ARTISTIC STAFF
Colleen Smith- Founding Artistic & Executive Director
Colleen Smith is the Founding Artistic and Executive Director of Ballet Palm Beach and its associated school, Ballet Palm Beach Academy, based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. In 2001, eight years following the inception of her school, Smith formed the chamber dance company, that is now known as Ballet Palm Beach. A native of Palm Beach County herself, she remains dedicated to motivating young people via their witnessing and partaking in ballet classes and performances while enriching an entire community and well-beyond through exposure to the spirit lifting beauty of dance.
To date, Ballet Palm Beach outreach programming has impacted thousands of children and adults alike, not only locally but nationwide and around the world. Smith’s “Ballet by the Book” initiative brings children’s literature to life through cost-free performances at libraries, schools and theaters. “Ballet in the Balcony” offers underserved families throughout South Florida an open invitation to attend BPB presentations free of charge, inspiring both a newfound love for dance and wonderful family memories.
Both BPB Academy students and company members are given extraordinary opportunities annually to dance abroad through “Ballet Ambassadors” – Smith’s overseas program through which a diverse selection of works are presented in countries including, thus far, Russia, Croatia, France, Bosnia, Hungary and Cuba.
Utilizing dance performance as a means to communicate a deeper understanding of literature is one of Smith’s strongest objectives as a choreographer. Her ballet retellings of Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, Grimm’s Snow White, and Perrault’s Cinderella are staples in her repertory and remain audience favorites.
Smith has trained thousands of student dancers in her 43 year career as a dance educator. She was the sole winner of the 2020 Frank Prize for Arts Education.
Claudia Cravey
Claudia Cravey began her career as a professional Principal Dancer at the age of 13, with the London Times proclaiming her performance “a triumph.” She performed with the Chicago Opera Ballet, Washington Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, in films and on television. As a soloist with the Harkness Ballet, Ms. Cravey danced in works created by many prominent choreographers, developing extremely
valuable experience in an eclectic repertoire. As Ballet Mistress for Ballet Florida for 30 years, Ms. Cravey worked and trained her dancers to reach their full professional potential. Ms. Cravey has learned the choreography for over 100 ballets with richly diverse repertories and rehearsed them with the dancers.
She has worked with more than 40 of the world’s leading contemporary and classical choreographers in setting ballets and resetting ballets in the company repertory. She is dedicated to the growth of dancers not only as technicians, but also as artists. Ms. Cravey is also personally interested in the development of her dancers as individuals, an approach that often extends outside the ballet studio.
Marshall Levin
Marshall Levin began his ballet training with Susana Prieto at Ballet Etudes in Hialeah, FL. He was a soloist with the Israel Ballet for three years. He returned to the USA with his wife Julie, and they became the initial members of the former Ballet Florida in 1986. Some of his favorite roles during his 15-year career at Ballet Florida have been Hilarion & Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle, Don Jose in Carmen, 3rd Sailor in Fancy Free, title role in The Nutcracker, an evil step-sister in Cinderella, Tybalt, Benvolio, and Paris in Romeo & Juliet, Puck in A Midsummer’s Night Dream, and Otto Frank in Anne Frank. As a teacher, he has taught ballet and mime internationally and locally. As a choreographer, he produced pieces for Ballet Florida’s Step Ahead project and for the International Salute to Vienna. A “jack-of-all-trades,” Mr. Levin is Ballet Palm Beach’s rehearsal assistant, LMT, teacher, and occasional prop-maker and make-up artist. He has also been a familiar presence on the BPB stage in a myriad of roles since its early years.
Douglas Gawriljuk
Born in Brazil, Douglas Gawriljuk received his initial training from his father, Ruslan Gawriljuk, and later at The Royal Academy of Dancing, where he graduated in 1986. From 1988 to 1990, he continued his studies at the School of American Ballet in New York.
Over the course of his 20-year professional dance career, Gawriljuk performed a wide-ranging repertoire that included classical works, much of the Balanchine repertory, and contemporary pieces by leading choreographers. He danced with several prominent companies around the world, including Ballet du Nord in France, Basel Ballet in Switzerland (as a Soloist), as a principal dancer he danced for the Miami City Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Maximum Dance Company (where he also served as Ballet Master), and Ballet Florida, where he concluded his performing career.
From 2009 to 2014, Gawriljuk was on the dance faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), where he taught, supervised, and co-directed school productions and summer programs.
In September 2014, he became Co-Director of the School of Ballet Arts and Arts Dance Generation. He also taught at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and was invited to teach company class for the Royal New Zealand Ballet under the artistic direction of Ethan Stiefel.
Mr. Gawriljuk currently teaches at several institutions. He works with the Preparatory Program at Palm Beach Atlantic University, teaches at the Smith Family Conservatory of Arts at The King’s Academy, and has been with Ballet Palm Beach since 2021.
Marife Gimenez
Born in Venezuela, Marife Gimenez began her ballet training in 1982 at the Fanny Montiel School of Ballet in Caracas. Her repertoire includes classical ballets, works by George Balanchine, and contemporary pieces by today’s leading choreographers.
Ms. Gimenez began her professional career at the age of fourteen with the National Ballet of Caracas under the artistic direction of Vicente Nebrada. For her outstanding artistic achievements, she was awarded the “Jose Felix Rivas Medal” by the Venezuelan government.
In 1995, she moved to Miami, Florida, to join Miami City Ballet as a principal dancer under the direction of Edward Villella. She later danced with Maximum Dance Company under the direction of Yanis Pikieris and David Palmer, and from 2006 to 2009, she performed with Ballet Florida under the artistic direction of Marie Hale.
She was nominated “Best Female Dancer in South Florida” by the SunPost in 2001, 2002, and 2003.
Since 2012, Ms. Gimenez has been a faculty member at the School of Ballet Arts and Ashley’s Performing Arts Center in West Palm Beach. She also teaches in the Preparatory Program for Dance at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Currently in her fourth year with Ballet Palm Beach, she teaches the Company, Apprentices and students. Additionally, she works as a teacher and guest choreographer for various schools in South Florida and across the United States.
