OUR ALUMNI
ANTOINETTE WOOD
Class of 2021
Antoinette Wood
Antoinette Wood currently attends the University of California, Irvine, as a dance major. She plans to earn a BFA in Performance with a double major in Educational Sciences. Antoinette currently teaches ballet and pointe classes at a studio in her hometown. After her dance career, she hopes to become an Elementary School Teacher while continuing to teach dance.
In late February, Antoinette will perform in her first college show, Dance Visions; co-directed by Molly Lynch, Professor and Department Chair of Dance at UCI and Tong Wang, Associate Professor of Dance. She was cast in Tong Wang’s Tango/Pointe piece “It Takes Two.” She is looking forward to making her debut on the Irvine Barclay Theater’s stage.
BETTY BLANCO-GOMEZ
Class of 2021
Betty Blanco-Gomez
Betty is a full time student at San Diego State University. She is in her undergraduate program for Dance as well as a PreMed Track. As a dance major, Betty is required to take more classes than the average student. After a six or twelve hour day, Blanco-Gomez attends classes at the City Ballet of San Diego where she is a trainee with the City Ballet’s professional company. Her favorite pastime is being able to watch the sunrise and sunset on the beach when walking to and from school or Ballet. Betty started ballet at the age of six. The first real life princess she met was Laura Alexich, Laura was Bettys first ballet teacher and is a huge mentor in Bettys life. Blanco-Gomez attended a performing arts high school where she was a part of the ballet conservatory. Jekyns was a big role model for Blanco-Gomez. The intense classes made Betty feel she was being pushed to the best of her abilities. Betty was able to understand who she was as a dancer from Laura and Jekyns and wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Being able to reminisce of the classes, community, and amazing teachers of SoCal Arts during rehearsals for some of my first professional performances has been completely surreal. Implementing the nurturing corrections of Laura and Jekynz into my professional career, is allowing me to be the absolute best dancer I can be.”
– Betty Blanco-Gomez, Professional Trainee with the City ballet of San Diego
ELIZABETH DOUBROVSKY
Class of 2021
Elizabeth Boubrovsky
My name is Elizabeth Doubrovsky and I graduated SocalArts in 2021! I am now going to Cal State Fullerton and I’m majoring in Technical Theatre. My goal is to focus on Scenic Design and Technical Direction, but I love to learn about all aspects of theatre. I want to work in themed entertainment and, in the end, have a theme park of my own. I was lucky enough to be chosen to work Spongebob the Musical as an Automation Operator as a freshman! I’ve continued to do ballet at Fullerton and I’m planning to do ballet and jazz in the spring semester. Adding the ballet course was one of the best decisions I made this semester. It allowed me to meet more people in the arts and I just can’t live without dance. Another great decision I made was auditioning to be in Reverb Tap Company! I was accepted as a Gold member and an apprentice of the Black group. Tap is my favorite style of dance, so tapping 10 hours every Sunday is the best use of my time. I will be attending two tap festivals this year: Riff Dallas and OC Tap Festival. I’m excited to learn from the best tap dancers of our time!
EMMA NELSON
Class of 2022
Emma Nelson
Emma Nelson has been passionately dancing since she was a toddler, when ballet captured her heart. Originally from Dallas, Texas, she moved to California as a young child, where she danced with various studios, including JayVee Dance Studio and CDSA. Her dedication led her to audition for the California School of the Arts – San Gabriel Valley in 2018, where she excelled in the Ballet and Contemporary Dance Conservatory and continued throughout high school. In early 2021, Emma joined SoCal Arts and began training under the guidance of Laura Alexich and Jekyns Palaez. She has showcased her talent in the Youth American Grand Prix, performing the Laurencia variation. Additionally, Emma has impressed audiences with her performances as the Russian soloist and in the core ensemble of the Nutcracker, with SoCal Arts. Each summer, she dedicated her time to the prestigious Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensive Program. After graduation, Emma eagerly joined their four-year trainee and BFA program, embarking on an exciting new chapter in her dance career.
SARING YEGHIAYAN
Class of 2022
Sarine Yeghiayan
Sarine Yeghiayan has been a ballet student for about 13 years. She was born and raised in Pasadena, California and began her training at Pasadena Civic Ballet, under Tania Grafos, Diane De Franco Browne and Craig Williams. Sarine joined California School of the Arts, San Gabriel Valley in the Ballet and Contemporary Dance Conservatory in 2018 and continued throughout high school. Sarine joined SoCal Arts under Laura Alexich and Jekyns Palaez in 2020 to continue her ballet training. Sarine has gone to the Youth America Grand Prix and competed a variation from Laurencia, aswell as variation from Raymonda Act II, with SoCal Arts. As for performances at SoCal Arts, Sarine has danced as the Dew Drop Fairy, Snow Queen and Spanish Soloist in the Nutcracker. Sarine has spent her summers training at the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, under Stephanie and Bojan Spassoff, Justin Allen, Jody Anderson, Telmo Moreira, Natalya Zeiger, etc. Sarine will also be attending The Joffrey Ballet Academy is Chicago this coming summer to continue her training in ballet. After leaving SoCal Arts, Sarine plans on going to the University of California, Merced, to study Astrophysics.
ANWEN WISE
Class of 2023
Anwen Wise
My name is Anwen Wise. I’m 18 and I took my first ballet class when I was 4 years old. When I was in middle school I quit dancing in order to dedicate more time to running. I ended up running track and cross country for 6 years. During covid I was no longer running. This is when I decided to take up dance again. I’ve been doing ballet ever since and my love for it is stronger than ever. In the fall I will be attending CSUN with a major in tv and film and a minor in dance
MADELINE JOHNSON
Class of 2024
Madeline Johnson
I started dance at 3 years old. Surprising all those who knew my energetic personality, I chose ballet to be my passion over the other styles of dance. At seven years old I switched to a more ballet focused studio that challenged my technique and discipline, teaching me necessary skills for ballet and life. With them I performed in many Nutcrackers, dancing going around 20 shows a year. I remained with that studio until the age of 14 when I found SoCal arts through some of my friends. The teachers here pushed my technique further, constantly helping me to improve, but they also developed my artistry. I knew technique, but SoCal showed me how to actually dance with it. Under their guidance I have been accepted to many summer intensives for ballet: ABT, Boston Ballet, Ballet West, and School of Ballet Arizona. I’ve performed in two YAGP competitions dancing Raymonda Pizzicato in 8th grade and Satanella in 10th grade. I will be attending Cal Poly Pomona majoring in Kinesiology to gain an education that will allow me to pursue physical therapy to help other young athletes.
FENNEL HORIUCHI
Class of 2024
Fennel Horiuchi
My name is Fennel Horiuchi. I first started taking ballet classes when I was 4 and continued until my old studio closed down when I was 12. After a year off, I began looking for a new studio when the pandemic hit, unfortunately leading me to take another year and a half off from dancing. Luckily, in 2021, I found Socal Arts and began dancing again. Over the past 3 years, Laura and Jekyns have helped me grow immensely as a dancer and have driven me to become the best dancer I can be! In the fall, I will be attending the University of California, Santa Cruz, where I will be studying biology and continuing dance.
Our mission is to inspire and nurture a passion for dance in children of all ages.
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