Directors and Board Members

Artistic and Executive Director
Karen Mareck Grundy

As the Artistic/Executive Director of Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Karen Grundy states, “My goal is to give dancers a positive yet disciplined space to discover their center core and expand their hearts and minds while allowing them to explore the diverse aspects of dance.”

Karen Mareck Grundy was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV, where her dance training began at the age of 3. At age 6 she trained with Maceo and, later, at age 8, began her training in modern dance with Ronnie Greenblatt who trained under Martha Graham. Her extensive ballet and jazz training was under the direction of Inez Mourning and Belinda DeBecker. Grundy’s love of contemporary ballet was discovered in working side by side with L. J. Ballard as a dancer and as an assistant choreographer. Karen has been a member and featured dancer in various dance companies including Opus Dance Ensemble, New Works Project and Ballard’s Cafe Dance Co. She performed in Las Vegas for 11 years as a featured and lead dancer, as well as working in television. Grundy has taught master classes throughout the country and also as an assistant for choreographer Tiger Martina.

In 2000, Karen was brought to Columbia to teach at Columbia Performing Arts Centre, she taught there for 9 years. During this time she trained dancers who went on to The Juilliard School, The Lines School, Dance Kaliedescope, and Cedar Lake Ensemble, to name a few. Her dream was to always have her own company, and prior to starting Missouri Contemporary Ballet she was the Artistic Director for Cedar Lake II. Karen is thrilled to be able to create her vision while collaborating with Sean France, artists of all genres, and the many supporters of dance in Columbia, across the state of Missouri, and throughout the Country.

Associate Artistic Director
Ballet Master
Sean France

Sean France, a third generation performer and teacher, was raised in a well-known theatrical family, whose history includes grandparents and vaudevillians, Jerome & France. Sean’s father Richard France, a renowned Broadway performer and dancer, and Sean’s mother, choreographer and performer Ellen Ray, whose credits include working the Jack Cole, Bob Fosse, Jerome Robbins, Fred Astaire and Sean’s late godfather, the incomparable Gene Kelly. Sean’s dance training began with his parents at the France Academy of Dance. At the age of eleven he began to study ballet, tap and jazz. In 1978 and 1979, Sean was awarded full summer scholarship to the San Francisco Ballet School. In 1981 he was awarded a full scholarship and monetary stipend to study at the Houston Ballet Academy. He finished his studies at the Centre International de Danse with Rosella Hightower, in Cannes, France and graduated from the CID where he performed the lead roles in Hightower’s Coppelia and Bejart’s Firebird.

Sean has danced professionally in the following dance companies: the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Norwegian National Opera Ballet, Ballet Nuevo Mundo of Caracas, the National Ballet of Venezuela, the Athens Ballet of Greece, Cleveland Ballet, and Oakland Ballet. In addition, Sean has been principal guest performer with numerous regional, civic and international companies and ensembles.

Prior to moving to Columbia in 2004 to work as Ballet Master and Rehearsal Director for Cedar Lake II, Sean served as Visiting Professor of Dance at Grand Valley State University, choreographer for Grand Valley Opera Theater, and Ballet Master of G.V.S.U. Dance Ensemble. Sean teaches all levels of ballet, Pointe technique, men’s ballet technique, variations and pas de deux and is also well versed in the classical ballet repertory.

Resident Choreographer
Ballet Mistress
Shannon West

Shannon West began her classical ballet training with Francoise Joubert before attending the School of Ballet Arizona, studying the Vaganova method under the direction of Kee Juan Han. At fifteen, she began her professional career performing in Michael Uhtoff’s “The Nutcracker”. During her time as a trainee with Ballet Arizona Shannon performed in “The Nutcraker”, “Swan Lake, and Balanchine’s “Serenade”. Upon graduating from Arizona School for the Arts with honors, Shannon performed with The Georgia Ballet and Cedar Lake II. Throughout her career, Shannon has been fascinated by the mind’s ability to create movement from the body’s raw form and has explored choreography with guidance from Kee Juan Han, Anne Marie Deangelo, and Karen Mareck Grundy. Her works have been premiered by The Georgia Ballet and students of The School of Ballet Arizona, Ballet Pacifica, and The San Angelo Civic Ballet. After creating repertoire for Missouri Contemporary Ballet for the last two seasons, Shannon is proud to be named resident choreographer. She would like to thank Karen Grundy for her endless support.

The Board

President           
Mark Grundy 
         
Vice-President          
Rebecca McHugh

Treasurer    
Tina Marso

Secretary
Candy Young

Chairman
William B. Bondeson

Members of the Board
Tracy Barnes, Lesley Bowman, Amanda Glennon, Randall Johnston, Marty Newman, Nick Peckham, Amy Pugh, Douglas Pugh, Barbara Smith, Sharon Viles, Larry Young

Advisory Board
William Bondeson, Deb Corkery, Matt Harline, Sara Harper, Jennifer Sovich