Dance Instructors

Nora Curran’s dedication and love for the art of dance is unsurpassed. Her tender, early years of ballet training were spent under the tutelage of Vera Sohr (Oslo Ballet, Norway), Bently Stone (Illinois Ballet), and Walter Camryn (Illinois Ballet). Later, Curran studied with the world’s finest coaches; Helena Kerolinska (Kirov Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia and Stuttgardt Ballet in Germany), Roberta Chesnul (Sanders Wells Ballet in London, England), Richard Ellis and Christine DuBoulay (Royal Ballet in London, England), Vivi Flindt (Royal Danish Balet), and Patricia Sigurdson (American Ballet Theater and Jeoffrey Ballet). Curran’s jazz and contemporary ballet training came from Bob Fosse, Suzanne Carol, Robert Durkin, and JoAnn Craig. Among her training accolades, Curran received a full scholarship as a 10 year old to the American Ballet Theater School in New York, and received a full scholarship to the renowned Interlochen School for the Arts in Michigan. Performance wise, Curran performed in the Chicago Youth Ballet, Hinsdale Opera Theater, Dance Chicago, Plank Road Players, Gateway Theater in New York, and in major professional productions of Pippin, Oklahoma, Shenandoah, Oliver, The Music Man, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Among her teaching credits are Salt Creek Ballet School (Chicago), Gateway Theater (New York), the Fox Valley Theater and Beyer School (Chicago), the Warren Guiness School of the Arts (Minneapolis), Principia College Theater (St. Louis), the Churchillway Arts School (Dallas), College of DuPage (Chicago), Vanderbilt University, the University of Memphis, and the American School of Russian Ballet (Memphis). Curran was also the founder and Artistic Director of her own school in Dallas, founder and co-director of ABT (Memphis), founder of the Oakland Youth Ballet, and founder of Allegro Ballet. Having trained and produced many of the best classical dancers in the United States, Nora’s students are now performing on Broadway, as well as national and international tours with Cirque du Soleil, Cats, Mamma Mia, and Movin’ Out. Curran’s talents lie not only in dance, as she was once a freelance writer with the Chicago Sun Times, and holds bachelor’s degrees in English and psychology. Over the years Curran has shared her artistic gifts as a consultant with new and established dance companies. After several months of retirement gave her renewed energy, Curran offered her services to House of Talent, where she was greeted with open arms. It is our privilege to have Nora Curran as the Artistic Director of House of Talent.

Yosek is a native of Pinar del Rio, Cuba. Yosek was most recently a dancer in Ballet de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico under the direction of Robert Hill and Luis Serrano. While there he was in the production of Danzon, Guapango, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Giselle (Hilarion), Grapatango, Cantus, Bayader and Volver. Yosek was also a dancer at Ballet Nacional de Cuba in La Habana, Cuba where he worked under the direction of Alicia Alonso. He has studied Ballet at Escuela Nacional de Ballet and Escuela Vocacional de Arte. While there he was under the instruction of Romona de Saa Bello, Mirta Hermida, Maestro Feranado Alonso, Maestro Alvaro Carreno and Marta Iris. Along with teaching Ballet Yosek is also a Salsa instructor.

Received his ballet training in his hometown of New York with Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Joffrey Ballet. Memphis audiences know him for his smoldering performances in Trey McIntyre's Memphis, Touched, Lonesome and The Barramundi. He also has danced title roles in Dracula, Nutcracker, Firebird and Mark Godden's Tender Loin for Connections: Food. He has danced with Tulsa Ballet, Hartford Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, Elisa Monte Dance and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.Rafael is from the Bronx, N.Y., and joined the company in 2001.

Melissa trained at NVS Dance studio beginning at the age of three, and continued through her senior year of high school, when she began teaching. Throughout her career she has won numerous scholarships and awards at workshops and competitions, including Hoctor's Caravan Kid. She was a finalist in the "Mid South Fair Youth Talent Contest" for several years for her tap solos and "Tap Dance Kids" group routines. She has won top honors at many national workshops and competitions including, Show Stoppers, Star Systems, C.O. Dance, and Dance Caravan. In these competitions, she won dancing awards in solo, duets, trios, and group numbers. She has trained and danced with many renowned artists from around the world, including Paula Abdul, Chris Judd, Barry Youngblood, and Tyce Diorio. She is trained in tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, and modern, and is known for her competitive tap group "The Tap Dance Kids". She also modeled in the Memphis area, and was in several local fashion shows.

Robin Sanders, a Little Rock, Arkansas native, began her professional dance career after graduating from Liberty University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Studies. In 2001, she became the choreographer and lead dancer for national recording artist, Nicole C. Mullen. During that five-year stint, she toured throughout the United States, Canada, Jamaica, and England. She also appeared on Don Cornelius’ Soul Train and GMA’s Dove Awards. In 2006, she performed on CIY’s Believe Tour as a singer, dancer/choreographer and actress. Sanders has invested over seven years of training into the Mid-south dance community teaching at Green Hills School of Dance, Vanderbilt University, Southern Association of Dance Masters, Ginny Mount School of Dance, Joy McDaniel School of Dance, Dance Academy of Bartlett, Nadine’s School of Dance, New Ballet Ensemble and School, Houston Middle School, Briarcrest High School, Shelby Oaks Elementary, and Promise Academy. Sanders now serves as Artistic Director for Out Loud Artistry, an performing arts training and mentorship program founded by she and her husband, and Director of Hip Hop at House of Talent.

An up and coming dancer and choreographer in Memphis, Ryan is a true believer in continuing your education while educating others. He has performed numerous times around the city, and has taken various classes on a national scale. Ryan’s self choreographed style has a Memphis flavor that will make you say “wow”.

Camilla Curran began her Vaganova ballet training at the tender age of seven with her mother Nora Curran, at the American School of Russian Ballet. From there, she continued training under Nora Curran at Allegro Ballet Academy, where she eventually took over the school’s pre-ballet instruction program. Camilla has also received private coaching from some of Russian ballet’s best dancers and teachers, including Nurlan Abugaliev (Pittsburg Ballet Theatre), Aygul Abugalieva (Pittsburg Ballet Theatre), Sergey Sergiev (Indiana Ballet), and Vadim Pijicov (Cincinnati Ballet). She has attended summer intensives with Mira Popovich, Nurlan Abugaliev, Philip Velinov (Louisville Ballet) and Natalia Velinova (Louisville Ballet). Her performance experience encompasses virtually every female lead role in the Nutcracker, including performances with the Oakland Youth Ballet, as the Sugarplum Fairy and Snow Queen. Camilla’s solo work includes Pas de Deux roles from Swan Lake and Don Quixote, including the Pas de Trios from Act I of Swan Lake, the White Swan Pas de Deux from Act II, Don Quixote dream solo from Act II, and Nora Curran’s original choreography. She has choreographed several children’s pieces, an advanced student’s Pas de Deux, and various contemporary pieces. She has taught beginning through advanced levels of ballet at both the Allegro Ballet Academy and House of Talent, and also enjoys teaching contemporary. She recently received her Pilates certification, and enjoys modeling locally with the Elzemeyer Talent Agency.

A graduate of Germantown High School, Brittany is continuing her pursuit of a career in musical theatre as a sophomore Musical Theatre major at Pace University in New York City. Nationally, Brittany was featured in Verizon Wireless print ad campaigns, and as a ballerina for Viking Appliances. Locally, she has appeared in many print and television ads as well as several independent films. She recently took the stage as the lead in Curtains at Germantown High School, where she wowed audiences as "Georgia". A legitimate “Triple Threat”, Brittany has trained for over 15 years in the fields of acting, dance, and vocal music.