Zane Tahvildaran-Jesswein

Zane Tahvildaran-Jesswein is a classically trained ballet dancer who graduates from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance this May 2024. Zane was born and raised in Santa Monica, California. His ballet training began at the age of 4 at Westside Academy of Dance, a Balanchine school, in Santa Monica. Westside Ballet was founded by the late Yvonne Mounsey of New York City Ballet and she was one of Zane’s first ballet teachers. At Westside Ballet Zane was taught by Martine Harley (Artistic Director), Francine Kessler Lavac, Johnny Zhong, Seth Belliston and recurring guest teachers Patricia Neary, Robert Fairchild, Tiler Peck, Harrison Ball, and Indiana Woodward.

Zane attended three summer intensives with American Ballet Theatre: Irvine (2017) and New York City (2018 and 2019). He was also invited to two fall dance intensives with American Ballet Theatre: Romeo and Juliet (2017) and Don Quixote (2018). Zane traveled to China with Santa Monica College’s Global Motion Dance Company as part of a cultural exchange program with the Chinese government. He performed in both Shanghai and Beijing (2019).

During the COVID summer, Zane danced with the official school of the Utah Metropolitan Ballet (2020). He was accepted into NYU’s Dance program in the fall of 2021. While at NYU Tisch and in conjunction with the Second Avenue Dance Company, Zane auditioned and was cast in José Limón’s Missa Brevis and Laja Field’s Votes For Mars. Zane loves Animanga and his favorite Mangaka is Araki Hirohiko. He loves all dance, movies, and he has an eclectic taste in music. Zane is overjoyed to be joining Ballet San Antonio for their 2024-25 season.

His favorite role is Blue Bird, and his dream role is Hilarion from Giselle. His favorite part of ballet is pas de deux, and his second is the costumes – the last piece that brings each character to life! While having focused on classical ballet training, Zane doesn’t shy away from new artistic endeavors. He has worked with Disco Riot, a contemporary company based in San Diego, as well as working closely with opera!