Jillian Conjura is originally from Hudson Valley, New York and began dancing at the Warwick Ballet Theatre and American Youth Ballet under the direction of Natasha Bar. She has trained under former New York City Ballet’s Elizabeth Gayer-Gottlieb and Jennifer Fuchs Hart along with New Jersey Ballet principal dancer Albert Davydov. She attended summer intensives including New York State Summer School of the Arts, North Carolina Dance Theatre, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Jillian graduated with a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music where she was mentored by Deirdre Carberry, Jiang Qi, Michael Tevlin, and Ka-Ron Brown Lehman. At CCM Jillian performed in ballets including Paquita, Sleeping Beauty, LaBayadere, George Balanchine’s Serenade, and Giselle. After graduation Jillian joined Ballet Theatre of Maryland as an apprentice in 2014 and was promoted to soloist in 2017. With the company she has performed in featured roles including Snow Queen and Spanish in TheNutcracker and the Sapphire Fairy in Sleeping Beauty. She is excited to be joining the staff at Star Makers Academy of Dance!