Crystal Nicholls is in the studio this month! She is a wellness coach and former West End dancer born in Barbados and now based in London. Crystal spent six years in The Lion King on the West End, and she also danced on cruise ships, and in TV, commercials, and film projects before transitioning into the health and wellness space for the performing arts. She’s spoken about how performing eight shows a week, while an amazing experience, was also relentless and led to a sense of burnout. That expe...
Aug 05, 2025•54 min
Abigail Keyes is in the studio this month! She is a former CIA political weapons analyst turned professional belly dancer. With a BA in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton and an MA in Dance Studies from Mills College, she blends academic insight with expressive movement and a deep amount of knowledge from her government background. She’s also an educator currently teaching two lecture courses at Skyline College in San Bruno, California. In this episode, we dive into how dance is more than art—i...
Jul 01, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Jess Spinner, former pro dancer turned health, wellness and lifestyle coach for dancers, is in the studio this month! She’s the founder of The Whole Dancer - a platform where she seeks to transform the way dancers approach health, body image, and self-worth both inside and outside of the studio. Jess is a lifelong dancer, but she says her professional career ended partly because of an injury and partly because she never worked through a disordered relationship with food and her body. In 2009 whi...
Jun 03, 2025•42 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Adult ballet dancer and volunteer studio manager at Dance Theatre Northwest in Washington, Sarah Witherup, joined the studio this month! We spoke about how ballet became not just a passion for her, but a lifeline. As a highly trained endurance athlete, Sarah is no stranger to challenges. But after the loss of her son and at the age of 49, Sarah stepped into a ballet studio for the first time and says it was one of the most difficult and fulfilling steps she’s taken. Discovering ballet began a jo...
May 06, 2025•46 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Former dancer and senior teaching artist for The National Ballet of Canada, Annemarie Cabri, joined The Adult Ballet Studio this month! Follow Annemarie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annemariecabri.dance/ Learn more about Cabri Dance: https://www.cabridance.com/ Subscribe to Annemarie’s Silver Swans newsletter: https://www.cabridance.com/past-newsletters Register for the Silver Swans Summer Session for 2025: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeBzu3ZgagxeqR4JoDcdxCjlx2QZqQLVfgebp...
Apr 01, 2025•34 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Kathryn Morgan is in the studio this month! She is a trailblazing ballerina - or bunhead - as she described herself in this interview - who has redefined what a ballet career can look like beyond traditional company life. She began her professional career in 2006 with the New York City Ballet, rising to the rank of soloist before making the difficult decision to leave the company to focus on personal health challenges. She made a return to the stage with Miami City Ballet in 2019. In 2020, in th...
Mar 04, 2025•47 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Adult ballet dancer and board member for the Children’s Dance Theater of Okanogan County in Washington, Rob MacCaul, is in the studio this month! Rob’s story about discovering ballet is a testament to passion, perseverance, and self-discovery. It began in 1982 with a chance encounter at a dance studio in Waikiki—an experience that sparked a lifelong love for ballet. From taking classes in Pasadena to performing on stage as an adult in Seattle, Rob spoke about how ballet helped him discover and e...
Feb 04, 2025•40 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Eduardo Vilaro, artistic director and CEO of Ballet Hispánico, is in the studio this month! Ballet Hispánico was founded back in 1970 by Tina Ramirez, and the company has spent more than five decades celebrating the vibrant diversity of Latino cultures through dance. The company says it’s not just about performances—it’s also about breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes, and making space for Latino/Latina voices on stages all around the world. Eduardo originally joined the company as a dance...
Jan 07, 2025•38 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Janine Kovac joined the studio for this episode! As a retired professional dancer turned award-winning author, she shares her journey from the stage to the page after a twelve-year international ballet career spanning Iceland, Italy, and the U.S. Her latest memoir, The Nutcracker Chronicles: A Fairytale Memoir, intertwines her personal experiences in ballet with stories from one of ballet’s most iconic tales, offering a reflection on ambition, artistry, and identity. It’s available now from She ...
Dec 03, 2024•52 min
This month’s guest for The Adult Ballet Studio is Marilyn Klaus, the visionary artistic director and founder of Ballets with a Twist, a New York City-based ballet company that brings the glamour and charm of Old Hollywood to life through dance. Marilyn’s company redefines classical ballet, adding a pop-culture twist with choreography inspired by iconic American cocktails, like the Mai Tai and Martini, in its signature production, Cocktail Hour: The Show. With original choreography by Marilyn, mu...
Nov 12, 2024•43 min•Season 1Ep. 23
The Limón Dance Company is presenting its 78th season this year, and on this episode of The Adult Ballet Studio, we have two incredible guests to celebrate: Limón Dance Company Artistic Director Dante Puleio and Choreographer Kayla Farrish! After a career performing with The Limón Dance Company, touring national and international musical theatre productions, television and film, Dante received his MFA from the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on contextualizing mid-20th cen...
Oct 01, 2024•41 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Chelsea Weidmann joined The Adult Ballet Studio for this episode! She is a ballet instructor and the founder of Geeky Ballerina, a platform offering resources and curriculums for ballet instructors and students alike. Chelsea has been teaching ballet for more than 25 years, She taught for Ballet West Academy for four years and has an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts. She’s fully ABT certified, fully certified in mUvmethod and certified in level 1 of PBT. She says teaching is a big passion for her a...
Sep 17, 2024•59 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Joining the studio for this episode is Helen Banks, owner and CEO of the sustainable dancewear brand, Imperfect Pointes! Helen founded Imperfect Pointes in 2020 out of frustration at the lack of dancewear brands focusing on sustainability. After working in fast fashion and seeing the darker side of the fashion industry, she was upset by the amount of waste going to landfills and the poor working conditions in some factories where dancewear is made. To support her journey in launching a more sust...
Sep 03, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Pirkko Markula, contemporary dancer and professor of socio-cultural studies of physical activity at the University of Alberta in Canada, is in the studio! She has a Ph.D in kinesiology and major sport sociology from the University of Illinois. Beyond academia, she’s a dancer herself, previously training in the Dance Department at the University of Illinois with an emphasis on Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and José Limón techniques. She is currently a choreographer and dancer for Initial 6, a co...
Aug 06, 2024•46 min•Season 1Ep. 19
The Adult Ballet Studio has another special guest for this episode! Cecelia Beam, faculty member for adult ballet and dance classes for people with Parkinson’s at San Francisco Ballet, is in the studio. Cecelia is a former dancer, training at School of American Ballet in New York City and graduating from the high school ballet program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. After dancing in Oakland, California, North Carolina, Indiana and New York, Cecelia found teaching. She ear...
Jul 16, 2024•44 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Daniel Watt is in the studio for this episode! Dan is producer and director of the award-winning documentary “Everybody Dance” — currently available on iTunes, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime, which is offering it for free in recognition of the month of July as Disability Pride Month. The film follows five kids with different disabilities and their families as well as their dance teacher, Bonnie Schlachte, as they prepare for their end of year recital. Bonnie is f...
Jul 02, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Julie Dupas, founder of Amsterdam Amateur Ballet and Morlaix Ballet Camp, is in the studio for this episode! After beginning ballet in her 20s and noticing a lack of performance opportunities for adult ballet dancers, Julie founded Amsterdam Amateur Ballet, an inclusive and affordable amateur adult performance group based in Amsterdam. She also founded international summer camp Morlaix Ballet Camp, in which adult dancers take class, learn and perform a complete ballet alongside professional danc...
Jun 18, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Adriana Pierce is a dancer, choreographer, and director based in New York City, and she joined the studio to talk about her work elevating queer artists in ballet, creating community, and her career in classical ballet as well as musical theater! Adriana is the founder of Queer the Ballet, an initiative with the mission to widen the scope of classical ballet by producing queer work by queer dance artists. Queer the Ballet says on its website that it seeks to “queer” our ballet spaces and explore...
Jun 04, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Sander Blommaert is in the studio for this episode! He’s the founder and director of Blommaert Ballet School in Birmingham, England, and a former first artist at The Royal Ballet company. Since the school’s official founding in 2021, BBS has become known as an audition preparation school, working with young students pursuing professional ballet careers as well as offering classes for all ages. Over the last two years, students studying with BBS have secured over 100 places at vocational schools....
May 21, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Ballet instructor, classroom teacher, mom and former pro dancer Leigh Brockman Horowitz is in the studio for this episode! She’s talking about mental health, physical health, brain science, neurodiversity in ballet and the arts, and more. Leigh is a certified ballet and character dance teacher who has been teaching dance for more than twenty years. She is currently based in St. Louis, where she teaches adult ballet. She’s served as a faculty member at the Center of Creative Arts in St. Louis and...
May 07, 2024•59 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Aubrey Lynch II, dean of students and director of ABT Wellness and RISE with American Ballet Theatre in New York City, joined the studio to talk about his work to further mental health and DEI initiatives at ABT and beyond! He focuses on mentoring students at ABT and providing resources for them, as well as expanding access to mental health resources that support the whole dancer in and out of the studio. He also works to build upon ABT’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to make balle...
Apr 16, 2024•55 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Rachel Toburen is a multidisciplinary artist working with paint, photography, perfume, and dance, and she’s in the studio this month talking all about her exploration of memory, mental health, and adult ballet! Rachel uses her artwork to explore memory and the experience of memory, and she shared how those concepts show up in her dancing and choreography. We talked about how sights, sounds, and smells can trigger certain memories and how artwork can change as the mind takes in new experiences an...
Apr 02, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Jessica Wallis, founder and executive director of the non-profit organization, Ballet in the City, joined the studio for the March 19th episode! Ballet in the City presents programming and events to promote and enhance the culture of ballet in cities all over the world. It works to connect ballet enthusiasts with professional dancers, scholarships, and educational opportunities. Jessica is a dancer and a two-time honors graduate of The University of Akron. She has been honored for her work with ...
Mar 19, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Award-winning dancer, choreographer and creative director, Dani Vitale, is in the studio for our March 5th episode! She is a Los Angeles-based artist and has not only toured the world as a backup dancer for other top artists, but choreographed and creative directed world tours, awards shows, and music videos. She has also been a voice for the dance community, advocating on the boards of SAG-AFTRA and Dancers Alliance for fair industry wages and for dancers to be respected as athletes. As an Unde...
Mar 05, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Vanessa Woods, the founder of Vitality in Motion and Vitality Ballet and a former professional dancer, joined the Adult Ballet Studio for its mid-February episode! Vanessa trained at the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase, Princeton Ballet, Miami City Ballet School and STEPS on Broadway in New York City. She has performed with ballet companies around the country, including Suzanne Farrell Ballet in Washington DC, Pennsylvania Ballet and Colorado Ballet. She danced with the Saint Louis Ballet...
Feb 20, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Author, librarian, archivist, and adult ballet dancer Joanna Marsh joined The Adult Ballet Studio this month to talk all about books, history, ballet and more! She’s the author of two novels — Cantique and La Follia — that focus on the adult ballet community, and her work as a librarian and archivist has led her down some fun rabbit holes into the history of ballet. She’s also a visual artist and a ballet dancer herself, rediscovering ballet in her 20s after a brief experience with it in her tee...
Feb 06, 2024•59 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Happy new year! Natalie Orr, body-based intelligence coach and former professional dancer and instructor, is in the studio this month to talk about dance, embodiment, chronic illness, and more! She has more than 16 years of teaching experience both as a dance teacher and an English as a foreign language teacher. She taught in Madrid for many years and created an online dance movement for adults called Natalie Danza, where she ran classes, workshops and retreats in London, Madrid, and Málaga. For...
Jan 02, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Phil Chan, co-founder of the non-profit Final Bow for Yellowface, joined the studio this month to talk about his work with the organization to improve representation of Asians in ballet and eliminate offensive stereotypes on stage. Phil co-founded the organization alongside Georgina Pazcoguin, former New York City Ballet soloist, and they are both doing great work to advocate for Asian artists within ballet and beyond. Phil is also the author of two books - Final Bow for Yellowface: Dancing betw...
Dec 06, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Julie Leung, founder of Broche Ballet, joined the studio this month to talk about her journey from being "a clumsy and inflexible teen" to taking her first ballet class at 17 and eventually opening her own studio for adult ballet dancers in 2017! Broche Ballet is now thriving as a fully online ballet studio offering classes and resources to help adult dancers follow their ballet dreams. She spoke about spending her early 20s in New York, where she connected with the teachers and studios that tau...
Nov 07, 2023•56 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Leigh Purtill Ballet Company is an LA-based non-profit adult ballet company, and artistic director Leigh Purtill joined the studio this month to talk about its mission of bringing ballet to everyone! We chatted about the need for more women in leadership roles in ballet, breaking boundaries with storytelling and reaching those who don't fit the mold of the perfect dancer, zombies and a spooky-themed ballet (it is October, after all!), and how Leigh went from feeling frustrated with ballet in col...
Oct 03, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 3
