ARTISTS

Founder, Executive Director, Artist

Laurel Winton trained at both the School of American Ballet and San Francisco Ballet on merit scholarships and went by her stage name “Jenny Winton” for most of her career. She was a professional Ballerina for 13 years in which she danced for prominent companies such as the Joffrey Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Ballet X, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. In 2014, Laurel was chosen to represent the United States in the International Ballet Competition where she competed with 100 of the most elite young professionals from 17 other countries around the globe. This competition held in Jackson, MS, like the Olympics, is held once every four years and is considered one of the highest-ranking dance competitions in the world. From there, Laurel transitioned into the Broadway world and took on the role of “Penny” in Broadway’s North American Tour of Dirty Dancing. She fell in love with acting and co-starred on the CBS television series “BULL” before she joined one of her dream companies, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet.

Laurel founded DanceAspen in 2021 in order to keep the arts alive in her community after the devastation of the pandemic, and continues to lead one of the quickest-growing dance companies in the United States into its third year as Executive Director.

Company Manager, Marketing, Artist

Kaya Wolsey is a dancer, choreographer and teacher residing in Aspen, CO. Kaya received her early ballet training at Wasatch Ballet Conservatory under the direction of her mother, Allison Wolsey. After receiving her BFA from the University of Utah, Kaya began her professional career with Ballet San Antonio in Texas and later joined SALT Contemporary Dance where she grew and honed her craft as a contemporary dancer. Most recently, Kaya was a member of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and performed as a guest artist with South Dakota Ballet. Kaya has had the opportunity to work with and perform original works by many reputable choreographers including Nicolo Fonte, Jorma Elo, Alejandro Cerrudo, Peter Chu, and many more. Kaya is also an experienced and passionate teacher and choreographer.

Artist

Sammy Altenau grew up in Southern California dancing at Dance Studio 84 under the tutelage of Carla Hunt Smallwood and at Cuizon ballet center with Lisa Cuizon. She was guided by Katherine Wolanske in modern and contemporary before attending the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. Program in New York. She has performed works by William Forsythe, Mats Ek, Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, Carolyn Dorfman, Robert Moses, Stefanie Batten-Bland, Claudia Schreier, etc. She has trained at Alonzo King Lines Ballet, The San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Carolina Ballet, Arts Umbrella, and the Graham School. She danced with Graham II, Miriam Barbosa Dance, has performed as a guest artist for Adria Ferrali, director of the Danza in Arte a Pietrasanta, and performed as a semi finalist on ‘America’s Got Talent’ at Radio City Music Hall. She danced with Carolyn Dorfman dance for two years, and is thrilled to be moving to Aspen to partner with the local dancers of DanceAspen.

Choreographer, Artist

Matthew Gilmore was born and raised in Canton, Massachusetts. He began his dance training at The Gold School and later went on to graduate from Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Matthew received his BFA from The Juilliard School in 2019. While at Juilliard, he had the honor of performing the works of Nacho Duato, Merce Cunningham, Jerome Robbins, José Limón, Alejandro Cerrudo, Jessica Lang and Roy Assaf. Matthew is a recipient of the 2018 Princess Grace Award in Dance. Matthew joined Aspen Santa Fe Ballet in 2019 where he danced for one season before becoming a founding member of DanceAspen.

Artist

Originally from South Dakota, this is Madeleine’s second year as an artist with DanceAspen. Madeleine has performed works by Penny Saunders, Yin Yue, Ana Maria Lucaciu, Dani Rowe, Caili Quan, & more. Prior to joining DanceAspen, Madeleine danced for Ballet West, LED Boise, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (guest artist), & Sacramento Ballet. Madeleine earned her BFA in Ballet Pedagogy & BS in Nonprofits & Community Engagement from the University of Utah in 2017. She is currently the founder & executive director of South Dakota Ballet.

Artist

Meredith began her training at Central Florida Ballet under the direction of Vasile Petrutiu and Vladimir Bykov and went on to attend the Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington D.C. She was a trainee with Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and Ballet Met Columbus prior to joining State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara in 2013. Most recently, Meredith was a company artist with Visceral Dance Chicago, where she had the privilege of working with choreographers such as Danielle Agami, Kevin O’day, Monica Cervantes, Mike Tyus, Roderick George and Nick Pupillo. She is honored to be in her first season with Dance Aspen and excited to be a part of the Roaring Fork community.

Artist

Jonah Delgado started his training at the academy of dance arts in Chicago, IL under the directorship of Ricky Ruiz. Prior to attending college, Jonah participated in Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, American Ballet Theater and River North Dance Chicago summer intensives. Jonah has also guested with Visceral Dance Chicago under the guidance of Nick Pupilllo. As a newly minted graduate of Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, he started his professional career with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet in Aspen, Colorado. In 2021 Jonah joined Ballet X in Philadelphia, PA where he spent two seasons under the directorship of Christine Cox. Jonah most recently danced with Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin in Germany for the 2022/2023 season where he performed many new works. In the fall of 2023, Jonah is excited to be relocating back to Aspen, CO to join Dance Aspen.