Faculty

Michelle DeAngelis is Founder and Director of Culver City Academy of Ballet. She received her early ballet and teacher training with the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre, School of American Ballet, Princeton Ballet School, and Ballet Central New Jersey. Michelle started her professional dancing career with the Montgomery Ballet and Virginia National Ballet, and then moved to Los Angeles to join the American Contemporary Ballet as a soloist in the company. After retiring from a career in ballet, Michelle opened Michelle's Dance Academy in July 2022. After 2 years, Culver City Academy of Ballet was opened, to facilitate & further promote the growth of its students in ballet.

Lydia Marie McDonald is originally from Longwood Florida. She began her dance training at the age of 12 and has trained in styles such as modern, ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, musical theatre, improvisation, and more. Lydia received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of North Texas in 2018 and spent two seasons dancing as a company member of imPULSE Dance Project during college. Immediately after graduating college, she became member of Ad Deum Dance 2nd company for 2 seasons. Now in L.A., Lydia is a company member of Benita Bike’s Dance Art and Geometry 2. 

​Originally from Denver, CO, Claire began dancing at 4 years old under the training of Jennifer Jones Micek and Staci Kinkead-Fox at the Dance Conservatory of Denver. Here she trained in a variety of dance styles, performed principal and soloist roles, and placed an additional emphasis on choreography, setting numerous solos and group pieces for studio productions. In 2019 Claire graduated cum laude from Butler University with a BA in Dance Pedagogy, fulfilling ballet performance aspirations, and a long time goal of learning the most constructive ways to be an encouraging and inspiring instructor for dancers of all ages. Claire is now a professional ballet dancer with American Contemporary Ballet in Los Angeles

Sarah Bukowski is originally from Manchester, NH. She began dancing at the age of 5 and has studied ballet, jazz, tap and modern. She has trained at New Hampshire School of Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Carolina Ballet, and Charlotte Ballet.  In 2017 she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Ballet from The University of North Carolina School of The Arts. She is currently a soloist dancer with American Contemporary Ballet in Los Angeles and has been with the company since 2017. Here, Sarah has performed in a number of Balanchine ballets and other original works. 

Shannon began dancing at age three, at a local studio very similar to Michelle’s Dance Academy in Rumson, NJ. She received over ten years of professional training from the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and Princeton Ballet School, learning from many of New York City Ballet founding company members. She has performed in numerous NYCB productions such as Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Balanchine’s 50 Year Anniversary Presentation on PBS. Shannon has been teaching for over six years and loves sharing her lifelong love for dance with her students. 

Caroline grew up training at Boston Ballet School in her native Boston, MA. As a teenager she moved to New York City to further her ballet education at Gelsey Kirkland Academy. Caroline received additional training from San Francisco Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, the Princess Grace Academy in Monaco, Miami City Ballet and the International Ballet Masterclasses in Prague. Caroline has worked at Natalia Kremen Ballet School in London and is passionate about fostering the next generation's love of dance. 

Dana Jacobson grew up in Maryland and moved to New York City at age 14 to study at the School of American Ballet. She was invited to join the New York City Ballet at age 17, where she danced for 7 years, performing in over 100 works by Balanchine, Robbins, Wheeldon, and others, and touring internationally. Upon retiring from NYCB in 2016, Dana launched a private ballet coaching business. Her students have gone on to dance professionally across the U.S. and Europe. Dana also graduated from Columbia University with a major in Dance and received a personal training certification through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, expanding her practice to include strength and injury-prevention programs for dancers.