Faculty

 Sabir Yapparov

Pre-Professional Division Director

Sabir Yapparov received his academic and ballet training at the Perm Ballet Academy in Russia and studied with some of the finest teachers. He was a soloist with the Sverdlovsk Academic Theatre of Opera & Ballet and with the Bolshoi Theater in Uzbekistan and was a principal with the Odessa Academic Theater of the Opera and Ballet in the Ukraine.

Mr. Yapparov danced leading roles in classical, neo-classical, and contemporary ballets, and was invited as a guest principal throughout the former Soviet Union, Italy, Hungary, Portugal, Finland, India, Spain, and Canada. He worked as a ballet master with the Sarasota Ballet for eleven years, serving one year as Associate Artistic Director, and was a Visiting Professor at the University of South Florida School of Theatre and Dance. Mr. Yapparov was part of the guest faculty at North Carolina School of the Arts and served as the Assistant to the Artistic Director at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C., and and as Principal at the School of Cincinnati Ballet. He now directs Portland School of Ballet’s Pre-Professional Division, helping aspiring dancers prepare for their next steps.

Jennifer Jones

Pre-Professional Division

Jennifer Jones graduated Suma Cum Laude with a BFA in Ballet Pedagogy from the University of Hartford, where she studied under teaching legends Franco DeVita and Alla Osipenko, among others. During her 18 year career as a dancer, she has taught ballet at multiple studios, including the School of Hartford Ballet, Montgomery Ballet School, Northwest Florida Ballet Academie, and Drouin Dance Center. She is currently the Ballet Mistress for Portland Ballet Company, and is thrilled to be joining the faculty at Portland School of Ballet.

Adam Miller

Pre-Professional Division

Adam Miller, from Providence, RI, trained on scholarship at American Ballet Theater School, The North Carolina School of the Arts and The School of American Ballet. He was a principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and Hartford Ballet, and performed as a guest artist in the USA, Europe, Asia and South America. He has performed major roles in the great classic full-length ballets as well as works by 40-plus choreographers, including 20 by George Balanchine. His many teaching credits include Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Vassar College, The North Carolina School of the Arts, Lyon Opera Ballet, Veroneszh Ballet (Russia), Boston Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet. He has been choreographer, coach and director for many years. From 2008-2012, he toured the world as the Artistic Director of the Cirque Du Soleil shows Kooza and Saltimbanco. He is the founder and current Artistic Director of the Provincetown Dance Festival, now in its sixteenth season.

Grace Koury

Senior Division, Preparatory Division

Grace Koury earned a Bachelor's of Science in Ballet Performance from Indiana University‘s Jacobs School of Music in 2016. She first started teaching while attending IU in the music school’s pre-college program as well as non-major elective ballet classes. After graduating, Grace taught varying ages of ballet students in schools across the country while also dancing professionally for Rochester City Ballet and Georgia Dance Theater. In 2019, Grace moved to Portland, ME to dance professionally with Portland Ballet and joined the faculty for Portland School of Ballet while also teaching at several other dance schools in Southern Maine.

Lydia Wirth

Senior Division

Lydia Wirth began dancing at age five in Pittsburgh, PA and continued her early training at West Point Ballet with Cynthia Castillo and Damien M. Coro. She went on to attend summer programs with Washington Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet. In 2021, Lydia graduated Magna Cum Laude from Butler University with a BFA in Dance-Performance and a minor in Strategic Communication. During her time with Butler Ballet, Lydia had the opportunity to perform soloist and corps roles in full-scale productions of The Nutcracker, Cinderella, and The Sleeping Beauty, as well as in various classical and contemporary new works. She additionally participated in Butler Ballet’s 2018 European Tour where she performed and trained in Poland, Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. While at Butler, she also had the pleasure of creating and debuting several original pieces of choreography.

After graduating, Lydia spent a season performing with Columbia Classical Ballet as a Company Artist. She then moved to Maine to join Portland Ballet where she is excited to enter her second season. Alongside her professional dance career, Lydia also teaches throughout local dance schools and works as the Newsletter and Website Editor for Dance Data Project®.

Kaitlyn Hayes

Junior Division, Modern

Kaitlyn Hayes began her dance training on Cape Cod, MA with Virginia Zango. In 2003, she attended Boston Ballet for a year, then went on to train at North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC. After attending three years of high school at what is now the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, she proceeded to attend and graduate Magna Cum Laude from SUNY Purchase College with a BFA in dance and a concentration in choreography. Upon graduation, Ms. Hayes has had the pleasure of teaching at several schools throughout Massachusetts, including The Academy of Performing Arts and Cape Cod Ballet Theater for Children on Cape Cod and Miss Heejin’s Dance Studio in Natick, MA. She joined the faculty of Portland School of Ballet in 2013 and has had the opportunity to teach for many other studios in Maine, including Scarborough Dance Center (where she currently teaches along with PSB), Studio for the Living Arts, and Drouin Dance Center. 

Eva Walden

Junior Division, Prep Division

Eva Walden began her ballet training at Metropolitan Ballet Academy in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania under Lisa Collins Vidnovic. She then moved to Pittsfield, Maine to study under Natalya Getman at Bossov Ballet Theatre. In 2019 Eva joined Charlotte Ballet as a trainee where she had the honor of training under Patricia McBride, Laszlo Berdo, and Kati Hanlon Mayo. Eva has had the opportunity to teacher assist classes at Bossov Ballet and was a substitute teacher for Charlotte Ballet Academy. Eva is delighted to be continuing her teaching career with Portland Ballet.

Eugene Mesheryakov

Junior Division

Eugene Mesheryakov was Born in Moscow Russia, and began his training in Las Vegas, Nevada under the Vaganova method of Ballet. He then Furthered his training by joining the second company of Oklahoma City Ballet in 2019, and performed in works such as Michael Pinks Dracula and Robert Mills Romeo and Juliet. In 2021 Eugene had the pleasure of dancing with Ballet 120 as an apprentice as well as performing with Las Vegas Dance academy as the “Cavalier” in the Nutcracker. He is ecstatic to share his passion for the art of ballet with Portland School of Ballet’s students!

Heather Baxter

Junior Division, Preparatory Division

Heather Baxter grew up in Maine and received her early training at Portland School of Ballet. She graduated from Point Park University with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a concentration in Ballet. After graduating, Heather was a company member with Roanoke Ballet Theater in Virginia for two years, where she began teaching creative movement and ballet. She returned to Portland Ballet as a company member in 2019, and has performed roles in many productions including Giselle, Three Tales by Poe, and a Victorian Nutcracker. As a student she had the opportunity to train at several nationally renowned summer intensives including Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Oklahoma City Ballet, and The Washington Ballet. She currently teaches ballet, jazz, creative movement and musical theater dance at studios around Maine. She is so excited to join the Portland School of Ballet faculty.

Erica Diesl

Pilates

Erica Diesl received her early ballet training at the Acton School of Ballet under the direction of Kathryn Anderson and Walter Morris. She continued her education at the University of Utah where she earned a BFA in Ballet Performance as well as a BA in History. After graduating, she danced professionally with BalletRox and the Ballet Theatre of Maryland before joining Portland Ballet in 2012. Ms. Diesl received her Pilates instructor training at Northeast Pilates. She is trained in the STOTT Pilates method, which is a contemporary approach to the original Pilates method based on modern principles of exercise science and rehabilitation.

Vanessa Beyland

Jazz

Vanessa Beyland holds a BFA in Dance from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. In addition to her many years teaching at Portland School of Ballet, she is currently on the dance faculty at the University of Southern Maine, Casco Bay Movers, Stages Youth Theater and Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS). Vanessa's choreography and performance credits include work with school, community and professional companies, including Portland Ballet, Maine State Music Theater, Opera Maine (formerly PORTopera), Dramatic Repertory Company, Lyric Music Theater, SchoolHouse Arts, Windham Center Stage, USM, Allegra Dance Greenwich, numerous local high school musical productions and many others.

Larry Lee Van Horne

Open Classes

LarryLee has been dancing since the earth was cooling. Company credits include Atlanta Ballet, Ram Island Dance Company, Concert Dance Company of Boston, Ballet New England, Ballet Arts Minnesota, Zenon Dance Company, Minnesota Dance Theatre, and various pickup companies. He’s worked with many modern, jazz, and ballet choreographers, and danced in countless dances of others as repertory companies were his career choices. Performed lots of contemporary and classical ballets, too. This is LarryLee's fourth year with Portland Ballet as an open class teacher, and Nutcracker Party Parent. LarryLee is grateful and thankful just to be able to continue dancing.