Lisa Sheppard’s early training was in Tucson, AZ, as a scholarship student with both Richard France and George Zoritch.  At seventeen she won the Arizona Ballet Competition.  She received scholarships to further her dance education at Ruth Page Center for the Arts with Larry Long and Warren Conover, Houston Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet. 

Ms. Sheppard danced as a soloist with Tucson Metropolitan Ballet, Ballet Arizona and Ballet Austin. She was an ongoing guest artist with Aerie Crown’s the Ruth Page Nutcracker Arizona Ballet Theater and Pittsburgh Ballet at the Playhouse.  In addition to Schaumburg’s Nutcracker, Ms. Sheppard has staged many full-length ballets including Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty and Giselle.  Ms. Sheppard has been on staff at many Chicago area schools as well as in Tucson, Ft Lauderdale and the Seattle area.  She was a co-founder of Dance Academy of Libertyville, and most recently Ballet Illinois.  She credits her wonderful teachers as her inspiration to continue teaching and creating to inspire the next generations. 

Alberto J. Arias is a world-renowned freelance dancer and choreographer from Chicago.

He has established himself as a Chicago favorite by performing for companies such as Joseph Holmes Dance Theatre, River North Dance Chicago and Principal dancer with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and has served as the former Ballet Master and Rehearsal Director for Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago.  Mr. Arias received a Ruth Page nomination for Outstanding Dancer and was voted Best Dancer 1992 by Chicago Dance Magazine. He has worked with and for numerous choreographers including Margo Sappington, Twyla Tharp, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Lou Conte, James Kadalka, Gwen Vernan, and Christopher Chadman.  He was Assistant to David Bell in his rendition of the musical Fame and Choreographer for Michael Weber’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Assistant Choreographer to Randy Duncan in several works for the Joffrey Ballet and Dance For Life. Mr. Arias has also assisted international choreographer Daniel Ezralow in "Why Be Extraordinary When You Can Be Yourself" in the Italian regions of Bergamo, Milan, Rome. Mr. Arias appeared as a Principal dancer in the movie Just Visiting with Christina Applegate and coached Keanu Reeves in the movie The Watcher. He is currently promoting his latest fitness craze dance Latin Groove at Eastbank club and The Chicago Athletic Clubs. 

Amy Rose trained on scholarship at American Ballet Theatre School, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance. She performed with Chicago Ballet in "The Nutcracker" and "Alice in Wonderland" before joining American Ballet Theatre at the age of sixteen. Amy danced as a soloist with ABT in principle, soloist and character roles from 1979-1992, including her role opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov. She has guested with the Universal Ballet in Korea, Japan and China, and performed at Jacob's Pillow. In 1992 she joined Pacific Northwest Ballet where she was a featured dancer on the company's tour to Melbourne, Australia. Ms. Rose has been on the faculty for the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensives for the last thirteen years and has been teaching in the Chicago area for twelve years. She is currently a faculty member at area schools and is also the ballet mistress for Ballet Theater of Illinois. She has coached students for various competitions. Amy Rose is an ABT Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 of the ABT National Training Curriculum and recently became certified in Progressing Ballet Technique.