Miss Christina has taught ballet, jazz, and tap dance in the Washington, D.C. area for over 30 years, beginning during her junior year of high school at age 15. Specializing in the Cecchetti Method of ballet, in which Miss Christina is a Professional Advanced Certified Fellow, she has worked with children, teens and adults during the course of her teaching career. Miss Christina was a principal dancer with Metropolitan Ballet Theatre in Rockville, Maryland for nine years, playing lead roles in ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and The Firebird. In addition, Miss Christina danced with the Virginia Civic Ballet, performing the title role in Cinderella.
Miss Christina received her primary dance training at the Corinne Phelps Robertson School of Dance and began as an assistant teacher there in 1990. For her Cecchetti work, Miss Christina coached with Kathleen Dineen Brown (Intermediate Professional Exam) and Pamela Moore (Advanced Professional Exam). Miss Christina also trained with Suzanne Erlon in the Balanchine method. In jazz, Miss Christina has studied with Luigi, Helen Hayes, Douglas Yeuell, Parker Esse, Jeff Shade, Frank Hatchett and Bob Rizzo.
Miss Christina acted as the Executive Director of the Corinne Phelps Robertson School of Dance for the last fifteen of its sixty years of operation, until the school’s closing in 2011. Miss Christina balanced her directorial duties with teaching creative movement, ballet, jazz and tap classes; coaching teachers and students for Cecchetti ballet exams; and choreographing, coordinating and staging the school’s annual dance recital. In 2003, Miss Christina started her own Summer Dance Camp program, creating a captivating environment of creativity, imagination and artistry for 5- to 7-year-olds. Miss Christina later added a Mini-Intensive for Teens with classes in ballet and pointe technique, yoga, contemporary ballet, and jazz.
Miss Christina graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in Finance from the University of Maryland. While at Maryland, she competed in collegiate ballroom dancing, traveling around the U.S. and to the U.K. She also directed and choreographed for the Ballroom Formation Team at Maryland during her senior year. While in college, Miss Christina started her own ballet birthday party business. She has celebrated over 60 birthdays with aspiring ballerinas, enchanting them with magical journeys of dance and imagination.
Miss Christina danced as a featured guest artist with Jazzdanz/dc and Jazzemotion, resident dance companies of Joy of Motion Dance Center in Washington, D.C. In June 2010, Miss Christina performed on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center with Douglas Yeuell, Artistic Director of Jazzdanz/dc. Miss Christina was also a featured dancer in the Christmas on the Potomac 2012 Launch Event at the Gaylord National Hotel. Performance video here!
Returning to one of her original loves—musical theatre—Miss Christina appeared as Sheila in A Chorus Line with Rockville Musical Theatre, and as a Merry Murderess in Chicago with Kensington Arts Theatre (while also serving as Assistant Choreographer and Dance Captain). She was a featured dancer in West Side Story, also with RMT, and in Promises, Promises with The Arlington Players.
Miss Christina served on the faculty of the Black Rock Center for the Arts in Germantown, Maryland, for nine years, teaching creative movement, ballet and tap. She also taught for two years at Ballet Petite, gaining additional experience in working with 3- to 5-year-old children. During her tenure with Metropolitan Ballet Theatre, Miss Christina participated in a number of Outreach Programs such as Athletics and the Dancer, a lecture/demonstration program for elementary school students. In addition, she taught creative movement at the Child Care Center at Montgomery College along with jazz and ballet to at-risk high school students as part of Educacion 2000 program at Richard Montgomery High School.
Miss Christina is a Certified Fellow Member of the Cecchetti Council of America (CCA) and has served as the Treasurer on the Board of the East Coast Committee of the CCA for over ten years. She is also a member of Dance Masters of America. She served as Secretary of the Board of Directors of Metropolitan Ballet Theatre for four years. She was proudly featured in a biographical documentary on Montgomery Community Cable and has been interviewed by Bethesda Now, the Montgomery Gazette, Potomac Almanac and Dance Studio Life magazine.
As the oldest of four children, Miss Christina has always loved working with and being around children. In December 2013, Miss Christina and her husband Michael welcomed their daughter to the world. This incredible blessing, along with a mission to instill a sense of grace, poise and confidence in her students, nurturing them to do their best and grow as dancers and as unique individuals, continues to inspire Miss Christina everyday.