The Staff

Heather Maloy (Artistic Director, Resident Choreographer and Dancer) began her career as a choreographer shortly after joining the North Carolina Dance Theatre (NCDT) as a dancer in 1989. A graduate of NC School of the Arts, Maloy began her association with Salvatore Aiello, the director of NCDT, while still a student. After following her progress during her high school years, Aiello hired her at 17, making her at that time the youngest dancer to be hired as a full company member in NCDT’s history. She began choreographing on the company a year and a half later at the age of 19.

Maloy stayed with NCDT for thirteen years, dancing principal and soloist roles and has made guest appearances with BalletMet, the Moving Poets and Tampa Ballet. She excelled in works by George Balanchine, Salvatore Aiello, Paul Taylor, Alvin Ailey, William Forsythe, David Parsons and Alonzo King.

Aiello’s successor, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, commissioned her to create five more pieces for NCDT and included her work, “Couch Potatoes,” as part of their Joyce season in 2004. Maloy has created two premieres for the Chautauqua Ballet, three ballets for the Nashville Ballet, and was chosen from a nationwide competition to participate in Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s Choreoplan 2002. She was chosen from an open call for alumni choreographers to set a work for the NC School of the Arts’ alumni show at their Summer Performance Festival in Manteo, NC and will be creating a new work for the school’s Spring Dance performance in May 2008. Most recently Maloy finished first in round one of the Ballet Noauveau Colorado 21st Century Choreography Competition and created a new work for the company this April.

In 2003, Maloy moved to Asheville, NC and founded Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance. She acts as the artistic director, and choreographs the majority of the work performed by the company. She has created fourteen ballets for Terpsicorps, including two full-lengths, ‘Alice’ and ‘The Scarlet Letter.’ The company works mainly in the summer, employing dancers from professional companies across the country. In its five summer seasons, the company has achieved critical success, performing to sold out houses and attracting audiences from all over the state of North Carolina and beyond.

Timothy Rinehart Yeager (Ballet Master) is currently serving as ballet master for the Nashville Ballet. Prior to that he spent one season as ballet master for Charlotte’s Moving Poets Theatre of Dance after having performed with the North Carolina Dance Theatre for ten years. While with NCDT, he starred in ballets by Salvatore Aiello, Alvin Ailey, George Balanchine, Agnes DeMille, David Parsons and Paul Taylor among others. He has been a guest artist with the Dancer’s Ensemble, the Chautauqua Ballet and the Tampa Ballet. Mr. Yeager received his training at Sally Miller Dance, Third Street Music School Settlement, Syracuse University and the North Carolina School of the Arts. He has taught master classes and led intensive arts residencies throughout the eastern United States and is also an agent of the Salvatore Aiello estate, having staged Aiello’s works since 1996. Mr. Yeager and Ms. Maloy have been working together since 1990, forming a shared aesthetic respect that transcends a need for words and a trust that makes for the ideal environment in which to create.

Lucia Del Vecchio (Managing Director) Terpsicorps is thrilled to have a new member of our staff, as of June 2007. Due to the generosity of the Janirve Foundation, Lucia Del Vecchio has been able to join on as our managing director. Del Vecchio has been involved in theatre and the arts since she was a child. She received her BA from Hollins College, and her MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. She has taught theatre and playwriting at numerous schools and institutions, and is an actor, director, and playwright. Her plays have received staged readings and productions at UT Austin, Burning Coal Theatre Company, Florida Stage, Mill Mountain Theatre, and Manhattan Theatre Source, among others. Her play ATHENA received its world premiere production at NC Stage Company, as part of their Catalyst Series, produced by enigmatic theatre company. Del Vecchio has worked in arts non-profit management positions for American Dance Festival, Carrboro Arts Center, and the Stoneleaf Theatre Festival, and is thrilled to expand her professional knowledge and skills with Terpsicorps.

Joseph Curry (Director of Outreach) has danced professionally for the last fifteen years, performing nationally and internationally. Mr. Curry spent five years with North Carolina Dance Theatre followed by eight years with Moving Poets Theatre of Dance, both based in Charlotte NC. His experience has allowed him to choreograph for the school of the North Carolina Dance Theatre as well as the Moving Poets. He has also had the opportunity to work with Opera Carolina both as dancer and choreographer.

Curry has dedicated his life to working with children by creating and leading dance outreach programs for a number of schools and dance companies such as the North Carolina Dance Theatre, Roanoke Ballet and Savannah Dance Theatre. In addition to the outreach efforts Curry has been involved in, he has also worked with young students choreographing for the schools of the Fairfax Ballet, Roanoke Ballet Theatre, the Charlotte School of Ballet, Savannah Dance Theatre and the School of The North Carolina Dance Theatre. Joseph and his wife Miranda have recently begun a new chapter in their lives with the birth of their son Cyrus James. Finding Asheville an ideal place to raise a family, Curry is looking forward to continuing his involvement in the community and has enjoyed the warm welcome he has received in the past. He looks forward to returning to Asheville and Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance with great enthusiasm and appreciates the opportunity to help usher in a new era of dance education in the region.

G. Craig Hobbs (Projections Designer) is a multimedia developer and video artist living in Asheville, NC. He completed undergraduate studies in fine art and digital synthesis at the California Institute of the Arts, and has traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia producing field recordings and documentary video.A founding member of the Asheville-based independent multimedia collective, Black Box Studio, Mr. Hobbs’ clients include Volvo, Moog Music, NOAA's National Climatic Data Center,  the NC Arts Council,  Asheville Global Report, the National Percussion Ensemble of Guinea, and Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance.Mr. Hobbs specializes in live video mixing utilizing generative video applications. His innovative use of projection surfaces has included parachutes, tetrahedrons, fog banks, fabric, people, and buildings.  Recently, his work has been featured at the following locations and events:The Wedge - SoundClash 03/ Bramble 04, 
The Big Idea – Panopticon, ACRC - Black Box Studio vs. FTH (NYC), the 
Orange Peel – Deep Sky/ Chinese New Year, Neptunalia Outdoor Festival – 
Touch Samadhi, Harmonic Convergence Outdoor Festival – LTJ Bukem and 
Sound Tribe Sector 9, and Alice – Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance.

Jeff Cravotta (Company Photographer) is based in Charlotte, NC and has worked with several dance companies over the years, including NC Dance Theatre, American Repertory Ballet, The Moving Poets, and Alban Elved. His dance photography has been seen in both Pointe and Dance Magazines, and his commercial work is often published in regional and national publications. We are very proud of our photos and Jeff's talent. To see more, visit our photo gallery as well as Jeff’s website, www.cravotta.com for more examples of his commercial, portrait, nature and travel photography.