Archives: People

Through choreography, education, and performance, Sophia Smith creates accessible, empowered, authentic environments for future generations of dancers and choreographers.

    Sophia began training in dance at age 3 at a small studio in her hometown of Charlotte, NC, before training in the academy at Charlotte Ballet beginning in 2016. At age 13, Sophia was accepted into the renowned University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and spent four years training in the High School program under Dean Susan Jaffe, performing soloist roles in several classical ballets, and originating works by Grady Bowman (Before We Go) and Julia Eisen (Sound Waves).

    Sophia received a BFA in Ballet Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma School of Dance, with concentrations in American Sign Language and Lighting Design. While at OU, she performed works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Penny Saunders, and Yuri Yanowsky; and toured with the School of Dance to Colorado Springs, CO, performing featured roles on two occasions. In 2025, Sophia danced in the World Premiere of Rena Butler’s pas de deux Tsela, and danced “Puck” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream choreographed by Glenn Edgerton and Michael Bearden. 

       Sophia brings over a decade’s experience as an educator to the studio, with experience teaching creative movement, ballet technique, pointe, pas de deux, contemporary, and accessible education classes. Having studied in the Vaganova, French, and Cecchetti syllabi as well as the ABT National Training Curriculum, Sophia merges these philosophies to help cultivate well-rounded, creative, and versatile dancers. Sophia believes that students should play an active role in their education, working with their educators to balance joy, creativity, and tradition in ballet education. 

    Sophia choreographs in contemporary and ballet styles, exploring sound, light, and visual architecture to create narrative works that allow our stages to reflect our world. She is best known for her full-length ballet The Sacred Veil, which premiered in May 2025 in collaboration with Windsong Chamber Choir and world-renowned composer Eric Whitacre. This ballet was restaged at Inspiration Point Center for the Arts in April 2026. She most recently created “Un-assume-ing” as a part of CURE-8 2026, exploring the barriers disabled students often face in accessing higher education. 

   As a lighting designer, she has crafted nearly a dozen works for University of Oklahoma and Human Creature Dance Company, and has worked on numerous other productions in electrics roles. Sophia is pursuing a certification to teach Dance for Parkinson’s Disease through the Mark Morris Foundation, and was a recipient of the 2025 Juli Busken Memorial Scholarship and the 2016 President’s Volunteer Service Award.

Ian Parsons is an international ballet educator, artistic coach, rehearsal director, and choreographer whose career has spanned Canada, the United States, Monaco, and the United Kingdom, with touring to many corners of the globe. He is a double graduate of Canada’s National Ballet School, completing both its Professional Ballet Program and its Teacher Training Program for Former Professional Dancers. Upon graduation from the latter, he received the Betty Oliphant Award, presented to the program’s most promising graduating teacher.

As a professional dancer, Ian performed with The National Ballet of Canada and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, where he danced repertoire by choreographers including James Kudelka, John Neumeier, Jiří Kylián, and Jean-Christophe Maillot. His career subsequently expanded into theatre and film: he appeared in the feature film Les Misérables, performed as Hans in the Olivier Award-nominated West End revival of Cabaret, and served as Assistant Dance Captain, Swing, and cover Munkustrap on the UK/European tour of Cats. In 2013, he performed at the Olivier Awards at London’s Royal Opera House with the casts of both Cabaret and Cats.

Ian spent nearly a decade as a member of the Artistic Staff at Canada’s National Ballet School, one of the world’s leading professional ballet training institutions. During that time, he taught throughout the Professional Ballet Program, choreographed for the school, led the development of NBS’s formalized pas de deux curriculum, and served as Associate Director of the Stephen Godfrey Choreographic Workshop.

Alongside his artistic work, Ian served as Manager of Canada’s National Ballet School’s International Exchange Program, overseeing more than 100 student exchanges annually and cultivating relationships with many of the world’s foremost professional dance schools. Through this work, he supported young dancers in training opportunities across Europe, North America, and beyond.

Before returning to Canada, Ian taught at Performers College and The School of Ballet Theatre UK, and has been invited to teach and coach at institutions including Canada’s Ballet Jörgen, London Studio Centre, Guildford School of Acting, Danceworks, and Pineapple Dance Studios. His choreography has been presented in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, with original works for Convergence Ballet, Canada’s National Ballet School, Performers College, and other professional and pre-professional organizations.

Most recently, Ian served as Artistic Director of Convergence Ballet Company and School Director of Ballet Theatre of Phoenix in Arizona. He is currently based in the New York City area.

Rachel Levy earned her B.F.A. in Dance Performance from the University of the Arts, where she received the Promising Artist Award throughout her undergraduate career. She also holds a Master’s degree in Elementary Education and a teaching certificate for PreK–4th grade. Ms. Levy currently teaches at The Chapin School in Princeton, where she combines her passion for education with her love of inspiring young learners.

Ms. Levy’s dance training began at Princeton Ballet School, where she studied extensively in the Professional Training Program. She performed in numerous productions with American Repertory Ballet, including The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Coppélia, and attended Princeton Ballet School’s prestigious summer intensives.

With more than 20 years of teaching experience, Ms. Levy has instructed ballet, jazz, and lyrical dancers of all ages. She is an award-winning choreographer whose works have earned top honors and choreography awards at national dance competitions in both ballet and jazz. She has taught children’s ballet, jazz, summer intensives, and camps at both Dance Arts of Yardley and Princeton Ballet School. Since 2014, she has served as the co-director and choreographer of Yardley Youth Ballet’s annual production of The Nutcracker. In addition to teaching, Ms. Levy has performed professionally in film, television, and live productions.

Ms. Levy is thrilled to return to Princeton Ballet School to share her lifelong love of dance with the Children’s Division.

Valerie Amiss began her training at age eight under Sue Millington at the Regency Ballet. She continued her instruction with Victor Moreno and Alexei Yudenich, and at age 12 joined the Pennsylvania Ballet School. At age 15, Ms. Amiss spent a summer studying in Saratoga Springs, NY with members of New York City Ballet, including Peter Martins, Heather Watts, and Jock Soto. She was nominated for the prestigious Princess Grace Award in 1994, and in 1995 performed at the Algur H. Meadows Award Ceremony to honor choreographer Paul Taylor. In the summer of that same year, she also performed with the Chautauqua Ballet Company, directed by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride, and, in 1997, she was asked by Gloria Govrin and Sandra Jennings to perform at the St. Bart’s Music Festival on the island of St Bart’s.

Ms. Amiss joined Pennsylvania Ballet as an apprentice in 1992 under the direction of Christopher d’Amboise. She became a member of the corps de ballet in 1993 and was promoted to soloist in 1999 with director Roy Kaiser. In the summer of that year, she also represented the company at the Sintra Festival in Portugal. And in 2005, Ms. Amiss not only performed at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, where she danced featured roles in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake, but also performed Matthew Neenan’s 11:11 and Carmina Burana at New York City Center. Additionally, she had the honor of performing twice at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. as well as with Susan Jaffe and Nicole Hlinka for a Rock School benefit.

Ms. Amiss has performed numerous principal roles in George Balanchine’s ballets, including Titania and Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Odette in Swan Lake Act II, and the Sugarplum Fairy and Dew Drop in The Nutcracker. As well, she danced featured roles in such works as Giselle, Paul Taylor’s Company B, Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, Christopher Wheeldon’s Continuum and Swan Lake, Janek Schergen’s The Sleeping Beauty, Alvin Ailey’s The River, Jerome Robbins’ In the Night and The Concert, and George Balanchine’s Rubies, The Four Temperaments, Western Symphony, Agon, Scotch Symphony, Bugaku, and Serenade, among others.

Ms. Amiss has taught ballet and pointe classes at summer intensives for The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet. As well, she has been a guest instructor at schools throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. For seven years after her retirement from the stage, she was co-ballet mistress for the Academy of Ballet NJ in West Berlin, NJ. Ms. Amiss had the pleasure of teaching ballet to aspiring figure skaters in Aston, Pennsylvania. She was a senior lecturer at the University of the Arts, where she taught several ballet classes, and a guest lecturer at Drexel University where she was asked to speak about Balanchine repertoire for the Philadelphia Museum of Dance at the Barnes Museum., Ms. Amiss has been a faculty member of The School of Pennsylvania Ballet where she taught all levels including beginner ballet through trainee program. She has also taught for the Princeton Ballet School in both the Cranbury and Princeton locations.

In 2018, Ms. Amiss was asked by The Pennsylvania Ballet outreach program to teach classes for children with Down syndrome. She has taught several ballet classes for children with special needs at St. Katherine Day School in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Where she collaborated with the school staff and students to create a fully inclusive Nutcracker for the community to experience the joy of The Nutcracker. Valerie also developed Audrey’s class for children of all abilities at the Princeton Ballet School inspired by a student named Audrey who loved ballet and classical music. Valerie enjoys teaching children of all abilities and ages pre ballet through pre professional levels, Adult ballet and private coaching. Valerie truly believes an arts education can enrich and change lives. Ms. Amiss retired from Pennsylvania Ballet in June 2007. She resides in Marmora, NJ with her husband, former Pennsylvania Ballet Soloist Edward Cieslak, and their son Adam and daughter Lily.

Jaime Santoro began her ballet training at the age of six at both The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Philadelphia Dance Conservatory. She went on to perform as a member of the Philadelphia Ballet before joining Orlando Ballet in 1996, where she enjoyed a distinguished fourteen-season career. In the summer of 2001, Ms. Santoro was awarded a Professional Fellowship and invited to perform as a guest artist with the Rome Festival, touring and performing throughout Italy.

While with Orlando Ballet, Ms. Santoro performed numerous soloist and principal roles in both classical and contemporary works. Her classical repertoire includes The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her Balanchine repertoire includes Symphony in C (First and Fourth Movements), Who Cares?, Concerto Barocco, Valse Fantaisie, Serenade, and Agon. She also performed in contemporary masterpieces such as Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs and The Upper Room, as well as Val Caniparoli’s Going for Baroque.

The transition from principal and soloist dancer to choreographer and teacher was a natural evolution for Ms. Santoro and provided her the opportunity to contribute artistically and educationally to several organizations, including Orlando Ballet, Orlando Ballet School, Springton Dance Academy, and Dance Arts of Yardley.

In 2009, Ms. Santoro was recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for her dedication, leadership, and excellence in the performing arts.

Most recently, Ms. Santoro served as Children’s Ballet Mistress and Head Teacher of the Trainee Program with the Philadelphia Ballet for ten years. In that role, she was instrumental in the development and training of professional dancers and students and played a pivotal role in staging and rehearsing George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, helping to inspire, guide, and shape the next generation of young dancers.

Ms. Santoro looks forward to bringing her experience, talent, and love for dance to the professional dancers and students of the American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School, continuing her lifelong commitment to artistic excellence and education in the art of ballet.