Locally Owned for All Ages
History The ballet studio has a long history as a dance studio in Park Hill and changed names and owners a few times since the 1970’s. The studio was purchased in July 2014 by Karlyn Griswold and became Park Hill Dance Academy. Karlyn excited to share her love of dance with the Park Hill community. She is very excited to bring her vision and dreams to life as a teacher and choreographer in Park Hill.
Meet Our Staff
Karlyn GriswoldOwner | Artist Director
Karlyn Griswold
Karlyn Griswold is the owner and artistic director of Park Hill Dance Academy. She started dancing at the age of 21/2 and has not stopped. She began her pre-professional dance training at The Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities under the instruction of Christina Noel Adcock until leaving Colorado at the age of 15 to attend Interlochen Arts Academy as a dance major. She went on to dance professionally at the San Diego City Ballet in San Diego, CA and the Charleston Ballet Theatre in Charleston, SC where she performed various roles in Don Quixote, Peter Pan, Carnival of the Animals, Rite of Spring, and Nutcracker as well as other classical and contemporary works.
Karlyn also knew that she wanted to teach. Teaching came naturally to her because she always wanted to share her love for dance with the world. She began teaching ballet at the San Diego City Ballet in 2000. She started teaching at The Dancer’s Advantage 2011 and various studios in Denver including Cleo Parker Robinson and The Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities. She fell in love with the Park Hill Community and purchased the business in July 2014. Karlyn’s vision for Park Hill Dance Academy is to bring dance into the lives of everyone who walks through her door. She loves to teach all ages and all abilities and brings her passion for dance to the studio every day.
When Karlyn is not teaching at the studio, she enjoys spending time with her family, dancing with Park Hill Dance Collective, and riding bikes around Denver.
Madison OlesonAssistant Director
Madison Oleson
Madison started dancing right here at Mattie Springfield’s in 1999 and continued with Brian Bender’ s The Dancer’s Advantage in 2005 through the end of high school in 2011. She started teaching pre-ballet in 2008 and ballet levels 1-4 in 2009. After high school, Madison moved to Nashville to join The Dance Theatre of Tennessee as a company artist. She moved back to Denver after 3 seasons with the company. She started teaching at Park Hill Dance Academy in 2015. Madison currently dances professionally with Park Hill Dance Collective, Ballet 5280, and Ballet Ariel.
Rowan SalemInstructor
Rowan Salem
Rowan Salem is a choreographer, performer, and teacher. As a Teaching Fellow/Gretchen Moran Scholar, she completed a Masters of Fine Arts in Choreography and Performance from Smith College in Northampton, MA in 2017. She has taught courses at Amherst College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her interests lie in improvisation, performance, and links between philosophy and movement. Rowan recently moved to Colorado and is the recipient of the 2017 Create Award Residency at Art Gym, Denver.
Laura WhitbyInstructor
Laura Whitby
Laura Whitby, a New Jersey native, received the bulk of her dance training with Susan Jaffe and Risa Kaplowitz at Princeton Dance and Theater Studio. She continued her training at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy before joining Houston Ballet II in 2008. She also spent seasons with Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company and Charlotte Ballet II. While with these second companies, she performed acclaimed contemporary works as well as full length classics like Swan Lake. In 2014, she graduated from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music with a Bachelors of Science in Ballet, with an Outside Field in Applied Health Science and a Minor in Spanish. At IU, she studied under Violette Verdy and performed principal roles in various ballets, including many by George Balanchine. Upon graduating, Whitby then danced with the Sacramento Ballet for three seasons, performing Swan Lake, Balanchine ballets, as well as Arabian and Rose in Ron Cunningham’s The Nutcracker. Alongside her professional ballet career, she has taught ballet at various dance academies around the country, working with dancers of all ages and abilities. She is also a Certified Pilates Instructor and enjoys yoga, cooking, and the outdoors.
Lizanne McAdams-GrahamSummer Dance Camp Guest Teacher
Lizanne McAdams-Graham
Lizanne McAdams-Graham, has over 40 years experience as a professional dancer and dance educator and has devoted her entire life to the arts. She began training at the age of 3 under the direction of her late mother, Lorraine McAdams, legendary Director and Founder of the National Ballet of New Jersey and her father, a professional musician raising five children on a 12 acre dance complex. In her youth she was a full year scholarship student to Joffrey Ballet NYC, Harkness House for Ballet Arts NYC, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Choreography NARB workshops. She joined the Croation National Ballet and Opera Theatre in 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, Graduation Ball, Carmina Burana, Bolero and Cinderella. She has studied with Finus Yhung, David Howard, John Prince, Maria Vegh, Basil Thompson, Michael Smuin, Alonzo King, Maggie Black and Robert Blankshine, Kristina Elliot,Yehuda Maor, Loyce Holton, and Pavel Rotaru.
Mid career Ms. McAdams-Graham joined the renowned ODC/Dance, exploring contemporary dance, completing world tours in Russia, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, and Australia, along with residency at 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 in “Faust”, “Die Fledermaus”, “La Traviata” “Orfeo Ed Euridice” and “Aida” and appeared on the PBS televised production of “Dance in America”.
Ms. McAdams served on the dance faculty for Dance Alloy at Carnegie-Mellon University, Point Park University, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Dance Center and Drexel University . She has set major ballets on Charleston Ballet, Ithaca Ballet and Walnut Hill School for the Arts. She retired from performing in 1997 and conducted company class for Boulder Ballet, Cleo Parker Robinson, David Taylor Dance Theatre, Zikir Dance Ensemble and Wonderbound in Colorado. She conducted thriving professional classes at Colorado Ballet and Denver Dance Center for 22 years. She was Ballet Mistress for David Taylor Dance Theatre and Dawson/Wallace Dance Project. Before relocating to Austin, Texas, Ms. McAdams was Ballet Director/Choreographer and Ballet Mistress for Sweatshop Dance in Denver.
Mid career Ms. McAdams-Graham joined the renowned ODC/Dance, exploring contemporary dance, completing world tours in Russia, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, and Australia, along with residency at 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 in “Faust”, “Die Fledermaus”, “La Traviata” “Orfeo Ed Euridice” and “Aida” and appeared on the PBS televised production of “Dance in America”.
Ms. McAdams served on the dance faculty for Dance Alloy at Carnegie-Mellon University, Point Park University, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Dance Center and Drexel University . She has set major ballets on Charleston Ballet, Ithaca Ballet and Walnut Hill School for the Arts. She retired from performing in 1997 and conducted company class for Boulder Ballet, Cleo Parker Robinson, David Taylor Dance Theatre, Zikir Dance Ensemble and Wonderbound in Colorado. She conducted thriving professional classes at Colorado Ballet and Denver Dance Center for 22 years. She was Ballet Mistress for David Taylor Dance Theatre and Dawson/Wallace Dance Project. Before relocating to Austin, Texas, Ms. McAdams was Ballet Director/Choreographer and Ballet Mistress for Sweatshop Dance in Denver.
Inspire Growth and Confidence
Both In Studio and On The Stage
