Pointe Safe Certified Ballet Teachers

Ms. Basile serves as School Director at the Boulder Ballet School where she is integrating The Five Point Dancer Method into the school. Ms. Basile is excited to continue to keep dancers safe and strong by integrating The Pointe Safe program into her Injury Prevention curriculum.

Since retiring from the stage he has taught dance and staged works in Australia, Europe and the United States of America. A resident of the Bay Area since 2016 he has taught in youth and adult divisions as well as the professional companies of Smuin Ballet, Oakland Ballet, ODC, BayPointe Ballet, Dance Theater of San Francisco, Diablo Ballet, Jessica Lange Dance and Alonzo King Lines Ballet.

Mrs. Mathieu is currently based in SW Washington and enjoys teaching at local studios and online. All her dance classes are taught with fun, creativity, musicality and caring, while emphasizing proper body alignment, core support, and building strong dance technique.

In 2021, Molly founded Eastside Dance, a welcoming and inclusive studio where anyone can learn to dance. Eastside Dance provides high-quality dance training that builds technical excellence, creativity, healthy minds, and healthy bodies. Molly has incorporate Pointe Safe into the Eastside Dance curriculum as part of this mission.

Sonja moved back to the Bay in 2015 and is currently dancing for Liss Fain Dance, Sharp and Fine, and the Mark Foehringer Dance Project, and teaching for many ballet schools around the Bay Area, including Steppin’ Out, Marin School of the Arts, and Conservatory of Classical Ballet. Sonja also has over 400 hours of training as a yoga instructor, and is completing prerequisites for physical therapy school.

Ann-Charlotte Colomb is the founder of First Act, a pre-professional Ballet and Contemporary dance studio in the Paris area, where she also teaches the GYROTONIC® Method.

Jacqui has enjoyed an extensive career as a professional dancer, concert producer, stage director, artistic director, choreographer, studio owner and educator. She has devoted her entire life to the field of dance. She feels that dance is therapeutic and brings joy to all who experience it. Dance is life.

Miss Maddie has been practicing and studying ballet since the age of three. After studying human physiology at the University of Oregon she returned to the Bay Area and has been teaching dance ever since. Currently, Maddie is a full time instructor at Lareen Fender’s The Ballet School Performing Arts in Walnut Creek, Ca. She teaches ballet, contemporary, dance conditioning, Progressing Ballet Technique, and pointe. In 2017 she helped implement a pointe preparation class into The Ballet School’s curriculum and has since successfully and safely transitioned many young dancers onto pointe.

Rachel earned her B.S. in Kinesiology, Exercise Science at California State University, Long Beach and she is set to graduate from the UCSF/SFSU Doctor of Physical Therapy program this June. Rachel has trained extensively in a multitude of dance styles including ballet, contemporary, jazz and tap.

She was nominated for a scholarship at American Ballet Theatre through Project Plie to become a certified teacher with ABT. This experience led her onto a path to focus on helping all dancers achieve their ballet dreams by focusing on correct alignment, dance medicine, and dance science. As well as teaching in the studio, she’s also a member of the International Association of Dance Medicine and runs her own practice as a private ballet instructor specializing in corrective movement and injury prevention.

As a ballet instructor, Asia enjoys sharing her passion for dance with students of all levels. She has spent multiple summers teaching ballet, repertoire, and pointe work to students in the California Bay Area. In addition to dancing with the Sarasota Ballet, Asia is pursuing her Bachelors in Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Florida.

James is a professional Dance and Musical Theatre teacher from London. He studied dance at The Hammond School in Chester from the age of 11-16 and continued his professional training in London at Millennium Performing Arts where he graduated in 2012. Favourite credits include Bob Enright in 9 to 5 The Musical (West End, Savoy Theatre), 42nd Street (West End, Theatre Royal Drury Lane) Mungojerrie in CATS, Eddie in Mamma Mia! (Cyprus) and Mamma Mia! (International Tour). James most recently played Link Larkin in Hairspray, and is now very happy to be a permanent teacher at the Hammond.

Marinna Kus is a freelance dancer, teacher, and choreographer based in San Francisco. Born and raised in South Florida, she spent her early career with Ballet Palm Beach, during which time she also completed her B.S. in Accounting online. Over the course of her carrier, she has performed and toured nationally with multiple companies, including Ballet 5:8, Charlottesville Ballet, City Ballet of San Diego, and Oceanica Ballet. During the COVID lockdowns, she also completed her 200 yoga teaching certification and co-founded and directed Digital Dance Project.

Sarah Mills is a ballet teacher based in Toronto, Canada. She is a graduate from George Brown College receiving a Diploma in Dance Performance Studies and the Certificate of Achievement. She also trained at summer intensives at Ballet Jorgen, Cadence Ballet and Arts Umbrella. She danced with several Toronto companies and in independent projects. Sarah graduated from the Royal Academy of Dance Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies and is a ballet teacher at Ontario School of Ballet in Toronto.

SPT Whitney Rowley is in her second year as a doctor of physical therapy student at Arcadia University. She earned her masters degree in exercise science with a concentration in rehabilitation sciences from California University of Pennsylvania and her bachelors degree in athletic training from the University of Pittsburgh. Whitney has six years of experience working as an athletic trainer with dancers in the conservatory of performing arts at Point Park University where she continues to teach an online dancer wellness and injury prevention course. Whitney has wanted to be a physical therapist since she was twelve years old and could not be more excited to join SF Performing Arts Physical Therapy as a student physical therapist. Whitney's hobbies include open-water swimming, triathlons, and rock climbing.