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Denise Rinaldi
FCUSA, FCI, FISTD, Examiner
Ms. Rinaldi
holds her Fellowship, (passed with distinction) in
Cecchetti USA and the Imperial Society of Teachers of
Dancing and is a member of Cecchetti International. The
Fellowship is the highest teaching qualification awarded.
She is Chair of the Board of Directors for Cecchetti USA.
In addition, Ms. Rinaldi is an examiner for the
organization and travels around the country evaluating
students in this capacity. Her training began with Carol
Garland, whose Cecchetti background emphasized pure
classical styling. She received her degree in Theater from
the University of California, Santa Barbara where she
studied with many fine dance teachers. She received private
coaching both as a dancer and a teacher from Sheila Darby,
FISTD, head and founder of Cecchetti USA. In 1983, she set
her first choreography, (on Goleta Civic Ballet) and won
the NARB Monticello Scholarship to the Craft of
Choreography conference from the Pacific Region.
Emmy Lou Crawford
Emmy Lou
Crawford has taught creative dance, ballet, modern and jazz
for the past thirty years. She holds an ACUSA, Associate
Cecchetti, USA and her Associate Diploma (ARAD Dip) from
the Royal Academy of Dance based in London, England. Each
year, she enters students in the RAD or Cecchetti
examinations from primary through professional to ensure
excellence in training. Ms. Crawford's early training
was with Eugene Loring at the American School of Dance
in Hollywood, California. She received a full scholarship,
which included eighteen classes a week of ballet, free
style, character, choreography, and jazz. This opportunity
afforded her teachers like: Merce Cunningham, Aaron Gerard,
John Butler, Carmen deLavallade, Roy Fitzell, Matt Mattox,
and many others. After her studies she went on to a
professional career in Television and movies. She did shows
including Andy Williams, Dean martin, Lucille Ball and
movies like 'Hello Dolly', "Finians Rainbow" and others.
Ms. Crawford also holds AMI (Association Montessori
Internationale) certificates for three to six year olds and
six to twelve year olds. She currently teaches a six to
twelve class in Lompoc, California.
Aimee Lopez
Aimee began her
training with the Santa Barbara Ballet Center. Following
graduation from high school she went on to study at other
prestigious programs such as the Rock school in
Pennsylvania. Following a brief break, she returned to
Santa Barbara as our first professional dancer in residence
with our company and began her teaching career along with
continuing to dance with both Ballet Santa Barbara and
Santa Barbara Festival Ballet.
Valerie
Houston
Valerie is a member of the dance faculty at the University
of California at Santa Barbara. She received a B.F.A.
degree from the ballet department at the University of Utah
and has been a Santa Barbara resident for more than 30
years. From 1977 to 1985 she was the founder and artistic
director of The Valerie Huston Dance Theater which toured
regionally and received funding from the National Endowment
for the Arts. She has received a lifetime achievement award
in dance from the Santa Barbara Dance Alliance and also
serves on the Board of Directors of the Ensemble Theater
Company of Santa Barbara. Her work Bobby Sings for Nine was
recently selected for performance on the RAD/Pacific dance
festival in Bremerton, WA.
Christina
McCarthy
Christina has a
BA in Dance from UCSB. She is assistant director of Santa
Barbara Dance Theater and has choreographed for UCSB, Santa
Barbara High School, Dos Pueblos High School and San Roque
School. She loves all forms of dance and is thankful to
have two sons who love to dance as well.
Nancy
Miller - Office Manager
Nancy first came to the Santa Barbara Ballet Center as a
parent when her son was 7 years old and auditioned for the
boy’s class at the school. When the current secretary left,
Nancy expressed interest in the position and has been with
us since. Nancy enjoys interacting with the parents and
children and serves as a listening ear for our teens on
many occasions. Nancy loves animals and don’t be surprised
if you find a baby raccoon in the office some days!