Artistic Director Galina Alexandrova was born in Moscow, Russia. Both Galina's parents were principle dancers with their various companies. Galina's father, Mikhail, was with the Moiseyev Dance Company, and her mother, the Stanislovsky Ballet.

At the age of ten, Galina was accepted in to the legendary Bolshoi Academy in Moscow. After having graduated, Galina was personally selected by Artistic Director Yuri Grigorovich to become a member of the Bolshoi Ballet. Galina danced there for seven years, performing many soloist roles in ballets such as Giselle, Swan Lake, and The Sleeping Beauty.

After meeting her American husband Ken, Galina joined the San Francisco Ballet, where she danced for eight years. With San Francisco Ballet, she performed many soloist roles in works by George Balanchine, Lew Christensen, and Helgi Tomasson, and worked directly with world-class choreographers such as James Kudelka, David Bintley, and Glen Tetley.

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Master Teacher Lupe Calzadilla graduated from the Cuban School of Ballet, whereupon she joined the prestigious National Ballet of Cuba. For 11 years there she enjoyed a successful career as a principle dancer performing leading roles in both contemporary and classical works. She was also both a company member and founder of the Theater of the Opera.

Since performing, Lupe has taught and choreographed throughout the world for over 30 years. She credits her vast ballet knowledge to studying under such masters of Cuban dance as Fdo Alonzo, Alicia Alonzo, as well as numerous master teachers from Russia. Additionally, Lupe has been a technique and choreography consultant for numerous companies and dancers. She has also worked under director Laura Alonso at the Centro Pro-Danza de Cuba.

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Boys Director and Choreographer Yuri Zhukov studied at the famed Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg Russia, the same school which produced such ballet legends as Nijinsky, Pavlova, Fokine, Balanchine, Nureyev, and Baryshnikov.

He spent his dancing career at several world class ballet companies beginning in 1982 with the Kirov Ballet, then San Francisco Ballet in 1989, and finally joining the Birmingham Royal Ballet in the U.K. in 1995. Over the course of his career he performed many lead roles in classical ballets such as Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and the Nutcracker.

Yuri has taught ballet at San Francisco Ballet, as well as all across the globe, in places such as the Royal Swedish Ballet, Cullberg Ballet, Monte-Carlo Ballet, Gothenberg Ballet, and the Royal Birmingham Ballet.

In addition, Yuri is also a world-class set designer, having recently designed the sets of both San Francisco Ballet's and Oregon Ballet Theatre's productions of Firebird.

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Cassandra Seeger (Ballet Levels I & II) received her training on full scholarship at both the San Francisco Ballet School and in Los Angeles at the Westside Academy of Dance. She enjoyed a ten year career dancing principle and supporting roles with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Ballet Arizona in Phoenix.

During her tenure as a professional dancer she had the opportunity to perform many soloist roles of the classical repertoire and work with a number of today's leading choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Ib Andersen, and Ben Stevenson. Among the leading roles she has performed, Cassandra especially enjoyed dancing the principal roles in Lynn Taylor-Corbet's Ballad of You and Me, a piece to her grandfather Pete Seeger's music; Myrta in Giselle; Desdemona in Jose Limon's The Moor's Pavane; and Shirley in Lisa de Ribere's Harvest Moon.

Cassandra joined the faculty of City Ballet School in 2005 after graduating from the California College of the Arts with a BFA in Illustration. As she pursues her illustration career, she delights in opening children's eyes and hearts to a love of ballet and contributing to the growth of the next generation of young dancers.

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Robin Cornwell (Pre-Ballet) started training at age three at Marin Ballet and is a recipient of Marin Ballet's Clara Belle Hamilton Merit Scholarship. Her various teachers included Leslie Crockett, Robert Sund, Cynthia Lucas, and guest teachers Joanna Berman, Evelyn Cisneros, Lawrence Pech, and Michael Smuin.

Currently dancing with Smuin Ballet, she has been featured in Michael Smuin's Carmina Burana, Shubert Scherzo, and Fly Me to the Moon along with Amy Seiwert's Falling Up.

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Olivia Ramsay (Pre-Ballet) received her training at Marin Ballet. She has danced previously with Ballet Pacifica and State Street Ballet, with whom she toured throughout China and Taiwan.

Since joining Smuin Ballet, Olivia has most enjoyed being featured in Fly Me To The Moon and Baby it's Cold Outside from the Christmas Ballet.

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