VLADIMIR ROJE, PhD (Artistic Director) began his ballet training at the National School of Choreography in Sofia, Bulgaria. He received his BS and MS in Pedagogy and Choreography from the Ballet Faculty of the Bulgarian National Academy of Music and Arts. In 2020, he completed his PhD in Music and Dance Arts at the same academy in the Department of Music and Performing Arts.
Dr. Roje performed as a principal dancer with national companies in Bulgaria, Germany, and Austria, as well as with Carolina Ballet (NC), New Jersey Ballet Company, and Albany Berkshire Ballet. Throughout his extensive career, he has danced leading roles in many classical ballets, including Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, La Bayadère, La Sylphide, Napoli, Don Quixote, La Fille Mal Gardée, Coppélia, Esmeralda, Sylvia, Cinderella, and The Nutcracker, among others.
As a principal dancer, Dr. Roje has had the opportunity to work with numerous world-acclaimed ballet masters and choreographers, among them Yuri Grigorovich (Bolshoi Ballet), Irina Kolpakova (ABT, Mariinsky Ballet), Alexander Grant (The Royal Ballet), Dina Bjørn (Royal Danish Ballet), Eva Evdokimova (English National Ballet), Hans van Manen (Dutch National Ballet), Rudi van Dantzig (Nederlands Dans Theater), Ricky Wise (New York City Ballet), Paul Sutherland (Joffrey Ballet), and Eleonor D’Antuono (American Ballet Theatre).
As a guest artist, he has toured extensively throughout Europe and has participated in numerous international gala performances worldwide. Dr. Roje is also a decorated medalist of the 14th International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria.
He has taught ballet at the Ballet School of the Opera House Graz (Austria), the School of the New Jersey Ballet Company, and Stowe Dance Academy (Vermont). He has frequently served as a guest teacher at Valentina Kozlova Conservatory (NY), the School of Albany Berkshire Ballet (NY), Cantarella School of Dance (MA), Lebanon Ballet School (NH), the Ballet School at the Varna Opera House (Bulgaria), and several other schools in the New York City area and in Vermont. He has staged and co-choreographed a variety of full-length ballets, including The Nutcracker, Coppélia, Cinderella, La Vivandière, and Les Sylphides.
JOSHUA SHACK (Executive Director) Joshua Shack decided to become a clown when he was just three years old, and at age nine, he began performing his solo show at many local events. As a teenager, he toured for four summers with Circus Smirkus. He then toured nationally as a clown with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.
He is a co-creator and performer of The Piccolini Trio and directed their critically acclaimed stage show Circus in a Trunk. Other directing credits include Out of Orbit at The Theater at Saint Peter’s in New York City; Nothing but Nonsense, a variety musical comedy at Circus World Museum in Baraboo, WI; the Circus Smirkus 2024 Big Top Tour The Imaginarium, and 25 productions for Theater in the Open in Newburyport, MA. He served as creative consultant for Cirque Us’s Ragtag and Boston College’s The King Stag, and Associate Director of Pagliacci by Opera Vermont.
He is a teaching artist-in-residence for Circus Smirkus, and has served in a dozen different roles with the company, including Production Manager, Director of Programming, and Associate Artistic Director, and Interim Executive Director.
CYDNEY TERRONE (Teacher) a New Jersey native, started dancing in her Mother's studio when she was young. As a teen she danced with New Jersey Ballet as well as Garden State Ballet where she has performed in works by various choreographers including George Balanchine Cydney also has a background in Musical Theater, where she performed in many New Jersey premieres with Allegro Productions.