SCHOOL FACULTY
Our school aims to create a well-rounded ballet dancer that excels in multiple styles. Our highly qualified instructors been or are professional dancers with careers in ballet.
Eric Trope
Artistic Director of Lexington Ballet
Eric Trope is the Artistic Director of Lexington Ballet and is a multifaceted choreographer, ballet dancer, repetiteur, and community organizer. His recent work includes a collaboration with Ben Sollee for the Lexington Ballet and a new Coffee Divertissement for New Jersey Ballet's annual production of The Nutcracker. In February 2023, his choreography was featured by the Joffrey Ballet Concert Group after winning their Creative Movers Choreographic Initiative, and he previously showcased a festival-commissioned piece at the Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival in 2021. In 2019, Eric premiered work for Miami City Ballet dancers for the Mainly Mozart Festival. With extensive performance experience, he has been a company member of Miami City Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet, and has danced as a guest artist with BalletX and Ballet Tucson, performing repertoire by notable choreographers like Balanchine and Robbins. As a repetiteur, he has staged Justin Peck's works for international companies in Finland, Germany, and Czech Republic.
As a ballet teacher, Eric has taught classes around the world including company class at the Finnish National Ballet, the National Moravian Theater in the Czech Republic, and the New Jersey Ballet. He also has taught many pre-professional students at schools like Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Sitka Fine Arts Camp in Alaska, the Joffery School for Dance, the Rock School for Dance Education, among many others.
Alex Bellocq
Joined Lexington Ballet in 2022
Alex is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher based in Lexington, KY. He grew up in Lexington before moving to attend school at Northern Kentucky University, where he graduated with his BFA in Dance performance Summa cum laude in 2020. While in school, he attended summer programs at BalletMet Columbus, where he had the pleasure to perform Balanchine’s Who Cares, and the American Dance Festival where he studied and performed in informal stagings of the works of Willaim Forsythe (Workwithinwork; In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated), staged by Elizabeth Corbett. He also engaged as a trainee at De La Dance Center in 2018, and he completed his Vaganova exam during his year abroad at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance under the tutelage of Alexander Alexandrov in Israel in 2020.
He has danced for the Lexington Ballet Company since 2021, and has choreographed and taught for studios in the greater Bluegrass region such as: The Lexington Ballet Academy, Ambo Dance Theatre (Louisville), United Fine Arts Academy, Town and Village Dance, and Sora Aerial Arts. His roles at the Lexington Ballet include: The Nutcracker Prince, Candy Cane soloist, and Coffee soloist in The Nutcracker, Kaschei the immortal in The Firebird, Prince Désiré in Act III of Sleeping Beauty, and Prince Charming in Snow White, as well as featured roles in new creations by the prior and current artistic directors. This is his third season at the ballet, and he is grateful to be back again!
Rose Hensley
Joined Lexington Ballet in 2022
Rose Forte (Rosie) Hensley began her dance training at Capital Area Dance Theater in Enola, PA. She later joined the pre-professional program at Cumberland Dance Company. Ms. Forte has performed at regional festivals and received a variety of awards, including the Monticello Award for Best Performer. During her attendance at Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensive in NY, she auditioned for a role in La Bayadere and was selected to perform La Bayadere with the Kirov Ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House. In 2004, she participated in the Cultural Dance Festival in Germany.
Ms. Hensley graduated from Indiana University’s Ballet Program under the direction of Violette Verdy and received a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance and English Literature with a minor in Contemporary Dance. She is a certified Pilates instructor in all apparatuses, and she teaches at Club Pilates. She is also a certified Progressing Ballet Technique instructor and is a certified TRX teaching instructor. She has attended the CPYB teaching seminar for two years.
She danced professionally with the Chicago Ballet and was a guest artist with the Civic Ballet of Chicago. In 2007 she was invited to perform in a music and dance festival in Rome, Italy. Ms. Hensley is a former corps de ballet with Ballet San Antonio for approximately 9 years and was a freelance professional dancer for several dance organizations such as Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre and others. She has also taught for many summer intensives in the San Antonio Area, in Savage, MD, in Brandon Ballet in Florida and in Lexington/Winchester, KY. And prior to her move to Kentucky, she served as the Artistic Director of the Ballet Conservatory of South Texas. She currently resides in Georgetown, Kentucky. She has been teaching ballet at Dancer’s Pointe and Bluegrass Youth Ballet. Also, she is the Outreach Coordinator of Lexington Ballet and is excited to be a part of the teaching faculty this year.
Gwen Lamb
Joined Lexington Ballet in 2023
Gwen Lamb, originally from Morrison, Missouri, discovered her passion for dance at the age of 5. She began her journey in competitive dance before focusing on classical ballet at the age of 12 under the guidance of Alexandra Zaharias at the Alexandra School of Ballet, becoming a member of the school’s pre-professional company. Following her dedication to ballet, Gwen pursued higher education at Butler University, where she graduated cum laude with a B.F.A. in dance pedagogy, achieving the highest distinction. During her time at Butler Ballet, Gwen had the honor of performing in original choreographies by Susan McGuire, David Ingram, and Cynthia Pratt. She also graced the stage in Butler Ballet’s productions of Giselle and Swan Lake. In 2023, Gwen Lamb joined Lexington Ballet and her time has been marked by standout performances, including her portrayal of the Dew Drop Fairy in The Nutcracker. She has also been featured prominently in original works such as A Mother’s Love (Ayako Hasebe Lloyd) and Don’t You Weep (Eric Trope). Gwen is looking forward to her second season with Lexington Ballet as a company member and as part of the school faculty.
Sydney Marsh
Joined Lexington Ballet in 2023
Sydney Marsh is from Canby, Oregon and started dancing at the age of 3. She began her pre-professional training at The Portland Ballet, under the direction of Nancy Davis. She attended summer programs at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre and Ballet Austin. Sydney trained under the direction of Gen Horiuchi at St Louis Ballet for the 2022-2023 season where she performed roles with the company in Gen Horiuchi's, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Moment, CiCi Houston-Sudholt's, Shh... and Christine Settembrino's, The Amber Room, performing both corps and soloist roles. During Sydney's first season with Lexington Ballet Company, she performed as one of Juliet’s Friends in “Romeo and Juliet,” Hot Chocolate Principal in "The Nutcracker," she was a featured dancer in Ayako Hasebe-Lloyd's "A Mothers Love" and performed in Eric Trope's,"Don't You Weep." Sydney is thrilled to return to Lexington Ballet as a company member and teacher for the 2024-2025 season!
Alexandra Orenstein
Joined Lexington Ballet in 2014
Ms. Alex began her professional training at The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Later, she attended Mercyhurst University where she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts and a minor in Accounting. Ms. Orenstein joined Mercyhurst Ballet Theatre under the direction of Tauna Hunter and Michael Gleason as a company dancer and performed in George Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie, among others. She then joined Lake Erie Ballet in Erie, PA as a company dancer for three years under the direction of Althea Bodine before joining Lexington Ballet. She has been featured in numerous productions with Lexington Ballet such as Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet and has danced the Principal role of Snow Queen in The Nutcracker and The Fairy of Joy in Sleeping Beauty.
Kayleigh Western
Joined Lexington Ballet in 2022
Kayleigh Western is from Lexington, Kentucky and has been dancing for 22 years. Her training began at the Lexington Ballet in 2002 and continued both there and at the School for the Creative and Performing Arts until 2015. In 2015, she became one of the inaugural students of Cary Ballet Conservatory’s Professional Training Program under the guidance of Mariaelena Ruiz and Heather Iler. During her time at Cary Ballet Conservatory, she competed and received recognition in many competitions, such as Youth America Grand Prix, World Ballet Competition, and American Dance Competition. During her summers as a student, she had the privilege of working with renowned dancers while attending summer courses at Pacific Northwest Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, Next Generation Ballet, and Ballet Chicago. Kayleigh has since danced professionally with the Louisville Ballet and the Lexington Ballet. Over the course of her career, she has performed works by many esteemed choreographers, to include George Balanchine, Ronald Hynd, Val Caniparoli, Juliano Nuñes, and FLOCK. Her most notable roles as a member of the Lexington Ballet Company include the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Dew Drop Fairy in the Nutcracker, the Firebird, the Dying Swan, and Juliet from excerpts of Romeo and Juliet. She is thrilled to return to the Lexington Ballet for another season as both a company member and dance educator.