Lizanne McAdams-Graham

Ballet Master

Lizanne McAdams-Graham has over 38 years of experience as a professional dancer and instructor. She began training at the age of 3 under the direction of her late mother, Lorraine McAdams. She has an extensive history with her mother’s company, the National Ballet of New Jersey. A scholarship student to Joffrey Ballet, Harkness Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Craft of Choreography NARB workshops. She joined the Croatian National Ballet Theatre in Zagreb, in the former Yugoslavia at the age of 17 dancing principal and leading roles in Nutcracker, Coppelia, Giselle, Swan Lake, Serenade, Romeo & Juliet, Sleeping Beauty and Firebird, Graduation Ball, Carmina Burana, Bolero and Cinderella. She studied with Finus Yhung, David Howard, John Prince, Maria Vegh, Basil Thompson, Michael Smuin, Alonzo King, Maggie Black and Robert Blankshine, Kristina Elliot, Yehuda Maor, Loyce Holton, Robert Blankshine, and Pavel Rotaru.

Ms. McAdams-Graham became a principal dancer with the renowned ODC/San Francisco, completing world tours including Russia, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, and Australia, along with Jacobs Pillow, Joyce Theater, City Center, Lincoln Center in NYC, and Kennedy Center in D.C. She has guest appeared for Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco Opera Ballet Companies in “Faust”, “Die Fledermaus”, “La Traviata” “Orfeo Ed Euridice” and “Aida” and appeared on the PBS televised production of “Dance in America” and the major motion picture “The In Crowd.”

Ms. McAdams served on the faculty for Pittsburgh Ballet, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Point Park College, Carnegie-Mellon University, Drexel University, and San Francisco Institute of Dance. She set major ballets on Charleston Ballet, Ithaca Ballet, and Walnut Hill.  She retired from performing in 1997 and has since taught professional level and company classes for Boulder Ballet, Cleo Parker Robinson, David Taylor Dance Theatre, Zikir Dance Ensemble, and Ballet Nouveau. She held professional classes at Colorado Ballet and has since relocated them to Denver Dance Center. She was the company teacher for Dawson/Wallace Dance Project and Ballet Director for Sweatshop in Denver, CO. the Director and Founder of the High Pointe Dance Academy, a pre-professional children’s school for 13 years. Currently, Ms. McAdams-Graham is the Ballet Director for Sweatshop in Denver, CO.