City. Beth has set choreography for the Texas Tanzsommer Festival, Choreographer’s X 6, and JCC Summer Dance Repertory/ Performance Project. Beth’s choreography has been accepted for presentation at Jazz Dance World Congress held in Monterrey, and recently in Chicago. The company has also attended Jazz Dance World Congress in Costa Rica. In 2001 her student company performed her choreography in three cities in China and was broadcast nationally over Chinese television. Her choreography was showcased in Austria at the Tanzsommer Festival in the summer of 2002. She has most recently been invited to perform at “Four in the Mix” as part of Dance Month for the Jewish Community Center.

Carolyn Gulledge - Co-Director

A talented and experienced teacher and choreographer, Carolyn has taught all levels of students in the Houston area for 30 years. She has trained with top teacher in ballet as well as tap. Before founding the Uptown Dance Centre with her daughter,  she worked with children and adults at the Jewish Community Center.

Florin Adrian Ciobanu - Co-Director

Mr. Ciobanu was born in Cluj, Romania where he graduated from the Liceul de Choregrafie, Octavian Stroia with honors, under the direction of his father, Florin Ciobanu. He then went on to work with the Romanian Opera Ballet for one year before moving to the Hungarian Opera Ballet. During his five years there, Mr. Ciobanu was promoted to Principal dancer. He toured extensively throughout Europe including France, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Romania, and the Czech Republic. In 1996 Mr. Ciobanu moved to Sarasota and became a member of the Sarasota Ballet dancing many major Principal roles and creating many roles as well. His repertoire includes many major classical ballets, and many contemporary ballets by such choreographers as Robert North, Alberto Alonso, Katherine Posen, Steven Mills, Todd Allen, Ament Istvan, and many others. Since 2002 Mr. Ciobanu has been teaching and coaching for the Sarasota Ballet School, Dance the Next Generation, and many local and regional schools such as: Brandon Ballet, The Dance Center: Brandon, Fl., West Florida Ballet, St. Petersburg, Fl., Florida Ballet Arts, Alyson’s in Bradenton, Fl.In 2003, Mr. Ciobanu was promoted to Principal of Academy, Sarasota Ballet. He has doubled the number of students and increased the budget significantly since his direction. He has staged many full-length productions for the Academy, such as: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, The Nutcracker, La Boutique Fantasque, Paquita, and others. In 2008 Mr. Ciobanu was promoted to Ballet Master of Sarasota Ballet and still worked extensively with the Academy. He worked with such stagers and choreographers as: Hans Van Manen, Monica Parker, Alexander Grant, Dominic Walsh, Sandra Jennings, Joyceanne Sidimus, Julian Moss, Andre Prokovsky, Gilles Maidon, Jackie Hollander, Donald Mahler, Margaret Barbieri, and others.

Alexander Pandiscio

Alexander Pandiscio began his ballet studies in his hometown Hopkinton, MA at the age of five with Jacqueline Cronsberg at the Ballet Workshop of New England.  At the age of eleven, he was one of five students nationwide to receive the American Ballet Theatre Coca-Cola National Merit Scholarship.  This enabled him to continue training at home and performing with the Massachusetts Youth Ballet.  The scholarship also made it possible for Mr. Pandiscio to study in New York City i the summers with world-renowned faculty.  His acclaimed teachers include:  Adam Luders and Johnny Elliasen at the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen; Gloria Govrin, Sandra Jennings, Jorge Esquivel, and Antonio Almenara at the San Francisco Ballet School; and Lazarro Carreno and Maina Gielgud at the Houston Ballet, where he currently dances.  He has worked with a wide range of choreographers, including Stanton Welch, Ben Stevenson, Christopher Wheeldon, Glen Tetley, and Mark Morris.  When not performing, Mr. Pandiscio also teaches at the Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy and the Greater Milford Ballet in Milford, MA.