Lindsey Salvadalena | Artistic Director

Raised in Louisiana, Lindsey received her classical ballet training from Constantin Apetrei, a graduate of the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Kelly Fortier and Jan Miller, as well as time spent at the Washington School of Ballet, Ballet Magnificat!, and on scholarship at the Boston Ballet School. Lindsey is a graduate of New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA/Riverfront) and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from the Conservatory of Dance at State University of New York / Purchase.  Over the course of her career, she performed many classical works, including: Sleeping Beauty, Paquita, Coppélia, Raymonda, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Peter Pan and The Nutcracker. Notable roles include the "Pas de Trois" from Paquita, "Swanhilda's Friend" from Coppélia, "Tiger Lily" in Peter Pan, "Flower Couple," "Arabian Soloist," and "Snow Queen" and “Sugar Plum Fairy” from The Nutcracker.  Lindsey has danced for Liss Fain Dance, Oakland Ballet, Bay Pointe Ballet as well as freelancing as a guest artist in the San Francisco Bay Area and the New Orleans metropolitan area.

Ethan Epstein | Pre Professional Division Ballet

Ethan Epstein is from Boston, MA where he began his ballet training at Boston Ballet School. Ethan went on to train at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Darla Hoover and Marcia Dale Weary, where he danced principal and soloist roles in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Emeralds, and Alan Hineline’s Coppelia. Professionally, Ethan has danced at Alabama Ballet and Oklahoma City Ballet. He danced roles including Candy Cane in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, The Champion Roper in Agnes de Mille's Rodeo, and Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty. Ethan taught at the Alabama Ballet School and Birmingham Academy of Dance while dancing professionally. Ethan has served as the Children’s Rehearsal Director for Balanchine’s Nutcracker for three years and has guest taught company class at Alabama Ballet. He also returns to CPYB to teach during the summer and is very excited to teach at Bay Area Ballet Conservatory!

Chelsea Hix | Pre Professional Division Ballet

Chelsea began her ballet training at Sebastopol Ballet School and went on to train at the Academy of International Ballet in Philadelphia. She has had the honor of working extensively with Anastasia Babayeva and Denis Gronostayskiy of the Bolshoi Ballet, and Tamara Statkoun of the Kirov Ballet. She has been a company member with International Ballet Classique, Connecticut Ballet, and Peninsula Ballet Theatre, and has had performance opportunities with Oakland Ballet, Ballet Santa Barbara, and as a guest artist throughout the Bay Area. She has also holds a BA in English and French from Sonoma State University.

Calvin Thomas | Pre Professional Division Ballet

Hailing from Maysville, Kentucky, Calvin Thomas received foundational training at the Otto M. Budig Academy of Cincinnati Ballet. He has supplemented his studies at Boston Ballet School, The School of American Ballet, Ballet Austin Academy, and The School of Oregon Ballet Theatre. His career start began with the Cincinnati Ballet and Ballet Austin. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2011 he has performed with Company C Contemporary Ballet, New York Theatre Ballet, Oakland Ballet Company, Dance Theatre of San Francisco, Kiandanda Dance Theater, Mark Foehringer Dance Project, and Garrett Moulton Productions. His repertoire includes works by Thang Dao, Gregory Dawson, Yuri Zhukov, and Maurice Causey among others. In addition to teaching ballet, Calvin is a certified Pilates instructor.

Rowan Williams | Pre Professional Division Contemporary

Rowan received her classical ballet training at Pacific Northwest Ballet as well as training and competing in Irish Dance at her mother’s Irish Dance school in Seattle, WA. In addition to training at Pacific Northwest Ballet, she additionally spent summers studying at American Ballet Theatre NY and San Francisco Ballet School.

During her classical ballet training, Rowan performed various works by George Balanchine, including Serenade and Stars and Stripes, in addition to participating in numerous other company productions. She then pursued a BFA in Dance with Alonzo King LINES Ballet, to explore contemporary and modern dance styles. She had the opportunity to perform works by choreographers such as Sidra Bell, Gregory Dawson, Carmen Rozestraten, Dexandro Montalvo, and others.

Since earning her degree, Rowan has worked as a freelance dance artist performing for West Bay Opera, Andrea Salazar, Oceanica Ballet, and the Deborah Slater Residency. Alongside performing, Rowan is a certified GYROTONIC Trainer.

Mimi Lamar | Primary Division Ballet

Bio Coming Soon.

Briana Coleman | Primary Division Ballet

Briana grew up in Texas and began dancing at age three. She has trained in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Pointe, Contemporary, Hip Hop, etc. at Greater Austin Dance Academy. While in Texas she trained in studios and schools and was a member of the Hendrickson Silver Dancers, serving as Junior Lieutenant and Captain. She moved to New York for college and attended Manhattanville University where she was afforded many opportunities to train with and dance in commissioned pieces by the city’s leading artists such as Mike Esperanza, Yoshito Sakuraba, and Michael Trusnovec to name a few. She is now an Alumna of Manhattanville University and holds a degree in dance. In college she also served as Captain of Manhattanville Dance Troupe. Briana’s diverse background of training has shaped her into a well-rounded performer, choreographer, and teacher with an appreciation for dance as an art form.

Andrea Salazar | Contemporary, Competition Choreographer (Guest Faculty)

Born and raised in Santiago, Chile, Andi Salazar is a dancer, choreographer, and sociologist living in the Bay Area since 2017. She began dancing at the age of 4 years and started her professional training at the age of 8 at the Professional Institute School of Modern Music where she was trained in Ballet, Modern, Contemporary and Jazz for 10 years.

During her college years at the Catholic University of Chile, she founded Kazé Dance Company, a Contemporary Dance Company located in Santiago, in which she was the Artistic Director and Choreographer for eight years. With Kazé, Andi premiered original full-length works as well as several short pieces, winning local and regional awards. The company’s mission was to provide a space of artistic development for professional and non- professional dancers based on the values of inclusion, tolerance, empowerment, discipline, and love. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education of Chile, Kazé also developed and operated dance workshops to primary school students in vulnerable schools, inspired by the idea of sharing arts with people that does not have access to them.

Since relocating to the Bay Area, Andi obtained her MFA in Dance and Choreography from Mills College and has had the opportunity to perform with Emergence Dance Company, Mogli’s Movers Dance Collective and Mills College Repertory Dance Company, as well as showing her own work along her own Company “A Pulso Dance Project” in different festivals and showcases in the area like Push Festival 2019, Spector Dance 2019 (Winter and Summer) and SAFEhouse Arts SF. 

Edgar Lepe | Ballet - Adult Program

Trained in Folklorico Ballet throughout his youth, Edgar Lepe began studying classical ballet in 2008 at the San Francisco Academy of Ballet under the direction of ballet masters Richard Gibson and Zory Karah. Edgar has performed in Mexico and the United States with Collage West Ensemble, Compania Mexico Danza, Ensembles Ballet Folklorico of San Francisco, as well as Peninsula Ballet Theatre, Presidio Dance Theatre, Bay Pointe Ballet, and Oakland Ballet.

Robert Lowman | Ballet - Adult Program

Robert Burns Lowman trained at Susan Hayward School of Dancing and holds B.A.s in Dance and Theater & Performance Studies from U.C. Berkeley. He is a recipient of the Mask and Dagger Memorial Prize (2012) and the Rosalyn Schneider Eisner Prize (2013). Robert has performed with em(body) dance project and Peninsula Ballet Theatre, and has also danced in works by Marit Brook-Kothlow, Carlos Carvajal, Ron Cunningham, Katie Faulkner, and Scott Wells. Robert is currently Artistic Co-Director of Oceánica Ballet with Edgar Lepe.

Tamara Shuttle | Jazz - Adult Program

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Tamara began dancing at the age of four and later trained with the renowned Berle Davis and Ann Barrett. During her collegiate years, Tamara was heavily involved in both theatre and musical theatre, performing in Evita, Godspell, The Robber Bridegroom and Jesus Christ Superstar, to name a few.  She holds a degree in Dance and a credential in elementary school education from San Francisco State University.  Tamara toured with a five star cruise line, performing on multiple ships around the world. As an educator, Tamara teaches Jazz to both children and adults, teaching throughout the Bay Area. Tamara loves to choreograph to a variety of music, infusing a multitude of jazz styles - from classic, to funk, to lyrical.  She uses her fitness background to incorporate muscular strength, endurance and flexibility training in to her classes. She continues to take class and perform locally. Tamara believes in fostering the love of movement for dancers of all ages and levels.

Marinna Kus | Adult Program Ballet, Pre Professional Division Ballet Guest Faculty

Marinna was born and raised in South Florida. She began her formal ballet training at Ballet Palm Beach under the direction of Colleen Smith. During her training at Ballet Palm Beach, she also received coaching from Ruth C. Petrinovic (Harkness, Richmond Ballet School, and Marin Ballet), Claudia Cravey (Texas Ballet Theater and Ballet Florida), and Marshall Levin. Upon graduating from the trainee program in 2010, Marinna accepted her first company contract with Ballet Palm Beach. During her time at Ballet Palm Beach, she performed many roles. Her favorites include Mazuka Variation from Les Sylphides, Myrtha from Giselle, Dawn from Coppelia, and Flower Girl from Don Quixote. In 2013 Marinna joined Ballet 5:8 in Chicago, where she had the opportunity to perform soloist roles in several original works, collaborate on choreography, teach in the academy, and tour nationally with the company. In 2016 Marinna joined Charlottesville Ballet, where she had the opportunity to expand her classical repertoire by performing in Charlottesville Ballet’s Firebird as well an original work by Maggie Small (Richmond Ballet). In 2017 Marinna moved to California to join City Ballet of San Diego. She participated heavily in the organization’s outreach programs while performing roles in Paquita, Swan Lake Corps, Balanchine’s Serenade, and several original works. Recently relocating to the SF Bay Area, Marinna continues to work professionally as both a dancer and educator.