ABOUT US

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. Currently Karlyn is a company member of In the Wings Dance Company and Park Hill Dance Collective. Both companies combine dance and aerial arts and perform multiple times a year.

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, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and believe it or not dancing.

Originally from St. Louis, Mr. Page-Sanders received his formal dance training from the Center Of Creative Arts (COCA) and the University of Missouri- Kansas City: Conservatory of Music and Dance. He is the CO-FoundingArtistic Director of NU-World Contemporary Danse Theatre, which he founded with his husband, Bashir Page. As a performing artist, Christopher is grateful to have danced as a member of many notable companies such as the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Hannah Kahn Dance Company, OwenCox Dance Group, Wylliams-Henry Contemporary Dance Company and the Leah Glenn Dance Theatre just to name a few. As a choreographer and teacher, he has created concert dance work for companies such as Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Davis Contemporary Dance Company, Deeply Rooted’s ECS, COCADance, as well as teaching and choreographing at the Denver School for the Arts, Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts Center, William & Mary College and the Central Visual & Performing Arts High School. He is currently the Modern Dance Director for Park Hill Dance Academy. Along with concert dance work, Christopher has choreographed for such theatre companies as: Fly North Theatricals, The Rep’s Imaginary Theatre Company, Town Hall Arts Center and Vintage Theatre Productions, to name a few. He has been blessed to serve a thirteen year tenure at East Central College as their choreographer in residence for the theatre department, as well as a fifteen year tenure as the choreographer for the COCA Summer Musicals. His choreography has been presented on a national level twice at the International Association of Blacks In Dance Conference. In 2013, he was recognized and given the Leni Wylliams Award for choreography and innovation from Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. In 2020, he was nominated as Best Choreographer for the Colorado Henry Awards for his choreography for the Regional Premiere of a the musical “The Scottsboro Boys”, produced by Vintage Theatre Productions. To his ancestors and mentors on your shoulders I dance! Peace and Blessings; Love, Light and Art!

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.

Casey is a lover of movement with a passion for sharing it with others. She has over a decade of dance training and experience in ballet, Irish step, and contemporary dance. After graduating from college in 2012 having studied dance abroad in London, Casey discovered her love for teaching dance, and has taught ballet to a variety of ages including kids, teens, and adults. Upon moving to Denver in 2017, Casey taught ballet for adults for several years at Broche Ballet, where she discovered her passion for sharing her love for ballet with the adult dance community. Casey also teaches aerial dance, and loves to combine her love of ballet with aerial arts. She has performed in multiple aerial and dance shows around Denver. Casey currently dances professionally with Park Hill Dance Collective and In The Wings.