Artistic Team & Staff

Sara Clayborne, Director/Co-Founder

Sara is originally from New York and trained at the Ballet School of New York under the direction of Diana Byer and Sallie Wilson. In 2001, she graduated from the Professional Children’s School in New York City and began to dance professionally with New York Theatre Ballet, performing at the Florence Gould Hall in New York City and touring the United States. In 2004, Sara moved to Richmond, Virginia to join the Richmond Ballet trainee program, where she danced for two years before being asked to join Starr Foster Dance Project. In 2007, Sara co-founded the Charlottesville Ballet and danced in the company until she retired from the stage in 2013 to devote her time to the growth of the organization.

Sara is an American Ballet Theatre Certified Teacher in Primary through Level 7 of the ABT National Training Curriculum and puts the ABT Curriculum into practice both within the professional company and as Director of Charlottesville Ballet Academy. Sara is also a graduate of the Community Investment Collaborative (CIC) entrepreneurship program, served on the CIC board of directors, and continues to mentor entrepreneurs in the region. She looks forward to nurturing the growth and appreciation for dance among peers and in the community.

Keith Lee, Director of Diversity & Inclusion, and Resident Choreographer

Mr. Lee hails from the Bronx, NY and began training at the High School of Performing Arts in NYC. In 1969, Mr. Lee was the first Black soloist to join the American Ballet Theatre and he went on to dance with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. His repertory included the choreography of such luminaries as Alvin Ailey, George Balanchine, Agnes DeMille, Lar Lubovitch, Jerome Robbins, and Antony Tudor, as well as performance credits in theater and broadway musicals. He has served as ballet master for Ailey and Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and Capitol Ballet, and has been teaching and choreographing for dance companies across the world.

Mr. Lee has called Central Virginia home since 1994, and he was named Artist Laureate by the City of Lynchburg where he continues to work as a freelance choreographer, master teacher, and performing arts coordinator. He has shared his vision and 50-year dance legacy with the Charlottesville Ballet since 2008, and he serves as Resident Choreographer and Director of Diversity & Inclusion for the entire organization.

Emily Cloyd, Artistic Associate

Emily grew up in Vienna, VA, training at The Russell School of Ballet. She then attended high school at The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, training under Nina Danilova, Kee-Juan Han, and Christine Spizzo. She went on to join Ballet Austin, first as a Trainee and then as an Apprentice, performing in the premieres of Stephen Mills’ The Magic Flute and Thang Dao’s Quite Imprint. In 2011, she joined Nashville Ballet’s Second Company, NB2. After two years with NB2, she returned to her home state of Virginia, receiving her B.A. and Masters of Public Health from the University of Virginia. She joined CBA’s faculty in 2021 and became an Artistic Associate with Charlottesville Ballet in 2022. She is also excited to return as a faculty member for the 24-25 season!

Ty Cooper Grace, Artistic Associate, Facilities Coordinator, & Choreographer

Ty Cooper Grace began their terpsichorean voyage at the Woodside High School and the Eastern Virginia School of the Performing Arts under the instruction of Dr. Mary Ann Laverty and Sandra Ballastrachi. After graduation, Ty spent several years in Virginia Commonwealth University’s Dance & Choreography Program while also dancing as a Trainee with Richmond Ballet. Ty has performed at the Black College Dance Festival, the American Dance Festival, and as a guest artist with EDGEWORKS Dance Theater and the Starr Foster Dance Project. In 2008, they relocated to Charlottesville to become a founding member of Charlottesville Ballet. Ty has served in numerous roles over the years including teaching in the Chance To Dance Program and at CBA, costuming, administration, and choreography. In 2010, Ty created the “Candy Cane” variation for CB’s first Nutcracker production, and they have since created several works in the Charlottesville Ballet repertoire.

Jennifer Tweel Kelly, Artistic Associate

Jennifer has spent most of her life studying dance and movement. She was a member of the Zen Monkey Project and performed with various companies including, Chavasse Dance and Performance, Cora, and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Jen is an AmSAT certified Alexander Technique teacher, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from JMU and a Master of Social Work from VCU. Jen teaches Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing© and has personal training credentials from National Academy of Sports Medicine and American Council on Exercise. She is certified in EMDR and is working towards clinical social work licensure to optimally integrate her practices to help others heal themselves. The Kelly family owns and operates Duner’s, a local restaurant institution, where her husband serves the public Franco-American food at an elegant country setting in Ivy. Jen has taught the Alexander Technique for the Charlottesville Ballet Trainees since 2014.

Kerry Shea, Artistic Associate

Kerry Shea’s company credits include Ballet West, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, CONTINUUM Contemporary Ballet, New York Theatre Ballet, and Lydia Johnson Dance, where she also served as Associate Artistic Director. Kerry performed the classics as well as an extensive list of George Balanchine’s repertoire, plus a featured artist for the documentary Sensuality and Nationalism in Romantic Ballet.

Graduating with high honors, Kerry earned her BFA in Ballet Performance from the University of Utah. She is passionate about training dancers with the proper biomechanics for peak performance, injury prevention, and rehabilitation. She is a certified Progressing Ballet Technique Teacher and Pilates Instructor, and she was honored to join Doctors for Dancers as an International Dance Specialist. Kerry enjoys coaching the Charlottesville Ballet dancers and teaching clients both virtually and in Charlottesville from her boutique studio Kerry Shea Pilates.

Pedro Szalay, Artistic Associate & Choreographer

Pedro was born to Hungarian parents and is a native of La Guaira, Venezuela where he started dancing in local school. He received a scholarship at Ballet Nacional of Caracas, then traveled to New York City to be coached by Madame Darvash and perform with New York Dance Theatre. Pedro was a company dancer with Richmond Ballet from 1996-2006. In 2007, Pedro became Artistic Director of Southwest Virginia Ballet (SVB) in the Roanoke Valley, and he has brought SVB to be recognized locally, regionally, and internationally. Pedro has enhanced the lives of many public school children in Richmond, Charlottesville, Martinsville, Salem, and Roanoke through Minds in Motion and his original Dance Español Program. Pedro has collaborated with CB since 2014 and he choreographed Cinderella (2019 & 2023) in collaboration with SVB. He continues to teach and coach Charlottesville Ballet’s professional company and is a choreographer for this season’s production of Swan Lake Act II.

Benjamin Rous, Conductor & Music Director, Charlottesville Symphony (The Nutcracker)

Benjamin Rous has served as the Music Director of Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia and Associate Professor of Music at UVA since 2017. During an eight-year tenure as Resident Conductor of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, he conducted a range of Classics, Pops and ballet performances. An accomplished instrumentalist, Rous has concertized on violin, viola and keyboard instruments. He has served as guest Principal 2nd violin with Mahler Chamber Orchestra, where he performed under the batons of Claudio Abbado and Daniel Harding, including a teaching residency with El Sistema in Caracas. At Harvard, he performed on baroque violin with the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra as section leader and soloist, and was a member of the Arcturus Chamber Ensemble for a decade. Rous earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in orchestral conducting at the University of Michigan while studying harpsichord and pursuing dance. He has collaborated with Charlottesville Ballet since 2020 and is excited to serve as CB’s conductor of The Nutcracker again this year.

Michael Slon, Music Director, The Oratorio Society of Virginia (Salute)

Active as a conductor of choral, orchestral, and operatic repertoire, Michael Slon serves as Professor and Director of Choral Music at the University of Virginia, where he leads the University Singers, UVA Chamber Singers, and guest conducts the Charlottesville Symphony.  Since 2011, he has also served as Music Director of the Oratorio Society of Virginia – and with the ensembles, he has cultivated collaborations with many of the region’s arts organizations, including the Charlottesville Ballet, Charlottesville Opera, Wintergreen Music Festival, and local youth choruses. Prior to UVA, he served as visiting conducting faculty at the Oberlin Conservatory and assistant conductor of Cincinnati’s May Festival Chorus, preparing and co-preparing choruses for the Cleveland Orchestra and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Also a pianist, composer, and writer, Slon is a native of Buffalo, NY, and holds degrees from Cornell University and the Indiana University School of Music. 

Shannon Alvis, Choreographer (Salute & Momentum)

Originally from Greenwood, IN, Shannon trained at Butler University and the University of Utah. She danced professionally for over twelve years with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Nederlands Dans Theater, dancing works by Jiri Kylian, Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Jorma Elo, and Crystal Pite. After returning from Europe, Shannon rounded out her stage career with seven productions at the Lyric Opera Chicago including Rob Ashford’s Carousel and Francesca Zambello’s West Side Story. Through her concert dance and musical theater experience, Shannon brings with her a rich breadth of knowledge that she now integrates into her teaching and choreography. She choreographed works for Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, Oregon Ballet Theater 2, Ballet Des Moines, The Big Muddy Dance Company, Ballet West II, and was also a recipient of the Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Work’s Choreographic Competition. She has mentored dancers throughout Chicago and has been on faculty at the Joffrey Academy, Interlochen School for the Arts summer faculty, and Visceral Dance Center. Shannon completed an MFA in Dance from the University of the Arts, and most recently began a Limited Term Assistant Professorship at Kennesaw State University, with a continued commitment to revealing the power of dance as a language that transcends the tangible and to creating the future through art.

Victoria Redfearn Cave, Artistic Director, Mosaic Children’s Choir (The Nutcracker in Charlottesville)

Victoria graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education with a piano concentration, and received her Masters in Education Leadership from Mary Baldwin University. She is an Orff-Schulwerk certified teacher and received an Advanced Certificate in Music and Dance pedagogy from the Orff Institute, a division of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. For over 30 years, Victoria has been teaching music, movement and choral studies to children. She has taught primarily in independent schools in Washington, DC and Charlottesville, VA but has also been a choral director at the Levine School of Music and the Kennedy Center’s Washington National Opera. She is a national and international presenter, teacher trainer, and published author. Currently, she is the Founder and Artistic Director of Mosaic Children’s Choir, Director of Performing Arts for the Field School, a middle school for boys, and Director of the Virginia Consort’s High School Youth Chorale.

Daniel Miller, Lighting Designer (Momentum)

Daniel has worked in the lighting world for over ten years. He began at a young age working alongside his dad, who has always been his biggest mentor and inspiration in the lighting world. Since he started his professional lighting career, he has designed lights for theatres and events around the country, working with American Idol winners, professional ballet companies, and touring artists. Daniel has won both regional, and international competitions with his designs, and has worked to educate and inspire the next generation. Daniel has a scholarship named after him, which is given to a graduating senior who shows excellence in technical theatre skills at Suwanee Academy of the Arts.

Lori Jablonski, Company Manager

Originally from Rochester, NY, Lori studied and taught multiple dance genres at studios in New York and Virginia, and completed Boston Ballet’s Adaptive Dance Teacher Training program. Lori holds a B.A. in Dance with a minor in Entrepreneurial Studies from Muhlenberg College. She performed with the Muhlenberg Dance Association, Copasetic Rhythms (tap company), Muhlenberg Ballet Ensemble and at the American College Dance Festival. Lori was a performer at Walt Disney World (Florida) in 2004-2006. She then relocated to Charlottesville dancing with inFluxdance, R Squared, UpRooted Dance, and Miki Liszt Dance Company (MLDC). Lori’s previous arts administration experience includes Director of Operations for MLDC, Office Manager for Charlottesville Performing Arts School, and Academy Manager at Charlottesville Ballet from 2016-2023. Lori became a Certified Associate in Project Management in 2023 and is in her second year as Company Manager. Lori enjoys spending her free time with her husband and two children.

Claudia Strawderman, Development Manager

Originally from Washington, D.C., Claudia Strawderman began taking ballet classes with CityDance at the Music Center at Strathmore. At thirteen, she moved to Istanbul, Turkey, and while there continued training in the Royal Academy and Vaganova methods. After completing her BA Honors in History at Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, United Kingdom, Claudia moved to Charlottesville and began employment with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello in the Guest Relations Department. Claudia joined the Charlottesville Ballet administrative team in 2022 and was promoted to Development Manager in 2024.  She is thrilled to combine her passion for dance alongside her work to promote the mission of the Ballet.

Brianna Copeland, Marketing & Communications Manager

Originally from the DC Metro area, Brianna holds a BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Photography from the School of Art, Design and Art History at James Madison University, graduating in 2017. While she is not a dancer herself, she is a passionate supporter of the arts and actively participates in various art organizations. Brianna brings extensive marketing experience and photography expertise to the team through her work with BC Media Photos and as an associate photographer. She has a strong background in project management, storytelling, social media marketing, and creative content strategy. Additionally, Brianna has years of experience working with the disabled community and is committed to developing engaging marketing strategies for CB Moves and CB’s sensory-friendly programs. Her dedication to promoting the arts and fostering community engagement drives her work.