Faculty
The Metropolitan Ballet Theatre faculty is a team of teachers and mentors hailing from various parts of the world.
To learn more, select a teacher to the right.
Maniya Barredo
Maniya Barredo received one of the highest titles possible in dance in 1978 after a performance of Giselle with a company in the Philippines. Included in the audience were President and First Lady Marcos, and one of this century’s most-loved ballerinas, Dame Margot Fonteyn. At a reception following the performance, Dame Margot presented Maniya with a bouquet of flowers, and in front of all assembled proclaimed Maniya Barredo had earned the title Prima Ballerina.
“The title was given to me because of my work and I’ve never changed the way I work from the time I started to today.” That work began at age 4 for Honey (her real name). Driven to succeed, Honey left her native Philippines at age 18 to travel to New York where she joined the Joffrey School on scholarship.
Robert Joffery, founder of the school and the ballet company carrying his name, noticed Honey had that ‘Something Special,’ and - after giving Honey her worst memory - took her aside a year later and told her he had erred in mentioning that she should give up dancing for nursing. Joffery wanting her to dance for him. And, as he did with special dancers, Joffery gave his offer more weight by renaming Honey after the largest city in her native Philippines, Manila.
Thus, the newly named Maniya Barredo forged on and earned a spot with with Les Grandes Ballets Canadiens. In 1976 she was chosen by Alicia Alonzo to represent Canada in the International Ballet Festival held in Cuba. When she finished her performance, the requisite flowers were placed in her arms as the audience applauded their approval. Twenty times Maniya came from behind the curtain to receive the tribute of her adorers, twenty times.
In the ensuing years since applause rocked the Ballet Festival, Maniya has danced with the incomparable Mickhail Baryshnikov, has been the only dancer outside of New York and Europe invited to tour with the Stars of the World Ballet, received the Gawad CCP Para Sining Award of Excellence from Filipino president Fidel Ramos, become the official Prima Ballerina of the Philippines and danced for twenty years with the Atlanta Ballet as Prima Ballerina before her retirement.
Feeling deeply for those who are just joining the merry-go-round of ballet when there’s a decline in dance companies and the arts in general, Maniya notes “the sad fate would be that doors would close all over the country. The threat to the arts threatens all of us. We need to be tenacious as artists, keep pushing those boundaries, get people fired up and not diminish the product. We need to educate people. Art needs to be part of education, and we need dance that’s challenging to the audiences.”
Taking that message to the people is what Maniya planned to do upon retirement. She was an Artistic Consultant to Ballethnic in Atlanta, the Cultural Attache for the Philippines, and was Artistic Director of the ASB Performing Ensemble, and now director of Metropolitan Ballet Theatre. Maniya Barredo makes good her plans as she works with the next generation of dancers and takes dance to Atlanta and the world.
Roscoe Sales
Roscoe L. Sales, Jr., is a native of Winston-Salem, N.C. where he earned his BFA on scholarship from the North Carolina School of the Arts. He has also studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and The Dance Theatre of Harlem. He has performed with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Metropolitan Opera Company in Porgy and Bess, the Greensboro Ballet, and the North Carolina Dance Theatre.
In 1999 Roscoe made his debut as a choreographer with his version of Othello for Carolina Ballet. He is on faculty at the Atlanta Ballet Center for Dance Education, Tri-Cities High School, and guest teaches throughout Georgia, Michigan, and the Carolina’s. He is currently a guest artist with The Atlanta Ballet, Ballethnic Dance Company, and The High Point Ballet in North Carolina.
Rhonda Henriksen
Rhonda Henriksen has danced professionally since the age of 19. She trained under full scholarship with Alvin Ailey, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. She has also trained at Steps Studio, Limon Studio, Broadway Dance Studio and Martha Graham Studio. She has toured across the globe with world renowned dance companies such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Elisa Monte, River North Dance Co. Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago and Ernst-Watson Dance Co.
Rhonda was a soloist to some of the finest choreographers of our time such as Twyla Tharp, Danny Ezralow, Margo Sappington, Kevin O’Dea, Sherry Zunker, Jiri Killian and Nacho Duato, Mauricio Wainrot, Ginger Farley and Sam Watson. After leaving professional dance to start a family, Rhonda became the Director of Dance Ministry for Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL. There she worked closely with Bill Hybels and his team to develop dance ministry. Eventually this ministry formed it’s own company called Groundwork Dance which still continues to develop works of dance that minster to people’s hearts with the gift of dance.
Roscoe Sales
Roscoe L. Sales, Jr., is a native of Winston-Salem, N.C. where he earned his BFA on scholarship from the North Carolina School of the Arts. He has also studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and The Dance Theatre of Harlem. He has performed with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Metropolitan Opera Company in Porgy and Bess, the Greensboro Ballet, and the North Carolina Dance Theatre.
In 1999 Roscoe made his debut as a choreographer with his version of Othello for Carolina Ballet. He is on faculty at the Atlanta Ballet Center for Dance Education, Tri-Cities High School, and guest teaches throughout Georgia, Michigan, and the Carolina’s. He is currently a guest artist with The Atlanta Ballet, Ballethnic Dance Company, and The High Point Ballet in North Carolina.
- Maniya Barredo
- Roscoe Sales
- Rhonda Henriksen