Meet the Dancers
Photo by Dave Burgess.
Allison Haan
Allison is originally from Holland, Michigan, where she began her formal dance training at Turning Pointe School of Dance, under the direction of Lara and Rick Faucher. She continued her education with Butler University and graduated cum laude with a BA in Dance Pedagogy. During her time at Butler, she performed both corps and principal roles in full length ballets and original works, including Fairy Godmother in Cinderella and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker. After graduation, Allison danced with Louisville Ballet for three seasons, where she was featured as Myrtha in Giselle and as a soloist in Andrea Schermoly’s Rite of Spring and Tim Harbor’s Odyssey. She performed numerous corps de ballet roles in Val Caniparoli’s The Nutcracker, George Balanchine’s Serenade, Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow, and Alun Jones and Helen Starr’s Cinderella. In the summer of 2021, Allison returned to her home state of Michigan and joined Deos Contemporary Ballet.
When she is not rehearsing or performing, she enjoys teaching, practicing yoga, cooking, painting, and keeping up with dance science research. She is currently pursuing a Healthy Dance Practice Certificate through Safe in Dance International.
Leah Slavens Haggard
Leah began her ballet training at the Ballet Center of Houston under the direction of Victoria Vittum and continued at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School as a Professional Division student. Leah went on to dance professionally with The Grand Rapids Ballet, Utah Regional Ballet, and The Suzanne Farrell Ballet where she has performed in Swan Lake, Snow White, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker and George Balanchine's Walpurgisnacht, Stars and Stripes, Gounod Symphony, Danses Concertantes, and Serenade among many other ballets and original works. Most recently as a freelance performer, she has been able to perform with Ballet Memphis, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Houston Repertoire Ballet, and Indiana Ballet Theater. She is currently performing with Deos Contemporary Ballet.
Leah has her master's degree in nutrition and is currently completing requirements to become a licensed nutritionist (CNS). She works with dancers and dance organizations to promote dancer health inside and outside of the studio.
Photo by Dave Burgess.
Lauren Hansen
Lauren developed a passion for dance at an early age. She spent summers studying at Point Park International Summer Dance, Hubbard Street, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, the Cincinnati Ballet, and the Louisville Ballet. Lauren graduated magna cum laude from the University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music with a BFA in Ballet Performance and a minor in Psychology. During her junior year as a student, she studied abroad in Paris at the Académie Américaine de Danse de Paris. After college, Lauren joined the Louisville Ballet as a trainee and enjoyed performing in a variety of classical and contemporary ballets for two seasons. She then went on to dance with de la Dance Company in Cincinnati and Ballet Edge Detroit.
She began dancing with Deos in the fall of 2021 and is happy to continue working with Deos this season!
Madison Massara-Leister
Madison was born in Royal Oak, Michigan. She began dancing at eight years old and has trained with Nikoloz Makhateli, Jody Skye Schissler, and Alisher Saburov.
She joined Grand Rapids Ballet as a trainee in 2017 and was promoted to apprentice after her first performance of Sugar Plum Fairy, and danced with the company until 2022. She has performed featured roles such as Trio in Trey McIntyre’s Wild Sweet Love, Hermia in Christopher Stoll’s Midsummer Nights Dream, Val Caniparoli’s Sugar Plum Fairy, Princess in Yuri Possokov’s Firebird, and Rebecca West in Val Caniparoli’s Ibsen’s House. Madison has also attended Jacob’s Pillow working with innovative female choreographers Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and Amy Seiwert in the summer of 2021. She has now joined Deos Contemporary Ballet in the fall of 2022 for their 22/2023 season.
Photo by Dave Burgess.
Isabelle Ramey
Isabelle began dancing in Pittsburgh under the direction of Liz Karas and Beth Robertshaw, spending summers training with Ballet Austin, Chautauqua, Boston Ballet, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Isabelle later attended Butler University, where she earned her BFA Dance Performance and BS Mathematics. While attending Butler, Isabelle was awarded with the Eileen Poston Dance Scholarship for outstanding performance as well as the Amos Carpenter Memorial Award for excellence in mathematics. Her performance credits with Butler Ballet include an originating role in Patrick de Bana’s Falling Sky, the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and Swanhilda in excerpts from Coppélia. Upon graduation, Isabelle joined Ballet Austin as an apprentice, performing corps and soloist roles in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Paquita, and new contemporary works by Jennifer Archibald, Alexa Capareda, and Stephen Mills. Isabelle joined Deos Contemporary Ballet in July 2022.
When Isabelle is not dancing, she enjoys being outside, listening to music, writing, and spending time with her new cat, Buddha. She is thrilled to continue her work as Marketing and Communications Manager for Deos and as Communications Lead for Dance Data Project® this season!