Faculty

Sandra Zellinger, Director
Sandra Zelllinger, a native of Miami, Florida, began her training with Thomas Armour at the Miami Conservatory where she performed with the Miami Ballet. After graduating from Duke University she began her Cecchetti teachers’ training with Sylvia Hamer and Marjorie Randazzo in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ms. Zellinger has over 30 years experience in teaching classical ballet. Upon moving to Raleigh, Sandra taught for John Lehman and performed with the Ballet Theatre Company of Raleigh, opening her own school, City Ballet, in 1991. In addition, she was a member of the Fine Arts Department at Ravenscroft School for 15 years. Sandra Zellinger is a certified member of the Ceccehtti Council of America presenting students and teachers for examinations.

Pablo Javier Perez
Mr. Perez is a Principal Dancer with the Carolina Ballet. He was born in Uruguay, graduated with the highest honors from the National School of Dance. In 1994 he won a silver medal at an international dance competition in Brazil. Mr. Perez has also danced with the Teatro de Colon de Buenos Aires. Me. Perez joined Carolina Ballet in its first season and has performed in All-Balanchine, Messiah, Innovations, Square Dance, Romeo & Juliet, and several premiere ballets with Ciompi Quartet.

Suzi Landis
Ms. Landis is a North Carolina native with a degree in Communications and a minor in Dance from Appalachian State University. She was a dancer and choreographer with the Appalachian Dance Ensemble performing original ballet and modern dance pieces. She has ten plus years experience teaching dance from ages 3 to adult in tap, ballet, and jazz. Suzi is a certified Grade II Cecchetti teacher and has been a contributing writer to Dance Teacher Magazine and Dance Spirit Magazine.

Janette Boyd
Ms. Boyd received her early training with John Lehman in Raleigh. She received both a BFA in ballet and an MFA in performing arts administration from the prestigious ballet program at the University of Utah. Ms Boyd has taught for the  University of Utah, Salt Lake Community College, Ballet West Conservatory, Youth Ballet Colorado, and the Vermont Conservatory of Ballet, among others.

Hong Yang
Ms. Yang is currently a member of the Carolina Ballet. She came to North Carolina from Beijing, China where she studied dance at the school of the Beijing Dance Academy as a child and then graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy in 1995. She immediately joined the National Ballet of China and was a principal dancer there before going to Toronto, Canada where she danced with Ballet Jorgen Canada.

Maiya Silver
Mrs. Silver has been involved in dance since the age of 5. She has competed and performed extensively throughout Eastern NC. She graduated high school from NCSA with a concentration in modern dance and completed her BFA with a concentration in dance education and choreography at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in May 2007. She was the 2004-2007 recipient of the Gay Cheney dance Scholarship in Choreography. Maiya has taught at UNCG as a guest jazz, hip-hop, and ballet teacher, and as a master modern teacher at the Syracuse School of Dance in NY. Mrs. Silver is a guest choreographer for the Syracuse Contemporary Dance Company in NY and has been a feature dancer and choreographer at UNCG and ECU over the past 9 years. She currently performs for local and regional independent modern/contemporary choreographers. Maiya is the proud mother of a beautiful 2 year-old daughter and is honored to join the ranks of the incredible City Ballet faculty.

Andrew Meyers
Mr. Meyers received his classical training from the North Carolina School of the Arts and Houston Ballet Academy. He then earned a BFA from the Ailey School/Fordham University program in New York in 2002. He joined the Kansas City Ballet after college and was a company member for three years. In 2005, Andrew became a founding member of the Quixotic Performance Fusion, serving as an Artistic Associate for three years. Andrew focused much of his time on teaching ballet, modern, and creative movement for many schools, including Danceworks Conservatory Ailey Camp Kansas City, and the  Community School of the Arts. He has created choreography for the Houston Ballet Summer Intensive, The Ailey School, Danceworks Conservatory, Kansas City Ballet’s annual In the Wings series, and a number of works for Quixotic Performance Fusion.

Paige Connor Worsham
Ms. Worsham trained with the High Point Ballet before attending North Carolina School of the Arts for high school. At NCSA, she majored in ballet and performed in works including Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Who Cares?, Tenderness of Patient Minds, Donizetti Variations, and Western Symphony. During summers, Paige trained with Boston Ballet, and joined Atlanta Ballet after graduation. In New York City, Paige was a member and choreographer for the Peyari Dance Project, a modern company, and performed off-Broadway in association with Spotlight On Productions. After returning to NC, she taught ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, and tap at the High Point Ballet for four years. She completed her undergraduate studies at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Robb Beamon
Mr. Beamon has recently moved to the area from Kinston, NC where he was the owner/director of Studio ’86. He has studied dance for 26 years from various instructors, including Gregory Hines, Frank Hatchett, Gus Giordano and Savion Glover. Robb holds a BS in Business Administration from ECU where he was a substitute tap instructor. He served as Chairman/Choreographer for Kinston’s Junior Miss Program, selected as the nation’s Most Outstanding Local program. He also served as talent coach for Dana Reason, Miss North Carolina, 2003. Robb has held the position of Co-Director of the Kinston Summer Theatre and ‘ Moppetts’ Children Theatre for four years. In addition to teaching at his own studio, he has taught pre-professional tap and jazz at the Greenville Civic Ballet.

Cherilyn J. Lee
A New York City native, Ms. Lee’s path has included being a scholarship student at the School of American Ballet and the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, a dancer with the Hartford Ballet in Connecticut, and a move to North Carolina to be one of the founding members of the Carolina Ballet. Throughout her career she performed diverse roles ranging from Juliet to Desdemona (The Moor’s Pavane) to the Jumping Girl (Who Cares?) along with those in other ballets by George Balanchine, Robert Weiss, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Kirk Peterson, and Tyler Walters. After a fulfilling career as a ballet dancer, Ms. Lee continued her creative endeavors working in architecture and since then has decided to pursue her academic goals studying Spanish and Business at NC State University.

Erica Locke
Ms. Locke has been studying dance for twenty years in the areas of ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, modern, creative movement, and gymnastics as well as cross-cultural dance forms. She began her studies at the Thomas Studio of Performing Arts in Pittsburgh, PA, where she was later a member of the Thomas Dance Company. She has graduated with honors, earning a degree in Dance Studies and Anthropology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Erica studied with many great artists at UNCG and at American Dance Festival including Jan Van Dyke and Gerri Houlihan. In addition to being a part of the staff at City Ballet, she is a full-time Kindergarten – 8th grade dance instructor and Arts Integration Coordinator at Sallie B. Howard School for the Arts. She is also a member of Blank Slate Dance Company out of Durham, NC.