About Us
MEET OUR
Instructors
Welcome to Park Hill Dance Academy! We are a premier dance academy located in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver, CO. Our program is geared towards developing well-rounded and versatile dancers ready to take on the world. We offer classes in Pre-Primary, Primary, Intermediate, Advanced, Pre-Professional, Adult, and Electives. We also offer a Free Trial Class prior to enrolling so sign up today to reserve your class!
Karlyn Griswold
Owner | Artist Director
ABOUT KARLYN
Karlyn began her teaching career while at the San Diego City Ballet in 2000. She started teaching in Colorado at The Dancer’s Advantage 2011, She has also taught at various studios in Denver including Cleo Parker Robinson and The Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities. She felt connected to her students at TDA and purchased the business in July 2014. In addition to running the academy, Karlyn is also the director of the PHDA Youth Dance Company and has produced many full length ballets including Giselle, Don Quixote, Nutcracker, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
When Karlyn is not teaching, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and believe it or not dancing.
Madison Oleson
Assistant Director
ABOUT MADISON
Laura Whitby
Instructor
ABOUT LAURA
Casey Pottle
Instructor
ABOUT CASEY
Emily Hoch
Instructor
ABOUT EMILY
Julia Doering
Instructor
ABOUT JULIA
Elizabeth Alcorn
Instructor
ABOUT ELIZABETH
Elena Kramda
Instructor
ABOUT ELENA
Elena currently performs as a dancer with Park Hill Dance Collective, a dancer/singer/choreographer with
both Amanda V’s Material Girl and Princess and the Evolution, and a dancer on the ladies’shines salsa
performance teams at Colorado New Style (CNS): Divinas, and Anita’s Ladies, of the renowned World
Champion Anita Santos Rubin, performing and competing around the Denver area, nationally, and in
international competition throughout the US. The Divinas took First Place and the title of “World
Champions” at the international World Salsa Summit in 2021 in both the ProAm and Amateur categories.
Her CNS team was also featured in a performance with the Colorado Symphony on the Latin Beats
concert, hosted and televised on Telemundo. Elena has also previously performed and choreographed for
other dance ensembles and notable performing artists such as Emmy award-winning Melissa Ivey’s Speed
of Life, international artist Nick Cave’s Heard*DAM, Flash Mob America as a dance lead, Front Range
Contemporary Ballet Company, DAM Entertainment, Legacy Dance Ensemble as a soloist, and Blue
Moon Dance Company, in addition to other choreographers and clients.
Elena started her dance training with Christina Noel at the Arvada Center. She later earned a BFA in
dance from the Conservatory of Music and Dance at UMKC. There she studied under and performed in
pieces by Jennifer Medina, DeeAnna Hiett, Rodni Williams, Sabrina Madison-Cannon, Paula Weber, and
Mary Pat Henry, among others. She attended programs at The Ailey School, Jennifer Medina’s Common
Thread Contemporary Dance Company, Cleo Parker Robinson, and Kim Robards, performing in
showcases and attending some of these on scholarship. Elena then went on to study Graham with the
esteemed Franca Telesio. Her dance technique styles include Horton and Graham based modern, ballet,
jazz, and contemporary. Elena is also excited to be exploring and training her newfound skills in aerial
dance (sling, silks, lyra), competitive salsa shines (on1 and on2), and backup vocals.
Elena believes in the value of the performing arts from both an artistic and educational standpoint. She earned an elementary teaching license from the State of Colorado through the University of Colorado Denver. As such, Elena believes dance education should be accessible, shared, and enjoyed by all. She hopes to use dance and choreography as a tool to build self-esteem and create a positive self-image for growing dancers of any background. Elena has taught in a variety of dance programs in the US, and abroad in Abu Dhabi (UAE). She currently directs the Modern department at Park Hill Dance Academy. Elena also teaches at Airborne Gymnastics and Dance, and her choreography in recent seasons has taken 1st and 3rd place in their category in competition. She additionally previously directed the Tour Ensemble. Elena teaches at the Dance Academy at The Arvada Center, and Community-Minded Dance (CMDance) as an instructor and member of the School and Sponsor Outreach Teams.
Justin Savage
Instructor
ABOUT JUSTIN
Originally hailing from South Florida, Justin began his dance training at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre Conservatory, where he studied Ballet (Cecchetti), Jazz, and Tap. Upon starting college, he then became well versed in modern, contemporary, and improvisation techniques. Graduating from Belmont University in 2019 with a B.S. in Entertainment Industry Studies, he began dancing with XContemporary Dance, a queer owned contemporary ballet company in Nashville, Tennessee until moving to Denver, CO. In his time in Denver, Justin has danced with companies such as Hardcandy Dancers & KiKi Sinister Presents, as well as being a part of the local Ballroom (Vogue) scene as a member of the Kiki House of Flora (Denver).
