Owned and directed by Brian Young, Sweatshop is an audition-only, pre-professional dance studio in Denver, CO aspiring to train versatile young dancers with a strong desire for success. The Sweatshop faculty offers world class training in all major dance styles including ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, contemporary, modern, and tap. Offering dance classes for ages 6 through continuing professional, there isn’t a more diverse program anywhere in Colorado!
The Vision
Assemble a world class faculty capable of training professional dancers, design a comprehensive pre-professional dance training program, provide state of the art training facilities, and create a financially accessible, nurturing and supportive atmosphere with which to train and foster well-balanced professional dancers and successful individuals.
Along with the highest level of training available, the students of Sweatshop will be provided with a variety of performance opportunities as well as opportunities to attend outside performances. It is our mission and responsibility that the students experience a broader understanding of the world of dance, use their dance training to enhance their own lives as well as the lives of the less fortunate through community services, and further the visibility of dance as an art form in their local and national communities.
Along with the highest level of training available, the students of Sweatshop will be provided with a variety of performance opportunities as well as opportunities to attend outside performances. It is our mission and responsibility that the students experience a broader understanding of the world of dance, use their dance training to enhance their own lives as well as the lives of the less fortunate through community services, and further the visibility of dance as an art form in their local and national communities.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Our training program IS the most comprehensive in Colorado - truly preprofessional level training in nearly ALL genres
- All of Sweatshop's incredible faculty have been, or are, professional dancers - who better to help your dancers achieve their dreams than those who are living their own?
- Bi-seasonal (Fall and Spring) ballet exams, including written evaluations, are offered to all dancers
- For dancers with college aspirations? Absolutely! 92% (and 100% of those whom apply) of our total alumni have been/are attending Top 10 college dance programs...and a good number of the remaining 8% are enjoying early dance careers or have used their dance experience to supplement their applications to Ivy League schools.
- Home to one of the nation's top preprofessional competition companies!
- Sweatshop's 21,000 square foot urban-setting facility, complete with sprung-floor systems throughout, provides the dancers with both the space and professional environment they need to become brilliant movement artists. Dancers need a nice big space to explore their fullest potential in a safety-conscious way. Not only does our slow and thoughtful training program keep the dancers strong and injury-free, our facility contributes greatly to our lack of injured dancers - even when they are working to and beyond their full physical potential.
- So much more!
MEET THE FACULTY
The Sweatshop team brings with it a wealth of knowledge, experience, and diversity unparalleled anywhere in the region. Hailing from around the globe, the faculty includes dancers, teachers, and choreographers from Las Vegas, Broadway, Los Angeles, professional sports dance teams, as well as professional ballet, modern, and jazz companies, giving students access and insight into virtually every professional dance niche there is! Please view the impressive facutly bios listed below.
Featured Guest Artist: Pattie Obey
Pattie Obey is a committed professional bringing her experience, creativity, passion, and humor to the teaching profession. A Chicago native and the daughter of a dancer, Pattie began her professional career touring internationally with Gus Giordano’s Jazz Dance Chicago. Her performance credits both in the USA and abroad includes Broadway musicals, films and television. Her personal style is greatly influenced by her mentor Gus Giordano, former Hubbard Street artistic director Lou Conte, jazz master Matt Mattox and her own elegant and powerful femininity. Pattie credits her extensive classical background to her training with ex-Royal ballet soloists Richard Ellis and Christine DuBoulay. Currently, Obey makes her home in Delray Beach, Florida after living in Europe for the past 28 years. She has been a guest teacher at Harid Conservatory and on faculty at Boca Ballet Theatre in Boca Raton, Florida. She has also mentored for “1st Step” an outreach program serving the Boca Raton community. Pattie has been on the faculty of numerous dance festivals in Germany, Austria, Finland and Mexico. She is a master teacher for both Dance Educators of America and Dance Masters of America. For 8 years she has been a guest artist at the University of Performing Arts in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Pattie has taught for colleges, universities, dance companies and eminent dance studios in 36 states and 16 countries. She has choreographed works for LaJazDanz, Ormao Dance Company, Spectrum Dance Theatre, Houston Metropolitan Dance Company, Jazz Dance Theatre, Boca Ballet Theatre, Illusionists’ Ted and Marion Outerbridge, The Playhouse Dance Company at Point Park University and Pori Dance Company in Pori, Finland to name a few. Dance Magazine proclaims Obey as being “Dance Teacher Extraordinaire” and, most recently, Dance Studio Life Magazine as “The Leading Lady in Jazz.” In 1992, she was the first woman to teach at the Jazz Dance World Congress and has been on the roster of master teachers ever since. She is also the recipient of the “2000 Jazz Dance World Congress Award” in recognition of her considerable contribution to the world of jazz dance. Brian Young, Sweatshop owner/director/teacher/choreographer, couldn't be more excited to welcome Pattie into the studio. It is a complete dream come true to be able to give your very own students the opportunity to train with YOUR teacher. "WELCOME, MS. PATTIE!!!!"
Pattie Obey is a committed professional bringing her experience, creativity, passion, and humor to the teaching profession. A Chicago native and the daughter of a dancer, Pattie began her professional career touring internationally with Gus Giordano’s Jazz Dance Chicago. Her performance credits both in the USA and abroad includes Broadway musicals, films and television. Her personal style is greatly influenced by her mentor Gus Giordano, former Hubbard Street artistic director Lou Conte, jazz master Matt Mattox and her own elegant and powerful femininity. Pattie credits her extensive classical background to her training with ex-Royal ballet soloists Richard Ellis and Christine DuBoulay. Currently, Obey makes her home in Delray Beach, Florida after living in Europe for the past 28 years. She has been a guest teacher at Harid Conservatory and on faculty at Boca Ballet Theatre in Boca Raton, Florida. She has also mentored for “1st Step” an outreach program serving the Boca Raton community. Pattie has been on the faculty of numerous dance festivals in Germany, Austria, Finland and Mexico. She is a master teacher for both Dance Educators of America and Dance Masters of America. For 8 years she has been a guest artist at the University of Performing Arts in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Pattie has taught for colleges, universities, dance companies and eminent dance studios in 36 states and 16 countries. She has choreographed works for LaJazDanz, Ormao Dance Company, Spectrum Dance Theatre, Houston Metropolitan Dance Company, Jazz Dance Theatre, Boca Ballet Theatre, Illusionists’ Ted and Marion Outerbridge, The Playhouse Dance Company at Point Park University and Pori Dance Company in Pori, Finland to name a few. Dance Magazine proclaims Obey as being “Dance Teacher Extraordinaire” and, most recently, Dance Studio Life Magazine as “The Leading Lady in Jazz.” In 1992, she was the first woman to teach at the Jazz Dance World Congress and has been on the roster of master teachers ever since. She is also the recipient of the “2000 Jazz Dance World Congress Award” in recognition of her considerable contribution to the world of jazz dance. Brian Young, Sweatshop owner/director/teacher/choreographer, couldn't be more excited to welcome Pattie into the studio. It is a complete dream come true to be able to give your very own students the opportunity to train with YOUR teacher. "WELCOME, MS. PATTIE!!!!"
Featured Guest Artist: Andy Pellick
Background: Andy originally hails from Pittsburgh, PA, but has called New York his home for well over a decade. Andy began dancing at age six and is still training today!
Stage Performances: Andy’s Broadway credits include the Original Broadway casts of “Wicked,” “Tarzan,” “La Cage Aux Folles” (first revival), and “Dance of the Vampires.” He has also performed Off-Broadway in “Fuerzabruta” and “De La Guarda.” Before moving to New York, Andy was the understudy for Tommy Tune in “EFX” at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where he was also a featured dancer.
TV/Film Performances: Andy was featured in the films “The Polar Express” and “Show Business.” He also appeared on “The David Letterman Show,” the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, “VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards,” “Broadway: The Golden Age” and “The Tony Awards.”
Background: Andy originally hails from Pittsburgh, PA, but has called New York his home for well over a decade. Andy began dancing at age six and is still training today!
Stage Performances: Andy’s Broadway credits include the Original Broadway casts of “Wicked,” “Tarzan,” “La Cage Aux Folles” (first revival), and “Dance of the Vampires.” He has also performed Off-Broadway in “Fuerzabruta” and “De La Guarda.” Before moving to New York, Andy was the understudy for Tommy Tune in “EFX” at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where he was also a featured dancer.
TV/Film Performances: Andy was featured in the films “The Polar Express” and “Show Business.” He also appeared on “The David Letterman Show,” the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, “VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards,” “Broadway: The Golden Age” and “The Tony Awards.”
Brian Young Owner/Director (Jazz/Lyrical/Tap/Assembly Line)
A Colorado native, Brian Young began singing and dancing at a very young age and quickly realized that the performing arts would become his life’s work. After graduating High School Brian moved to Las Vegas, NV to attend UNLV as a dance performance major. While in school Brian taught and performed in and around Las Vegas. Some of his performing credits include EFX, starring Tommy Tune, at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, The Bob Fosse Review at the Rio Hotel and Casino, numerous conventions and industrials, music videos, and in 1999/2000 was privileged to be a back-up vocalist for Barbra Streisand in Timeless: The Millennium Concerts at MGM Grand Garden Arena under the direction of Marvin Hamlish. Brian later moved to Chicago to further train and dance with Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago where he was mentored by “The first woman of jazz dance”, Pattie Obey, as well as working with jazz dance greats including Gus Giordano, Frank Hatchett, Sherie Zunker-Dow, Eddie Ocampo, Debbie Tillman, Emily Yewell and many more. Brian moved from Chicago to perform with the LA Jazdanz Company and was later chosen to premier its sister company LA Jazdanz 2 as a principal dancer in San Francisco, CA. He later took a position as a dance captain with Royal Caribbean International before moving back to Colorado to plant some roots. Brian has taught master classes at over twenty Colorado dance studios, has been a guest Jazz dance teacher and choreographer at Denver School of the Arts for many seasons, and taught advanced levels of Jazz, Lyrical, and Tap class at both locations of Colorado Ballet Academy where he was also the Competition Program Director. Locally, Brian has set choreography on both David Taylor Dance Theatre and Colorado Ballet, and has choreographed numerous award winning pieces for his students including both first and second place Contemporary Ballet pieces at the Youth American Grand Prix ballet competition. Recently Brian taught jazz on the Manhattan Dance Project tour, a national tour featuring master classes by Broadway’s premier dancers, and himself. Since the age of 7 Brian always dreamed of the day he'd open his own studio; now, as one of the nation's leading preprofessional dance programs, SWEATshop is the culmination of a lifetime of dedication and hard work and is the realization of this dream!
Tami Bing (Lyrical/HipHop/Assembly Line)
Tami Bing is a graduate of Colorado State University receiving a degree in Dance and Psychology. During this time, Tami's Choreography was selected to perform in the American College Dance Festival in Wichita, Kansas in 2000. Right out of college, Tami traveled to Boise Idaho to teach at a 3 week Summer Dance Festival at Boise State University. She has been dancing for over 25 years. Dance training includes Jazz, Hip-hop, tap, ballet, lyrical, poms, character, musical theatre, clogging, break dancing, contemporary and modern. Tami danced as a Denver Nuggets Dancer from 1996-2000 and was captain of the team for 3 years. During this time she was selected to travel to Las Vegas to dance at a trade show for Everlast. Tami was a member of the Damsels Dance Company from 2000-2003. She has been teaching dance for 17 years at local studios in the Denver metro area including The Academy of Colorado Ballet, serving as the company director and co-founder of their competitive company, Aspirations from 2006-2009. Amongst these years she has received numerous high score awards as well as Choreography and Icon awards. Tami has worked with many local and nation wide high school pom and cheerleading squads. She has also had the opportunity to choreograph with the Denver School of the Arts for their spring and fall concerts. Outside of teaching, she is currently traveling with Elevation dance convention. Tami is very excited to begin her journey with SWEATshop. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time at home with her Husband and her 2 children.
Leanna Earlywine (Tap)
Leanna was born and raised in Northwest Indiana where she studied and excelled in dance, voice and theater, as well as performing as a concert clarinetist in the Chicago area. Throughout high school she was fortunate enough to study with Gus Giordano. Moving to Colorado, she majored in Theater at Denver University where she starred in and choreographed many of the Theater Department's shows as well as co-founding and starring in the internationally recognized DU Show Choir. Leanna joined Picus Dance Academy as a student and teacher while still in college and worked closely with Stan and Heidi Picus. She soon performed with the Picus Dance Company and was also featured at Country Dinner Playhouse as one of Stan Picus' dancers. Leanna has not only choreographed for Picus Dance Academy and Off Broadway Academy of Dance but also for numerous high school musical productions. Leanna has taught Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Musical Theater for 30 years in the Denver Metro area, was director of Picus Dance for 5 years prior to becoming owner and director of Off Broadway Academy of Dance. Her biggest joy besides being a mother and wife is to nurture and watch students grow, not only as dancers, but as overall confident, well-rounded individuals.
Marian Faustino (Ballet)
Marian began her career in the Philippines, training and performing with the country’s two premier dance organizations: Ballet Manila (2002-2007) and Ballet Philippines (2008-2010). She has danced soloist & principal roles in full-length classics which include The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, La Bayadere, Giselle, Swan Lake and Le Corsaire; and has been a part of the creative process for a number of original neo-ethnic Filipino works that have been showcased across the Philippines, South East Asia, Russia, and the United States. As a representative of the Philippines, Marian was also awarded semi-finalist and finalist certificates respectively from the Moscow and Nagoya International Ballet Competitions. After relocating to the United States, Marian danced for Dance Theater of Tennessee (2010-2011), Ballet Nouveau Colorado (2011-2013), and was a pioneering member of the collaborative contemporary ballet company, Wonderbound (2013-2016). Marian is a recipient of the Individual Artist Fellowship from the Tennessee Arts Commission (2011), and was a finalist for the Denver Art Museum Creative-in-Residence Grant (2016). Recent freelance work includes Farewell,My Lovely for choreographer Kevin Jenkins and The Pearlfishers at The Lyric Opera of Chicago, choreographed by John Malashock.
Alexandru "Sasha" Glusacov (Ballet)
Mr. Glusacov has over 20 years of experience as a professional dancer. He trained at the Academy of Ballet of Republic of Moldova. Upon graduation, he joined the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Republic of Moldova where he quickly became a first soloist dancer. He later moved to Moscow and joined the Russian Classical Ballet and then the Russian State Ballet. With these companies he toured extensively throughout Europe and the United States. Mr. Glusacov has danced around the country as a guest artist including Colorado Ballet. His repertoire includes soloist and principal roles in ballets like Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Don Quixote and many others, as well as contemporary performances. As an instructor, with over 10 years of experience, he has successfully staged full length ballets and coached variations for competitions. His students have been accepted to major classical Summer Intensive Programs and to professional companies around the country. Mr. Glusacov has a degree in pedagogy in dance from the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts, Moldova.
Donovan Helma (Tap)
Since the age of three, Donovan Helma has been dancing under the direction of his family operated dance studio in Aurora, CO. He currently continues his education through multiple dance conventions and tap festivals throughout the year. Donovan teaches and choreographs for multiple competitive studios in the Denver metro area and across the United States. He has performed on a Monday Night Football halftime show with the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and for Montreal’s Danse Encore International Festival in a production by Tap’d Out. Donovan has taken the stage with modern tap legends such as Jason Samuels Smith and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards in a Greorgy Hines tribute show, Thank You Gregory. He is honored to have toured the United States, Europe and South Africa for 7 years as a lead tap dancer in Tap Dogs. He looks forward to continuing his dancing career and inspiring audiences and students nationwide
Slava Mesropov (Ballet)
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. Before joining IBS full time in 2009, 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. 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.
Jacob James Mora (Modern Fusion)
Born and raised in the Mile High City of Denver CO, Jacob is the artistic Director of Moraporvida Contemporary Dance, a company based on urban experiences and human emotions., Quickly becoming a sought after choreographer for his unique and powerful repertory Jacob works as an international performer teacher and artist.
Jacob received a Bachlor of Arts from the University of Northern Colorado in Dance & Theatre, with emphasis in Choreography, Acting, and Performance. Jacob has been a member of the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Hannah Kahn Dance, Santee Smith Group, Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre, and Alaska Dance Theatre. He has had the pleasure of working with and dancing the works of Choreographers such as Donald Mckayle, Betty Jones, Ron Brown, Milton Meyers, David Rousseve, Eleo Pomare, David Dorfman and Lisa Race among many.
Jacob Choreographs and teaches around the Country using a unique blend of Contemporary and traditional techniques, fusing Modern, Jazz, Hip Hop, Poetry and ethnic and urban culture. He has been on faculty with the University of Wyoming and the New York Institute of Dance, as well as guest artist and teacher for may other schools, festivals and institutions.
Danielle Sunseri (Ballet)
Danielle Sunseri, an Ohio native, trained as a competitive swimmer and gymnast before studying classical dance. She began at age 14 with German Zamuel and Valentina Moukhanova at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, studied on scholarship with PBTS Schenley Program and Graduate Program under David Holladay and Patricia Wilde, and trained at North Carolina School for the Arts and Mercyhurst College in Performance and Pedagogy. After studies in NYC, at Ballet Arizona and the Colorado Ballet Apprentice Program, she joined Colorado Ballet in 1995 under the direction of Martin Fredmann. She enjoyed various roles in Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, Balanchine’s Serenade and Stars & Stripes, and the principle role of Pioneer Woman in the 1998 historic staging of Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring. She performed extensively with Kim Robards Dance, as a guest artist with Russian Ballet, Kanopy Dance Company and International Youth Ballet, and worked with noted repetiteurs Patricia Neary, Bart Cook, Janet Eilber, Janek Schergen, James Canfield, Gregory Dawson and others. She is a contemporary soloist in her sixth season with David Taylor Dance Theatre and a soloist and rehearsal assistant for Zikr Dance Ensemble. Ms. Sunseri has 15 years experience instructing young students in foundational levels of classical ballet, stretch, conditioning, character, and choreography. She has been a faculty instructor for nine years with Academy of Colorado Ballet, her first three under the inspiring direction of prima ballerina Patricia Renzetti. Before joining ACB, she was a teacher apprentice under Nadya Zubkov and Kee Juan Han at the School of Ballet Arizona and later completed teacher training seminars in the Russian method with Nadia Tikhonova, Zhanna Dubrovskaya, and Mansur Kamaletdinov. She has instructed students of all levels on several faculties including the School of Ballet Arizona, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Rocky Mountain School of Dance, Belliston Academy of Ballet, Youth Ballet Colorado, and International Ballet School and was rehearsal assistant and contributing choreographer for International Youth Ballet productions for two seasons. She directed the youth program for David Taylor Dance Theatre (Ascot) Academy of Ballet and choreographed and staged the children’s Mother Ginger divertissement for David Taylor Dance Theatre’s Nutcracker for three years while conducting numerous literacy-based dance residencies in the Englewood Public Elementary Schools. Ms. Sunseri also teaches beginning ballroom and enjoys directing her own ballet program for figure skaters and gymnasts.
A Colorado native, Brian Young began singing and dancing at a very young age and quickly realized that the performing arts would become his life’s work. After graduating High School Brian moved to Las Vegas, NV to attend UNLV as a dance performance major. While in school Brian taught and performed in and around Las Vegas. Some of his performing credits include EFX, starring Tommy Tune, at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, The Bob Fosse Review at the Rio Hotel and Casino, numerous conventions and industrials, music videos, and in 1999/2000 was privileged to be a back-up vocalist for Barbra Streisand in Timeless: The Millennium Concerts at MGM Grand Garden Arena under the direction of Marvin Hamlish. Brian later moved to Chicago to further train and dance with Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago where he was mentored by “The first woman of jazz dance”, Pattie Obey, as well as working with jazz dance greats including Gus Giordano, Frank Hatchett, Sherie Zunker-Dow, Eddie Ocampo, Debbie Tillman, Emily Yewell and many more. Brian moved from Chicago to perform with the LA Jazdanz Company and was later chosen to premier its sister company LA Jazdanz 2 as a principal dancer in San Francisco, CA. He later took a position as a dance captain with Royal Caribbean International before moving back to Colorado to plant some roots. Brian has taught master classes at over twenty Colorado dance studios, has been a guest Jazz dance teacher and choreographer at Denver School of the Arts for many seasons, and taught advanced levels of Jazz, Lyrical, and Tap class at both locations of Colorado Ballet Academy where he was also the Competition Program Director. Locally, Brian has set choreography on both David Taylor Dance Theatre and Colorado Ballet, and has choreographed numerous award winning pieces for his students including both first and second place Contemporary Ballet pieces at the Youth American Grand Prix ballet competition. Recently Brian taught jazz on the Manhattan Dance Project tour, a national tour featuring master classes by Broadway’s premier dancers, and himself. Since the age of 7 Brian always dreamed of the day he'd open his own studio; now, as one of the nation's leading preprofessional dance programs, SWEATshop is the culmination of a lifetime of dedication and hard work and is the realization of this dream!
Tami Bing (Lyrical/HipHop/Assembly Line)
Tami Bing is a graduate of Colorado State University receiving a degree in Dance and Psychology. During this time, Tami's Choreography was selected to perform in the American College Dance Festival in Wichita, Kansas in 2000. Right out of college, Tami traveled to Boise Idaho to teach at a 3 week Summer Dance Festival at Boise State University. She has been dancing for over 25 years. Dance training includes Jazz, Hip-hop, tap, ballet, lyrical, poms, character, musical theatre, clogging, break dancing, contemporary and modern. Tami danced as a Denver Nuggets Dancer from 1996-2000 and was captain of the team for 3 years. During this time she was selected to travel to Las Vegas to dance at a trade show for Everlast. Tami was a member of the Damsels Dance Company from 2000-2003. She has been teaching dance for 17 years at local studios in the Denver metro area including The Academy of Colorado Ballet, serving as the company director and co-founder of their competitive company, Aspirations from 2006-2009. Amongst these years she has received numerous high score awards as well as Choreography and Icon awards. Tami has worked with many local and nation wide high school pom and cheerleading squads. She has also had the opportunity to choreograph with the Denver School of the Arts for their spring and fall concerts. Outside of teaching, she is currently traveling with Elevation dance convention. Tami is very excited to begin her journey with SWEATshop. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time at home with her Husband and her 2 children.
Leanna Earlywine (Tap)
Leanna was born and raised in Northwest Indiana where she studied and excelled in dance, voice and theater, as well as performing as a concert clarinetist in the Chicago area. Throughout high school she was fortunate enough to study with Gus Giordano. Moving to Colorado, she majored in Theater at Denver University where she starred in and choreographed many of the Theater Department's shows as well as co-founding and starring in the internationally recognized DU Show Choir. Leanna joined Picus Dance Academy as a student and teacher while still in college and worked closely with Stan and Heidi Picus. She soon performed with the Picus Dance Company and was also featured at Country Dinner Playhouse as one of Stan Picus' dancers. Leanna has not only choreographed for Picus Dance Academy and Off Broadway Academy of Dance but also for numerous high school musical productions. Leanna has taught Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Musical Theater for 30 years in the Denver Metro area, was director of Picus Dance for 5 years prior to becoming owner and director of Off Broadway Academy of Dance. Her biggest joy besides being a mother and wife is to nurture and watch students grow, not only as dancers, but as overall confident, well-rounded individuals.
Marian Faustino (Ballet)
Marian began her career in the Philippines, training and performing with the country’s two premier dance organizations: Ballet Manila (2002-2007) and Ballet Philippines (2008-2010). She has danced soloist & principal roles in full-length classics which include The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, La Bayadere, Giselle, Swan Lake and Le Corsaire; and has been a part of the creative process for a number of original neo-ethnic Filipino works that have been showcased across the Philippines, South East Asia, Russia, and the United States. As a representative of the Philippines, Marian was also awarded semi-finalist and finalist certificates respectively from the Moscow and Nagoya International Ballet Competitions. After relocating to the United States, Marian danced for Dance Theater of Tennessee (2010-2011), Ballet Nouveau Colorado (2011-2013), and was a pioneering member of the collaborative contemporary ballet company, Wonderbound (2013-2016). Marian is a recipient of the Individual Artist Fellowship from the Tennessee Arts Commission (2011), and was a finalist for the Denver Art Museum Creative-in-Residence Grant (2016). Recent freelance work includes Farewell,My Lovely for choreographer Kevin Jenkins and The Pearlfishers at The Lyric Opera of Chicago, choreographed by John Malashock.
Alexandru "Sasha" Glusacov (Ballet)
Mr. Glusacov has over 20 years of experience as a professional dancer. He trained at the Academy of Ballet of Republic of Moldova. Upon graduation, he joined the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Republic of Moldova where he quickly became a first soloist dancer. He later moved to Moscow and joined the Russian Classical Ballet and then the Russian State Ballet. With these companies he toured extensively throughout Europe and the United States. Mr. Glusacov has danced around the country as a guest artist including Colorado Ballet. His repertoire includes soloist and principal roles in ballets like Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Don Quixote and many others, as well as contemporary performances. As an instructor, with over 10 years of experience, he has successfully staged full length ballets and coached variations for competitions. His students have been accepted to major classical Summer Intensive Programs and to professional companies around the country. Mr. Glusacov has a degree in pedagogy in dance from the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts, Moldova.
Donovan Helma (Tap)
Since the age of three, Donovan Helma has been dancing under the direction of his family operated dance studio in Aurora, CO. He currently continues his education through multiple dance conventions and tap festivals throughout the year. Donovan teaches and choreographs for multiple competitive studios in the Denver metro area and across the United States. He has performed on a Monday Night Football halftime show with the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and for Montreal’s Danse Encore International Festival in a production by Tap’d Out. Donovan has taken the stage with modern tap legends such as Jason Samuels Smith and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards in a Greorgy Hines tribute show, Thank You Gregory. He is honored to have toured the United States, Europe and South Africa for 7 years as a lead tap dancer in Tap Dogs. He looks forward to continuing his dancing career and inspiring audiences and students nationwide
Slava Mesropov (Ballet)
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. Before joining IBS full time in 2009, 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. 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.
Jacob James Mora (Modern Fusion)
Born and raised in the Mile High City of Denver CO, Jacob is the artistic Director of Moraporvida Contemporary Dance, a company based on urban experiences and human emotions., Quickly becoming a sought after choreographer for his unique and powerful repertory Jacob works as an international performer teacher and artist.
Jacob received a Bachlor of Arts from the University of Northern Colorado in Dance & Theatre, with emphasis in Choreography, Acting, and Performance. Jacob has been a member of the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Hannah Kahn Dance, Santee Smith Group, Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre, and Alaska Dance Theatre. He has had the pleasure of working with and dancing the works of Choreographers such as Donald Mckayle, Betty Jones, Ron Brown, Milton Meyers, David Rousseve, Eleo Pomare, David Dorfman and Lisa Race among many.
Jacob Choreographs and teaches around the Country using a unique blend of Contemporary and traditional techniques, fusing Modern, Jazz, Hip Hop, Poetry and ethnic and urban culture. He has been on faculty with the University of Wyoming and the New York Institute of Dance, as well as guest artist and teacher for may other schools, festivals and institutions.
Danielle Sunseri (Ballet)
Danielle Sunseri, an Ohio native, trained as a competitive swimmer and gymnast before studying classical dance. She began at age 14 with German Zamuel and Valentina Moukhanova at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, studied on scholarship with PBTS Schenley Program and Graduate Program under David Holladay and Patricia Wilde, and trained at North Carolina School for the Arts and Mercyhurst College in Performance and Pedagogy. After studies in NYC, at Ballet Arizona and the Colorado Ballet Apprentice Program, she joined Colorado Ballet in 1995 under the direction of Martin Fredmann. She enjoyed various roles in Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, Balanchine’s Serenade and Stars & Stripes, and the principle role of Pioneer Woman in the 1998 historic staging of Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring. She performed extensively with Kim Robards Dance, as a guest artist with Russian Ballet, Kanopy Dance Company and International Youth Ballet, and worked with noted repetiteurs Patricia Neary, Bart Cook, Janet Eilber, Janek Schergen, James Canfield, Gregory Dawson and others. She is a contemporary soloist in her sixth season with David Taylor Dance Theatre and a soloist and rehearsal assistant for Zikr Dance Ensemble. Ms. Sunseri has 15 years experience instructing young students in foundational levels of classical ballet, stretch, conditioning, character, and choreography. She has been a faculty instructor for nine years with Academy of Colorado Ballet, her first three under the inspiring direction of prima ballerina Patricia Renzetti. Before joining ACB, she was a teacher apprentice under Nadya Zubkov and Kee Juan Han at the School of Ballet Arizona and later completed teacher training seminars in the Russian method with Nadia Tikhonova, Zhanna Dubrovskaya, and Mansur Kamaletdinov. She has instructed students of all levels on several faculties including the School of Ballet Arizona, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Rocky Mountain School of Dance, Belliston Academy of Ballet, Youth Ballet Colorado, and International Ballet School and was rehearsal assistant and contributing choreographer for International Youth Ballet productions for two seasons. She directed the youth program for David Taylor Dance Theatre (Ascot) Academy of Ballet and choreographed and staged the children’s Mother Ginger divertissement for David Taylor Dance Theatre’s Nutcracker for three years while conducting numerous literacy-based dance residencies in the Englewood Public Elementary Schools. Ms. Sunseri also teaches beginning ballroom and enjoys directing her own ballet program for figure skaters and gymnasts.