Diane Cheeseman

Ballet

Diane Cheeseman holds an M.A. in Dance Education from New York University, B.F.A. in Dance Performance from Butler University, and is an ABT® Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 7 & Partnering. Her formative ballet training includes attendance at the International Ballet Academy (Kirkland, WA), Kirov Academy of Ballet (Washington, D.C.) and Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory (St. Petersburg, Russia) as well as private study under Vera Altunina, Magali Messac, Stephanie Saland, Ronald Tice, and the late Deborah Hadley. Her professional performance credits span multiple continents, countries, and nearly every U.S. state, including ballet and contemporary companies as well as film and television.

For the past decade, Diane has taught classical ballet throughout the United States at the professional and pre-professional levels as well as in higher education, including five years at the Joffrey Academy of Dance, the official school of The Joffrey Ballet (Chicago, IL). She has both adjudicated and successfully coached students for notable ballet competitions such as ADC IBC and Youth America Grand Prix as well as served as a program coordinator for both Broadway Dance Center (New York, NY) and City Colleges of Chicago.

Passionate about positive and progressive change within the art of ballet and industry of dance education, she has presented with the Royal Academy of Dance Australia and is a current member of CORPS de Ballet International and National Dance Education Organization.