Teaching Bio

J Ryan has lived in The Netherlands for three years now. In that time he has been a regular guest teacher at the Dutch National Ballet Academie since 2021, as well as Conny Janssen Danst, De Dutch Don’t Dance Division, Amsterdam University of the Arts Expanded Contemporary Division, ArtEZ Enschede, ICK, De Stilte, ArtEZ Arnhem, Korzo, Fontys, Codarts and Henny Jurriens Studio, among others.

In 2023, J Ryan represented Ernst Meisner and the Dutch National Ballet Academie as an adjudicator and teacher at the Italian Dance Awards, YGP Semi Finals in Barcelona, and again in 2024 at AmsterDans International Competition. In Jan of 2024, J Ryan taught a teachers training workshop at ArtEZ Enschede. This coming school year (2024/2025) he will be a regular teacher at Codarts for the 1st Year Bachelor students as well as a regular guest teacher at the Dutch National Ballet Academie. 

Before moving to the Netherlands, J Ryan lived in NYC and was a regular guest teacher at Broadway Dance Center, Peridance, and Ballet Arts. He has served on Faculty at summer programs for American Ballet Theatre, American Academy of Ballet, Peridance, Northwest Florida Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet NY, to name a few.

J Ryan was invited to adjudicate for the South African Dance Championships in Durban, South Africa. While there he taught Cape Town City Ballet II. He taught at the Jakarta Intercultural School in Jakarta, Indonesia.  While there he also taught for the Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools Dance Exchange. He also had the pleasure to adjudicate and teach in Mazatlan, Mexico at Danza Sinaloa Concurso Internacional. He was invited to teach and work with dance educators at the TN Association of Dance Conference.

He has taught Yoga Narada® and the Harkness Ballet Method as taught by David Howard at schools, companies, festivals and competitions throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, South Africa, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Netherlands and Indonesia.

About Dance

At 19 years old he apprenticed with Laura Alonso’s Ballet Company in Havana, Cuba. He went on to dance with Wes Chapman’s Alabama Ballet as a company member, American Repertory Ballet dancing soloist and principal roles and as a Principal Soloist with Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico in San Juan. He was also a company member of and Les Ballets Grandiva. He has been a Principal Guest Artist with North West Florida Ballet, Portland Ballet, Western Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico, CoDa21 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Ajkun Ballet Theater in NYC, to name a few. The Ministry of Culture of Puerto Rico invited him to be the Premiere Guest Artist at the 2010 International Dance Festival in San Juan where he danced the Rose in Fokine’s famous “Le Spectre de la Rose” and the Young Man in Roland Petit’s “Le Jeune Homme et la Mort” in the Festival’s Gala performance. This was the first time that either ballet had been danced on the island of Puerto Rico.

Some of J Ryan's favorite dance roles include Oberon in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, Tybalt in ROMEO AND JULIET, Franz in COPPELIA, Cerventes in DON QUIXOTE, Hilarion in GISELLE, Marius in LES MISERABLES, Lucifer in INFERNO, Cavalier and Snow King in NUTCRACKER, Tootles in Septime Weber's PETER PAN, Moor in Fokine's PETRUSCHKA, Prince in CINDERELLA, Twyla Tharp's BAKER'S DOZEN, Claudius in HAMLET, Poet in Jose Pares' POEME, Alberto Mendez's PASION, Dracula in DRACULA,  Siegfried in SWAN LAKE, the Rose in LE SPECTRE DE LA ROSE and Young Man in LE JEUNNE HOMME ET LA MORT.