Student Division –
Levels 1 thru 5

Jamey Leverett
Artistic Director

Ms. Leverett received her principal training with Timothy M. Draper at the Draper Center, the affiliated school of the Rochester City Ballet. As a former dancer with RCB, she performed major roles in Mr. Draper’s Nutcracker, and danced the lead role in his Firebird, choreographed specifically for her. During her performance career with RCB she was given opportunities to choreograph for the company. Her gift as a talented choreographer emerged, with several of her earlier works still performed by Rochester City Ballet today, such as Inner Voices and Gershwin in the Park.

Beth Bartholomew

Beth Bartholomew is a native of Rochester, NY, where she studied at the former Enid Knapp Botsford School of Dance and later with the Pennsylvania Ballet School in Philadelphia, PA. At age 18, she received a contract with the Joffrey II dancers and went on to dance with the Joffrey Ballet in NYC.

Stefanie Cheshire

Stefanie Cheshire has been on faculty with Draper Center since 1997 acting as choreographer for dance competitions and teacher of various dance styles including jazz, hip hop, lyrical, and contemporary.

Fawn Doran

Fawn Doran received her training at Draper Center for Dance Education, the official school of the Rochester City Ballet. While dancing at Draper she had several opportunities to dance with RCB in their productions of The Nutcracker and Cinderella. She danced roles such as Snow Corps, Spanish Corps, Waltz of the Flowers and lead Arabian princess. In Cinderella she was a Ball Guest as well as a Midnight Fairy.

Jillian Peschken

Jillian Peschken received her formal training at the Draper Center for Dance Education, while also performing as a company member with the Rochester City Ballet. After high school she joined Ballet Austin as a company trainee for one season before attending Indiana University’s Ballet Theater, where she received a B.S. in Ballet and Kinesiology

Breena Keefe

Born in Rochester, New York, Breena Keefe began her dance training at Pittsford Dance Studio before joining The Draper Center for Dance Education at age 13. She was a gold medalist in both the contemporary and classical categories at the Indianapolis City Ballet Competition and traveled to Peru with the Draper Center Youth Ensemble in 2016 and 2018 to perform with professionals from across the Americas.

Stephanie Mellinger-Reese

Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and also known as StephMel, she received her B.F.A in Modern Dance & Choreography from the State University of New York – College at Brockport. Throughout her college career, she had the opportunity to train with Doug Varone, Robert Battle, & The Jose Limon Dance Company.

Fidel E. Orrillo Puga

Fidel Orrillo, born in Lima, Peru, and studied with his Aunt Stella Puga in Trujillo, Peru. At age 13 he received a scholarship to the renowned “National School of Ballet” in Havana, Cuba, directed by Alicia Alonso where he graduated and performed with National Ballet of Cuba.

Florrie Geller

Florrie Sésé Geller began her pre-professional training with the legendary Marcia Dale Weary and the faculty of Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She continued her ballet education at Next Generation Ballet with Ivonne Lemus and directors Peter Stark and Philip Neal, as well as at summer programs at the School of American Ballet and San Francisco Ballet school.