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Lizanne McAdams-Graham,
has over 30 years experience as a professional dancer and instructor. She began training at the age of 3 under
the direction of her late mother, Lorraine McAdams. She has an extensive history with her mother’s company, the National
Ballet of New Jersey. She was a scholarship student to Joffrey Ballet, Harkness House, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Craft
of Choreography NARB workshops. She joined the National Ballet of Zagreb, in the former Yugoslavia at the age of 17 dancing
principal and leading roles in Nutcracker, Coppelia, Giselle, Swan Lake, Serenade, Romeo & Juliet, Sleeping Beauty and
Firebird. She studied with Finus Yhung, David Howard, John Prince, Maria Vegh, Basil Thompson, Michael Smuin, Alonzo King,
Maggie Black and Robert Blankshine. Ms. McAdams later became principal dancer with the renowned ODC/San
Francisco, completing world tours including Russia, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, and Australia, along with Jacobs Pillow, Joyce
Theater, City Center, Lincoln Center in NYC, and Kennedy Center in D.C. She has guest appeared for Los Angeles, Santa Fe,
Pittsburgh, and San Francisco Opera Ballet Companies and appeared on the PBS televised production of "Dance in America"
and the major motion picture "The In Crowd." Ms. McAdams served on the faculty for
Pittsburgh Ballet, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Point Park College, Carnegie-Mellon University, Drexel University and San Francisco
Institute of Dance. She set major ballets on Charleston Ballet, Ithaca Ballet and Walnut Hill. She retired from performing
in 1997 and has since taught company class for Boulder Ballet, Cleo Parker Robinson and Ballet Nouveau Colorado. She held
classes at Colorado Ballet and currently teaches professional classes at Denver Dance Center. She is currently company teacher
for David Taylor Dance Theatre and is the director and founder of the High Pointe Dance Academy, a professional children’s
school in Colorado.
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Sarah
Tallman, Ballet II, III/IV Instructor
Sarah holds a BA with honors in Dance Performance and Choreography
from the University of Northern Colorado, where she was the two-time recipient of the esteemed honor of Dancer of the Year.
She has studied with Lizanne McAdams-Graham, Arthur Leeth, Cherie Noble, and Jeffrey Rockland. Sarah danced with David Taylor
Dance Theatre, Kim Robards Dance, Lynn Barr and Dancers (Italy), Baardar Dance Institut (Norway), and Colorado Dance Theatre.
Sarah is a principal dancer with Ballet Nouveau and has extensive teaching experience. This is her 9th season with HPDA. |
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Jennifer
Bakane, Pre Ballet/Tap and Children's Jazz Jennifer Bakane grew up in North Carolina, studying Ballet, Jazz,
Modern, Tap, and Musical Theatre. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre in 2002 from Meredith College in Raleigh, while
training at Infinity Ballet Conservatory. She became Dance Director at Cardinal Gibbons H.S. and served on the faculty of
Infinity Ballet Conservatory and The Ballet School of Chapel Hill. Ms. Bakane performed in “Cabaret”, “Follies”,
“The Goodbye Girl”, “Cinderella”, “Nutcracker”, “Paquita”, and “La Vivandi”re”.
She is the Youth Programs Specialist for The City of Lakewood. This is Jennifer”s 1st year with HPDA after teaching
children”s Jazz in our Summer Intensive.
Rebecca
Leslie Wright, Intermediate Jazz/Tap Rebecca trained at The Richmond Ballet, where she performed in The
Nutcracker and Coppelia. While studying with VCU she was invited to perform with the Martha Graham Company, performing at
the Carpenter Center. After receiving her BFA, she went on to teach in the Richmond area for 12 years. She was a company
member and Assistant Director for PULSE Dance Collective. This is Rebecca's first season with High Pointe Dance Academy conducting
intermediate Jazz and Tap classes.
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