Victoria Vittum
Artistic Director & Co-Founder
Victoria Vittum is a nationally recognized teacher and choreographer. She was with the Houston Ballet, under the direction of Ben Stevenson from 1997-2003. There she taught open adult classes, in the upper academy and the company. She has served as Resident Choreographer for the Gwinnett Ballet Theater in Atlanta, Georgia and guest teacher at the Washington School of Ballet. She taught for Margo Marshall School of Ballet and served as resident Choreographer and Associate Artistic Director of City Ballet of Houston from 1981-1993. Ms. Vittum not only directs her own school, Ballet Center of Houston, but also serves as Artistic Director of Houston Repertoire Ballet.
Ms. Vittum received her early training from Julio de Bittencourt and also holds a B.A. Degree in Dance Education from Lamar University. She has choreographed for professional and civic companies throughout the country as well as having her work presented at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.
Ms. Vittum has been the recipient of numerous awards such as: two Monticello Choreography Awards, Illinois State University choreography competition Winner, two nominations for the General Electric American Choreographer Plan. Ms. Vittum was also the recipient of a Choreography Fellowship awarded by the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and the Texas Commission for the Arts for outstanding Choreographic merit and contribution to the City of Houston.Gilbert Rome
Co-Founder
Gilbert Rome began his training in New Orleans with Gayle Parmalee. During his professional career, he performed with such legends as Rudolf Nureyev, Erik Bruhn, Lynn Seymour, and Marcia Haydee. Mr. Rome has performed in most all of the Classical Repertoire and has worked under internationally acclaimed choreographers and teachers such as Celia Franca, Erik Brun, Todd Bolendender, John Cranko, and Betty Oliphant.
Gil's professional background includes the National Ballet of Canada, State Opera House in Koln and Frankfurt , Germany , Mississippi Coast Ballet and Houston Ballet.
He has served as Resident Choreographer and Co-Artistic Director of City Ballet of Houston under the direction of Margo Marshall, from the years 1980-1993. He has been a member of the teaching staff at Houston Ballet Academy , Houston Dance Center , Southwest and Southeast Regional Ballet Festivals and the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Mr. Romehas choreographed no less than seventy ballets between 1973 and 1997 throughout the country and has been the recipient of numerous awards as a teacher and choreographer.
Mr. Rome is the Retired Director of the Margo Marshall – Gilbert Rome Studio of Dance and Founding Artistic Director of Houston Repertoire Ballet.Barbara LeGault
Ballet Mistress
Barbara LeGault is a graduate of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Barbara LeGault trained under Margo Marshall and is formerly with City Ballet of Houston. Since that time she danced many lead roles with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and the Louisville Ballet. She was directed by Alun Jones and Helen Starr. In 1979, Jones paid Ms. LeGault the ultimate compliment by creating his Cinderella especially for her. She also danced with Tennessee Festival Ballet, directed by David and Anna Marie Holmes, and with the Summer Festival Ballet In Lisbon, Portugal. Her repertoire includes appearances in Don Quixote, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and The Sleeping Beauty.
Other roles to her credit are appearances in the Houston Grand Opera productions, Mefistofele and Aida. Ms. LeGault has been on the teaching staff of American Academy of Dance, NHDT headquarters, since 1987. She is currently a faculty member of Ballet Center of Houston and the Ballet Mistress for Houston Repertoire Ballet.
Kristy Nilsson
Resident Choreographer
An HRB alumna, Kristy Nilsson began her training at Ballet Center of Houston. She was a Dance Honors Student at Houston's High School for the Performing & Visual Arts and University of Oklahoma, before going on to perform with Charleston Ballet Theatre and Atlanta Ballet. Ms. Nilsson has choreographed more than 100 concert works (including 13 full-length/narrative ballets) which have been performed by 34 companies in 13 states in the U.S. & Canada, and has won choreographic recognition from the National Women's Choreography Project, Regional Dance America, the Southeastern Regional Ballet Association, the Northeast Louisiana "Artist of the Year" Commission, Dance Canvas and Houston's Choreographers x6. Her works for Houston Repertoire Ballet include four narrative ballets: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Scheherazade, Riviera Holiday and The Racketty-Packetty House, and three contemporary ballets: Transcending Time, Rhapsody in Blue and Unkindest Year. "Miss Kristy" has been a full-time ballet & modern dance instructor since 2001 and enjoys teaching all ages from Pre-Ballet for preschool-aged children through Pre-Professional dancers and adults. Kristy is happily married to dance photographer Scott Nilsson, a former dancer, and is delighted to be on faculty at Ballet Center of Houston, teaching alongside some of the very instructors who shaped her career and love for dance.
Photo © Scott Nilsson, Photographer
