Sonja Dale is a Bay Area native, trained by Sally Streets at Berkeley Ballet Theater. She later attended UCLA and the Boston Conservatory, and then began her dance career in San Francisco, where she performed with Peninsula Ballet Theater, FACT/SF and The Mark Foehringer Dance Project. Sonja moved to New York City in 2010, where she performed with SYREN Modern Dance and began teaching contemporary dance for Notes in Motion Outreach Dance Theater. She then moved to Boston, where she taught ballet at The Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Sonja moved back to the Bay in 2015 and is currently dancing for Liss Fain Dance, Sharp and Fine, and the Mark Foehringer Dance Project, and teaching for many ballet schools around the Bay Area, including Steppin’ Out, Marin School of the Arts, and Conservatory of Classical Ballet. Sonja also has over 400 hours of training as a yoga instructor, and is completing prerequisites for physical therapy school.

Theresa Knudson received her training from Lois Ellyn in southern California. She attended intensive programs at American Ballet Theatre, NYC, Boston Ballet, Ballet Austin, Maple Conservatory, José Limón West, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Theresa began her professional career with Nouveau Chamber Ballet under the artistic direction of Lois Ellyn. As a freelancer Theresa has performed with Diablo Ballet, Oakland Ballet Company, Wonderbound, ARC Dance, Mark Foehringer Dance Project | SF, Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet, and with many independent choreographers. She has taught for over a decade for several schools including: Lois Ellyn Ballet Studio, Academy of Dance Redwood City, Moving Arts Studio, and ODC School, Orinda Ballet Academy and San Francisco Youth Ballet Academy. Theresa holds a BA in Business Administration from California State University, Fullerton. She is the owner of BlackBox Studios, a ballet studio based in Oakland, CA, and the Co-Founder & Executive Director of Ballet22. Ballet22 is a professional ballet company dedicated to presenting men and nonbinary artists en pointe as well as commissioning new works to bring LGBTQIA+ representation to the ballet stage.

Mindy Krasner, a professional ballet dancer trained in New York City, was a member of major ballet companies in the United States and Europe, including Dutch National Ballet, Basel Ballet, Le Grand Ballet Canadian, American Ballet Theatre II, and Pennsylvania Ballet and toured internationally. After her professional ballet career Mindy traveled to India to become a yoga instructor and then studied other modalities of movement such as Laban/Bartenieff movement studies and creative dance to incorporate into her teaching. She has been teaching for over 25 years. Mindy currently resides in Pasadena, CA and is teaching ballet, pointe, dance history, and choreographing at the California School of the Arts San Gabriel Valley. She also teaches a virtual gentle yoga class for adults, sees private clients, and offers specialized workshops for Posture and Foot Care and Balance. Her unique approach to teaching combines a high standard of technique along with a holistic viewpoint, which embraces the whole person and encourages self-expression. To see a more detailed Bio go to: https://www.mindykrasner.com/professional-bio

Marinna Kus is a freelance dancer, teacher, and choreographer based in San Francisco. Born and raised in South Florida, she spent her early career with Ballet Palm Beach, during which time she also completed her B.S. in Accounting online. Over the course of her carrier, she has performed and toured nationally with multiple companies, including Ballet 5:8, Charlottesville Ballet, City Ballet of San Diego, and Oceanica Ballet. During the COVID lockdowns, she also completed her 200 yoga teaching certification and co-founded and directed Digital Dance Project.

Christopher Lam was born in Brisbane, Australia and studied with Betsy Sawyers before joining the Australian Ballet School. A recipient of the prestigious Graeme Murphy Scholarship Christopher graduated from his studies passing the Royal Academy of Dancing's Advanced examination with Honours. Performing with The Australian Ballet he covered a vast classical repertoire and worked with illustrious master teachers and choreographers including Eugene Polyakov, Natalia Makarova, Gelsey Kirkland, Johnny Eliasen, Olga Evreinoff and Sonia Arova. Christopher has danced for the Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve, Gothenburg Ballet, Croatian National Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal expanding his repertoire to include ballets by Jiri Kylian, Ohad Naharin, William Forsythe, Nacho Duato and Jean-Christophe Maillot. Since retiring from the stage he has taught dance and staged works in Australia, Europe and the United States of America. A resident of the Bay Area since 2016 he has taught in youth and adult divisions as well as the professional companies of Smuin Ballet, Oakland Ballet, ODC, BayPointe Ballet, Dance Theater of San Francisco, Diablo Ballet, Jessica Lange Dance and Alonzo King Lines Ballet.

Miss Maddie has been practicing and studying ballet since the age of three. After studying human physiology at the University of Oregon she returned to the Bay Area and has been teaching dance ever since. Currently, Maddie is a full time instructor at Lareen Fender’s The Ballet School Performing Arts in Walnut Creek, Ca. She teaches ballet, contemporary, dance conditioning, Progressing Ballet Technique, and pointe. In 2017 she helped implement a pointe preparation class into The Ballet School’s curriculum and has since successfully and safely transitioned many young dancers onto pointe.

Catherine Middaugh-Field began her ballet training at the age of five at Yuma Ballet Academy with Kathleen Sinclair. Here, she was given the opportunity to study Horton technique under Emma M.K. Cong and quickly fell in love with contemporary artistry and movement. Subsequently, Catherine was accepted into the academy’s pre-professional ballet company, Ballet Yuma, an Honor Company member with Regional Dance America, under the artistic direction of Kathleen Sinclair and Jon Cristofori (late). Ballet Yuma has since transitioned into being a company member of The Ballet Alliance. Upon graduation, Catherine began teaching for Yuma Ballet Academy with the guidance of Kathleen Sinclair. Here, she truly developed her passion and ability to teach proper technique with an emphasis on the development of true artistry in young dancers. Catherine strives to lay a solid technical and artistic foundation for all of her students so that dancers and audience members may experience true communication and connection through performance. With over 15 years of teaching experience, Catherine has taught and built ballet curriculum for local dance programs, taught overseas in Japan, and in San Diego, CA with The Ballet Institute of San Diego, Artistic Director Eglė Špokaitė. Catherine is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT), Pointe Safe, and professionally fits pointe shoes alongside her mentor, Gg Muir-Robinson. As of Summer 2024, Catherine will rejoin Yuma Ballet Academy and Ballet Yuma as a staff member. She looks forward to sharing her unique experiences in hopes of guiding and inspiring the upcoming generations of dancers.

Raina began dancing at the age of 5 in the small town of Grass Valley, California. She went on to train with schools across the country including Capitol Ballet Company, American Ballet Theatre, Cincinnati Ballet, and LINES Ballet. She then attended Reed College, where she studied biology and developed and performed several choreographic works while training in contemporary dance, and then obtained her master’s degree in microbiology from UC Santa Cruz. She is now a performer, choreographer, and ballet instructor in Santa Cruz and the surrounding areas. Raina is passionate about sharing her love for dance with her students and strives to emphasize excellent technique and artistry while maintaining a caring and supportive space where every dancer can thrive.

Rachel’s love for movement began at an early age when she started dancing. Throughout her dance experience, Rachel witnessed the immense need for healthcare practitioners who understand the unique demands of dance, which ultimately led her to pursue a career in physical therapy. Rachel earned her B.S. in Kinesiology, Exercise Science at California State University, Long Beach and she is set to graduate from the UCSF/SFSU Doctor of Physical Therapy program this June. Rachel has trained extensively in a multitude of dance styles including ballet, contemporary, jazz and tap. She has also spent several summers in NYC attending dance intensives such as the Rockettes Summer Intensive and Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary Intensive.