Michelle G Noblejas-Bartolomei - Artistic Director
Michelle G. Noblejas-Bartolomei has been teaching ballet since 1986. She has taught and choreographed at numerous academies in the Washington D.C. area and Florida. She has served as the Ballet Director at Centreville Academy of Dance and Dancensations Dance Centre in Northern Virginia. She created ballet programs for both children and adults at the Skyline Health Clubs in Falls Church, Virginia. Throughout her career as an instructor of the art of ballet, she has also taught lyrical, jazz, tap, and run a summer dance camp which included other facets of theatre such as voice, acting, music theory, keyboard basics, stage make-up, and costuming.
She began her training at age 5, studying with such well-reputed schools as the Washington Ballet and the Boston Ballet. She received scholarships to attend the Joffrey Ballet in New York City and the Ballet Academy of Northern Virginia. She performed as a soloist with the Shenandoah Dance Ensemble and the Tidewater Ballet. To complement her skills in ballet, she attended Shenandoah Conservatory for studies in Musical Theatre including jazz dance, dance composition, voice, acting, stage make-up, stage craft, and lighting. She has also choreographed and performed with a touring children's theatre company.
As an instructor, Miss Michelle seeks to inspire the pride and beauty within each dancer. In class she demands a high standard of discipline and an aspiration towards perfection. She believes that a student with the mind and body disciplined enough to adhere to the precise rules of Classical Ballet is better prepared for success in school, the workplace, and throughout all other aspects of life. In fact, those of her students who excel in ballet generally receive top honors in academics.
Equally important is Miss Michelle's endeavor to bring fun and enjoyment to her class. Ballet, by its repetitive and gradual nature requires an instructor who instills in her pupils the patience, dedication to hard work, and most of all, a love of the art which contributes to the formation of a graceful dancer. Together, she and her students celebrate during the stages which each dancer passes through on the way to greater mastery of the art of dancing.
She began her training at age 5, studying with such well-reputed schools as the Washington Ballet and the Boston Ballet. She received scholarships to attend the Joffrey Ballet in New York City and the Ballet Academy of Northern Virginia. She performed as a soloist with the Shenandoah Dance Ensemble and the Tidewater Ballet. To complement her skills in ballet, she attended Shenandoah Conservatory for studies in Musical Theatre including jazz dance, dance composition, voice, acting, stage make-up, stage craft, and lighting. She has also choreographed and performed with a touring children's theatre company.
As an instructor, Miss Michelle seeks to inspire the pride and beauty within each dancer. In class she demands a high standard of discipline and an aspiration towards perfection. She believes that a student with the mind and body disciplined enough to adhere to the precise rules of Classical Ballet is better prepared for success in school, the workplace, and throughout all other aspects of life. In fact, those of her students who excel in ballet generally receive top honors in academics.
Equally important is Miss Michelle's endeavor to bring fun and enjoyment to her class. Ballet, by its repetitive and gradual nature requires an instructor who instills in her pupils the patience, dedication to hard work, and most of all, a love of the art which contributes to the formation of a graceful dancer. Together, she and her students celebrate during the stages which each dancer passes through on the way to greater mastery of the art of dancing.
Camille McPherson
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Camille McPherson is currently in her sixth season with the San Diego Ballet, where she is featured as a soloist. She began dancing at Balletcenter West at age 4 and continued studying under Michelle Bartolomei throughout high school.
Camille received additional primary training on scholarship at the California Ballet School and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School's Graduate Program, and spent her summers attending programs with the Jillana School, Boston Ballet School, the Washington School of Ballet, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. Prior to joining the San Diego Ballet, Camille danced in professional productions with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre as a pre-professional graduate student and California Ballet Company as an apprentice. |
Trystan Merrick
Trystan Merrick is currently a principal dancer with the California Ballet. He studied ballet under the tutelage of Ahita Ardalan of the Paris Opera Ballet. He has performed in the works of such great choreographers as Twyla Tharp, Robert Cohen, and George Balanchine, as well as many of the classics. Trystan started his professional career with Nevada Ballet Theater in 2007, and has since danced for San Diego Ballet, Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater, Malashock, Owen Cox Dance, City Ballet of San Diego and, most recently, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, touring internationally to 16 countries on five continents. Trystan joined California Ballet in 2014 as a principal dancer and has been featured in roles such as Albrecht in Giselle, Cavalier in The Nutcracker, Oberon in Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo in Romeo & Juliet, and to critical acclaim as Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby.