Our Faculty

Jessica Espinosa was born and raised in the Toledo area and began her dance training at age 5 where she performed and trained at a local dance studio with a focus on classical jazz and modern dance styles. From there Jessica set her sites on bigger adventures when attending the performing arts school in Toledo and began elite training in musical theatre and ballet. She sang and danced in various musicals. Her favorite roles in musical theatre were, Sally Brown, in Your a Good Man Charlie Brown: lead dancer in Footloose and an acting role in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as Balthazar.

Jessica began extensive one on one ballet training with Elena Bartley, former principle dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem. This training later expanded to Louis Dominguez and Nancy Cole of Dance Theatre of Harlem.  Her favorite ballets under their direction included lead roles in Peter and the Wolf, Balanchine's Serenade and Concerto in F. Jessica continued training at Toledo Ballet under the instruction of Nigel Burgouine and several other master teachers including Ms. Laura Alonzo from the National Ballet of Cuba. Arthur Mitchell from Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Whilhelm Burmann.  Jessica went on to  professionally train and perform with the Dance Theatre of Harlem; the second company, Ballet Hispanico;  and the Richmond Ballet. Favorite ballets include the Nutcracker as Arabian, dance soloist for master works chorale, Coppelia's Friends in the ballet Coppelia, and the role of Diamond in Diamond Silver and Gold from Sleeping Beauty.

Jessica has three children and over 12 years experience in teaching dance. She is proud to say that she has many training experiences in early childhood education as a prekindergarten coordinator. These experiences have helped her expand other dance school's ballet programs. At Dance FX Academy Jessica ran and organized a ballet competition team, taught all levels of ballet at Toledo Ballet and Ballet Theatre of Toledo. She is most proud of her pointe program she worked on at Company C Dance Club. She has taken several dancers to prestigious ballet competitions over the years setting timeless choreography and providing private coaching . She is honored and excited to be spreading the love for ballet in the Toledo area!

Maria Jacoby is a dance performer, maker, and teacher from Toledo, Ohio. After graduating from Toledo School For The Arts in 2018, she was chosen to travel with DanceMakers Competition for a year to work backstage and assist classes with choreographers such as Dejan Tubic, Kathryn McCormick, and Brooke Paulsen. More recently, Maria has tap danced with The Hot Sardines at their “Holiday Stomp” show at the Kimmel Cultural Campus, worked with Klassic Contemporary Ballet Company and Uniting Colleges Through Tap Company, as well as performed works by Symone Holliday, Annie Rigney, and Wayne David. She has taught classes at the Swingin’ Into Summer Tap Festival and at dance studios around Philadelphia and Toledo. She will graduate with a BFA in Dance in the Spring of 2022 from University of the Arts.

Kristi DelVerne holds a BA in Fine Arts from the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati with a major in dance. While getting her degree, she also performed numerous classical ballets with the Cincinnati Ballet as a corps member. She then moved on to dance at the Ruth Page Foundation in Chicago as well as the Chicago Ballet. She began her training at The Toledo Ballet and spent summers training in New York and The North Carolina School of the Arts. She has been back in the Toledo area teaching ballet to upper level students since 1996.

Cheryl grew up dancing in Toledo.  She is both a Cecchetti trained dance teacher, Exam Levels I-III and an ABT Certified teacher, having completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT National Training Curriculum.  Ms. Walter graduated from the University of Toledo with a Bachelor's degree in Spanish and is currently working as a microbiologist at Mercy St. Vincent and Mercy St. Anne's hospitals. 

In her spare time, Cheryl is an avid runner.  An enthusiastic member of Dave's Running Club, Ms. Cheryl can often be spotted running or biking through the community and in road races all over the region! 

Ms. Cheryl will be teaching students in Primary level ballet through level 3 this fall. 

Tess began her dancing career in 1987 at the early age of 3. She received her initial 13 years of training from the Barn Studio of Dance in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, supplemented by summer intensives at the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet. In the summer of 2000, Ms. Caputo attended the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts on scholarship for ballet. At age 16, Ms. Caputo continued with intense training at the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet. She was accepted to attend the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music at age 17 and completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ballet on scholarship. During her ballet career, Ms. Caputo has trained and performed with various companies, including the Pennsylvania Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Toledo Classical Ballet and Ballet Theatre of Scranton. She has performed variations from La Bayadére, Don Quixote, Dracula, La Esmaralda, Giselle, Napoli, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, and many others, including original works.

Tess is the mother of three young performers and lives with family here Toledo.  We are so excited to welcome Tess to our faculty.  Her gift of high quality instruction balanced with a genuine concern for her students is why Tess is a wonderful fit for Toledo Met! 

Lisa Mayer-Lang began studying dance at the Toledo Ballet at the age of six, under the direction of Marie Bollinger Vogt and Madame Velta Cernonok. Two years later at the age of eight, she was cast in the coveted role of Clara in The Nutcracker, which began a lifelong passion of Ballet and the performing arts.

Ms. Mayer-Lang furthered her studies at the acclaimed Interlochen Arts Camp, with the prestigious Toscanini Scholarship. She trained with Larry Long at Ruth Page in Chicago, and Ballet West with the legendary William Christiansen, Toni Lander and Bruce Marks. At the age of eighteen, she moved to New York City, where Ms. Mayer-Lang continued her studies with the top Ballet Masters of the world. She performed professionally as a ballerina, toured the world partnering with New York City Ballet Principal Dancer, Gen Horiuchi. Ms. Mayer-Lang ultimately landed on Broadway dancing, singing and acting in lead roles as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Carousel at Lincoln Center with Aurdra McDonald, CATS as Sillabub and Victoria, Kiss Me Kate, Thoroughly Modern Millie with Sutton Foster and Wonderful Town with Brooke Shields. Ms. Mayer-Lang has performed at the Kennedy Center as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Carnegie Hall in The Leading Ladies of Broadway alongside Julie Andrews, Liza Minelli, Barbara Cook, among many others. Other great performing experiences include dancing with Gene Kelly, Willie Nelson and opposite Patrick Wilson in Barry Manilow’s Harmony, at LaJolla Playhouse.

Ms. Mayer-Lang became the Toledo Ballet’s School Director in 2012; in 2014, she received the additional appointment of Artistic Director. Ms. Mayer-Lang is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. When she is not teaching the students she so loves, Ms. Mayer-Lang is an adjunct professor at The University of Michigan teaching in the world-renowned Musical Theatre Department.