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 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 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 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.
Jennifer began her training in Richardson, Texas under the direction of Tanju and Patricia Tuzer, spending her summers at the Kirov Academy of Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Tulsa Ballet, and Ballet Austin. She continued her training at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and upon graduation, joined Tulsa Ballet II, dancing in Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove and John Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew. Joining the Colorado Ballet Studio Company in 2011, Jennifer performed in the company’s productions of
Inspire Growth and Confidence
Both In Studio and On The Stage
