Littleton Ballet Academy
Professional Training Division Faculty
Born in Quito, Ecuador, Francisco moved to the United States at the age of 5 and began dancing in Louisville, KY at the age of 7. Francisco went on to train in New York at 16 and graduated from the School of American Ballet. He has danced with New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Barcelona Ballet, and most recently as a Principal Dancer with the Colorado Ballet. He enjoys teaching ballet to students of all ages and has also coached and choreographed for a number of students in preparation for the Youth American Grand Prix, the Jackson IBC Competition, and ADC/IBC.
Francisco Estevez
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Jennifer Howard
Jennifer Howard began her training at Boston Ballet, completed the Royal Academy of Dance major examinations—earning her Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance (ARAD)—and received her BFA from The Juilliard School. She enjoyed an extensive professional dance career dancing with Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project, Twyla Tharp Dance, Eliot Feld Ballet, Lucinda Childs Dance Company, Douglas Dunn + Dancers, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, and Sarah Michelson. Jennifer originated roles in several new works by Twyla Tharp, including Sweet Fields and Diabelli, and performed in Tharp’s iconic The Fugue. While a member of White Oak Dance Project, Jennifer was a part of the acclaimed Past/Forward, a retrospective and celebration of the Judson Dance Theater. Jennifer performed nationally and internationally at renowned venues and festivals including Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Théâtre de la Ville, Sadler’s Wells, Caesarea Amphitheater in Israel, Sydney Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, Venice Biennale, Edinburgh Festival, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She has also served as rehearsal director for works by choreographers including Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, and Maria Konrad. In 2005, she collaborated with MacArthur Fellow, Sarah Michelson, to create Love is Everything for the Lyon Opera Ballet.
Following her stage career, Jennifer has dedicated herself to training dancers, and has served as the Artistic Director of the St. Paul's School Ballet Program in Concord, NH; Director of Summer Programs at Colorado Conservatory of Dance; Teaching Artist with Jacques d’Amboise’s National Dance Institute (NDI) in New York, Ballet Faculty at Denver School of the Arts, and Managing Director of Celebrate the Beat, the Colorado affiliate of NDI.
Most recently, Jennifer was the Dance Program Manager and a faculty member at Next Generation Ballet in Tampa. There, she led national recruitment, coached classical and contemporary solos for YAGP, and taught ballet and pointe for the pre-professional Trainee Program. Her former students have gone on to dance with companies including Houston Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, Kansas City Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, and Ballet West II, and to study at The John Cranko School, National Ballet School of Canada, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre, and European School of Ballet.
Jennifer lives in Denver with her husband and their dog, Remi. Their daughter, an aspiring dancer, attends the Pôle National Supérieur de Danse Rosella Hightower in Mougins, France.
Ali Jaramillo
Ali was raised in Colorado and first received her training with her mother Bobbie, and then with teachers Lynelle Mossholder, James Clouser, and Debbie Mercer, and later on scholarship at the Pennsylvania Ballet School, well as summers at the Boston Ballet School on scholarship, Joffrey Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and the Houston Ballet Academy. In 1988, Alison won the 1st place Florence Ruston Award and a $1,200 scholarship at the Denver Ballet Guild Scholarship Competition. She first joined the David Taylor Dance Theatre professional company at the age of sixteen and returned in the fall of 1998 where she was featured as Clara in The Nutcracker, and performed principal roles in many works over five years, including her favorite, James Wallace's The Storm. Previously, Alison danced with the Dayton Ballet for six years performing in over sixty ballets, including works by such legendary choreographers Gerald Arpino, George Balanchine, Robbert Joffrey, and Antony Tudor, and then joined Oregon Ballet Theatre in Portland, Oregon, and was most recently a principal with Boulder Ballet. Career highlights include being personally chosen to perform Balanchine's Tarantella by former NYCB ballerina Patricia McBride, as well as performing principal roles in works by Washington Ballet's artistic director Septime Webre, and former Joffrey Ballet dancer Christian Holder. She has taught dance for over thirty years She has coached dancers to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes at ADC/IBC, YAGP, UBC, and the Denver Ballet Guild and her contemporary choreography has placed at ADC/IBC, YAGP, UBC, and StarQuest. Her full-length ballet The Wizard of Oz, has been performed by Springfield Ballet in Missouri.
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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.
Bryce Lee
Slava Mesropov
Slava Mesropov is from Baku, Azerbaijan and graduated from the Baku Academy of Ballet. He was a soloist with the Azerbaijan Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet, Moscow Festival Ballet, Ballet South and Colorado Ballet. Mr. Mesropov is trained in the Vaganova method of ballet and character dance. Mr. Mesropov served on faculty at Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and was the Artistic Director of Ballet Royal Institute of Maryland where he choreographed and staged many productions including The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, La Bayadere, Giselle and annual gala concerts featuring principals from American Ballet Theatre. Mr. Mesropov has also taught for Ballet Theater of Maryland, the Academy of Colorado Ballet and the Baltimore School for the Arts, and International Ballet School. He regularly teaches master classes and summer intensive programs throughout the United States including at Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, Southland Ballet Academy in Orange County, California, Michigan Ballet Academy in Grand Rapids and The Washington School of Ballet in Washington D.C. During his teaching career, Mr. Mesropov has prepared several participants for international competitions. He was named Outstanding Teacher at the 2003 Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) international competition finals in New York.
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Sarah Tallman was born and raised in Greeley, Colorado. A once small town with an unusually prolific number of passionate teachers, her early training not only pushed her through the rigors of classical ballet but also exposed her to music and theatrics. Sarah had the pleasure of training with Deb Larson, Chérie Noble, Lizanne McAdams-Graham, Arthur Leeth, and Jeffrey Rockland. She holds a BA in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Northern Colorado where she studied under the tutelage of Dr. Karen Genoff-Campbell, Dr. Sandra Minton and Jeffrey Rockland. Recently retired from a 22 year performing career, Sarah currently serves as Ballet Master/ Associate Choreographer for Wonderbound, a new American dance company based in Denver, CO. During her 15-year tenure as a company artist, she danced in and originated numerous Principal roles by award winning Artistic Director Garrett Ammon. She had the opportunity to perform alongside musicians, poets, mentalists, actors and visual artists. Her technical prowess and artistic development have been guided by Wonderbound President, Dawn Fay. Sarah has been featured in world premieres by Jennifer Hart, Hannah Kahn, Maurya Kerr, Laurie Stallings, Amy Seiwert, Ma Cong, LeeWei Chao, Alex Ketley, Mark Godden and Robert Mills. Prior to joining Wonderbound (formerly Ballet Nouveau Colorado), Sarah danced with David Taylor Dance Theatre, Kim Robards Dance, Lynn Barr, Gleich Dances Contemporary Ballet and Baardar Danse Kompagnie in Oslo, Norway. Additionally, Sarah danced as a Principal Artist with Central City Opera. An accomplished choreographer, she has created several works for Wonderbound in collaboration with multi-faceted Denver based musicians and visual artists. She has created works for Oklahoma City Ballet, Burklyn Ballet Theatre, Kent State University, University of Northern Colorado, Perry-Mansfield and Western Arkansas Ballet. Sarah was one of four recipients of the 2015 National Choreographers Initiative. 2020 allowed Sarah to explore film making for dance. Her works appeared in Dance Performa’s fall film event, LunaSeas film festival and were featured as a part of Wonderbound’s Short Films. Sarah is guided by the humility that permeates the human spirit. She believes art and the stimulus of music and movement can awaken the senses by exploring the complexities of being human. The simple things that make Sarah smile include twinkling lights, the mountains and the color orange. She resides in Denver with her loving husband, and their pets.
Sarah Tallman