LEADERSHIP
Janet Pichard
chief executive officer
Janet Pichard has been the Chief Executive Officer of The Tallahassee Ballet since January 2007. Combining a lifelong passion for dance with professional experience in ballet instruction and administration, business marketing, and advertising, she is uniquely qualified to balance the many opportunities of a growing semi-professional ballet company and school with the fine art of dance.
As CEO of The Tallahassee Ballet, Janet works closely with the Board of Directors, artistic faculty, and staff. She actively works to strengthen the presence of the Company in the Tallahassee community and has nurtured the support of The Tallahassee Ballet’s many supporters and sponsors.
Janet has held multiple professional positions in business marketing and advertising, including co-owner of P&G Marketing Group, advertising manager of The Tallahassee Ballet, and advertising representative for Rowland Publishing. She was also a member of the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce Leadership Tallahassee Class 26 that worked to raise support for Tallahassee’s Cascades Park.
With more than three decades of experience in teaching ballet and managing studios, Janet is the former owner of the Dancer’s Image Studio, and has previously worked with the Sharon Davis School of Dance and served as a member of The Tallahassee Ballet Board of Directors.
Janet holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree from the College of Education at Florida State University.
Lauren Hernandez
chief operating officer
Lauren Hernandez was recently promoted from the position of Development Director to Chief Operating Officer (COO). This decision reflects Lauren's outstanding contributions and dedication to The Tallahassee Ballet and her unwavering commitment to the arts. She began her initial dance training at the age of 4 and after completing high school at Virginia School of the Arts, a pre-professional high school for dance, she pursued her professional ballet career and became a trainee with the Richmond Ballet.
Hernandez received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from Florida State University in 2011 and was a soloist with The Tallahassee Ballet company for 8+ years. Throughout her 15 years of performing, she has had numerous lead roles in mainstage productions, performed as a Corps de Ballet member for a world-renowned ballet company, and danced in several pieces choreographed by successful professors and instructors.
Over the years, Lauren's versatility and dedication have led her to take on various pivotal roles within TTB. Hernandez has held positions of Faculty member, School Director, Ballet Mistress, and Artistic Associate for the organization. Hernandez’s choreographic achievements include Spanish, Arabian, and the Battle Scene from The Tallahassee Ballet’s The Nutcracker and pieces from 2014-2016 performances of An Evening of Music and Dance. Hernandez was the Director of Ballet at North Georgia Dance Arts (NGDA) and Director/Choreographer for the 2017-2019 productions of NGDA’s The Nutcracker. In 2019 Hernandez became an adjunct faculty member at Young Harris College (YHC); for three years, she taught a variety of dance styles for their Musical Theater department. Hernandez is also an ABT® Certified Teacher who successfully completed the entire ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
Hernandez began her career in Higher-Ed Development in the fall of 2019 after becoming Advancement Coordinator for the Office of Advancement at Young Harris College. In 2021 Hernandez was promoted to Director of Development and Leadership Giving at YHC, where she raised more than $200,000 in unrestricted giving and exceeded expectations in her donor relations and management role. Returning to Tallahassee in 2022, she served as Development Director for TTB where she has expanded fundraising efforts for the ballet, including TTB’s first-ever Giving Day, which raised over $13,000 in 24 hours. With her outstanding leadership skills, strategic vision, and an innate understanding of the ballet's mission and values, Lauren was recently promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO) of The Tallahassee Ballet. Lauren is excited to assume broader responsibilities and drive the Tallahassee Ballet forward on its artistic journey.
Tyrone Brooks
artistic director
Tyrone Brooks joined The Tallahassee Ballet as the Artistic Director in the 2013-2014 season. He has a wide range of professional experience including 18 years as a Principal Dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York City (DTH). Brooks has been featured in a number of acclaimed performances including Alvin Ailey’s The River, Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, and John Butler’s Othello. He has also performed internationally in Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Japan, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela, South Africa, and Russia.
In 1984, Brooks was nominated for the Dancers Choice Award in London for his performance as Alan Strange in Equus. His work has also been in a number of television specials including the NBC presentation of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Creole Giselle, the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics, the PBS series Dance in America, CBS 60 Minutes with Ed Bradley featuring DTH, the PBS presentation of Live at the Kennedy Center The Making of Firebird, and the 1993 Kennedy Center Honors.
For over 25 years, Brooks served as full-time Ballet Faculty at DTH. During that time he also served as the Associate Director of the DTH community outreach program Dancing Through Barriers Ensemble. As Associate Director, Brooks represented DTH as a teaching artist in New York City Public Schools and created curriculum development workshops for teachers. He also conducted master classes and outreach programs in South Florida, for the Dance Theatre of Harlem-Kennedy Center Residency in Washington, D.C., and the Northern Virginia region.
Mr. Brooks has also taught at various institutions including Hofstra University, Mary Mount Manhattan College, Florida State University School of Dance, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New World School of the Arts, Thomas Armour Youth Ballet, Flint Institute of Music- Flint Youth Ballet, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Ballet Hispanico, and Hampton University.
In 2004, Brooks joined the Virginia School of the Arts as the Director of Community Dance and was subsequently appointed as the Executive Director of the Virginia School of the Arts by the Board of Directors. During his tenure at the Virginia School of the Arts, Brooks became an active member of the Lynchburg community and developed community partnerships. His community engagement extended to service on the advisory panel for the Virginia Commission for the Arts Tour and Performing Arts Directory, James River Diversity Council, and the Board of Directors of the James River Council for the Arts.
Brooks has served on the Florida State University Friends of Dance Board of Directors, The Florida Division for Individual Artist Fellowship Panel, and has choreographed for
The Tallahassee Chapter “Links” Beautillion.
Brooks is featured in the Smithsonian Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, D.C., with the Dance Theatre of Harlem and was inducted into (MOBB) Museum of Blacks in Ballet.
Meagan Helman
Interim Artistic Director
Meagan Helman has been with the Tallahassee Ballet since 2015, first serving as a faculty member and later as School Director, Company Teacher, and Ballet Mistress. She has a diverse array of professional experiences as a dancer and educator. Ms. Helman is an adjunct faculty member at Florida State University’s School of Dance where she has taught all levels of Ballet and Dance Technology courses, choreographed, and served as a rehearsal director. She performed professionally for over ten years as a principal dancer with Ballet Theatre of Maryland (BTM), where her repertoire included: Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Coppélia, Cinderella, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Firebird, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Nutcracker, Carmen, and The Scarlet Letter, among other classical and contemporary works.
Ms. Helman served as the Ballet Mistress for BTM from 2009-2014, where she also choreographed and taught for the company and school. Her choreography has been performed by Ballet Theatre of Maryland, The Tallahassee Ballet, Florida State University, Delaware Dance Company, Goucher College, and at the American College Dance Association. Helman holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Goucher College and a Master of Arts in Dance from Florida State University. She also serves as the photographer for FSU’s School of Dance and the performance photographer for The Tallahassee Ballet. Her photographs have been published in Dance Magazine, Dance Studio Life, and Dance Teacher Magazine. She has served on the FSU Friends of Dance Leadership Council since 2017.
Helman is an American Ballet Theatre® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
administrative & creative team
Kara Griffin
education director
Kara Griffin was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. From the age of four, she trained at a number of studios and in many styles including ballet, contemporary/lyrical, jazz, tap and Martha Graham technique modern. In 2016 she began training under Drey Herron and Adina Tarca in the RAD and Vaganova methods of ballet that shaped her into the dancer and instructor she is today. Master Class and Summer Intensive experiences allowed her the opportunity to train under current and former directors, instructors, and company members of Ballet Magnificat!, The Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory, Opera House, Bucharest, Theatre of Ballet Classic & Contemporary, Constanta, Romania, Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo, The Radio City Rockettes, and Martha Graham Dance Company.
Griffin has been instructing younger dancers since the fall of 2016 and loves the reward of seeing her students grow! This will be her second season as both a dancer and instructor with The Tallahassee Ballet.
Sarah Krazit
artistic manager
Sarah Krazit recently moved to Tallahassee from Sarasota, Florida where she held the role as the Principal of The Sarasota Ballet’s School. During her time with The Sarasota Ballet she had the opportunity to teach all ages and abilities within the ballet’s education department ranging from introductory ballet to pre-professional trainees. In addition to organizing and leading school performances and directing a team of teachers in the ballet school Krazit also helped spearhead a new outreach program using ballet within the Parkinson’s community. Krazit was featured in a WEDU PBS episode, “The Joy of Movement” which highlighted The Sarasota Ballet and NeuroChallenge’s partnership in offering dance as a form of therapy to those living with Parkinson’s.
During her time with Sarasota Ballet, special roles included dancing professionally in John Ringling’s Circus Nutcracker as well as teaching and directing the choreography to students, and playing the role of "the mother" under the direction of Sir Peter Wright in his adaptation of Giselle.
Prior to Krazit’s time in Sarasota, she danced professionally and toured with Ballet Magnificat based in Jackson, Mississippi. Krazit toured as a dancer and teacher both nationally and internationally as well as taught for Ballet Magnificat’s annual Summer Intensive. In addition to the artistic roles that Krazit played, she assisted with performance bookings and wrote narrations as well as other avenues of communication for the professional company.
Krazit’s teaching certifications include Pre-Primary through Level 3 in the ABT National Training Curriculum, RAD’s Silver Swans, and Dance for Parkinson’s. Krazit recently moved to the area with her husband and young daughter and is very excited to fill the role as Artistic Manager.
Eleanor Stewart
administrative assistant/ticketing manager
Eleanor Stewart began her dance training at the age of three. She grew up training at Mobile Ballet in Mobile, Alabama, under the instruction of Katia Garza, Israel Rodriguez, Sydney Adams, Zoe Todd, Paige Weller, Kimberley Sears, and Raley Zofko Zampieri, among others. Throughout her time at Mobile Ballet, she had the opportunity to perform numerous roles at corps de ballet, soloist, and principal levels, including “Myrtha” in Giselle and “Belle” in Beauty and the Beast. While at Mobile Ballet, she also had the opportunity to achieve American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum certification for levels pre-primary through three.
From 2020 to 2022, while dancing and teaching for Mobile Ballet, Stewart began an internship in the Mobile Ballet office, where she had the opportunity to learn about the inner workings of a professional ballet school. She joined The Tallahassee Ballet in 2022 as a corps de ballet company member and a school faculty member, and she looks forward to continuing in these roles as she steps into her new position as Ticketing Manager and Administrative Assistant in 2023. Stewart is also an award-winning novelist under the pen name D.E. Partridge and began hosting The Bookish Ballerina Podcast in summer of 2023.
Lori Danello Roberts
media and marketing specialist
Lori Danello Roberts grew up in Tallahassee, where she and her husband, David, raised three daughters. She is a local graphic designer who published Family Forum magazine for 15 years during which time she was selected as one of the Tallahassee Democrat’s “25 Women You Need to Know” in 2008. She has been designing logos, brochures, magazines, websites, convention materials, and so much more for a number of clients since 1990, including Florida Music Educators, the Center for Fine Arts Education, Florida Association of Mortgage Professionals, Campfire Baseball, Roz Strategies, The Tallahassee Ballet, and Young Actors Theatre
Lori is an avid supporter of the arts. She specifically supports The Tallahassee Ballet and Young Actors Theatre. As a former performer, Lori fully believes in the power of arts education and does her best to support many arts organizations throughout the community.
Lori is also a yoga fitness instructor; certifications include the Nia Technique (yoga fusion), 8-form Tai Chi, TRX, IndoRow, and 200RYT certification with Radiant Transitions. Lori specializes in fitness and yoga suited to senior citizens. She enjoys her partnership with the Tallahassee Senior Center. Lori loves embracing the joy of movement and music and sharing “creative fitness to energize the soul.”
Contact Lori Danello Roberts with questions or concerns about the Website, for high-resolution images, or other media and marketing requests.
