workshops

GUEST ARTISTS

Phillip Broomhead joined Houston Ballet’s artistic staff as ballet master after an illustrious two-decade career as a dancer. He was born in London, England, trained at The Royal Ballet School and joined The Royal Ballet in 1981. He was promoted to soloist in 1983 and to principal in 1986. Several roles were created specifically for Mr. Broomhead, including The Southern Cape Zebra in Still Life at the Penguin Cafe and roles in Varii Caprice, Isadora, Pursuit, Number One, Enclosure, and L’Invitation au Voyage. He performed numerous times in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen, the Queen Mother, and at many other royal galas. Mr. Broomhead joined Houston Ballet as a principal dancer in January of 1991 and made his debut in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella. He was featured in all of Mr. Stevenson’s ballets, and many other works. In March 1991, while on vacation in Washington, D.C., he attended The Royal Ballet performance of Swan Lake. During Act I, their principal dancer sustained a serious injury and Mr. Broomhead found himself thrust onto The Kennedy Center Stage as Prince Siegfried; his performance won him worldwide critical acclaim. Mr. Broomhead also created roles in the world premieres of Glen Tetley’s Lux in Tenebris, Ben Stevenson’s Eclipse, and Trey McIntyre’s Peter Pan. He retired from Houston Ballet as a dancer in June 2004 after performing with the company for thirteen years.

Parisa Khobdeh, born and raised in Plano, Texas, trained under Kathy Chamberlain and Gilles Tanguay. She earned her B.F.A. from Southern Methodist University and, while a student at SMU and the American Dance Festival, worked with choreographers Robert Battle, Judith Jamison and Donald McKayle, among others. She also attended Taylor and Graham Intensives in New York. She has choreographed dances to benefit human rights organizations, as well as for independent films. In July 2006 she made her New York theatrical debut at the Stella Adler Studios in the lead role of Lanford Wilson's Burn This. She premiered with the Paul Taylor Dance Company at the American Dance Festival in Summer 2003.

Parisa was featured in Dance Magazine--"On the Rise" article in March 2007. 

Meredith Strathmeyer trained with the Chamberlain School of the Performing Arts, attending summer programs on full scholarship at School of American Ballet, Houston Ballet, Ballet Austin and Pacific Northwest Ballet. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the celebrated Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance and an Outside Field in Comparative Literature, and was in the Phi Eta Sigma Honors Fraternity for four years. During her tenure at IU, Ms. Strathmeyer was prominently featured in several Balanchine pieces, most notably the role of "Choleric" in Four Temperaments, as well as the “Lilac Fairy” in ABT’s Sleeping Beauty. In her first season with Dance Magazine’s 2009 Top 25 to Watch company, Ballet Nouveau Colorado, Meredith danced featured roles in works by Amy Seiwert , Lee Wei Chao, Ma Cong, and Mark Godden. The following years she was highlighted as a soloist in several of artistic director Garrett Ammon’s new works, such as Love of My Life, The Nutcracker, An Occasional Dream, And Tomorrow Came, and When the Power Goes Out. In 2008 she debuted as the title role of “Trilby” in the world premiere full length ballet, Moulin Rouge. Outside of dance, Ms. Strathmeyer was certified in Pilates in 2006 and teaches both ballet and Pilates in Littleton, Colorado; in addition, she has choreographed several works for the students of the Belliston Academy of Ballet throughout the 2007-2009 seasons.

Trey Gillen is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he grew up competing in diving and gymnastics, in the latter he won the 1990 U.S. National Championships and placed 6th at The World Championships for Sport Acrobatics. Under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy, he received a BFA from the Juilliard School. Dance companies to his credits include The Icelandic National Ballet (Reykjavik, Iceland,) Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, Alwin Nikolais Dance Theatre, Glimmerglass Opera, The Metropolitan Opera Company, New York City Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre, Mark Dendy Dance Theatre, Buglisi/Foreman Dance and Antigravity, Inc. For several years Trey has also been choreographic assistant to Lila York and Lynne Hockney Taylor creating ballets for The San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, The Royal Birmingham Ballet and The Juilliard School. Film credits include The Watchers, Helena, and American Primative. Trey made his Broadway debut in MOVIN' OUT, choreographed by Twyla Tharp with the music of Billy Joel. Other Broadway and regional credits include BARNUM, CANDIDE, DAMN YANKEES, MOST HAPPY FELLA, and PIRATES OF PENZANCE. Trey is also affiliated with New York City Opera and Palm Beach Opera where he has performed in several musicals and operas. Currently, Trey is the Associate Choreographer for the new musical ANGELS and is choreographing Lucia for Opera Louisiane. Trey is appearing with the Dallas Summer Musicals in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.