Faculty

World-class instructors guiding students to develop to their fullest potential through the Vaganova method of ballet and supplemental character, contemporary, tap, and jazz dance techniques. Our faculty specializes in providing frequent and personalized corrections to every student. Their attention to detail will leave a lasting impact on your dancer's training.

Alexandru Glushacov (Artistic Director, Ballet, Character) 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. Glushacov has danced around the country as a guest artist including with 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 15 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. Glushacov has a degree in pedagogy in dance from the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts, Moldova.

Melissa Zoebisch (Artistic Director, Ballet) grew up in Mexico and studied at the Chamber Ballet of Jalisco. She was awarded a scholarship to attend the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Ms. Sizova’s class, returning to Mexico to graduate in 2004. In 2005, Ms. Zoebisch joined the National Dance Company, where she danced soloist roles in ballets like Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Carmen, and other performances. She was a finalist at the Korea International Ballet Competition in 2010 and the recipient of a Special Award KIBC. Ms. Zoebisch was a soloist with Colorado Ballet, where she has performed roles such as Sugar Plum Fairy (The Nutcracker), Lilac Fairy (Sleeping Beauty), Myrtha (Giselle), pas de trois (Swan Lake), Wicked Witch (The Wizard of Oz), as well as contemporary choreographies by Jiří Kylián, Twylan Tharp, Edwaard Liang, among others. As a teacher, Ms. Zoebisch has over 15 years of experience in which she has successfully coached students that made it into the YAGP finals in NYC; 3rd place winner at the Denver Ballet Guild, and Emily's Inspiration Award recipient. She now has Teacher Certification for the Pre-ballet and Level 1 programs from the prestigious, world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet Academy, in Moscow, Russia. Many of her students have been accepted to trainee programs at major national and international schools, dance college programs, as well as professional companies around the country and Europe.

Giana Jigarhan (Ballet, Character) is a graduate of the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and received a Masters Degree in Ballet Instruction, Choreography and Stage Production from the prestigious Moscow University of Theatre Arts having studied with Professor Marina Semyonova. She also trained for two years as a Ballet Instructor and Choreographer at the Bolshoi Theater and is a member of the Russian Professional Art Association. Ms. Jigarhan was a soloist ballet dancer for fourteen years with the Novosibirsk Ballet Theater (Siberian Bolshoi). Her repertoire included the most famous classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Cinderella, Giselle, La Bayadere, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, Raymonda, as well as ballets by the most prestigious modern Russian choreographers. She has coached both students and artists for ballet competitions and performances. Ms. Jigarhan has taught ballet and coached at many well known institutions including: Moscow Musical Theater, the Polish National Ballet School, Polish National Ballet Theatre, Asami Maki Ballet Company in Japan, Star Dance Ballet, Japan; Prague National Theater, National Theater of Korea, Universal Ballet Company in Korea, EWHA University Dance Department in Korea, Washington School of Ballet, Kirov Academy of Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Towson University, Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, The Peabody Institute Dance Department at Johns Hopkins University, where she choreographed an original version of the full length ballet Coppelia. In 2008, she began working at the Academy of Colorado Ballet, official school of Colorado Ballet Company, as a Principal ballet instructor for 6 years. In 2011, she was invited by the American School of Ballet to attend the National Teachers' Weekend celebrating the top teachers in the country. She was one of fourteen selected. From 2013 to 2021, Ms. Jigarhan served as the Debbie Allen Dance Academy’s Principal Ballet Teacher. Recently, Ms. Jigarhan worked at Osipova Ballet Academy teaching ballet and character dance.

Elliana Flieder (Preballet, Ballet, Tap) is a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer hailing from Colorado as a lifelong native. She started her love of the performance arts within the realm of musical theatre, having performed in over 18 musicals and plays by the time she was 14. She received pre-professional training at Denver Ballet Theatre and graduated from the program in 2019. During her training, she was given the opportunity to dance with David Taylor’s Zikr Dance Ensemble beginning in 2017 and danced with the company for 5 of their seasons. During this time, she performed the “Path of Discipleship and the Sixth Ray of Devotion” solo from the acclaimed production of Runes for many seasons, which was choreographed for her. She was also very fortunate for the opportunity to study with prestigious programs through the Bolshoi Academy, Kirov Academy, and State Street Ballet; during which she trained under instructors Georgii Gusev, Vera Kulikova, Lyubov Fominich, Keenan Kampa, Autumn Eckman as well as many other wonderful instructors. She has a love for all forms of movement and dance styles in addition to ballet, with training in tap, jazz, contemporary, and character dancing. In 2024, she staged and performed the “Moses Supposes” sequence with the original Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor choreography. She holds an Associate of Arts in Communication and an Associate of Science in Psychology from Arapahoe Community College. Currently, she is finishing her Bachelor of Arts program through the University of Colorado Denver with a double major in Communication and Psychology and recently completed her certification in Mediation through the university. She is so thankful as an alumnus of the Denver Ballet Theatre program to share her passion for dance and performance with her students, as well as continuing to learn more every day from all of her incredible mentors through the school.

Candice Barth (Contemporary, Jazz) is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer from Littleton, CO. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arizona with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Business. During her time in Arizona, she was featured in James Clouser's Carmina Burana, performed Sanguinic Principal in Balanchine's The Four Temperaments, and danced the Grand Pas De Deux from Don Quixote. She began her professional career in 2011 performing with Artifact Dance Project in a production that toured China. She was also a guest artist with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s The Nutcracker and performed with Sam Watson at The Kiel Festival of Dance in Kiel, Germany. She danced with Wonderbound in Denver, CO for four seasons, performing collaborative works created by Garrett Ammon, Sarah Tallman, and Lane Gifford. Upon returning to The University of Arizona to earn her MFA, Candice performed First Violin in Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco as well as contemporary ballet masterworks such as Darrell Grand Moultrie’s Boiling Point, Alexei Ratmansky’s Bolero, Jessica Lang’s Among the Stars, and Nacho Duato’s Na Floresta. Candice has been a dance instructor for over 12 years in the studio, private and intensive setting. Through a learner-centered approach, she emphasizes teaching methods that allow her students to value their bodies and minds in a safe and healthy way, ultimately fostering their own appreciation and passion for the art of dance. She is passionate about dance education and was invited to present her research on teaching Generation Z in the new era of dance education at the National Dance Education Organization 2018 National Conference. As a choreographer, Candice fuses her love of research with her creativity in dance to produce pure, informative, engaging, and sophisticated work. She appreciates the power of collaboration and strives to work with different artists and dancers throughout her creative processes.

David Taylor (Artistic Director Emeritus, Ballet, Dance History) has been professionally involved in the Colorado dance community for the past fifty years. During the course of a twelve-year dance career, he began choreographing in 1976, and since then has created well over 100 original works. In 1979, he founded the David Taylor Dance Theatre, which, for thirty-two years, was recognized as one of the Rocky Mountain region’s most acclaimed dance organizations, and Denver’s original contemporary ballet company. Mr. Taylor has 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 Museum of Outdoor Arts and the Up Close and Musical Ensemble, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Colorado Wind Ensemble, and for the Dayton Ballet in Ohio. He has also staged works for the Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet, the Lone Star Ballet of Amarillo, Texas, Western Wyoming Community College, Colorado Mesa University and the Canyon Concert Ballet and his original and innovative productions of “The Nutcracker” and “Rainforest” garnered national critical recognition and were booked extensively across the United States for twenty years. 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 received the Carson-Brierly Dance Library’s prestigious “Living Legends of Dance” Award. Currently, Mr. Taylor teacher for Denver Ballet Theatre, where he previously served as Artistic Director for eight years.

Faculty

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