Brooke Desnoës

Brooke Desnoës is Director of Dance Programs at Wallace State Community College where she teaches classical ballet, pointe, dance history, dance pedagogy, dance composition and contemporary dance to undergraduate students. She also teaches master classes and is a guest artist choreographing and staging ballets. Brooke Desnoës received her early training from Sonia Arova at Alabama School of Performing Arts and at Atlanta Ballet. She has performed with Scottish Ballet, Alabama Ballet, Gainesville Ballet, Loudoun Ballet, and Georgetown Ballet. Her education includes a BA from Brenau University and a MA in Professional Practice Dance Technique Pedagogy from Middlesex University in London, England. After a period of teaching at The Washington School of Ballet in Washington D.C. under the direction of Mary Day, Brooke Desnoës founded L'Académie Américaine de Danse de Paris (AADP) in France. Since its creation in 1997 AADP grew to become one of the largest (over 900 students) and most reputable ballet schools in Europe.

While establishing her Ballet school in Paris with the financial support of The Annenberg Foundation, Ms.

Desnoës devised several educational programs among which a pre-professional training course that welcomed young dancers from across Europe, North America and Asia. In 2007 she also successfully started a Master Class Series, which gave young talented European dancers the opportunity to study with prominent dancers and instructors such as; Violette Verdy, Suki Schorer, Gailene Stock, Gary Norman, Amanda McKerrow, John Gardner, Deborah Dobson, Karin Averty, Elizabeth Platel and Jolinda Menendez among others. Her students have gone on to study at schools such as; American Ballet Theatre (ABT), The Washington School of Ballet, Atlanta Ballet School of Dance, Alvin Ailey Dance Center, The Boston Ballet School, The Cranko School, The Royal Ballet School, English National Ballet School, The Joffrey Academy - Chicago, Nutmeg Conservatory, The Rock School and Die Ballettschule des Hamburg Ballett.

At the end of their training a number of her dancers joined companies in Europe, North America, Japan and Mexico. In 2010 Brooke created "Le Jeune Ballet Franco-Américain" providing young professional dancers, between the age of 17 and 22, the opportunity to perform full length ballets and original choreographies multiple times a year across France and Europe. With her young company, Ms. Desnos has staged classic ballets as well as her own creations at Le Palais des Congres de Paris, Le Théâtre de Verdure de Ramatuelle, Le Théâtre de Neuilly, Le Centre Culturel de Porto-Vecchio, the Camara Municipal de Caiscais in Portugal and more recently in China on the Yinchuan and Guangzhou campuses of Minzu University.

Ms. Desnoës has initiated a collaboration with Florida State University, and Columbia Global Centers in Paris. These programs offer US students the opportunity to study ballet at AADP and obtain university credits for the classes successfully completed over a trimester. She is frequently invited to hold master classes in Europe and abroad in classical ballet, variation and in dance history. She is a regular teacher at the Joffrey Academy, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Principia College and is invited to teach at Ruth Page, the University of Cincinnati and New York University/Tisch. She has also implemented a series of teacher exchange program with the Joffrey Academy and The Royal Ballet School of London.

Her students can also be found in the finals of international dance competitions such as Youth America Grand Prix, Prix d'Europe, Tanzolymp in Berlin. Brooke is a regular jury member and master teacher to numerous international dance competitions. Ms. Desnoës has also formed partnerships with charity organizations and offered community outreach programs for institutions such as Hopital Necker, Envol, Votre Ecole Chez Vous. Her dancers have performed in several benefit performances hosted by the American, the British and the Czech Republic embassies. Ms. Desnoës has also remained at the heart of fundraising and development for AADP. In 2017 she partnered with the town of Le Chateau d'Oleron, France to create a satellite school for AADP. This extension serves local students and will be the home of an International Summer Ballet School.

Ms. Desnoës obtained the French state ballet teaching certificate in 1993 and has been a member of the "Conseil International de la Danse"/ UNESCO since 2006. She worked directly with the Royal Academy of Dance to coordinate events in Paris where she was granted the title of Mentor in 2009. In 2014, for its 25th anniversary, the Annenberg Foundation identified Brooke Desnoës as one of the 25 vision-driven leaders chosen to represent the 8500 grantees whose visions they supported since its creation. In 2021 she beccame a certified teacher of Progressing Ballet Technique and is a current member of NDEO.

In 2019, Ms. Desnoes returned with her family to her native Alabama and created the dance program at Wallace State Community College. Conjointly, she created the BD Ballet Academy and Ballet South, its junior dance company. Since returning to the United States, Brooke has continued to serve as a guest teacher, featured choreographer, and a panel member to Alabama Dance Festival, North Alabama Dance Festival, American College Dance Festival and other leading dance schools across the southeast. Her current research is focused on community engagement through dance. She focuses on an in-depth look into the current types of programming, motivations, and effects dance has on communities. Brooke Desnoës is committed to the achievement of the highest standard for all of her students. She believes that every dancer must be provided with careful guidance and be offered the opportunity to maximize one's potential through a learning process that involves a deep understanding of the physical, technical and artistic attributes that compose the diverse and multiple facets of ballet.