PIEDMONT
BALLET
ACADEMY
Registration Now Open for Fall
Classes Begin August 10th
About the school
Piedmont Ballet Academy was founded by in 1998 by Jeff Stuart and George Latimer, who served as artistic directors until 2010. Robin Costa-Gustafson was owner and artistic director from 2010 to 2018, and Neela Reed has been owner and artistic director since 2018. Although not a Pre-Professional Ballet school, we strive to offer quality training that includes professional etiquette and habits. We value traditional technique but also gentle, progressive teaching, body type and racial inclusivity, and community.
Performance opportunities for all youth program students include Nutcracker and our annual Spring Showcase. The school places a value on composition practice and productions, including our innovative Nutcracker, often include student created works.
Piedmont Ballet Academy has been long known in Piedmont and beyond to be a place where children and adults alike can relax, make friends, and grow as dancers. Many families describe our school as one of their child's happiest places.
Our Teachers
Naila Brown (she/her, Level 1, Composition) is a performing artist, instructor, and dancer deeply committed to enriching the dance community through innovative repertory and educational programs. Beginning her dance journey at the age of four with classical ballet training at Berkeley City Ballet, Naila continued her development at Shawl Anderson Dance Center's Youth Ensemble before pursuing a degree in Political Science at Howard University. While at Howard, She directed and performed with the I.Am.We Contemporary Dance Company, where she honed her skills in Choreography and performance.
Naila has taught Ballet, Jazz, and Hip-Hop to youth at the Princess Mhoon Dance Institute, focusing on fostering foundational dance skills in a safe and expressive environment. She later joined the Breathe Dance Project, where she spent over six years as a principal dancer, contributing to the company's acclaimed performances in Washington D.C and beyond. Her extensive experience includes performing in notable productions like "Point of Origin" at Atlas Theater and "Trials to Freedom" at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.
Passionate about social justice and community healing, Naila continually explores the transformative impact of dance on physical, mental, and emotional health, creating collaborative peices that bridge the gaps between diverse communities.
Kayla Chang (Jazz) is a passionate dancer, performer, and educator dedicated to fostering community through creativity. A Bay area native, she is trained in a wide range of styles including Jazz, Lyrical, Ballet, Contemporary, Lyrical, and Hip Hop. Kayla is currently a student at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is pursuing a B.A. in Media Studies with a minor in Dance and Performance Studies.
Through her academic and artistic work, Kayla explores the intersection of dance, media, and mental health, with a particular interest in how skills developed through early dance education shape dancer's future lived experiences. She is deeply committed to creating supportive, expressive environments where students can grow both technically and personally.
Kayla currently serves as the Executive Director of UC Berkeley's first and premier contemporary dance organization, THRIVE Dance Company. Other performance and leadership experience includes serving as Dance Captain for Oakland Theater Project's Hamlet, performing in UC Berkeley's Berkeley Dance Project, captaining Monta Vista High School's Dance Team, and training, competing, and teaching at Dance Academy USA.
Sonja Dale (level 4/5) is a Berkeley native who began her training at Berkeley Ballet Theater with Sally Streets. She danced professionally for over 15 years with both contemporary and classical ballet companies, as well as a brief stint in aerial work. Former companies include KDNY Dance, Australia's Strange Fruit, Liss Fain Dance, The Mark Foehringer Dance Project, and Sharp and Fine. She has taught all ages of people at many Bay Area dance schools, including Berkeley Ballet Theater, Berkeley City Ballet, Shawl Anderson Dance Center, Piedmont Ballet Academy, Conservatory of Classical Ballet, and Steppin' Out. Her class is straightforward and joyful, with an emphasis on strength and quality. She can't wait to dance with you!
Sabrina Kheirolomoom (Level 5) is a California native who began her ballet training at age 13 and studied for three years at the San Francisco Ballet School. She continued her pre-professional training at the Joffrey Academy of Dance in Chicago, where she participated in the Conservatory and Trainee programs. In 2020, she trained with New York Dance Project in Manhattan, performing works by Gerald Arpino as well as contemporary creations by Maleek Washington and Madison Hicks. Her training also includes summer intensives with the renowned Paris Opera Ballet School and the Royal Danish Ballet School. She also holds a Power Pilates Mat Certification.
In 2021, Sabrina joined Ballet San Antonio as a corps de ballet dancer, performing professionally for four seasons under the leadership of Sofiane Sylve, former principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet, appearing in both corps and soloist roles in classical and contemporary repertoire including Cinderella, The Nutcracker, and Don Quixote. During her time in San Antonio, she taught ballet and Pilates to students of varying ages and levels and choreographed several neoclassical works. Having recently returned to California, she remains actively engaged in the dance community and is dedicated to mentoring young dancers and supporting their technical growth, artistry, and confidence.
Molly Levy (level 5) is a performer and dance educator who is drawn to the heart and humanity of dance. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Molly has performed throughout the country and on camera in devised original work, immersive theater, site-specific dance, music videos, and full evening burlesque shows. Her collaborations have included work with Sharp & Fine, Paufve Dance, Post:ballet, Cantankerous Creatures, Undercurrent, Katie Scherman + Artists, Seattle Opera, The Equus Projects, and LROD. In addition to dance, Molly has worked in live theater as a movement director and choreographer creating fluid movement languages and character specific movement studies for adaptations of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hamlet, devised site-specific theater, and The light Princess (a musical). As a dance educator, Molly integrates her background in ballet, floorwork, and body-mind centering to offer a grounded and supportive approach to learning dance with an emphasiss on anatomical alighnement, functional progressions of movement, musicality, and individual expression. Molly often begins her classes with a body-centered meditation and encourages her students to build a safe, supportive, and fun learning environment both with each other and in themselves.
A'Lia Martin (she/they, level 4, Composition) begain dancing at the age of 4 and continued her pre-professional training at SLO Movement Arts Center in San Luis Obispo, CA. She attended summer programs at San Francisco Ballet, The Julliard School, and with the Merce Cunningham Trust. They graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance Performance and a Psychology minor from SUNY Purchase in NY. While in school, she performed choreography by George Balanchine, Merce Cunningham, Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener, and Kimberly Bartosik. Since graduating, A'lia has moved to the Bay Area and is excited to join the faculty at Piedmont Ballet Academy!
Neela Reed (artistic director, level 3, adults) received her early ballet training from Mary Paula, Ann Derby, and Robert Nichols at the Petaluma School of Ballet. She left Ballet at 16 due to feeling overwhelmed and discouraged by impossible body standards and oppressive ideas of femininity. She holds a bachelor's degree in French, lived in France for several years, and then was able to approach dance again while working toward a second bachelor's degree in sculpture at UT Austin through a class called "modern for non-majors". A light bulb went off and she began to pursue the study and performing of modern dance. She noticed, however, that ballet was still calling to her. Professionally she had always been a teacher and at the time was loving working with children with cognitive delays and visual impairments.
Upon returning to her native California in 2013 she began studying ballet again more seriously than she had since her adolescence, and decided to become a teacher. She found as an adult a depth and transcedence in the practice that had been hidden by ballet's more shallow aspects. She now works to teach ballet as a vehicle for empowerment and to promote beauty diversity in ballet.
Neela has performed locally with Ballet Afsaneh, Ruth Botchan, Joan Lazarus, and Chingchi Yu. She studied Vaganova Pedagogy with Carol Roderick and is certified in American Ballet Theater's National Training Curriculum levels Pre-Primary through Five, where she studied on scholarship. She teaches adult open classes at Shawl Anderson Dance Center and has been the artistic director of Piedmont Ballet since 2018.
Amanda Whitehead (Itty Bitty Ballet, Pre-Ballet-Level 2, Level 4) grew up in the Washington Ballet school and company and holds an MA in Dance Education from NYU with a focus on inclusive, democratic pedagogy and the American Ballet Theater National Training Curriculum. In the Bay Area she has performed with FACT/SF, ahdanco, and Nina Haft and Co., and she has taught at Shawl Anderson Dance Center, Washington Elementary School, Berkeley City Ballet, and Ah Lan Dance. Amanda is currently enrolled at Temple University, where she is studying 19th century ballet curricula and how traditions are transmitted in writing across time. Amanda in an ABT Certified Teacher who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT National Training Curriculum.