Martha Brem Studio Founder & Artistic Director

Martha Carrasco Brem began dancing at the Royal Academy of Dance in Monterrey, Mexico when she was six years old.  She studied classical ballet, Flamenco, tap, and modern dance.  At age 13, Ms. Brem's love of ballet motivated her to seek a new ballet school where she would have performance opportunities with a Ballet Company.  When the company director, Luz María Quintero, became ill, at age 16 Ms. Brem stepped forward to make her directorial debut with the company's last performance, Swan Lake.  With Ms. Quintero's encouragement, Ms. Brem auditioned for La Escuela Superior de Música y Danza, a school of fine arts supported by the government of Mexico and established by Carmen Romano de López Portillo, then First Lady of Mexico.  Ms. Brem and seven other dancers received coveted invitations to train a La Escuela Superior.  Training included methodology of classical ballet taught in the Cuban Dance Technique, music appreciation, contemporary dance, music, anatomy of the human boday, and child psychology.  During the summers, Ms. Brem attended programs and workshops furthering her knowledge of classical ballet, including repertory, historical dance, and classical Spanish dance.  As she continued to perform, her most notable performances include a performance in Mexico City in homage to Alicia Alonso, founder of the Cuban Technique.  Ms. Brem also danced with La Escuela de Artes Escencias of the University of Nuevo León under the direction of Carola Montiel and Ma. Eugenia Fuentes.

Ms. Brem's love of dance inspired her to send her résumè to the Joffrey ballet in New York City, where she secured an audition.  As her parents, unfortunately, would not allow her to attend, she turned to Houston, TX, where an aunt resided.  She married in 1982 and in began a family and in 1988 returned to dance with the Houston Ballet and Spring Academy of Dance.  At this time Ms. Brem focused on specialized training for teachers by attending workshops with the Royal Academy of Dancing as well as in the school where she herself studied, La Escuela Superior in Monterrey, Mexico.  Ms. Brem established her first business, The Dancing Bearettes, where she taught children under the age of 6.  In conjunction with Lakewood Montessori School, Artisan School of Dance opened in 2000 offering instruction to students of all ages.  Since 2003 Ms. Brem has been the sole Director and Owner of Artisan School of Dance.  As a logical follow-up to her school, in 2007 Ms. Brem established Artisan Ballet Company, a non-profit company whose purpose is to encourage a love of dance in all her students as well as provide the Northwest Houston Community with quality ballet instruction and performances.

Ma. Eugenia Bierberach

Ballet Mistress; Choreographer

María Eugenia Bieberach, ballet mistress, choreographer, graduated with honors from the Higher College of Ballet in Lima, Perú.  She was awarded a scholarship to pursue further training at the Colón Theatre in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  For 17 years, María Eugenia danced professionally as a soloist with the Ballet Nacional de Perú.  She spent one year on the staff at the Ballet Municipal de Lima, Perú under Lucy Telge.  Soon after joining the staff, she became a lecturer with the Ballet Municipal de Lima.  To further her dance education she took a course in Dance Pedagogies in Santiago de Chile.  In additional she has received a Distinction with Honours from the Royal Academy of Dance in Great Britain.  María Eugenia lectured and taught at several ballet schools in Perú before coming to the U.S.  Since then she has been a guest teacher at the Western Ballet in Mountain View, California as well as the Ballet San José in California.  María Eugenia joined Artisan School of Dance as Ballet Mistress in 2006.

Aria Alekzander is currently a member of the corps de ballet of the Houston Ballet.  She was born in Laguna Beach, California and has trained with the Anaheim Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School, and American Ballet Theatre.  Aria teaches upper level ballet classes at Artisan.

Julie Hughes, joined the Artisan School of Dance staff in November of 2008.  She has performed, competed and taught dance in Houston since 1979, performing on and off for 25 years at The Great Caruso.  Julie has studied ballet, Pointe, tap and jazz at the Florence Coleman School of Dance and Jazz and Flamenco with the Rodriguez Dance Academy.  She has studied ballet with Robert Joffrey, jazz with Gus Giordano and Ben Lokey, tap with Jack Stanley, and Flamenco with Nana Lorca and Marc Aurelio.  While dancing with the Rodriguez Dance Company, she performed with the Houston Symphony, the Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Pops Orchestra in Houston’s finest venues.  She has received the distinction of Highly Commended from the National Council of Dance Teachers Organizations (NCDTO).  Julie has owned “ . .  And all that JAZZ”, a performing dance company, since 1990. 

Gia Rodríguez, has been sharing her love for Flamenco with Artisan School of Dance since 2007 and has been teaching since 2001.  She is very passionate about teaching and educating the public about the art of Flamenco and instructs both children and adults. For 13 years, she dedicated herself to intensive Flamenco study with the late Rogelio Rodriguez, a Houston Flamenco choreographer and legend.  During this time Gia performed at numerous venues with the Rodriguez Academy of Dance Ensemble Company.  She has also had the opportunity to study under various Flamenco Masters from Spain and Mexico, including Nana Lorca, José Greco II, Louis Montero, Marc Aurelio, Linda Vega, Rosa María Navarette and Saray Cortes. Gia has also worked with local Flamenco Guitarist, Guillermo Serpas.  In addition to teaching Flamenco at Artisan School of Dance, she also teaches at Dancing City in West Houston.

Janie Parker's dance training began at a young age in Atlanta, GA. Ms.Parker left Atlanta to attend the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem, NC. Upon graduation from NCSA, she stayed with the School of American Ballet under full scholarship for one year when upon she received her first invitation to dance professionally.

From 1973 to 1976 Ms. Parker danced in Geneva under former New York City Ballet Soloist Patircia Neary. During her third year in Geneva, Ben Stevenson staged his production of "Cinderella", which was life altering for Ms. Parker.  She subsequently followed Stevenson to Houston, TX when he took on the role of Artistic Director for the Houston Ballet. During her long tenure Stevenson created many roles for her apart from casting her in the lead roles for the major classical ballets.

Ms. Parker has danced in cities all over America, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and Asia, performing before royalty and dignitaries.  After retiring from te Houston Ballet, Parker has gone on to teach Stevenson's works to companies all over the world.  She currently own a Pilates studio in Houston, where she teaches along with other former dancers.

Leilani Delannoy's dance education is based in the theoretical and practical elements of the Art of Ballet and Cultural Dance forms. Early in her career, Leilani formed part of the Junior Corps des Ballet of Ballet Etudes, later she continued her training with the Ballet Center of Houston, under the direction of Victoria Vittum, where she became a member of the Houston Repertoire Ballet Company.  Throughout her dance career, Leilani has had the opportunity to teach at various studios and develop master classes for Ballet. 

Susanne Bickham Murphy has been studying Flamenco for the past 11 years at Rodriguez Dance Academy.  Ms. Murphy has trained under Flamenco legends from both Spain and Mexico, including Marc Aurelio, Luis Montero and Nana Lorca. She has performed with the Rodriguez Academy of Dance Ensemble Company as an extension of her training.  Susanne is passionate about sharing her love of Flamenco with her students.

Emily Butler, Student teacher.  A student of Artisan for 14 years and Principal in Artisan Ballet Company.