Guest Teachers

Meet our guest artists

Leslie Merrill: Contemporary Modern Ballet, Rehearsal Director Student Ensemble

Leslie holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Colorado, with secondary emphases in Interdisciplinary Performance and Dance for the Camera. She has been teaching a variety of dance forms to students of all ages for 18 years, teaching master classes, serving as an artist in residence, presenting her dance scholarship at conferences, and sharing her choreographic and video work regionally, nationally, and internationally. Leslie works as Faculty and a Dance Major Co-Coordinator at Metro State University, where she and her colleague developed a new dance major in partnership with Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. She has performed with several dance companies in Colorado and has created multiple evening-length performance works.

I am a dancer, choreographer, video artist, and scholar

I am a collector of stories, images, sounds, dreams, movements, lists, and kindness

I am a giver of flowers, games, dances, lectures, and compliments

I am a teacher and a forever student of many dance forms, and of improvisation, theatre, poetry, history, music, art, literature, film, and humanity

I delight in the delicate balance between form and flow, between tradition and experimentation

I honor the historical legacy of creative traditions, while engaging in interdisciplinary exploration in the present

I am challenged and enlivened by collaboration. I play and trust. I guide and allow myself to be led.

I travel and share my creative work here and abroad

I am forever in awe of the body moving exquisitely through space, time being stretched, condensed, suspended, and made real through the majesty of the senses

I love the ritual of dance and the community that it has the power to create

I am a bridge builder

Jenny Loftus: Yoga

Jenny Loftus has been exploring the depths of yoga for 20 years and has been teaching for 11. Rooted in the Iyengar tradition she has delved into many lineages of yoga to deepen her own practice and teaching. Schooled in the Iyengar Yoga teacher training program, she is certified through the Samadhi Center for Yoga in Denver. With a strong foundation in body alignment principles, she guides her students to discover what lies within their bodies and minds using breath and movement to live in the present. Her classes have been described as nurturing and restorative while encouraging strength and alignment. Jenny holds a BS in Nursing and has worked as an oncology and hospice nurse with a focus in holistic medicine. She is also a certified massage therapist, with advanced training in Zen Shiatsu and Thai massage.

I am a mother of two beauties, a massage therapist , yoga teacher and at one time an oncology and hospice nurse

The healing arts is where I find my professional home

I value authenticity, compassion, service to others

I trust in the goodness of people

I am intrigued by the ways in which we move and the patterns that our head and heart instill in our bodies

I search for connection- within my own mind/body/spirit, and with others

I am always seeking to find the path of ease and efficiency in movement

I am a curious learner of movement somatics

I value all paths that lead to deeper embodiment

I create a space for students to explore themselves with openness and trust

I am integrity

Heather Brooke: Creative Movement

Heather Brooke holds a BA in Fine Art from The Colorado College, and an MA in Dance/Movement Therapy from Naropa University. A life-long, passionate student of dance and somatic therapies, Heather has pursued movement education and performance opportunities around the country and back. In her travels, Heather developed an allegiance to movement practices for all ages that allow for freedom, ease and expressivity, while incorporating visual art and story. This way of working became the substance of her teaching philosophy as owner and director Children’s Dance Place in Denver, and as a member of the BTB faculty in years past. She is thrilled to return to BTB after taking time away to grow her residential real estate business. Heather’s daily movement practice includes yoga, creative movement research, selling houses and loving her family.

I am an interpreter of concepts, and like to translate with playful words and quirky movement

I am a soulful and compassionate educator, striving to listen even more deeply

I am inspired by the richness and vulnerability of raw artistic creation in all forms

I am mesmerized by the places people call home

I am a mother and partner, head over heels in love, and learning to let go

I am an explorer of uncharted terrain in my work and play, learning to get comfortable with discomfort

I am grateful when I get to experience movement as a portal to new ideas

I am and will always be a dancer

Erika Sandre: Pre-Ballet

Miss Erika Sandre, ADCSC-CICB (Cecchetti), A.I.S.T.D. (National Dance), NBS (Diploma), originally from Ontario, Canada, began her training at the Dance Studio of Académie Ste. Cécile and was also accepted into the Performing Arts Program at Walkerville Collegiate Institute as a high school student. Miss Sandre, was accepted into the Full-Time Professional Training Program at the Quinte Ballet School, but decided to pursue teaching after developing an interest in teaching from having coached her peers. In 2003, Miss Sandre attended the Teacher Training Program at the National Ballet School of Canada. While at the National Ballet School, Erika’s training included syllabus and non-syllabus classes, pedagogy in both RAD and Cecchetti methods of ballet as well as NBS curriculum, National and Character Dance, functional anatomy, music as well as dance and art history. While studying in Toronto, Erika fell in love with Flamenco. She had the privilege to study with notable Flamenco artists including Valerie Scanurra of Ritmo Flamenco and Susan Walker, a freelance artist. Miss Sandre graduated from the Teacher Training Program in 2006 with her Cecchetti Associate teaching certification with the Cecchetti Society of Canada, her National Dance teaching certification with the I.S.T.D. of London, as well as her NBS Diploma. Since her graduation, Miss Sandre has achieved a higher standing with the Cecchetti Society of Canada, having received her Associate Diploma teaching certification.

Miss Sandre has been fortunate to teach at a number of studios in Toronto, including the National Ballet School of Canada, as well as in Victoria, British Columbia, where she was able to further her Flamenco studies under the direction of Veronica McGuire of Alma de España. Following her time in Victoria, Miss Sandre relocated to Anchorage, Alaska to be closer to her husband. While in Anchorage, Miss Sandre taught at various studios including Alaska Dance Theatre, were she served as School Director, as well as the University of Alaska Anchorage as adjunct faculty in the Department of Theatre and Dance. Also, in an attempt to bring the art of Flamenco to the dance and cultural community in Anchorage, Erika taught beginning Flamenco.

Erika is excited to be a part of Colorado dance and arts community, serving as a faculty member at Colorado Ballet within their Academy division as well as a company member with Flamenco Denver, under the direction of Maria Vazquez.

Rachel Oliver Young: Summer Camp

Rachel Oliver Young holds an MFA in Dance, as an Arts and Sciences Fellow at CU-Boulder, and a BS in Dance and Biochemistry from Beloit College. As a dance maker, Rachel’s choreographic work has been presented nationally and internationally. Rachel has been an instructor or a guest artist at public schools, dance studios, community centers and universities. Rachel is currently an adjunct instructor for the Continuing Education department at CU-Boulder, and a dance teacher for Denver Public Schools, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, and for the Colorado Ballet Education Program.

Leah Marcus: Business Manager

A graduate of the University of Colorado at Denver in Biology, Leah has been doing bookkeeping and business management for over 15 years for several non-profit organizations. A native of Colorado, she enjoyed taking tap and jazz dance classes as a child. She always knew she wanted her children to have a dance education. She is thrilled to be able to help organize the beautiful artistry in motion that happens within the studio. Leah has been married for over 20 years to her husband Sam and they have two children, Daniel and Lexi.

I am a mother and business manager in three places, BTB is one of my homes

My daughter Lexi grew up dancing here

I have a degree in Biology and I am fascinated by how the body works

I love dogs- big ones and littles ones, but I will never tell you how many I have

I am adventurous and have travelled to Tel Aviv three times, and Barcelona once in the last four years

I enjoy art galleries, trying new food, comic-con, zombie parades, creating event performances and riding on the back of my husband’s motorcycle

I dream of being fluent in Hebrew one day

I enjoy taking classes of all kinds- yoga, dance, Feldenkrais and am always open for more.

I am a great listener and accountant and enjoy making the dollars and sense of the Between the Bones Studio Collective

I am a keeper