Sally Hart | Owner & Director

Anna began her ballet training at the National Ballet School in Bytom, Poland. She studied the Vaganova technique with Elisabeth Lebik, former principal dancer of the Silesian State Opera. At the age of 14, she participated in the acclaimed international ballet competition, the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, where she reached the half- final and was offered full scholarship to study at the Hamburg Ballet School in Germany. There she fine-tuned her technique and artistry with Marianne Kruse, Kevin Haigen and Ingrid Glindemann. After graduating from the school, she joined the Hamburg Ballet company directed by the renowned American choreographer John Neumeier. There she performed group and soloist roles in his various classical and modern ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Little Mermaid as well as works from other choreographers like La Bayadere staged by N. Makarova and Jewels by G. Balanchine. Upon retiring from the stage, she pursued a second career, becoming a risk manager at Germany's largest bank, Deutsche Bank AG. Yet, her love for movement never halted. She travelled to Thailand to became a certified Vinyasa Yoga instructor and, after moving to Charlottesville, VA with her husband and two boys in April 2016, she become NASM-certified personal trainer, Progressing Ballet Technique certified teacher and studied the American Ballet Theater National Training Curriculum in Pre-Primary though Level 7 with Franco De Vita and Raymond Lukens. She loves teaching dance and passing on her lifelong ballet experience.

Ms. Bralley began formal dance lessons at the Dance Studio/DanCenter in her hometown of Charlottesville, VA, at the age of four.

She trained at the School of Richmond Ballet (SRB) beginning at age ten and rose through the pre-professional ranks of the school, eventually achieving a two-year traineeship with the professional Richmond Ballet company during high school.

In 2007 and 2008, she was selected from approximately 3,500 national and international students to study and perform in American Ballet Theatre’s premiere summer intensive program in New York City, where she trained under several dance luminaries, including Kirk Peterson, Leslie Browne, Cynthia Harvey, and Jessica Lang. 

In 2016, she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Humanities and a minor in French from Franciscan University of Steubenville, where she was co-captain of the school dance team, helping to choreograph and plan routines and events.

She has trained and worked with dance professionals Miki Liszt and Robert Cook in Charlottesville. From 2016- 2020, she performed with Charlottesville Ballet’s professional company, and in 2019, she was named one of Piedmont Virginia Community College’s Distinguished Alumni. She is currently ballet mistress at Gryphon Gymnastics.

Outside of the studio, Jean-Marie is an avid reader and writer, having freelanced for publications, such as the USO and Wallflower Journal. She is the author of Naomi Grace’s “Wonder-full” Christmas, which is available for purchase online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. She’s excited and thankful to begin teaching at Albemarle Ballet Theatre!

Dr. Emily David began her ballet training in Cedar Springs, MI when she was five years old. From seventh grade until she graduated from high school, Emily danced at the School of the Grand Rapids Ballet Company under the direction of Patricia Barker in Grand Rapids, MI. She was a part of the Junior Company under the artistic direction of Attila Mosolygo for three years performing various roles with the professional Grand Rapids Ballet Company in their production of The Nutcracker. Emily also performed in original ballets choreographed by Mr. Mosolygo including Snow White and Peter Pan. After graduating from Sparta High School, Emily was accepted as a dance major at Grand Valley State University’s Dance Department in Allendale, MI. At Grand Valley, she had the opportunity to further develop her technique in ballet and expand her training in modern and jazz. She had the opportunity to perform many works at Grand Valley from classical ballet excerpts from Raymonda, staged by Amy Rose, to modern works like Michigan Water, choreographed by Hannah Seidel and performed at the regional American Collegiate Dance Conference in 2016. Emily graduated with a Bachelor of Science in dance and cell and molecular biology in 2018 and continued her education at Purdue University studying molecular pharmacology. At Purdue, Emily continued dancing ballet and teaching vernacular solo jazz at the Purdue Night Train, a Lindy Hop, jazz, blues, and East Coast swing dance club on campus. Emily received her Ph.D. at the end of 2023 and recently started a post-doctoral fellowship position at the University of Virginia studying lung cancer. She is so happy that her move to Virginia introduced her to the amazing team at Albemarle Ballet Theatre and she is honored to be a part of their team. Emily is passionate about cultivating a positive environment for learning and creativity. She wants to pass on her love of ballet to the next generation of dancers. 

Emily is a dance scholar who has studied a broad range of movement styles, from traditional Appalachian flatfooting, tap, and other percussive dances, to forms of Irish dance, partner dance, contemporary urban dances, and vernacular jazz. Emily's performance highlights include appearing with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the Aulney-All-Blues festival in France, Wheatland Music Festival, the Newport Folk Festival with Seeger's Clogging All-Stars, Jacob's Pillow's Inside/Out Stage, and a US State Department tour in Russia with The Meaning of Buck Dance, a collaboration with Good Foot, Urban Artistry and Baakari Wilder. She received her MFA in Dance at the University of Maryland College Park in May 2012 and a certification in Laban-Bartenieff Movement Analysis in 2015 from the Laban-Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Dance at Temple University. Photo credit K. Opare.

    Originally from Hanover, PA, Ava began dancing at age four and performing at the age of five. Her training has spanned various styles and genres to include ABT Curriculum, Vagonova Curriculum, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Horton, Jazz, Lyrical, and Tap. She went on to become a soloist with Antelope Valley Ballet. After finishing her training with Marat Daukayev School of Ballet she attended the Grad Program at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre for two years. She was with Ballet Idaho as a Trainee and Ballet Teacher for the academy for a year before settling in Virginia. Ava spent two years with Charlottesville Ballet as a Company Artist and Teacher for the academy. 

Her past repertoire includes numerous roles in The Nutcracker, most notably SugarPlum Fairy, Snow Queen and Dew Drop Fairy. She was Principal in Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie. Others include: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Rodeo, Balanchine’s Serenade, Rite of Spring, and several contemporary dances. 

Ava is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training and is certified through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. 

She loves working with her students and enjoys choreographing for the performances. 

Mrs. Geisler studied with the Old Dominion Ballet Company in Norfolk, Virginia, under the husband and wife team of Istvan and Nelli Ament.She spent her summers training with Nina Sakhnovskaya of the Vaganova Academy.

During her tenure at ODU Ballet, Ashley performed the roles of Marzipan, Chinese, and Russian in The Nutcracker, and the lead roles in performances of Snow White and The Fairy Doll. After completing her undergraduate and graduate work in Russian Language and Literature at the University of Virginia, Mrs. Geisler returned to ballet at Albemarle Ballet Theatre. She has been teaching and choreographing at ABT since 2006 and has performed with concorDance contemporary.

Mrs. Parks received her early dance training under the direction of Christine Meneer and then received a scholarship to study at the Dance Institute at the University of Akron. She spent summers training at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pennsylvania Ballet, Chautauqua Dance Festival and Ballet Austin. Amanda performed professionally with the Pittsburgh Ballet, BalletMet, and the Ohio Ballet appearing in productions such as George Balanchine’s Rubies, Dwight Rhodens StrayLifeLushHorn, Ruthanna Boris’s Cakewalk, as well as in contemporary classics, such as Beauty and the Beast, Cleopatra, and countless Nutcrackers.

Amanda went on to earn her undergraduate degree in journalism and then a PhD in political science from the Pennsylvania State University. She now enjoys teaching both ballet and political science but spends most of her time wrangling her three wild and delightful little boys.