LDT Faculty

Kristin Kingsley St. John

KRISTIN KINGSLEY ST. JOHN originally hails from Kansas City, Mo. where she danced professionally with the Kansas City Ballet (formerly State Ballet of Missouri). She began her studies with Diana Adams, Una Kai, and Todd Bolender. She continued her studies with Sandra Jenings, Bart Cook, and John Prinz. She was also a student of Victoria Fedine, Maria Tallchief, Allegra Kent, and Melissa Hayden.

Her repertoire favorites include Dance of the Hours from Coppelia, Alvin Ailey’s The River, Violente Fairy from Sleeping Beauty, Kitri in Don Quixote, Snow Queen and Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker, and Autumn Fairy in Cinderella. Ms. Kingsley St. John moved to Colorado in the summer of 1996 and has been very active in the arts of Longmont and its surrounding area. She formed the Longmont Dance Theatre Ballet School in 1998 to offer Longmont and its surrounding area a pre-professional ballet school. The school began with 60 students and now, with over 400 students, it is still the only pre-professional ballet school in Longmont. LDT students have been hired as trainees or apprentices with Ballet Chicago (Danny Duell), Louisville Ballet, and Ballet Austin. Students have been accepted to the following summer intensive programs, many with full or partial scholarships: Ballet Met (Columbus, Ohio), Ballet West (Salt Lake City, Utah), Kansas City Ballet (MO), Joffrey Ballet (NY, NY), Julliard (NY, NY), Jillana's Technique in Taos (Taos, NM), State Street Ballet (Santa Barbara, CA), American Ballet Theatre (division in Detroit, California, and Atlanta). LDT students have been accepted to the following schools: CU Boulder, UNC Greeley, AMDA, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, San Francisco Conservatory, and the University of Utah. Ms. Kingsley St. John is in her twelfth season with the Longmont Dance Theatre as the Artistic Director and School Director.

The Longmont Dance Theatre performs with the LDT Chamber Orchestra presenting the Nutcracker this season and with the Niwot Timberline Symphony presenting excerpts from Romeo and Juliet during the NTS Family Concert and Silent Auction. In April, LDT will also be presenting Pinocchio during the Spring Gala Performance. Pinocchio was composed by composer/conductor Brian St. John and choreographed by Kristin Kingsley St. John for the community of Longmont and its surrounding areas. Ms. Kingsley St. John has choreographed numerous ballets for LDT, including the holiday favorite The Nutcracker and family concert ballets Peter and the Wolf and Carnival of the Animals. The following original ballets are Ms. Kingsley St. John’s favorites because they were composed by Brian St. John for the LDT students and community: Through the Looking Glass, Hansel and Gretel, Alices’ Adventures in Wonderland, Cain: A Mystery, Suite De Ballet (a comedy), Scenes de Ballet, and Pinocchio. Ms. Kingsley St. John is honored to be a part of the Longmont community and truly enjoys watching her students bloom into beautiful dancers. (KSJ)

Teaches: Artistic Director/School Director/Owner

Cynthia Beschel

CYNTHIA BESCHEL has a BFA in dance performance from the Univ. of Iowa. She has danced professionally in San Francisco and Las Vegas in the U.S. and abroad in Monte Carlo, Monaco and Paris, France. She loves teaching and taking classes at LDT! (CB)

Teaches: Ballet, Jazz, Tap

Hillary Brennan

A Longmont native, HILLARY BRENNAN graduated from UNC in 1999 with a degree in Dance, emphasis in teaching and movement analysis. She is also a Certified Pilates Instructor and has been teaching for over 5 years. (HB)

Teaches: Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Pilates

Kelsey Chilton

KELSEY CHILTON is completing a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance at CU Boulder. Her focus in study at CU has been the following dance forms and their respective history: Modern, African, Flamenco, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Ballet. At CU she choreographs and performs in both dance concerts and interdisciplinary performances. She grew up competing in dance competitions throughout California and Nevada in Jazz, Lyrical, Hip Hop, and Tap. In 2007, she danced for "Nixon in China" with the Denver Opera. Currently she teaches dance in Louisville, Boulder, and Longmont. (KC)

Teaches: Modern

Randy Downing

RANDY DOWNING continues his tap training with Broadway veteran, Gene Gebaur. He makes his living as a sports massage therapist. Tap is his passion, but he is involved in many different disciplines. He teaches in Loveland, Greeley, Fort Collins and Longmont and dances with The Big Noise out of Boulder. (RD)

Teaches: Tap

Renee Ford

RENEE FORD is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet. Miss Ford danced professionally with The Channel Islands Ballet in California, Cisne Negro in Brazil, Columbia City Ballet in South Carolina, and Epiphany in Tennessee (RF)

Teaches: Ballet

Julie Glass

JULIE GLASS is a graduate of CU Boulder, with a major in dance and has performed in the US and Mexico. Julie was a successful dance studio owner for many years and is excited to continue her teaching at LDT. (JG)

Teaches: Ballet, Jazz, Tap

Salli Gutierrez

SALLI GUTIERREZ has taught and professionally performed in Colorado, Texas, Mexico and Spain. (SG)

Teaches: Flamenco

Aoi Koenig

Teaches: Ballet

Tamarin Kelly-Nielson

TAMARIN KELLY-NIELSON studied at San Francisco Ballet, Feldl Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet School. Tammy graduated from the University of Utah in 1996 with a BFA in ballet and danced professionally with Ballet West and Ballet Idaho/Eugene Ballet. (TKN)

Teaches: Ballet

Jessica Pearson

JESSICA PEARSON grew up in Wallingford CT. She attended Towson University in Towson, Maryland and graduated cum laude with a B.F.A in Dance Performance. During college Jessica dedicated her summers to dance in New York City where she trained at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and The New York University Summer Dance Festival. After College she joined the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble in Denver, CO. During her 5-year tenure she performed numerous works around the country. While in Denver she taught dance at a number of Denver studios. Since September 2007, Ms. Pearson has had the opportunity to teach at In Motion School of Dance in Bermuda. While in Bermuda she had the opportunity to choreograph and perform for Concepts In Motion, in Motions School of Dance professional company. Ms. Pearson is returning to Colorado to attend the University of Colorado, Boulder as a M.F.A. Dance and Pilates Certification candidate. (JP)

Teaches: Jazz, Ballet

Tambre Rasmussen

TAMBRE RASMUSSEN, Certified Pilates Instructor, has 18 years of experience teaching Pilates fitness and rehabilitation. She enjoys working with a vast array of clients from healthy people wanting to become better movers to post-MVA clients, prenatal & postpartum women, seniors with osteoporosis, equestrians, elite level cyclists, runners, dancers, competitive figure skaters, & those suffering from chronic pain associated with postural stamina & overuse syndromes. Pilates classes have often been inaccessible to people with serious injuries. Tambre was one of the first to develop lower level Pilates rehabilitation classes in the north metro area; making it accessible for those transitioning from passive therapies. She feels it is crucial for patients to believe that they can safely take a more active role in their healing process and rediscover the joy of movement. Tambre received her Pre-med degree from CU-Denver and completed internships at Health South Physical Therapy and Colorado Center for Physical Therapy. She has over 2000 hours of training with her two Pilates certifications from the Ron Fletcher organization and Polestar Education. Currently, Tambre is pursuing the Franklin Method Teacher Training. She plays an active role in the local dance community teaching workshops on injury prevention to young dancers. (TR)

Teaches: Aquatic Fitness (Summer Program)

Suzanne Keener Richebacher

SUZANNE KEENER RICHEBACHER began her ballet training as a scholarship student at the Harkness School of Dance in New York City and later continued her studies under scholarship at the National Academy of Ballet, School of American Ballet, and American Ballet Theater. She studied with such reknowned teachers as Maria Swoboda, Leon Danielian, David Howard, Harry Asmus, Patricia Wilde, and Gabriella Taub-Darvash. She graduated from Professional Children's School in New York City, and attended Point Park University in Pittsburgh majoring in dance. Her professional career included appearances with the New York City Opera Company, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Garden State Ballet Company, Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company, Greater Bridgeport Ballet Company and others. Her teaching career has spanned over twenty years and she has been a faculty member of the prestigious Dancerschool in New York City under the direction of American Ballet Theater's principal Dennis Wayne, Dance Center Seattle (Bill Evans), Florida Dance Conservatory among others. While in Seattle, Suzanne founded and served as the artistic director of the Washington Dance Forum for ten years. Washington Dance Forum became a highly successful classical ballet/modern dance training center which the Joffrey Ballet School highly commended for its excellence. Students were selected for Joffrey's summer and trainee program, New York City Ballet, Houston Ballet Company, San Francisco Ballet Company, North Carolina School of the Arts, School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, New York University, Pennsylvania Ballet School, University of Utah, University of Washington, Cornish Institute of the Arts, B.Y.U. and others. Suzanne has co-produced a highly successful children's book "Fun with Ballet", published by Andrews and McMeel. Since moving to Colorado, Suzanne has taught classical ballet technique, pointe, variations, and master classes throughout the Denver, Longmont, and Ft. Collins region. She lives with her husband Tom, and two children Jessica and Nicholas in Boulder. (SR)

Teaches: Ballet

Michael Richman

MICHAEL RICHMAN is originally from Omaha Nebraska. He began studying dance and vocal music performance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln under Lisa Fusillo, Sara Semonis and Lynn Nevin. Michael completed his BFA in Dance at University of Colorado in Boulder. Before dancing full time, Michael appeared in several opera productions including Aida, Samson & Delilah, La Bohème, The Divine Madness, Julius Caesar and most recently Nixon in China with Opera Colorado. He is also well known for his work with Colorguard having performed with the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps and Oracle Winterguard. He currently teaches movement and dance at the Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps and Opus X Winterguard, both located in Denver. In 2008, Michael was also selected by the faculty at CU Boulder for the Promising Artists of the 21st Century Residency, a cultural exchange program between CU and The North American Cultural Center in San Jose, Costa Rica. In addition to dancing, Michael is also a freelance video artist and videographer whose work has been screened regularly at the Sans Souci International Festival of Dance Cinema. He currently runs his own event videography and video editing business, Blue Bee Creative Media. As a dancer Michael has previously worked with Ruth Davidson-Hahn, Kim Robards Dance, Dance Consort with Carol Mezza Cappa, Fragments of Divine, David Taylor and Sean Curran. He currently performs with the Hannah Kahn Dance Company, 3rd Law Dance Theater and Gabe Masson Dance. (MR)

Teaches: Modern

Georganna Mills Russell

GEORGANNA MILLS RUSSELL appeared on Broadway in West Side Story as Graziella and in Dancin'. She recreated her role of Graziella for both national and European tours. Regional performance credits include Best Little Whorehouse in Texas as Ginger, Peter Pan, Cabaret, Anything Goes, Kiss Me Kate, and Funny Girl to name a few. Appearances in film and television include Fame and Miss USA pageant circuit as choreographer/dancer; college and community theatre choreography credits include Guys & Dolls, Nunsense, Brigadoon, Music Man, Pump Boys & Dinettes and Grease. Georganna owned and directed a performing arts studio in Texas for eleven years and has toured as a judge for national dance competitions. Georganna has thirty years of teaching experience in jazz, tap, and musical theatre. (GR)

Teaches: Tap, Jazz

Larry Southall

A native of the Bronx, NY, LARRY SOUTHALL is a faculty member at the CU Dance Deparment and has taught Hip Hop nationally. Larry teaches the traditional style of Hip Hop - Locking, Poppin', and B-Boying/Girling. (LS)

Teaches: Hip Hop

David Taylor

DAVID TAYLOR has been professionally involved in the Colorado dance community for the past thirty-nine years. During the course of a twelve-year dance career, he began choreographing in 1976, and since then has created over 100 original works. In 1979, he founded the David Taylor Dance Theatre, which is now proudly celebrating its 30th Anniversary as one of the Rocky Mountain region’s most acclaimed, well recognized, and respected dance organizations.

Mr. Taylor received three National Endowment for the Arts grant awards along with the City and County of Denver’s first Individual Artist Fellowship award for dance, and in March of 1997, he and his company were proud recipients of the State of Colorado’s Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. He has been commissioned to create ballets for Opera Colorado, the Colorado Symphony, the Denver Chamber Orchestra, the Up Close and Musical Ensemble, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Colorado Wind Ensemble, and for the Dayton Ballet in Ohio, and has set his acclaimed “A Children’s Rainforest Odyssey” on the Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet Company and the Lone Star Ballet of Amarillo, Texas. His original and innovative productions of “The Nutcracker” and “Rainforest” have garnered national critical recognition and continue to be booked extensively across the United States. Mr. Taylor has additionally served as a Board member for the Mayor’s Commission on Cultural Affairs, as the Vice President for the Colorado Dance Alliance, as a peer panel member for the Colorado Council on the Arts, and in 2008, he received the Carson-Brierly Dance Library’s prestigious “Living Legends of Dance” Award.

Currently, Mr. Taylor serves as the Artistic Director Emeritus of the David Taylor Dance Theatre, an adjunct faculty member of the Dance Department at Colorado State University in Fort Collins and a master class teacher in ballet technique, pas de deux and dance history for numerous dance organizations throughout the state. His extensive background also includes a longtime involvement with metaphysical studies, sacred dance and ritual and besides conducting sacred dance lectures and workshops for many statewide organizations, in the summer of 2009 he founded the state’s first professional sacred dance group, the Zikr Sacred Dance Ensemble, which will present its debut performance this fall in St. Paul, Minnesota. (DT)

Teaches: Ballet, Variations, Pas de deux

Stephanie Tuley

STEPHANIE TULEY is an MFA candidate in Dance at CU Boulder. She has danced professionally with Alaska Dance Theatre, Utah Festival Opera, and Peoria Ballet. She has also appeared as a guest artist at Nashville Dance Studio and Indianapolis School of Ballet. Stephanie graduated from Indiana University with dual degrees in Ballet and Mathematics with a minor in Modern Dance. At IU, Stephanie had the privilege of working with luminaries including Violette Verdy, John Clifford, Julie Kent, and Guoping Wang. Stephanie also served as Ms. Verdy's personal assistant in 2007. Prior to attending IU, Stephanie graduated with honors from the Interlochen Arts Academy, where she was thrilled to be awarded Interlochen's Young Artist and Young Scholar awards--its two most prestigious awards for graduating seniors. She has completed summer study on scholarship at the School of American Ballet, NYSSSA, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and BalletMet Columbus. She was awarded first place in the 2006 Bloomington, IN regional National Arts and Letters competition, and represented the local chapter in the National Competition in Jacksonville, Florida in May 2006. Stephanie has taught throughout the U.S, including Alaska Dance Theatre, Indiana University Precollege Ballet Program, Nashville Dance Studio, and Interlochen Arts Camp. As adjunct faculty at Indiana University, she taught classes for non-majors and served as Ballet Mistress for Helen Starr (Les Patineurs,) Cynthia Gregory (Les Sylphides,) and Michael Vernon (in several operas.) In her classes, Stephanie strives to encourage clarity of technique and expressive artistry in her students. (ST)

Teaches: Ballet

Angie Simmons

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Heidi Prendergast

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Jan Dunn

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