2023/24 Dance Arts Los Alamos Faculty
Artistic Director
Jonathan Guise
Classical Ballet (Cecchetti & Vaganova Technique),Pas de Deux, Pointe Technique, PBT (Conditioning), Modern (Horton, Graham and Limon Techniques, Swing (Basic, Jitterbug, Lindy & Charleston), Choreography, Jazz (Classical & Contemporary), and Dance Photography
Jonathan has been working in the entertainment industry for 27 years. He began his career in Colorado Springs, dancing with local dance groups and companies at the age of 15. Mr. Guise went on to dance with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Boston Ballet and The Eugene Ballet, to name a few. He has been a dance educator for 24 years, teaching at numerous studios, companies, and universities around the globe. In 2015, his original 2 act ballet Nutcracker on “The Hill” premiered to a nearly sold out auditorium. In 2022, Nutcracker on “The Hill” was selected by the New Mexico Historical Society to receive The Dorothy Woodward Award for Historical Excellence. DALA has turned the ballet into a trilogy, the first ever Nutcracker trilogy in the history of Classical Ballet. Mr. Guise is so very excited to be the Artistic Director of Dance Arts Los Alamos again. “DALA is my family”.
Associate Director
Karina Wilder
Classical Ballet (Cecchetti & Vaganova), Pointe Technique, PBT (Conditioning), Modern (Various Techniques), Choreography, Dance Exploration, Pre-Ballet and Video Dance.
Allison Beaux
Pre-Ballet, Ballet 1, Ballet 4, Modern (Various Techniques), & Hip Hop
Allison Beaux is originally from Spokane, WA. Prior to college, she was involved in gymnastics, dance team, various dance genres and competed in a world competition in color guard where they placed twelfth. She received her B.S. in Dance at the University of Idaho in 2005. Modern dance is her most influencing genre, with techniques including Humphrey/Weidman, Graham, Horton and Limon. She was selected to perform in a group piece at ACDFA. Teaching from ages three to elderly and including genres of African, ballet, cardio-kickboxing, creative movement, horse vaulting, inversion dance, jazz, modern, step box aerobics, stretching, tumbling, compositional tools, personal training and more. She has choreographed many routines, including group and solo pieces as a student, teacher, guest artist and director. In January of 2009, she became owner and director of Northwest Dance Center in Pullman, WA.
Natalie Smith
Dance Exploration, Creative Movement, Pre-Ballet, & Ballet 1
Natalie Smith fell in love with dance the moment she took her first class when she was 3 years old. Starting at an early age, she studied classical ballet, jazz, tap, modern and other styles of dance including the rhythms of African Drums and Afro-Beats. Natalie has always favored ballet. She first studied ballet under Susan Sell of Creative Movement and then continued her study of ballet through Santa Fe Dance Foundation, Santa Fe Community College and Moving People. Natalie has always enjoyed all types of fitness from being a student of dance and Martial Arts to now instructing fitness classes for our community.
Almost 10 years ago, a friend introduced her to Zumba and, as they say, the rest is history! In 2014, while teaching Zumba at New Mexico Dance Theater, Ballet faculty approached Natalie about teaching early childhood classes. She was excited to teach dance to children!Teaching at DALA is a dream come true for Natalie.
Dance is a big part of her life. Natalie enjoys teaching Mini-and-Me, Dance Exploration and Pre-Ballet classes through DALA, as well as the many fitness classes she teaches around Los Alamos. Natalie produced her first early childhood holiday recital for DALA in 2019. She’s excited to continue teaching dance in the early childhood program and working on upcoming productions with DALA.
Lucilene de Geus
Flamenco and Classical Spanish
Lucilene de Geus joined the New Mexico State University faculty in 2003 to teach Ballet, Flamenco and Classical Spanish Dance until the end of 2020.
She was a company member of Maria Benitez Teatro Flamenco from 1999 to 2001 and can be seen on the PBS special “Flamenco! The Passion of Spanish Dance” recorded in Jackson, MS. She has also performed major roles with Pablo Rodarte’s Dance España as well as in flamenco concerts with, Cabarét Flamenco, El Pelete, Maria Benitez’ Estampa Espanola, among many others.
She was a co-creator of Cabaret-Ole (a flamenco comedy show) with her husband and dance partner Paco Antonio, collaborating with musician friends Daniel Ward, John Truitt and John Bartlit.
She has been a featured dancer with the Santa Fe Opera and Dallas Opera. She has also choreographed and danced for Opera Columbus, OH.
Before coming to the Southwest, she performed flamenco and Spanish Dance on the East Coast with Ramon de Los Reyes Spanish Dance Theatre and Amaya Flamenco Sin Limites.
Prior to exploring Flamenco she had an extensive ballet background graduating from the Escola de Dança Emma Sintani in the Vaganova method (including winter intensive studies at Joffrey Ballet of NY in 1982, as well as the State School of Ballet and Choreography in Belarus in 1989).
Lucilene has taught dance extensively in Brazil, Bolivia and the US for more than 30 years. She taught and helped develop outreach programs in New Mexico with the Institute for Spanish Arts and in Massachusetts with Ramon de Los Reyes Spanish Dance Theatre.
Ms. de Geus is also a recipient of the Dona Ana Arts Council Newcomers Award.
Rachel Zervakos
Classical Ballet (Cecchetti, Vaganova, ABT® National Training Curriculum), Pointe Technique, Variations, Modern (Horton & Limon Technique), Strength & Stretch
Rachel Zervakos is a dancer, instructor and choreographer based in Santa Fe, NM. She holds a B.F.A. in Dance from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 & Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She received her initial dance training and performance experience with the Roswell Dance Theatre in Roswell, GA, and attended summer intensives including American Ballet Theatre, Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and Walnut Hill, as well as Regional Dance America festivals. Rachel has performed major roles in many classical ballets as well as contemporary works by José Limón, Trey McIntyre, and Twyla Tharp, among others, and was a guest artist with Lamorris Namari Ballet. In 2014, she completed her internship in the National Training Curriculum – Education department at American Ballet Theatre in New York City. Her choreography has been performed at The Boston Conservatory’s New Music Festival, BalletFest Atlanta, Fleetwood Dance Theater’s The Nutcracker, Dance 101 Atlanta Performance Series, Dance Arts Los Alamos productions, Youth America Grand Prix and other festivals. Rachel is thrilled to serve as DALA’s Rehearsal Director for Upper Levels, and is also on faculty at NDI New Mexico.
Leslie Puckett
Scottish Highland Dance
Leslie started Scottish Highland dancing at the age of five while living in Mississauga, Ontario where she performed and competed around the province. She moved to Los Alamos at age 11, and continued performing and competing in NM and neighboring states. She had to travel to CO, TX and CA for lessons since there were no teachers in NM. She has performed and competed in Ontario, the Eastern Provinces, all over the United States, and in Scotland.
Her greatest achievements were qualifying for the United States Inter-Regional Highland Dance Championships twice (competing against dancers from all over the United States) and placing 5th in the sword dance and 7th AA. She stopped competing in 2001, but she still performs with the ABQ & Four Corners Pipes and Drums.
She taught private highland dancing lessons for 20 years before joining DALA in 2016. She has been a Highland Member of the British Association of Teachers of Dancing (BATD) since 1990. She has a husband, two teenagers and 2 cats. She also plays the bagpipes in her spare time with the ABQ & Four Corners Pipes and Drums.
Lakotia Duncan
Street Jazz and Hip Hop
Lakotia Duncan was born and raised in New Port Richey, FL – a smaller town right outside of the Tampa Bay area. Her full time job is as a Regional Manager of Operations for a company called MB2 Dental Solutions – which she has pursued for over 5 years now. She has been cheerleading for about 18 years and dancing for about 12. Her favorite styles of dance include hip-hop, jazz and lyrical. Outside of the studio, you will find her traveling, in the gym, with her family or anywhere outside being active.
Luke Reid-Grassia
Classical Ballet, Strength & Stretch, and Modern.
Luke Reid-Grassia grew up in Santa Fe, NM, where he discovered his passion for dance at age 11. He trained at several local studios and attended summer programs including the Ailey School, Walnut Hill, and Alonzo King LINES Ballet. He received his B.F.A. in Dance from New York University-Tisch School of the Arts, where he worked with choreographers such as Gus Solomons Jr., Sidra Bell, Lucinda Childs, and Benoit Swan Pouffer. He has performed with Moving People Dance Santa Fe, Second Avenue Dance Company, and Prometheus Dance Company, among others, and participated in numerous dance projects including Trisha Brown’s Floor of the Forest at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Luke received a 200-hour yoga certification in 2017 and worked as a stage manager and light board operator at Bates College, Jose Mateo Ballet Theater, and the Emory University Dance Department. He currently lives in Santa Fe with his wife Rachel Zervakos and is excited to work with the students at Dance Arts Los Alamos.
Audrey Roman
Dance Exploration, Pre-Ballet, Ballet 5
Audrey Roman has loved and danced ballet for over 20 years. She has a minor in dance from University of Idaho and taught at Festival Dance and University of Idaho. Her teaching style has been molded by all her teachers throughout her experience and the relationships she has developed with her students. She believes dance is a beautiful way to learn resilience, hard work, artistry, and self love.
Isabella Jimenez
Intermediate Tap and Teen/Adult Open Tap
Isabella Jimenez began dancing in Houston, Texas at 2 years old. Her first dance class was a tap class and from then on she was hooked. Isabella trained in ballet, jazz, and tap, before her love of dancing and performing eventually brought her into the realm of musical theater. She then went on to be accepted and train in the renowned Theater Under the Stars’ own Humphrey’s School of Performing Arts on scholarship.
Since 2013 she has been teaching children the love of dance and theater and since 2016, choreographing numbers to compete with and win at the Texas Thespians State Competition. She and her partner moved to Los Alamos in the summer of 2023 and in her free time, she enjoys painting.
