Buffalo City Ballet

Staff

Marvin Askew, Executive Director.  Mr. Askew  began his training under the tutelage of Karl Singletary, founder of the Buffalo Inner City Ballet School.  He has been awarded numerous scholarships from prestigious institutions, such as the American Ballet Theater, the New York City Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey Dance Center.  A former member of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Maryland Ballet and Capital Ballet, Mr. Askew has appeared as guest artist with many regional companies, including the Empire State Ballet, the Buffalo Ballet Theater, Lake Superior Ballet, Johnson City Ballet, Florence Ballet, Gemini Dance, American Academy of Ballet, La Roche College, Ithaca Ballet, Rochester City Ballet, Dance Street West Ballet of Los Angeles and the Chicago Ballet under Ruth Page & Larry Long.

As the Executive Director of the Buffalo City Ballet and lead instructor at its training school, Marvin was awarded a choreographer's grant from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program to create several new works for the company.  He also had the honor to represent Buffalo in 1995 at the National Medal of Arts Award Ceremony, hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts and held at the White House under President Clinton.  In year 2000, he was inducted into the Western New York Dance Hall of Fame for his outstanding work leading children through dance.

 

Staff Continues

Janet Reed, Professor of Dance has taught at numerous institutions in the Western New York area, especially the Buffalo City Ballet School, from 1979 through 2000.  Janet has received several teaching honors, such as, "Teacher of the Year" (2000), and Individual Development Awards in the years 2000 and 2001.  Ms. Reed's choreography has been acknowledged as outstanding by the New York Foundation on the Arts, who awarded her a fellowship during the years 2002 - 2003.  Additionally, she was an award recipient from the Barbara Demming Memorial Fund for Women in 1993 for her work on "I Women I".  Ms. Reed has also received an award from the New York State Council on the Arts Special Art's Service for "Mask" in 1990.  She has not only performed at Buffalo State College's Rockwell Hall, but she has also performed internationally in Amsterdam, Germany, Scotland and France.  In July 2002, Janet Reed & Dancers, (founded by Ms. Reed in 1990), premiered in the first International Dance Festival in New York City.  The company continues to perform throughout the local Western New York area during the year as well as touring the local festivals during the summer.  Ms. Reed has been a teaching member of the Jazz World Dance Congress in the years 2000 and 2003 and has taught master classes throughout the United States.  At Buffalo State College, Ms. Reed currently teaches African American Dance, Black Dance History, Dance Composition, Dance Appreciation, Ballet, Modern Dance and Jazz.  Ms. Reed also works with student members (choreography and mentoring) of the Buffalo State College Dance Theater.  She received her Master's degree in Theatre and Dance from the University at Buffalo, SUNY.

Rebbecca Bateson Brown: Ballet Instructor

Ms. Brown has been dancing with the Buffalo City Ballet since 1996.  Originally from Ohio, she began her training in Columbus at the age of 5.  In addition to her training at the BCB, she has studied at the Performing Arts Dance Academy, and has participated in several workshops with Ballet Met.  In May2007, Ms. Brown graduated from Buffalo State College with degrees in Art History and Anthropology and a minor in Geography.