Monterey County Ballet

06/20/2026

We would like to introduce you to one of our graduating seniors, Amanda! Amanda is a graduate from Rancho San Juan High School. She has been dancing now for 14 years. Amanda plans to attend Monterey Peninsula College in the Fall where she will pole vault for their team and study kinesiology. She will then transfer to a four year university and continue being a college athlete. Amanda’s favorite dance memories are laughing with friends at long Nutcracker rehearsals. The dance achievement she is most proud of is earning her pointe shoes. The life skill she will be taking with her is” to work hard and never give up.” The advice that Amanda would give to younger dancers is “Be positive even when things are challenging.” Amanda has been an inspiring example of staying positive while she has been out of dance recuperating from a knee injury and surgery. Monterey County Ballet featured Amanda as the Arabian Lead in “The Nutcracker Ballet” 2025. While she is unable to dance in this year’s production, she will be making a guest appearance at the recital. Shows will be held at Notre Dame High School June 20th and 21st at 6:30 pm. Tickets will be available at the door.

06/18/2026

We would like to introduce you to one of our graduating seniors, Téah! Téah was enrolled in her first Mommy and Me class at 13 months old and has now been dancing with us for 16 years. She has been one of our Dance Troupe members for the past nine years. Téah will be attending San Jose State University in the fall and will major in Communicative Sciences and Disorders and will minor in either Dance or Theatre. She plans to pursue a career in Speech Language Pathology. Téah’s favorite memory of her time in Dance Troupe is “ when the all tap class would meet after competition and celebrate our hard work with a sweet treat and talk about our favorite parts of the weekend.” The dance accomplishments she is the most proud of are, “when I was cast as Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker and watching Tap3 work hard and grow into Senior Elite dancers that placed in the Top 10 in our peer group at competition.” The life skill she has learned is time management. “As a busy student with so many activities, it has been important to manage not only my time, but my energy.” Téah’s advice to younger dancers is “ to not put yourself in a box, and get out there and try new things. Take every chance to audition, even when it’s intimidating, and enjoy the opportunities given to you.” Téah is one of our featured dancers in this year’s show in Disneyland. You can come see Téah at our Dance Troupe Showcase where she will also be performing two senior solos, “Le Jazz Hot” and “Feeling Good”. The Showcase will be held Friday June 19th at 7:00. Téah will also be featured with Monterey County Ballet as “Little Red Ridinghood” as she attends Aurora’s wedding in The Sleeping Beauty Ballet. Monterey County Ballet will be performing Saturday and Sunday, June 20th and 21st at 6:30pm. All performances will be held at Notre Dame High School. Tickets will be available at the door.

06/16/2026

We would like to introduce you to one of our graduating seniors, Tatiana! Tatiana is a graduate from Salinas High School. She has been dancing with us for four years and has been a member of our Dance Troupe for two years. Tatiana plans to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the fall and will be studying Biological Sciences. She plans to go on to medical school and become a pediatric Cardiologist. Tatiana’s favorite memories from her time with us in Dance Troupe are “all the small silly moments. Right before going on stage, trying on new costumes, getting dressed, the small talks during troupe class.” The dance accomplishment she is most proud of is becoming a Senior 2 Troupe member. The life skills she will be taking with her are “learning how to work together with your team, be patient with myself, and how to support others.” Tatiana’s advice to younger dancers is “don’t be worried or self conscious about what you look like on stage, just have fun!! And remember to smile!” Tatiana was one of our featured dancers this year in our performance in Disneyland. She competed with her first solo this year to “Call Me Mother”. You can come see Tatiana in our Dance Troupe Showcase Friday June 19th at 7:00. She will also be featured with Monterey County Ballet as Cinderella who is a guest at Princess Aurora’s wedding in The Sleeping Beauty Ballet. You can see the Monterey County Ballet performances Saturday and Sunday, June 20th & 21st at 6:30. All performances will be held at Notre Dame High School. Tickets will be available at the door.

06/13/2026

We would like to introduce you to one of our graduating Seniors, Kayla! Kayla is a graduate from Salinas High School. She has been dancing for 13 years and has been a member of our Dance Troupe for the past six years. Kayla is planning to attend Monterey Peninsula College in the fall. She is planning on MPC for two years before transferring to a four year university. She is interested in transferring to a school in Southern California. I asked Kayla what is one of her favorite memories of her time in Troupe. She told me she loved, “Going to practice and sitting down before we start dancing to debrief.” Kayla’s proudest dance achievement is the confidence she gained to be able to perform a solo and really connect with the emotions of it. The life skills she will be taking with her are” the team bonding skills, confidence and the ability to adapt.” Kayla’s advice to younger dancers is, “Not to care so much about what you look like, be driven but not obsessive.” Kayla was one of our featured dancers when we performed in Disneyland this year and will be performing her senior solo to “Young and Beautiful”. You can see Kayla in our Dance Troupe Showcase Friday June 19th at 7:00. Kayla is also featured with Monterey County Ballet as “La Ch**te Blanche” with “Puss In Boots” as they attend Aurora’s Wedding in The Sleeping Beauty Ballet, June 20th & 21st at 6:30pm. All performances will be held at Notre Dame High School. Tickets will be available at the door.

06/10/2026

We would like to introduce you to one of our graduating seniors, Lilia! Lilia is a graduate from Everett Alvarez High School. She has been dancing for 12 years. Lilia plans to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the fall and plans to study mechanical engineering. She would like to use her degree in mechanical engineering to design and create agricultural machinery. Lilia loves dancing so she hopes to find a studio in SLO and continue to dance. Lilia’s favorite memory from her time at the studio is “Thursday night ballet where everyone is on their last straw or being backstage (at Nutcracker) before the party scene dancing to the music as we wait for our turn.” The dance achievement that she is most proud of is “ staying committed to dance even when I had my ankle injuries. It was hard to find joy in dance but I was able to work through it and continue to do what makes me happy.” The life skill that dance has taught her is” dedication as well as not comparing yourself to others. You should strive to be better than you were yesterday, not for others but for yourself.” Lilia’s advice to younger dancers is, “ dance for yourself, not to make others happy. You should find joy in dance and use that as motivation to do your best.” You can see Liia perform as the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty Ballet June 20th and 21st at 6:30. Performances will be held at Notre Dame High School. Tickets will soon be available online and at the door.

06/09/2026

We would like to introduce you to one of our graduating seniors Eleanor! Eleanor is a graduate from Salinas High School. She has been dancing for 15 years and has been a member of our Dance Troupe for 8 years. Eleanor will be attending MPC this coming fall and would like to become an interior designer. Eleanor told me her favorite memory from being a Troupe member was, “The feeling of being backstage with my group for the very last time, doing the Cupid shuffle to shake the nerves off.” The dance accomplishment that Eleanor is most proud of is being The Snow Queen in The Nutcracker for her senior year. The life skill that dancing has given her is “ learning how to work in a group, staying together, and supporting each other.” Eleanor’s advice to younger dancers is to, “Be honest with your dancing. Admire others, but dance in your own way. It’s your body. Doing what feels best for yourself will always benefit you. Show up for yourself and others, and keep your confidence up, it shows on stage!” Eleanor was one of our featured dancers in our Disneyland Performance, “Welcome to Your Future” and she will be performing her senior solo to “Forget Her”. You can come see Eleanor in our Dance Troupe Showcase, Friday June 19th at 7:00. Performance will be held at Notre Dame High School. Tickets will be available soon online and at the door.

06/07/2026

We are getting ready for our shows and would like to introduce you to one of our graduating seniors, Micaela! Micaela is a graduate from Salinas High School. She has been dancing for 15 years and has been a member of our Dance Troupe for 9 years. Micaela is going to San Jose State in the Fall to major in dance. She hopes to join a professional dance company and tour with them. Her favorite memory from being in our Dance Troupe would be, “The senior 2 talks and the fact that there is no such thing as TMI or my first couple years in troupe and having super fun acro classes with Miss Marlena and the big girls.” One of her most proud achievements was placing in the top 10 and getting invited to nationals for her first solo in eighth grade. A life skill that she is taking with her from her years in troupe is, “that there is always someone out there who is better than you no matter what so you should always push to be the best possible version of yourself.” Her advice to younger dancers would be to never settle and always try your best. Micaela was one of our featured dancers in our performance in Disneyland this year and she will be doing her senior solo to “Fever” in our Dance Troupe Showcase June 19th at 7:00. Micaela will also be featured as Princess Aurora in Monterey County Ballet’s production of “Aurora’s Wedding” from The Sleeping Beauty Ballet. Performances for Sleeping Beauty will be June 20th & 21st at 6:30. Performances will be held at Notre Dame High School. Tickets available at the door and online.

12/01/2025

Nutcracker 2025 has officially been put to bed 💤

11/29/2025