CCD Artistic & Executive Leadership

Leslie Castañuela Barnes returns to homestate Colorado as Executive Director of Colorado Conservatory of Dance (CCD) to accelerate the organization’s community reach and visibility through expanded marketing and communications, grant opportunities, sponsorships, and Board development. She is the proud mother of Sophia, who is a graduate at the University of Michigan, and Anna, a professional ballerina with City Ballet of San Diego. Leslie is a leader of vast expertise, business acumen, heart, a passion for dance, community outreach, and arts education.

As a strategic planning consultant, Leslie has advanced the business and creative missions of major arts and performing arts organizations in Los Angeles, including The Music Center and Los Angeles Ballet. Initiatives include the analysis and execution of operations, major fundraising campaigns, marketing, event planning, community outreach, and the integration of DEIA strategies. Leslie’s prior experience includes a 12-year career at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles, where she represented talent in the packaging and negotiation of major studio, independent film, and television productions. Leslie began her career at Morgan Stanley in New York City as an international equities analyst. Leslie is a graduate of Harvard with a B.A. in History.

Julia Wilkinson Manley, CCD Founder & Artistic Director, began her training with Cristina Munro (London Festival Ballet, Eliot Feld) in Corpus Christi, Texas. Julia attended the Boston Ballet Centre for Dance Education and the Houston Ballet Academy. At the University of Oklahoma, she earned a BFA in ballet pedagogy and danced soloist roles in Balanchine’s Serenade, Miguel Terekhov’s Four Moons, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker as Sugar Plum Fairy, as well as numerous solo roles choreographed for her by Mary Margaret Holt (Houston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet). She toured with Ballet Ireland under the direction of Günther Falüsy, and performed with David Taylor Dance Theatre and Ballet Nouveau Colorado. Her choreographic work has been performed by numerous companies, including Corpus Christi Ballet, David Taylor Dance Theatre and Ballet Nouveau Colorado. In 2009, Julia served on the committee to rewrite the Colorado Academic Standards for Dance for the Colorado Department of Education and completed the Community Arts Education Leadership Institute under the mentorship of John McCann in 2015.

Julia joined the faculty of the School of Ballet Nouveau Colorado in January 2002, becoming School Director in 2003. In 2013, she lead the school in becoming a new nonprofit organization, Colorado Conservatory of Dance, focused on making lives better through dance education and performance. Photograph: Misha Photography