Alumni

American Ballet Theater – Principal
Natalie Portman Dance Double – Black Swan

Born in San Francisco, California, Sarah Lane began her dance training in Memphis, Tennessee under the direction of Pat Gillespie at the Memphis Classical Ballet. When her family moved to Rochester, New York, she continued instruction with Timothy Draper and Jamey Leverett at the Draper Center for Dance Education where she studied and trained for 8 years.

American Ballet Theater – Soloist

Kristi was born in Rochester, but she didn’t start dancing at Draper Center until she was 13 years old! She took classes with Tim Draper and Jamey Leverett, Draper Center and Rochester City Ballet’s Artistic director. Kristi says “They really helped fast track me”!

Celine Dion, Cirque du Soleil, Hubbard Street, River North, Broadway

Currently, Tina is a dancer with Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson Immortal World Tour. It’s a combination of a cirque show and a rock concert all in one, featuring some of Michael Jackson’s original musicians with artists of all different disciplines from all over the world.

Finnish National Ballet

Born in Sweden, Gabe began dancing at the Swedish National Ballet School of Gothenburg at the age of 10. Half a year later, his family moved to the United States so he enrolled at the Draper Center in Rochester, NY. He received his formative dance training at the school and trained there for seven years.

Jonatan Davidsson is a soloist with the Royal Swedish Ballet, previously principal dancer with Estonian National Ballet, dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, Houston Ballet and Rochester City Ballet. His wife Nathalie Nordquist is a principal dancer with the Royal Swedish Ballet and they have a son named Victor. He received his training at Draper Center, Kirov Academy of Ballet and Swedish National Ballet School.

Cincinnati Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, Rochester City Ballet, Kansas City Ballet

Jill Marlow began her training at Draper Center for Dance Education in Rochester, New York, under the direction of Timothy Draper and Jamey Throumoulos Leverett. Additionally, Ms. Marlow spent time training at American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and Indiana University.

Since leaving Draper Center, Chelsea attended NYU-Tisch School of the Arts on a Dance Scholarship, graduating in 2008 with a BFA in Dance/Choreography. Upon graduation, she was invited to dance in The Netherlands, Montreal and San Francisco.

The Julliard School – Scholarship,
Bodytraffic – Company Dancer

Joseph was born and raised in the beautiful hills of upstate New York, and can be easily identified from a distance by his cacophonous laughter. He began his studies at The Draper Center for Dance Education in Rochester, New York and continued to receive his BFA at The Juilliard School under direction of Lawrence Rhodes, on tuition scholarship from New York City Dance Alliance.

Mary Beth is currently attending Indiana University of Bloomington’s Jacobs School of Music majoring in Dance and Physical Therapy, she received both a Dance and Academic Scholarship.

Kansas City Ballet – Company Member

Cameron Thomas began his dance training at the Timothy M Draper Center for Dance Education in his hometown of Rochester, New York. In 2013, he began performing regularly with Rochester City Ballet. In 2015, Mr. Thomas received a full scholarship to attend the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre. He joined Kansas City Ballet II for the 2016-2017 season and was promoted to the main company the following season. 

Sasha Chernjavsky, born in Rochester, NY, started his dance training at the Draper Center for Dance Education. In 2015, he attended the Houston Ballet Academy and joined Houston Ballet II the following year. While with HBII, he performed in several notable works such as George Balanchine’s Allegro Brilliante, and John Neumeier’s Yondering as the Jeanie Boy.

Freelance Dancer – NYC
Spare/Change Dance – Founder
Student – Institute of Culinary Education

Emilee Pratt (They/Them) graduated from Draper Center in 2014. They continued their dance education at SUNY Purchase College Conservatory of Dance. During their time in the conservatory they performed works by Loni Landon, Sue Bernhard, Dylan Crossman, Nejla Yatkin, Manuel Vignoulle and Doug Varone.

Rochester City Ballet – Company Dancer

Mr. Collins received his training from the Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education, on scholarship with the Joffrey Ballet School, Hubbard Street Dance summer intensive, and Point Park University. He has performed with Gelsey Kirkland and the Joffrey Ballet School, as Arabian, Russian, Fritz, and Snow King, in their performances of The Nutcracker, and with Ballet for Young Audiences in New York City.

John is a Rochester, New York native. He received his training at the Draper Center for Dance Education and later the Boston Ballet as a trainee on a full scholarship. After leaving Boston, John joined the Carolina Ballet in Raleigh North Carolina under the direction of Robert Weiss. While in Raleigh he danced in numerous ballets such as Romeo & Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Four Seasons, Nutcracker as well as George Balanchine’s Rubies and Brahm’s Schoenberg Quartet.

A Rochester, New York native, Jessica Tretter trained at the Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education, and the Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy under full scholarship. She also attended the School of American Ballet summer intensive, under full scholarship, and American Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive in New York City.

Rochester City Ballet – Company Dancer

A native of Pittsford, NY, Caitlin Schwartz received her early training from the Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education, the official training school of the Rochester City Ballet. Under the direction of Artistic Director Jamey Leverett, she took part in a variety of performances with the Rochester City Ballet during her training. She went on to earn a B.F.A. in Dance at the University of Arizona on scholarship.

Rochester City Ballet – Apprentice

Born in American Fork, Utah, Hannah Boyer began her dance training at The Academy of Ballet in Orem, Utah under the direction of Lynne Thompson. At 7 years old she moved to Webster, New York and started taking classes at Deborah Mckay School of Dance under Deborah Tiffany and eventually additional classes at Sandy Stromanine School of Dance under Sandy Stromanine.

Oklahoma!, Off-Broadway
NYU-Tisch – Student

Originally from Rochester, New York, Jordan Wynn began dancing at age 6 at the Draper Center for Dance Education where she was primarily trained in classical ballet, pointe work, jazz, modern, and character dance. As she progressed, she became a part of the Professional Training Program where she was a trainee for the Rochester City Ballet.