Natasha Brooksher

Mme. Brooksher grew up in Woodbury, CT where she received her Vaganova based ballet training at Nutmeg Ballet under the tutelage of Sharon E. Dante and Eleanor D’Antuono. She graduated Valedictorian of her class, both in ballet and academically from Nonnewaug High School. Mme. Brooksher received honors in competition on the local, national and international levels at ARTS Recognition and Talent Search, IV New York International Ballet Competition, IV Paris International Ballet Competition, and the 20ieme Prix de Lausanne, Switzerland. Preparing for these competitions was just as valuable as the experience of the competition itself; the work and preparation, both physical and mental, were a major part of her growth as a young and developing artist. Mme. Brooksher also attended summer workshops at Boston Ballet, School of American Ballet, and the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MI, and served as demonstrator for Vaganova Pedagogy Teachers’ Workshops at Nutmeg Ballet.

Natasha danced as a professional artist with Boston Ballet, Texas Ballet Theatre, and Ballet Arizona where she enjoyed working with choreographers such as Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Elisa Monte, Elliot Feld, Lyla York, Trey McIntyre, and Graham Lustig.  She performed leading roles in American Classics such as Rodeo, Billy the Kid and Company B and Tinkerbell in Peter Pan, as well as premiering Merce Cunningham’s Breakers at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Natasha’s extensive classical repertoire includes Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Le Corsaire, The Nutcracker, Paquita, Abdullah and Raymonda Glazunov Classique.  Mrs. Brooksher also danced many Balanchine roles in some of the choreographer’s masterpieces: Serenade, Symphony in C, Mozartiana, Who Cares?, Theme and Variation, and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, among others.

Mme Brooksher was coached by some of the world’s great teachers: Natalia Dudinskaya, Sergei Berejnoi, Eleanor D’Antuono, Cynthia Gregory, Tatiana Legat, Suki Schorer, Vladimir Kolesnikov, Vadim Desnitsky, Caroline Llorca, Suzanne Farrell, Cynthia Gregory, Terry Orr, Tatiana Terekhova, Vicki Simon, Elise Borne, Ben Stevenson, and Francia Russell among others.  Mme. Brooksher has extensive teaching experience, having taught for Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts as guest teacher and coach, Residential Assistant and coach for the 1996 New York International Ballet Competition, and guest master teacher around the United States. Most recently, Mme. Brooksher is a founder of, and serves as Artistic Director for, Brooksher Ballet, and is involved in all aspects of running a successful professional level ballet training program. Her students have gone on to attend prestigious academies and conservatories on scholarship, as well as university positions and professional companies throughout the world.  Mme. Brooksher  serves as the Arizona State Representative of the Classical Dance Alliance, an organization created to promote the highest of standards for classical ballet in the United States through teacher training programs and educational awareness of the importance of pedagogical training.  Most recently she has been named as a member of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization International Dance Council.