Instructors
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Brianna Furnish Co-director A native of Dallas, Texas, Ms. Furnish began her training with studies in the Martha Graham and Bella Lewitsky modern dance techniques, under the director of Julliard graduate, Ms. Jerry Bywaters Cochran. At thirteen, Furnish was encouraged to begin classical studies as a means of augmentning her potential for a professional modern dance
career. She studied privately, first with Denise and Evelyn Brown and later, on talent scholarship,
with Dallas Ballet's professional program, under the direction of Royal Danish Ballet's Flemming
and Vivi Flindt. Furnish quickly fell in love with the classical technique, and after relatively little
ballet training had the exceptional opportunity to train at the prestigious School of American
Ballet in New York, with Mme. Alexandra Danilova, Suki Shorer and Mme. Antonina Tumkovsky.
She received an additional year of training at North Carolina School of the Arts, where she
studied under Melissa Hayden, former prima ballerina with New York City Ballet. Dancing with
several regional companies in Dallas and Tennessee, Furnish continued private instructions
with both Mme. Nathalie Krassovska (Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo) and Mr. Robert Scevers
(Harkness Ballet),before moving to Detroit. Inspired by her work with Detroit Public High School
dancers, Furnish founded Ballet Renaissance in June of 1997, as a means of fostering local talent,
by providing quality affordable ballet training and performance opportunities to children, teens,
and adults in the heart of the city. In addition to her work as Director of Ballet Renaissance,
Furnish has taught as guest instructor throughout the Detroit Public Schools (1996-present), as
Adjunct Ballet Instructor for Wayne State University's Maggie Allesee Department of Dance
(1996-2003) and a full-time ballet instructor for Fraser's Arts Academy in the Woods
(2006-2007). She received her BS in Dance from WSU in May 2006.
Radoslaw Kokoszka Co-director
A native of Wodzislaw Slaski, Poland, Mr. Kokoszka began his early classical training as a boarding student at the State Ballet School in Bytom Poland. As a young teen he moved to the United Stateswith his family, settling in Hamtramck, MI. He began training with Ballet Renaissance in August 1999, introduced to the program through the 1999 ABT Summer Intensive, a three-way collaboration between New York's
American Ballet Theatre, the Detroit Opera House, and Wayne State Univerity's Meggie Allesee Department of Dance (than home to Ballet Renaissance). While training with Ballet Renaissance he received scholarships and attended several professional summer programs including: Harid Conservatory (FL), School of American Ballet (NY), Boston Ballet (MA), and the Kirov Academy (Washington DC). Later he trained year-round at the Harid Conservatory before moving to New York Where he trained on full talent scholarship, and graduated from, the prestigious School of American Ballet. Mr. Kokoszka's professional contracts include Carolina Ballet (NC),Cedar Lake (NY), and the Suzanne Farrell Ballet (Washington DC). In addition to his work as Co-director of Ballet Renaissance, he has taught ballet and Motion classes for both the Detroit Public Schools and the Detroit Opera House.