Academia de ballet de Littleton
Facultad de la División de Formación Profesional
Michelle Dolighan Rodenbeck
Michelle grew up in Aurora, Colorado, and began her distinguished ballet training as a full-scholarship student at the Academy of Colorado Ballet, School of American Ballet, Boston Ballet School, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She was a first-place winner of the Denver Ballet Guild Young Dancers Scholarship Competition and received the highly coveted Florence Ruston Award of Excellence.
In 1991, Michelle joined Colorado Ballet, where she rose to the rank of Principal Ballerina. During her career with the company, she danced many of ballet’s most celebrated leading roles, including Clara and the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Myrtha in Giselle, Titania in Christopher Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Lucy in Michael Pink’s Dracula.
Michelle also performed principal roles in works by some of the world’s most influential choreographers, including George Balanchine’s Serenade, Apollo, Western Symphony, Rubies, Who Cares?, and Stars and Stripes; Frederick Ashton’s Façade; and Alvin Ailey’s The River. She toured extensively throughout the United States and Mexico with An Evening of International Stars.
Following her performing career, Michelle devoted herself to educating and inspiring the next generation of dancers. Her extensive teaching career throughout Colorado eventually brought her back to Colorado Ballet’s Academy. In 2006, she became Director of the school, where she taught students and staged them for Colorado Ballet productions until 2010.
In July 2010, Michelle founded Classic Dance Academy (CDA), creating a special environment where dancers could receive high-quality training within a nurturing and supportive community. CDA quickly became a highly esteemed and much-loved dance home. Under Michelle’s guidance, her students went on to achieve remarkable success, earning YAGP Hope Awards as well as Junior and Senior Grand Prix awards. In 2017, Michelle was honored with YAGP’s Outstanding Teacher Award.
Michelle owned, directed, and inspired students at Classic Dance Academy until 2016, when she made the decision to step away from ownership and dedicate herself fully to what she loves most: teaching, mentoring, and coaching the dancers of the future.
Nacido en Quito, Ecuador, Francisco se mudó a los Estados Unidos a la edad de 5 años y comenzó a bailar en Louisville, KY a la edad de 7 años. Francisco se formó en Nueva York a los 16 y se graduó de la Escuela de Ballet Americano. Ha bailado con el Ballet de la Ciudad de Nueva York, el Ballet de Boston, el Ballet de Barcelona y, más recientemente, como bailarín principal del Ballet de Colorado. Le gusta enseñar ballet a estudiantes de todas las edades y también ha entrenado y coreografiado a varios estudiantes en preparación para el Youth American Grand Prix, Denver Ballet Guild, Jackson IBC Competition y ADC/IBC.
Ali se crió en Colorado y primero recibió su formación con su madre Bobbie, y luego con los profesores Lynelle Mossholder, James Clouser y Debbie Mercer, y más tarde con una beca en la Escuela de Ballet de Pensilvania, así como veranos en la Escuela de Ballet de Boston con una beca. Joffrey Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School y Houston Ballet Academy. En 1988, Alison ganó el premio Florence Ruston en primer lugar y una beca de $1,200 en el Concurso de Becas del Gremio de Ballet de Denver. Se unió por primera vez a la compañía profesional David Taylor Dance Theatre a la edad de dieciséis años y regresó en el otoño de 1998, donde apareció como Clara en El cascanueces y desempeñó papeles principales en muchas obras durante cinco años, incluida su favorita, The Tormenta. Anteriormente, Alison bailó con el Dayton Ballet durante seis años actuando en más de sesenta ballets, incluidas obras de los legendarios coreógrafos Gerald Arpino, George Balanchine, Robbert Joffrey y Antony Tudor, y luego se unió al Oregon Ballet Theatre en Portland, Oregon, y fue la más recientemente director del Boulder Ballet. Los aspectos más destacados de su carrera incluyen haber sido elegido personalmente para interpretar la Tarantella de Balanchine por la exbailarina de NYCB Patricia McBride, así como interpretar papeles principales en obras del director artístico del Washington Ballet, Septime Webre, y el exbailarín de Joffrey Ballet, Christian Holder. Ha enseñado danza durante más de veinticinco años, incluso como directora interina del Dayton Ballet School Ensemble y codirigiendo Movin' On, un grupo de danza para adolescentes y adultos con problemas mentales. Ha sido maestra invitada regular en la Escuela de Artes de Denver, enseñó ballet para la clase de Temas de Teatro de la Escuela Secundaria Heritage y hasta hace poco enseñó en la Academia Centennial para la Educación en Bellas Artes en Littleton. bailarines en 1.°, 2.° y 3.er lugar tanto en YAGP como en el Denver Ballet Guild y su coreografía contemporánea se ha colocado en YAGP y StarQuest.
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Bryce Lee
Bryce was born in Missouri and started his professional training at 12 at Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy in Laguna Hills, CA. In the summer of 2011, he attended School of American Ballet, then was asked to stay for the Winter Term program from 2011-2012. He attended several summer courses on full scholarship including SAB, Miami City Ballet and Colorado Ballet. Bryce has received several awards in classical and contemporary forms of dance as well as 1st place, semi-finalist at YAGP Europe, and two-time YAGP Finalist Qualifier. He joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company in 2013 and was promoted into the Company in 2015 and is now a soloist. Bryce teaches Ballet and Pas De Deux. He also coaches and performs as a guest artist with Littleton Youth Ballet.
Slava Mesropov