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Heather Iler
BALLET MISTRESS

Mrs. Iler began her training at a small school in her hometown of Toledo, Ohio. While still in high school Mrs. Iler moved to New York City to attend the School of American Ballet and less than a year after moving to the City, Mrs. Iler was chosen by Mikhail Baryshnikov to attend the School of Classical Ballet, the school for the American Ballet Theater. In 1990 Mrs. Iler was hired by Edward Villella to become a company member with Miami City Ballet where she performed corps, soloist and principal roles in numerous ballets. Some of the most notable performances include Serenade, Raymonda Variations, Jewels, and Square Dance by George Balanchine, 3 Epitaphs by Paul Taylor, Festival by Edward Villella and Tobiniana, Bach in 3 Movements, Transtangos and Purple Bend by Jimmy Gamonet de los Heros. Mrs. Iler also had the privilege to study and train with the San Francisco Ballet School, The Richmond Ballet, and Ballet Met. Following her professional dance career Mrs. Iler has been on faculty with the Miami City Ballet, The Reston Conservatory Ballet in Virginia, The Toledo Ballet, and Ballet Theater of Toledo. While with the Ballet Theater of Toledo she developed and implemented summer intensives for young children. When Mrs. Iler is not in the studio or theater she enjoys spending as much time as possible with her two children and husband

Joe Morra
COMPOSER IN RESIDENCE

Joe Morra began playing the piano at the age of four when his parents discovered that he had perfect pitch. By the time he was a teenager, he had won a dozen classical piano competitions and performed as a soloist with two symphony orchestras. While attending Duke University, he studied voice and songwriting, and gave his first concert of original pop music. In the 1980s, Morra appeared regularly at night spots in New York City and Washington, D.C., and recorded his first album of original pop music "My Pleasure." He was a founding member of The Edge Theatre along with screenwriter and director Peter Hedges, director Joe Mantello, and actress Mary-Louise Parker, and also appeared on ABC-TV's daytime soap opera "One Life To Live" with veteran Broadway actress Shelly Burch. Morra studied law at The Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law, and currently practices in the Division of Trading and Markets at the Securities and Exchange Commission in D.C. In addition to writing, performing and recording original pop music, he serves as President of The Boomerang Fund for Artists (www.boomerangfund.org), a non-profit organization that raises money and awards grants to artists of all genres. In 1999, Morra released another album of pop songs entitled "Conversation With the Prophet" (www.cdbaby.com), which subsequently served as the music for "Wake Up," the first artistic collaboration between Morra and Mr. Horiuchi. "Le Reve" is Morra's fourth collaboration with Mr. Horiuchi.