Jennifer Neuser began her dance training in Wisconsin at age six. She studied with many dance professionals throughout the United States, including Juanita and Nikolai Makaroff (School of American Ballet; Bolshoi Ballet), Ronn Guidi (Oakland Ballet), Robert Lindgren (North Carolina School of the Arts), Marcus Alford (Gus Giordano Dance Company,) and Richard Verhoeven (Dance Masters of America).

Ms. Hill combines her advanced early childhood education and extensive dance background to do what she loves best: To teach young children to dance and experience joy in movement. Dance has been a part of her life since the age of 3, and as a child and teen, Carrie had the opportunity to study in both Europe and the United States.

Carrie was awarded her Bachelor of Science degree in Finance & Economics from Texas Tech University, and then followed her passion for teaching young children through extensive early childhood education from Central Texas College and Master of Education coursework from Northern Arizona University. Along with her classical dance education expertise, she brings to Ballet Rincon eight combined years of academic experience in teaching young children as a Balanced Literacy Specialist for the Tucson Unified School District and the United States Department of Defense Schools-Europe.

As BR’s Director of Preschool Programs since 2002, Ms. Hill used her passion for movement to develop the Division’s innovative ballet, tap and Preschool Movement Workshop curriculums, and she continues to sustain the foundation of BR’s training philosophy in our youngest students. With children of her own, she understands the importance of positive feedback and encourages students to feel successful in their dancing and confident in themselves.

Audra Allen has been training for over 20 years in ballet, modern, jazz, contemporary ballet, pas de deux, hip hop, contemporary, tap, musical theatre, African, and flamenco. She has been teaching ballet and other forms of dance for 14 years, the last two years at Ballet Rincon, and has performed roles in many of the great classical ballets. Her eclectic style in training and performance carries over to her choreography in all styles, which she relishes sharing with her young pupils.

Audra is a recipient of multiple scholarships from many nationally-recognized professional Intensive programs, including the Virginia School of the Arts, Brigham Young University, and the Vail International Summer Intensive.

Ms. Allen received her BA in Music Theatre with a concentration in dance at Colorado Mesa University, and is currently completing her MFA in dance with a focus in choreography at the University of Arizona.

Erika Colombi has more than 30 years of dance experience, and has taught all levels of dance from young children to university students for the past 15 years. She did her initial training in Boise, Idaho, with American Festival Ballet and continued her training with the Ballet Idaho Junior Company. Erika went on to earn her master’s degree in Dance Pedagogy from the University of Idaho in 2000. She then danced professionally for the Corpus Christi Ballet, where she was a principal ballerina in The Nutcracker, Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppelia, and several other classical and contemporary ballets.

Hannah Curry began her dance training in Tucson at age seven, and danced at many studios throughout the area before finding her home at Ballet Rincon in 2004. During her training at BR, Ms. Curry danced lead roles in several of the great classics, including The Sugar Plum Fairy and Queen of the Snowflakes in The Nutcracker, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella in Cinderella, and Swanilda in Coppelia. Hannah augmented her training in 2008 with advanced study at the School of the Kansas City Ballet.

Ms. Deslongchamps has been training and performing since she was a child, and has taught at and choreographed for numerous dance studios and programs throughout southern Arizona. Her award-winning choreography is in demand by organizations throughout the Southwest. In her current tenure at Ballet Rincon, she collaborates in full-length ballet productions, teaches the advanced tap classes and intermediate to advanced ballet levels, and runs the Jazz Division.

Mika is also the co-founder and Artistic Director of Dance for a Cause (DFAC), a not-for-profit organization that challenges dancers while raising funds for a variety of organizations and bringing the joy of dance to new audiences.

Ms. Delongchamps holds a bachelors degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of Arizona. When not dancing, choreographing or teaching, she works with children full time as a speech therapy assistant in the Vail School District.

Cory J Fragoso-Gram began his dance training at the preprofessional academy Canton Ballet, in Canton, OH, under the directorship of Cassandra Crowley: There he was notably given the rare opportunity of intense study in pointework, an area of the art form unique to few male dancers. Training progressively, Mr. Gram also studied with Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School; danced on scholarship at The School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center in New York City; and graduated high school from The Harid Conservatory, the prestigious arts institution in Boca Raton, FL. After receiving a full four-year scholarship to Butler University in Indianapolis, IN, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.

Having already performed in the corps de ballet of Indianapolis's premier ballet company, Ballet International, Cory was scouted in 2000 by Dayton Ballet and began his professional career. In Dayton, he performed leading roles in ballets by renowned choreographers and directors Luis Fuente, Steven Mills, Septime Webber, Robert Joffrey, Dermont Burke, Mark Diamond, and Jeffery Graham-Hughes.

Mr. Graham left his professional career in the fall of 2004 after receiving a full stipend scholarship to the M.F.A. program at University of Arizona's School of Dance. There he continued to develop his teaching and choreographic skill while performing leading roles in masterworks by George Balanchine, Ben Stevenson, Melissa Lowe, Paul Sanasardo, James Clouser, and Jory Hancock.

After graduating with his Masters of Fine Arts in 2007, Cory resumed his professional career with Ballet Tucson under the directorship of Mary Beth Cabana. In 2010 he left the company to take an adjunct faculty position with Pima Community College, where he continues to instruct dance technique classes in ballet, modern, jazz and dance conditioning. He is currently a guest artist with Art.If.Act Dance Project, a contemporary ballet company in Tucson.

Mr. Gram has trained extensively in the pedagogical art of dance and has been practicing as an instructor since 2001. He has thoroughly enjoyed working with the students and families at Ballet Rincon, and looks forward to sharing his knowledge at the school for years to come.

Lee Anne Hartley is the Director of FUNHOUSE movement theater which has served over 40,000 participants since 2000 through highly acclaimed dance concerts and its Youth Outreach Program. FUNHOUSE movement theater is the 2007 Lumie Winner for an Arts Education Organization sponsored by Tucson Pima Arts Council and the 2004 and 2005 Achievement Award Finalist for Community Impact sponsored by the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.

Ms. Hartley has created work for arts festivals, universities, regional dance companies and public television. Recognized as “a talent to be reckoned with” by the Seattle Times, she has received awards for her choreography from the Seattle Arts Commission, Artist Trust of Washington State, and Arizona Commission on the Arts. She has performed work by National Endowment of the Arts recipients Jesse Jaramillo, Pat Graney and Mark Morris.

Lee Anne has instructed all ages from beginners to professionals. A former Arizona Roster Artist, she taught for children’s dance author Annie Gilbert, and provided choreography for Raggamuffen Enterprises which served over 15,000 children in California and Washington State. With a Masters of Fine Arts in Modern Dance and as a certified Laban Movement Analyst, she has taught for the Universities of Arizona, Colorado at Boulder, Utah, and Washington. One of her favorite responsibilities in recent years has been teaching modern dance for Ballet Rincon.