Jake Allison is an American ballet dancer, teacher, and director, and is currently Artistic Director of High Points Youth Ballet (HPYB), Northern Ireland's youth ballet company and pre-professional training programme. Originally from Muscatine, Iowa, Jake trained at the School of First State Ballet Theatre, ranked in the top 5% of ballet schools in the USA, under Pasha Kambalov, a graduate of the renowned Vaganova Academy, Kristina Kambalov, and Lev Assouliak, former Director of the Perm State Choreographic College and People's Artist of the USSR. Jake danced as a Principal Dancer at First State Ballet Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware, dancing the major roles of the classical repertoire, including Albrecht in Giselle, Desiré in The Sleeping Beauty, Espada in Don Quixote, Toreador in Carmen, as well as originating roles in many of award-winning choreographer Viktor Plotnikov's contemporary ballets, including Everlasting Arms, Nonsense, and Pinocchio. Jake led the creation of HPYB's Pre-Professional Training Programme in 2018 in collaboration with HPYB founder, Rana O'Brien. He has since trained Northern Irish dancers who have gone on to secure placement in full-time programmes and summer intensives at Europe’s top vocational schools such as the Royal Ballet School, the John Cranko Schule, and others. Jake has also trained students who have secured professional contracts in ballet companies throughout Europe, including Semperoper Dresden and Ballet Varna, and students who have joined touring West End productions such as Phantom of the Opera.