PERMANENT GUEST FACULTY

CIAoD ALUMNA, MEGAN (HUSTEL) TILLMAN AND PAUL TILLMAN FORMERLY OF BALLET ARKANSAS

Megan Tillman

MEGAN TILLMAN IS FROM CARMEL, INDIANA. SHE BEGAN HER PRE-PROFESSIONAL TRAINING WITH SUZANN DELAY AT THE CENTRAL INDIANA ACADEMY OF DANCE. SHE THEN WENT ON TO EARN HER BFA IN BALLET PERFORMANCE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF BALLET AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH. THERE, MEGAN WAS A MEMBER OF UTAH BALLET AND BALLET ENSEMBLE WHERE SHE PERFORMED IN VARIOUS CONTEMPORARY WORKS AND CLASSICAL BALLETS, MOST NOTABLY AS RUSSIAN GIRL IN GEORGE BALANCHINE’S SERENADE, AND SWANHILDA IN RENÉ DAVELUY’S COPPELIA. SINCE JOINING BALLET ARKANSAS MEGAN HAS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DANCE WORKS BY MA CONG, YOSHITO SAKURABA, MARIANA OLIVERA, CHRIS STUART, AND KIYON GAINES. SHE HAS ALSO BEEN FEATURED IN MICHAEL FOTHERGILL’S CHIAROSCURO, INK, DRACULA, AND MOST RECENTLY IN THE WORLD PREMIERE OF SLEEPY HOLLOW AS KATRINA. MEGAN HAS ADDITIONALLY HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF PERFORMING IN GEORGE BALANCHINE’S WHO CARE’S? AND GLINKA PAS DE TROIS, AS FAIRY GODMOTHER IN CINDERELLA, ODETTE IN SWAN LAKE, AURORA IN SLEEPING BEAUTY, AND THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY, DEW DROP FAIRY, AND SNOW QUEEN IN THE NUTCRACKER.

MEGAN HAS TAUGHT DANCE AT MULTIPLE STUDIOS IN THE CENTRAL ARKANSAS AREA FOR THE LAST 7 YEARS. SHE CURRENTLY IS THE BALLET DIRECTOR FOR ROCK CITY DANCE CENTER CONWAY, AND TEACHES BALLET, POINTE, AND RECREATIONAL DANCE.

Paul Tillman

PAUL TILLMAN IS FROM DALLAS, TEXAS. HE BEGAN HIS PRE-PROFESSIONAL TRAINING WITH DALLAS BALLET COMPANY UNDER THE DIRECTION OF JUDY AND BRENT KLOPFENSTEIN. TILLMAN THEN TRAINED AT BOSTON BALLET’S PRE-PROFESSIONAL DIVISION. TILLMAN JOINED BALLET ARKANSAS IN 2009 AND HAS PERFORMED CLASSIC WORKS SUCH AS KENNETH MACMILLAN’S “ROMEO AND JULIET BALCONY PAS DE DEUX”, AGNES DE MILLE’S “THE OTHER PAS DE DEUX”, CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON’S “THE AMERICAN PAS DE DEUX”, GERALD ARPINO’S “BIRTHDAY VARIATIONS” AND GEORGE BALANCHINE’S “TSCHAIKOVSKY PAS DE DEUX”, “VALSE FANTAISIES”, AND “DONIZETTI”. HE HAS ALSO BEEN FEATURED IN ORIGINAL CHOREOGRAPHY BY FLOCKWORKS, MA CONG, CHRIS STUART, HARRISON MCELDOWNEY, GREG SAMPLE, DARRELL MOULTRIE, KIYON GAINES, MARIANA OLIVEIRA AND MANY OTHERS. IN ADDITION TO PERFORMING, TILLMAN HAS CHOREOGRAPHED A NUMBER OF ORIGINAL PIECES FOR BALLET ARKANSAS, “GYMNOPEDIES” AND “CHACONNE” (BOTH IN COLLABORATION WITH ARKANSAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA’S INTERIM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, GEOFFREY ROBSON.), “CHIMERA”, “AWANYU”, “UMBRA”, AND “ECHO”. HE HAS ALSO CHOREOGRAPHED AND DIRECTED AN ORIGINAL FULL LENGTH “PETER PAN” BALLET FOR BLACKBIRD ACADEMY OF ARTS. 

TILLMAN CURRENTLY IS THE EDUCATION DIRECTOR AT ROCK CITY DANCE CENTER IN LITTLE ROCK. THERE, HE TEACHES BALLET AND CONTEMPORARY TO MULTIPLE LEVELS OF STUDENTS, AND CHOREOGRAPHS FOR THE COMPETITION TEAM. TILLMAN HAS BEEN TEACHING DANCE IN THE CENTRAL ARKANSAS AREA FOR 12 YEARS.