Instructors
EDDIE GASPER
Eddie Gasper came to the area as Director/Choreographer at Minnesota State University, Moorhead. He has been commissioned by the New York Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company, worked through the League of Regional Theatre and was guest artist/instructor in various universities and organizations. Eddie was also Bob Fosse’s assistant for over a decade working with him on and off Broadway and in Hollywood. In London, he choreographed at the Palladium for the BBC’s Talk of the Town. On Broadway, he choreographed Fig Leaves are falling, with Barry Nelson and Dorothy Loudon, and appeared as lead dancer in Can Can, Sweet Charity, West Side Story, Irma la Douce, Music Man, and Guys and Dolls. Eddie has directed night club acts for Juliet Prowse and Jedy Carne, and has also directed Ginger Rogers, Phil Silvers, Donald O’Connor, Agnes Moorhead, Kathryn Grayson, and Howard Keel, to name a few. He has had the pleasure of working under the direction of Jerome Robbins, Agnes DeMille, Michael Kidd, and Onna White. Locally, Eddie was the former co-Artistic Director/Choreographer for the Red River Dance and Performing Company from 1978-1995 and directed the main-stage musical at Trollwood Performing Arts School from 1981-1991.
KATHY GASPER
Kathy Gasper has an impressive classical background complimenting her appearances on the Broadway stage, television, cabarets, regional theatres, and summer stock productions. Kathy has been a soloist and principal dancer with the Milwaukee Ballet, Weisbaden Ballet, Illinois and Chicago Ballets, the Florentine Opera, and the Chicago Opera Ballet. She has been an instructor/guest artist at several universities and has produced creative “in-school” programs that are applied today in Michigan, Florida, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Kathy’s professional musical comedy roles include Lola in Damn Yankees, Gladys in Pajama Game, Rose in Bye Bye Birdie, Gypsy and Dainty June in Gypsy, Ado Annie in Oklahoma, and Miss Hannigan in Annie. She has been privileged to have studied and performed under outstanding choreographers Lupe Surrano, Luigi, Jamie Rogers, Madame Clistove, Ellis DuBoulay, Peter Genaro, and Ron Fields. She was assistant choreographer for the Doc Severinson & Brothers and Sisters nigh club act at the Plaza Hotel in New York and Hawaii. She has also choreographed summer stock productions, industrials, commercials, and major dance works for several performing groups, including the Merion Cole Ballet. Kathy was the former artistic director of the Red River Dance and Performing Company in Fargo, ND, and choreographed and was the director of the dance department at Trollwood Performing Arts School from 1981-1993.
MATT GASPER
Matthew Gasper has been dancing since the age of twelve with one of the top regional dance companies in the country. Under the direction of Kathy and Eddie Gasper, he honed his talents as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer. At the early age of 18, he choreographed his first musical, Jesus Christ Superstar at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota. Immediately after high school, Matthew joined the Cleveland San Jose Ballet Company, the fifth largest company in the United States at the time. He quickly worked his way up from trainee to soloist, dancing principal roles including Nutcracker, Rodeo, Coople, Swan Lake, and Blue Suede Shoes – a ballet set to the music of Elvis Presley. In 1999, Matthew moved to New York City to work with dance legends like Luigi and Denis Nahat, and to begin his career in musical theatre quickly securing roles on- and off- Broadway, including Appleamondo’s Dream, Thorougly Modern Millie, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys and Dolls, and others. After suffering a knee injury in “Millie”, Matthew moved to Los Angeles, teaching and choreographing with regional dance and theatre companies in California. Currently Matthew lives in Fargo, ND as a Master Teacher at Gasper's School of Dance and Performing Arts. His goals are to continue to build on the reputation of the school and the dance company established by his parents Kathy and Eddie.
COURTNEY JANKOVIC
Courtney Jankovic, a native of Cleveland Ohio, received the majority of her dance training at the School of Cleveland San Jose Ballet. She spent the years of 2000-2002 as a member of their youth ballet company under the direction of Gladisa Guadalupe. Early training also included summer intensives of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, North Carolina Dance Theatre and Cleveland San Jose Ballet as a scholarship recipient. She then proceeded on to dance professionally with the Minnesota Ballet for three seasons. There she was given many gracious opportunities to tour and perform ballets such as Cinderella, Coppelia, The Nutcracker, George Balanchine’s Valse Fantaisie and numerous other repertoire works. The years 2005-2007, Ms. Jankovic spent two seasons with the Ohio Dance Theatre performing multiple soloist roles in Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Nutcracker, Alice and Wonderland, and Swan Lake amongst many others. It was there she also began teaching all levels of ballet, tap, pilates, and choreographing. She debuted the children’s ballet, Sleeping Beauty, in May of 2007. Following that, Courtney became a soloist dancer with the Sierra Nevada Ballet in which she performed various pieces including the world premiers of Percussivlund, Marimba Madness and the Unicorn, Gorgon and Manticore.
MIKAL K.
Mikal began dancing at the age of four in her hometown of Missoula, MT. She studied at both the Garden City Ballet and the Missoula Dance Academy, and appeared in numerous productions, including Coppelia, La Boutique Fantastique, and The Nutcracker. Upon graduating from high school, Mikal moved to Moorhead to attend Concordia College, receiving her degree in Social Studies Education in 2003. She has been dancing in the Fargo-Moorhead area since 1999 and found a home with the Fargo-Moorhead Ballet in 2006. Her background is largely ballet and jazz based, and she loves taking class to broaden her dance knowledge and technique. Mikal has coached and choreographed for the MSUM Dance Team, and choreographs Concordia's Welcome Show each year. While a member of the FM Ballet, Mikal has performed in Tubby the Tuba, Peter and the Wolf, and in several shows for the Fargo Theater's Classic Film Series.
PATRICK KASPER
Patrick Kasper is an internationally known dancer, singer, choreographer and performer. He has appeared on television, in magazines, commercials and newspapers and heard on radio throughout the world. Patrick began his career in the mid-west with the Red River Dance And Performing Company under the direction of Kathy and Eddie Gasper. Patrick then combined his love for fitness and dance and became a popular instructor/choreographer at Voight Fitness and Dance Center in Los Angeles and went on to present his fitness dance class Positive Motion in Nice, Bahrain, Palm Springs, Paris, New York, Boston, Chicago and Grand Cayman. As Fitness Representative for Reebok in Chicago, Patrick choreographed and danced on The Reebok Demo Team that performed at Fitness conventions throughout the world. Patrick formed his own full service entertainment company called P.M. Productions or Positive Motion in 1995. Under the P.M. Productions umbrella Patrick starred in the television program "Shape Up Chicago", performed with his musical group under the name "Slambone" (www.slambone.com) and released two CDs entitled "Empty" and "Slambone /Bonepoet". While living in Minneapolis from 1998 until 2002 Patrick was the Seasonal Live Entertainment Director and a choreographer at Valleyfair Amusement Park. Patrick also choreographed several industrials and College Productions worked with the Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders, taught at The Firm Fitness Studio and appeared in several commercials and radio programs.
