SARAH SIMON WOLFF
A native of northern Michigan, Sarah studied classical piano and dance growing up before leaving home at the age of 13 to attend Canada’s National Ballet School. Upon graduating in 2006 she guested with Dutch National Ballet and then joined The National Ballet of Canada’s YOUdance apprentice program, the precursor to dancing as a member of NBOC through 2015. Proceeding her tenure with NBOC she spent a year based in NYC doing freelance and commercial work, which led to spending a season with BalletMet. Sarah has since pursued a freelance performance career alongside directing the ballet program for Company Dance Traverse under the directorship of Betsy Carr & Sue Buck. She has guested with New York Dance Project, Grand Rapids Ballet, Fenton Ballet Theater and more and has performed lead roles with The National Ballet of Canada, Ballet Minnesota, BalletMet, and New York Dance Project in addition to featured commercial work in Toronto, MI, & NYC. Sarah was awarded The Cecchetti Council of America Ballet Award, The NYCDA Ballet Scholarship, NBS’ Peter Dwyer Award of Excellence, and NBOC’s Patrons’ Council Award of Merit. Sarah has had the privilege of training with Patrick Hinson, Deborah Hess, Raymond Smith, Lindsay Fischer, Nancy Bielski, Sorella Englund, Sergui Stephanschi, & Leslie Browne, and has worked with Alexei Ratmanski, Roberto Alonso, Ted Branson, Christopher Wheeldon, Jorma Elo, and Jiri Kylian to name a few. She’s a passionate teacher, mentor and choreographer with original works placing first in YAGP & NYCDA competitions. She’s presently completing a course in Yoga Nidra meditation and integrates mindfulness into her classical ballet coaching. Sarah lives in NYC and has recently become a permanent faculty member of New York Dance Project as one of the rehearsal directors and continues to conduct private lessons, teach mindfulness, choreograph, and freelance perform.
Victoria Sames, originally of Annapolis, MD, is a NYC based freelance performer and teacher.
In 2017, she graduated from the Hartt School with her degree in Ballet Pedagogy and Performance. While at school she performed in works by José Limón, Adam Barruch, Manuel Vignoulle, Gemma Bond and Norbert De La Cruz III and got to perform at The Joyce Theater for the International José Limón Dance Festival. Right out of school she was hired at Ballet Tech and soon became a teacher for their outreach program under the direction of Eliot Feld.
Victoria joined Pigeonwing Dance with Gabrielle Lamb in 2019 where she has performed in multiple films, a hotel opening, staged productions and seasonally in The Carpet Series which started in the summer of 2020 and was featured in Dance Magazine. She’s had the pleasure with the company to perform with live musicians such as the Grammy nominated Neave Trio and Derek Ratzenboeck a violinist with the New York City Ballet.
As a proud member of SAG-AFTRA, Victoria has worked with Marguerite Derricks on the Emmy awarded show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She is proudly featured in Season 3 and 5. Her dancing has also lead her to perform at the Minskoff Theater for Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS Organization Easter Bonnet Competition and for Rockers on Broadway with Donnie Kehr.
MATTHEW PRESCOTT
Matthew Prescott, born and raised in Idaho, graduated high school from Interlochen
Arts Academy and attended the inaugural year of the Joffrey/New School University in
New York City. In 2000, he joined the Joffrey Ballet for a number of years before setting
out as a freelance artist. Working as a freelancer, Matthew has worked and performed
with Donald Byrd's Spectrum Dance Theater, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet, Ballet NY,
Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Amanda Miller, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, The
Alabama Ballet, Armitage Gone! Dance, BalletX, The Lyric Opera of Chicago,
Morphoses the Wheeldon Company, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Dominic Walsh
Dance Theater. Matthew was featured in Robert Altman's film The Company. Matthew
has choreographed works performed by Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Chamber
Dance Project, the Joffrey Ballet School, BalletX, Interlochen Arts Academy 50th
anniversary Collage performance, for Misty Copeland for Prince’s Coming to America
2010 Madison Square Garden performances, as well as the Vail International Dance
Festival. Matthew made his Broadway debut as the Resident Choreographer on the
national tour of Billy Elliot as well as performing the roll of Older Billy. Matthew was also
honored to be the choreographer for French director Philippe Calvario’s Broadway
Musical workshop of Kiss of the Spider Woman. Matthew is currently working on
Broadway in the cast of Phantom of the Opera.
www.Matthew-Prescott.com
HEIDI KNECHT-SEEGERS
Heidi is passionate about the joy of movement and sharing it with her students. She integrates over 30 years of professional dance experience into her teaching. She is an E-RYT500 Yoga Teacher (over 2000 teaching hours) and is also certified in Meridian Yoga Therapy.
Alignment is central to her classes. The focus is on having fun while finding and encouraging yoga’s magical mind/body connection in a way that is safe and unique for every student. She will meet you where you are, show you how to avoid injury, and help you create a yoga flow that you love. You will be amazed how the benefits will extend beyond the walls of the studio into your daily life.
Heidi is a native New Yorker and has taught yoga across the USA. At the beginning of the Pandemic, she moved her teaching online and has been there ever since. She is delighted to have taught thousands of students around the globe. She has appeared in MEN’S JOURNAL, teaches yoga and meditation worldwide several times a week on Insight Timer, and was voted “BEST OF” on Lessons.com.
Helping people manage their physical and emotional stress is now Heid’s primary focus. She has an active Facebook community called: Overcoming Stress 
Worriers to Warriors and is very excited about offering her new online program, called OVERCOMING YOUR STRESS.
Connect with Heidi:
Website: www.OvercomingYourStress.com
Friend her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heidi.knechtseegers/
Join her Facebook Group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/overcomingstressww/
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heidisyogaforall/
MAX PRESTON KENNEDY
Prior to making his way to his mat as student and teacher, Max formerly made his home professionally in the halls of academia, in roles ranging from researcher, to program coordinator, to associate director at the City University of New York's Baruch College.
In 2019, his transition from academia to yoga was complete when he became head teacher and manager of one the largest studios in the country, home to 53 classes weekly -- a donation-based studio right here on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
In addition to being directly responsible for the well-being and growth of upwards of three dozen teachers at any given time, he'd also routinely teach peak-hour classes with well over 100 students in attendance prior to the pandemic.
To date, he has trained countless teachers -- anywhere in age from 16 to 68.
Possesed of a deep and abiding reverence for the thinkers and artists of antiquity, he is an avid museum-goer, as well as poised to self-publish his first volume of poetry, Melancholy's Nectar, within the turn of the calendar year.
A lifelong New Yorker, he is a long-suffering Knicks fan.
LESLIE BROWNE
Leslie Browne started her training with Margaret Craske when she was only 7 years old in NYC. Her parents were Kelly and Isabel Brown who were both members of the American Ballet Theater. They moved to Phoenix, Arizona where her father took over a dance studio and she continued her training with her parents. She received a summer scholarship to the School of American Ballet, and they asked her to stay for the winter. After 1 and 1/2 years at SAB, she did the lead role in Concerto Barocco for the SAB workshop, which was one of her favorite roles that she ever danced. Following the workshop, she joined New York City Ballet in 1974 at the age of 16. After a year and a half in the Corps De Ballet in NYCB, she went on to do the lead role of Emilia in the motion picture The Turning Point in 1976. She then joined American Ballet Theater as a soloist in 1976 and became a principal dance in 1986. Some of her favorite roles were Juliet, in Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, Odette in Swan Lake, Leaves are Fading, Violin Concerto. Those are just a few of the incredible ballets she danced including the amazing ballets by both Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. At the present time Leslie Browne is enjoying her teaching career and choreography.
