OUR STAFF
WITH BACKGROUNDS IN CLASSICAL BALLET, CONTEMPORARY AND MODERN DANCE, OUR STAFF BRINGS A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE EVERY TIME THEY STEP INTO THE STUDIO.
RESIDENT FACULTY
CHRISTIN HANNA
FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Christin trained with Margaret Banks at Nevada Festival Ballet and performed in the company's productions throughout her young life, continuing her studies at the Joffrey Ballet School and American Ballet Theater summer sessions in New York City.
Christin Hanna enjoyed a busy freelance career, performing with Oakland Ballet, Ballet NY, and Cincinnati Ballet, and was a founding member of New Chamber Ballet. During her time there, she initiated a performance and summer workshop with area students in her hometown of Tahoe City in 2006.
Since her return to Tahoe in 2008, Hanna has produced over fifteen performances featuring over 50 works with more than 20 guest artists. She has staged works created on her at NCB as well as classics like Giselle, Paquita and pas de quatre. in addition to choreographing and serving as rehearsal assistant to visiting guest choreographers. She and longtime friend Constantine Baecher started the Lake Tahoe Dance Festival in 2013 and continue to collaborate on programming and artistic vision for Lake Tahoe Dance Collective.
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Christin is certified in the American Ballet Theatre Training Curriculum. She is the recipient of the 2024 Jeff Hamilton Legacy Fund award for her commitment, imagination and fearlessness in the Arts and recognized as Arts Icon of Placer County in 2023.
LOURDES AVENIER
Ballet​​
Lourdes began her dance training under the British-based Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD) and over her 30 years of classical ballet training, she has been a member of international teacher education organizations such as the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD). Throughout her career, Lourdes has been a guest in prestigious schools such as Ballet Kirov, now Mariinsky Ballet, in St. Petersburg, Russia . In 2016, she decided to leave a successful 20-year career in Engineering, to pursue her passion for Ballet and Teaching. Since relocating to Incline Village, she has taught several adult and children programs for beginners, intermediate and advance levels.
KELSI BALLARD
Ballet, Jazz​​
Kelsi is a native of South Lake Tahoe, where she began her dance training at studios throughout the Lake Tahoe region before continuing her studies with renowned ballet teachers from across the United States. At age 10, she performed in New York City Ballet’s production of The Sleeping Beauty, and as a young teenager was invited to dance principal roles with Oakland Ballet, spending two years performing under Artistic Director Ronn Guidi.
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At 17, Kelsi received a scholarship to attend the eight-week summer dance program at California Institute of the Arts. Her professional performing experience includes work with Greg Thompson and Mistinguett aboard the Mississippi riverboats and in Reno, as well as performances under Lynne Barth and with Lucky Rabbit Productions.
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Kelsi has taught at numerous studios throughout California and has since returned to her hometown of South Lake Tahoe, where she continues to share her experience and love of dance with the next generation of students.
JULIE PARKER HARLAN
Modern, Jazz
Julie Parker Harlan, born in Tahoe and raised in Hawaii, has been teaching and performing professionally for more than 25 years. She earned her BFA from Marymount Manhattan College and later an MFA in Dance from UC Irvine, where she studied under Donald McKayle, Jodie Gates, Evelyn Cisneros, and Molly Lynch.
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Julie has taught dance at colleges and universities across the country, including UC Irvine, Lamar University, Johns Hopkins University, and Hillsborough College. Her choreography has been presented at colleges and conservatories nationwide, and she served as rehearsal director for Donald McKayle’s Games as part of a National Endowment for the Arts-supported project.
PEGGY
PATTERSON
Conditioning
Peggy Patterson has trained extensively as a dancer and is a NCPT certified Pilates instructor. Peggy’s passion for music and dance led her to begin teaching fitness and dance classes to people of all ages and abilities in her late teens. She continued her studies of dance and kinesiology at Santa Rosa junior college and Sonoma Sate University where she learned the basic principles of the Pilates Method and found several gifted mentors there that helped shape her teaching style.
Peggy has worked with people of all ages and abilities- from competitive athletes, dancers, working moms, and active agers. This practice can be adapted to the abilities of any person making it versatile and FUN!