About Us | Ulster Dance Guild

Our Story

The Ulster Ballet Company has been bringing area residents innovative and creative dance entertainment since 1977. Founded by Fred Douglas DeMayo, its original purpose was to give area dancers, both professional and aspiring, a platform to utilize their talents.The group has grown, however, to include the talents of many area residents, not only dancers but artists, choreographers, stage professionals, actors, writers and publicists. Strong community support and the enormous amount of talent located in the Hudson Valley has made this group a strong, highly-regarded force within the artistic community.Artistic Directors Scarlett Fiero and Quiedo Carbone, together with former New York City Ballet dancer-turned-choreographer Sara Miot, have produced an exciting, critically acclaimed repertoire which includes two major productions each year.A special winter production with a holiday theme. For over two decades, this has been a continually developing full-length ballet version of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." With a cast of some 65 dancers, actors, and stage professionals this show is just what you'll need to put you in the mood for the holidays!The Spring "Festival of Dance," in which the Ulster Ballet Company hosts dancers and dance companies from NYC to Saratoga (and everywhere in between) performing a variety of styles of dance from Classical Ballet to modern to ethnic to jazz to hip hop. A terrific show for those who like to see a sampling of what the dance world has to offer!The Ulster Ballet Company is available to perform at schools, nursing homes, for clubs or organizations. Please contact us at ulsterballet@gmail.com

Meet The creative Team

Scarlett Fiero

Artistic Director

Scarlett Fiero, is the Co-Artistic Director of the Ulster Ballet Company and the Director of the Saugerties Ballet Center, the official school of the Ulster Ballet Company. She has danced with the Company since 1985. Before joining the Ulster Ballet Company Scarlett performed professionally with companies in New York and New Jersey including BalletWorks and The Garden State Ballet.

Holly Gross

Choreographer

Holly Gross, is a former gymnast who has not only danced many of the Company's major roles in both "A Christmas Carol" and the Spring Festival of Dance, but has also choreographed and performed several of her own pieces in the annual summer Choreography On The Edge. Holly has appeared in a number of roles in "A Christmas Carol", including "Greed" and as the "Spirit of Christmas Past".

Sharon Penz

Choreographer

Sharon Penz is an interdisciplinary dancer- maker, choreographer, and conceptual performance artist. Her work over the past 20 years has blended, in various iterations, dance, performance art, live installations, text and music, and has been performed in venues throughout the NY and the Northeast. A self-produced artist, Sharon is the recipient of numerous grants for her original solo and ensemble work.

Bieje Chapman

Choreographer

Bieje has a unique & varied performance & teaching background having worked as a musical theatre singer, classical ballet performer, Theatre Arts aerialist and head of various dance programs for children and adults. Bieje continues to train in all aspects of theatre, voice and dance. Bieje’s training experiences include coaching and mentorships from world & national ballroom dance champions, artists from the Broadway stage, the Bolshoi Ballet, New York City Ballet and The Martha Graham Dance Co. Bieje has taught or led programs for the Woodbury Ballet, CT Dance Theatre, Steps in Time Ballroom, Dancesport Manhattan, Asheville Ballet School, Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre & the Ogunquit Playhouse to name a few.

Judith Ore

Choreographer

Judith joined SBC in 2000. Her early professional training included studies with the Ithaca Ballet Guild, and Cornell University. She has performed with several dance companies throughout New York and Connecticut, and has choreographed numerous ballets, receiving the Won Young Choreographer's award at the Northeast Regional Dance Festival in 1974. She has taught ballet to students of all ages and levels in Ithaca and Westchester County, New York, Stamford, Connecticut and most recently, Portland, Maine.

Julie Manna

Choreographer

Julie, a former dance major at SUNY Purchase, also studied with many masters of the art of dance, including James Sutton for Tap, and Alexi Ramov for Ballet. She was a member of many performing and traveling dance groups, most recently, In Forward Motion, of New Paltz, New York. Julie has been a principal dancer with the Ulster Ballet Company since performing in the December 1999 production of "A Christmas Carol" as "Greed," the beautiful personification of earthly wealth.