Starting dance at the late age of 16 and beginning his formal ballet training a year later, Jason Ambrose, of Virginia Beach, VA., began his studies at the Virginia Beach Ballet Academy under the direction of Ana Maria Martinez. He furthered his training at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School where he danced roles in company productions such as Terrance Orr's "The Nutcracker" and Derek Deane's "Alice in Wonderland". He has been accepted into and attended many prestigious year-round and summer programs such as the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and The Kirov Academy of Ballet, all on scholarship. Jason has had the opportunity to study closely with teachers such as Hector Zaraspe, Marina Stavitskaya, Deborah Wingert, Daniel Ulbricht, Andrei Bossov, and the late Peter O'Brian. He is an alumnus of the Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program where he was coached and mentored by master teacher Edward Ellison. As an instructor he has been a guest faculty member and choreographer for the Manhattan Youth Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Ellison Ballet, Valentina Kozlova Dance Conservatory, NY, Charlottesville Ballet, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts, Dancers Give Back Dallas, the University of Texas at Austin, Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp, Canadian Dance Company, Dupree Dance Convention, SoulEscape, Elite Classical Coaching, and Adrenaline Dance Convention. Jason worked as Ballet Director for Next Step Dance Performing Arts Center in Frisco, Texas and Canadian Dance Company in Oakville, Ontario. Jason was personally invited by St. Petersburg Conservatory Dean and former Mariinsky (Kirov Ballet) Director, Oleg Vinogradov, to travel to St. Petersburg, Russia as the first African American to enroll in their Ballet Masters and Choreographers Degree Program and to dance with the Ballet Theatre of the St. Petersburg Conservatoire. After moving to St. Petersburg in September 2015, he has returned to the U.S. where he is a freelance choreographer and teacher. He is the Director of Principles Ballet Intensive held in Frisco, Texas.
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