Denise Pons has been a professional ballet dancer and dance instructor for over 25 years. Her professional career ranges from the San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet for 14 seasons, and was a founding cast member of the White Oaks Dance Project with Mark Morris and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Her teaching career began in 1981 with the Boston Ballet and has continued to this day, with numerous companies and programs, including the Walnut Hill School and since 1994 with The Boston Conservatory.
As a dancer, some of her more notable roles include Swanhilda in Coppelia, Murtha in Giselle, the lead in Miss Julie opposite Fernando Bujones, Lady Capulet in Cho San Goh’s Romeo and Juliet, and the Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker, performing the roles of Snow Queen, Sugarplum Fairy and Coffee. She toured America and Europe with Rudolf Nureyev in Don Quixote, performing lead roles of Kitri, Kitri’s Friend and Street Dancer. She also was directed by Agnes de Mille in Rodeo, performing the role of Cowgirl.
Denise began studying under Joseph Giacobbe in New Orleans and performed in his company the Delta Festival Ballet from 1972-1977. She studied dance at TCU, performing with the Fort Worth Ballet prior to joining the San Francisco Ballet under Director Lew Christensen and Michael Smuin. Following a year with Ballet Oklahoma she joined The Boston Ballet in 1981 under Director E. Virginia Williams. For the next 14 years she performed under Directors Violette Verdy, Bruce Wells and Bruce Marks.
Over her career Ms. Pons has partnered with dance luminaries Rudolf Nureyev, Eric Bruhn, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Fernando Bujones, Patrick Armand and Simon Dow. She has studied with and been choreographed by: Agnes de Mille, Maurice Bejart, Twyla Tharp, Mark Morris, Elisa Montes, David Bintley, Natalia Dudinskaya (“the glasnost Swan Lake”), Niels Bjorn Larson and Natalia Karassanova.
Additional roles performed by Ms. Pons include: Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Fernando Bujones’ Esmeralda Pas de Deux, Bruce Marks’ Inscape, William Forsythe’s Love Songs, and David Bintley’s Allegri Deversi. She was chosen to perform the leading role by Mark Morris for his world premier of Mort Subite, by Elisa Monte for her premier of VII for VIII, and by Monica Levy for her premier of Beneath the Waves. She also performed lead roles in Antony Tudor’s Jardin aux Lilas, Sir Fredrick Ashton’s Monotones and La File Mal Gardee, and George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Agon, the Four Temperaments, Concerto Barocco and Allegro Brilliante.
As a teacher, Ms. Pons has taught extensively throughout the country. Her background includes Vaganova and Cecchetti techniques, extensive training in tap, jazz, flamenco and modern dance. She has been a frequent guest artist for Dance Masters of America, the dance faculty of Harvard Dance, the Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education, and is currently a Professor at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and the Acton School of Ballet.