ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Coral began her ballet training with New West Ballet in 1987. Her dancing repertoire consists of many lead roles, with favorites including: “Aurora” in Sleeping Beauty, the leading role in Raymonda, and “Snow Queen” in the Nutcracker. She has performed as a guest artist for San Francisco Youth Ballet Academy, Palomar College, and Mira Costa College. As a ballet instructor, Coral has taught in North County since 1995. Her teaching experience includes positions with New West Ballet, Oceanside Dance Academy, Georgias School of Dance, Ramona-Julian Academy of Dance, and Palomar College. Recently Coral has staged ballets Paquita, La Bayadere, Coppélia and Les Sylphides. In her spare time, Coral is a mother of three and earned her Ph.D. in applied social psychology at Claremont Graduate University.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Christina is from New York City and classically trained in ballet and modern. She still performs with NWB and other local dance companies. Past roles with New West Ballet include Titania in Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Arabian Princess, French Marzipan, Snow Queen and Dew Drop Fairy in The Nutcracker. Miss Christina is originally from the Bronx, NY and started her training at the Bronx Dance Theater. From there she attended the famous New York City High school of Performing Arts and graduated with a Regents diploma. She was a student of John Magnus, Eleanor D’Antuono, and Dorothy Lister, among others, during years of intensive study at the Joffrey Ballet School in Manhattan. Furthermore, she completed her formal dance education with a B.F.A. in dance at the University of Hartford, Hartt School in Connecticut. There she was trained by the world famous ballerina Alla Osipenko and Martha Graham protégé Peggy Lyman. Some of her other accomplishments include Mojalet Core Group, Full Force Dance Theater, BalletNeo, San Diego Dance Theater, Terry Wilson and Dancers, Burklyn Ballet Theater, Dance Connecticut’s Touring Ensemble and West Coast Ballet Theater. Miss Christina is happy to be a part of this wonderful company and is excited to continue to grow with this studio and with you! Her goal is to impart great technique, passion and joy of the art form to all who walk through our doors.

TEACHER

Hope is from the Bay Area and began her diverse dance training at Helen Walker’s School of Dance at the age of 3. She is classically trained in ballet, jazz, and modern, but has also trained in nearly all forms of dance (e.g., character, social tap, African, acrobatics, hip-hop, hula, cheer, and Bollywood). Hope holds a B.F.A. in dance from the University of California in Irvine (UC Irvine) and a teaching credential from the California State University, Long Beach. At UC Irvine, she trained under David Allen, Diane Diefenderfer, Loretta Livingston, Molly Lynch, and Lisa Naugle, among others. Her dancing repertoire consists of principal, soloist, and corps de ballet roles. Her favorite role to date has been The Unicorn & Lady Amalthea in The Last Unicorn. She has performed as a part of Palomar College’s Contemporary Dance Ensemble, at UC Irvine, with State Street Ballet’s summer program, and Benicia Ballet Theatre.

TEACHER

Kendall began her dance training in various styles at Starlight Dance Center in Palm Desert, CA, and then, later on, at New West Ballet. She has trained in the styles of ballet, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, tap, and hip-hop. She is currently studying business and dance at San Diego State University, and coaches dance at San Marcos High School. Some of her favorite roles over her performance years have been Clara, the Arabian Princess, and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Carmencita in Don Quixote, Snow White in Magic Mirror, and Belle in Beauty and the Beast. Kendall hopes to inspire her students to dance with joy above all things, to remember to challenge themselves, and to always know their worth.

TEACHER

Holly started ballet at the age of 6 at California Ballet. In 1983, Holly joined New West Ballet under the direction of Eugenia Keefer. Throughout her ballet journey with NWB, Holly has served as a teacher of both students and adult dancers, production assistant, rehearsal assistant, Board of Directors Treasurer and more! As a performer she has danced in number ballets and roles, seen in the corps, as well as dancing as Clara’s Mother in The Nutcracker, Queen Floristan in Sleeping Beauty, Queen Mother in Swan Lake, Mrs. Darling in Peter Pan, and the Wicked Witch in Hansel and Gretel. She also has worked as a contributing choreographer for The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, and Swan Lake. When not at the ballet school, Holly works as a Team Leader at Umpqua Bank. Holly shares her lightness and love for this art with all her dancers. As she says, “I want to share my love of ballet with the next generations. Every child has potential, and I want to help them meet and achieve their goals, in a positive, safe environment, while working hard on technique and artistry.”

TEACHER

Lauren began her classical ballet training at the age of 6 under the direction of Eugenia Keefer and Kellie Foy at New West Ballet in San Marcos, CA. She trained at New West for a decade and was fortunate enough to perform in several of her favorite ballets such as Raymonda, Les Patineurs, Peter and the Wolf, Coppélia, Paquita, and The Nutcracker. Lauren continued her training as a teenager with City Ballet in San Diego. Her most memorable experience as a young dancer was when she was accepted into Boston Ballet's prestigious Summer Dance Program, where she gained valuable skills as both a dancer and young adult that she still carries with her today. Lauren attended college just north of Los Angeles at California Lutheran University, where she explored other forms of dance. She was a member of their dance team for four years and discovered her love for leadership and mentorship when she served as captain of the team her senior year. Lauren came back to New West Ballet as an adult when her oldest daughter began dancing there at the age of three, and has not left since. One of her greatest joys is teaching ballet to young adults, and she views it as both a privilege and responsibility that she takes quite seriously. Her hope is that she can instill life long lessons in her students that they will take with them after they walk out of the studio and into their lives, both now and as they transition into adulthood.