2074 Parker Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
THE FOUNDERS
Ryan and Maartje are both highly trained ballet professionals with degrees in dance from The Juilliard School and The National Ballet Academy of the Netherlands, respectively. Their dance careers literally span continents, culminating with Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, one of Europe’s most respected contemporary ballet companies. (It was during their mutual time with the company that the pair fell in love and later married.)
Their teaching experience includes university level instruction, as well as the development and implementation of a successful preparatory ballet program at a local academy, through which they helped several young people move on to prestigious summer and year-round training programs affiliated with nationally recognized ballet companies.
"Maartje Hermans captured the nuances and color shifts – from stillness to impulsive rage – in her refined and subtle performance, a jewel to be cherished."
-- NRC Handelsblad
MAARTJE HERMANS-LAWRENCE
Born and raised in the south of Holland, Maartje Lawrence-Hermans, began her formal ballet training in the Vaganova method in Maastricht. At the age of 16 she moved to Amsterdam to study at the National Ballet Academy where she participated in numerous productions with Het National Ballet and danced in the works of Maurice Petipa, George Balanchine, Hans van Manen and Jiri Kylian.
In 2001, Lawrence-Hermans won 3rd prize in the prestigious Eurovision Dance Festival with a duet from ‘Perfect Skin’ by Ed Wubbe, director of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam.
For 10 years she was a featured dancer with Scapino, originating many roles in the works of Wubbe, Marco Goecke, Georg Reischel, Amanda Miller and Annabelel Lopez Ochoa, among others, and was featured on the cover of Dance Europe and Dans. She has toured internationally and extensively throughout the Netherlands.
Since 2010 Lawrence-Hermans has pursued a degree in Life Coaching with a concentration in body-oriented psychotherapy. This area of concentration gives her a unique perspective towards the integration of the body, mind, emotions and movement, an insight that she brings to the studio as a teacher and to the stage.
Maartje is also is an American Ballet Theatre® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Program in Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
MAARTJE HERMANS-LAWRENCE
Born and raised in the south of Holland, Maartje Lawrence-Hermans, began her formal ballet training in the Vaganova method in Maastricht. At the age of 16 she moved to Amsterdam to study at the National Ballet Academy where she participated in numerous productions with Het National Ballet and danced in the works of Maurice Petipa, George Balanchine, Hans van Manen and Jiri Kylian.
In 2001, Lawrence-Hermans won 3rd prize in the prestigious Eurovision Dance Festival with a duet from ‘Perfect Skin’ by Ed Wubbe, director of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam.
For 10 years she was a featured dancer with Scapino, originating many roles in the works of Wubbe, Marco Goecke, Georg Reischel, Amanda Miller and Annabelel Lopez Ochoa, among others, and was featured on the cover of Dance Europe and Dans. She has toured internationally and extensively throughout the Netherlands.
Since 2010 Lawrence-Hermans has pursued a degree in Life Coaching with a concentration in body-oriented psychotherapy. This area of concentration gives her a unique perspective towards the integration of the body, mind, emotions and movement, an insight that she brings to the studio as a teacher and to the stage.
Maartje is also is an American Ballet Theatre® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Program in Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
MAARTJE HERMANS-LAWRENCE
Owner-Director
Born and raised in the south of Holland, Maartje Lawrence-Hermans, began her formal ballet training in the Vaganova method in Maastricht. At the age of 16 she moved to Amsterdam to study at the National Ballet Academy where she participated in numerous productions with Het National Ballet and danced in the works of Maurice Petipa, George Balanchine, Hans van Manen and Jiri Kylian.
In 2001, Lawrence-Hermans won 3rd prize in the prestigious Eurovision Dance Festival with a duet from ‘Perfect Skin’ by Ed Wubbe, director of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam.
For 10 years she was a featured dancer with Scapino, originating many roles in the works of Wubbe, Marco Goecke, Georg Reischel, Amanda Miller and Annabelel Lopez Ochoa, among others, and was featured on the cover of Dance Europe and Dans. She has toured internationally and extensively throughout the Netherlands.
Since 2010 Lawrence-Hermans has pursued a degree in Life Coaching with a concentration in body-oriented psychotherapy. This area of concentration gives her a unique perspective towards the integration of the body, mind, emotions and movement, an insight that she brings to the studio as a teacher and to the stage.
Maartje is also is an American Ballet Theatre® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Program in Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
RYAN LAWRENCE
Owner-Director
Ryan began his training at the Academy of Dance in San Luis Obispo, California, continuing at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. In 1998 he attended The Juilliard School, under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy, where he trained with and danced the works of ballet and modern dance masters such as Paul Taylor, Hans van Manen and Lar Lubovitch. He graduated with a BFA in 2002.
After spending two years with Hubbard Street 2 in Chicago, he returned to New York to work with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company until moving to the Netherlands to join Scapino Ballet Rotterdam in 2004.
Ryan has had a successful freelance career, with tours throughout Europe and beyond, as well as dancing for the Queen of the Netherlands. His choreography has been presented at the Holland Dance Festival and was awarded 1st Prize at the International Solo Dance Festival in Stuttgart, Germany.
As a teacher for independant studios, universities and dance and theater companies Lawrence utilizes his education as a Phyisical Therapist to ensure safe and effective technique. He wrote the ballet curriculum for the Dance Teacher Education program at Codarts University and has been invited to give seminars on dance health and injury prevention by various institutions who prize his distinctive position in the dance world as professional dancer and health care provider.
INSTRUCTOR
CATHERINE RUSSELL BARNICKEL was raised in Philadelphia, PA and she trained and performed with The Pennsylvania Ballet and later with the Massachusetts Youth Ballet, School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and San Francisco Ballet School under such notable teachers as Gloria Govrin, Carter Alexander, Sandra Jennings and Suzanne Farrell. In her professional career, Catherine has performed in New York, NY, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Kansas City, MO, St. Louis, MO, and Irvine, CA. Catherine danced with the Kansas City Ballet for 12 years performing many classical principal and soloist roles, a large number of Balanchine works, and modern and contemporary pieces by Limon, Tharp, Taylor and Cunningham, among others. She has also been involved in several contemporary dance projects in the Kansas City area, including acting as a founding member of Quixotic Performance Fusion and dancing with the Owen/Cox Dance Group. In addition to her work as a massage therapist for the past 13 years, Catherine has taught ballet at the Kansas City Ballet School and master classes at several Kansas City area ballet schools. She has been teaching here on the Central Coast for four years and is delighted to be in her second year sharing her knowledge and experience with the students at SLO Movement Arts Center.
INSTRUCTOR
MIA SILVA has been dancing for more than 15 years, having grown up competing in national dance competitions. She has trained in lyrical, contemporary, jazz, ballet, pointe, tap, and musical theatre. Mia now teaches lyrical and jazz at the SLO Movement Arts Center as well as choreographs for soloists at national competitions. She loves working with kids and is so excited to be a part of the SLO MAC family!
Mia teaches: Pre-Primary Ballet, Enrichment Techniques, Jazz 1, and Lyrical 1
INSTRUCTOR
KATYA VASILAKY is a former dancer with the San Francisco Ballet Company where she performed works from George Balanchine to Mark Morris. She has also danced works by Avi Scher, Constantine Baeacher, Martha Graham, Elisa Monte, and Anna Sokolow while dancing in NYC. In addition to classical ballet, Katya has training in acting from the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, and in improvised theater from the Upright Citizens Brigade
Katya teaches: Level 2 Ballet, Level 4 Ballet, and Level 4 Pointe
INSTRUCTOR
HEATHER GRAY is a dancer and photographer living on the Central Coast and returning frequently to Colorado to work and play. Active in community and caring passionately about the arts, society, and human rights, she infuses her class with music and movement that breeds introspection and personal development.
Heather teaches: Level 4/5 Contemporary Repertoire and Adult Contemporary
INSTRUCTOR
LOGAN CASTRO holds two bachelor's degrees in music performance and a master’s of music in music theory and composition from Florida State University where he continued on as guest lecturer and adjunct faculty winning the Outstanding Teacher's Assistant Award in 2014.
Prior to and during college Logan has taught music in various environments including his first dance studio. Initially a tap dancer, steeping himself in the language of other art forms has given him a passion for metaphor making, and this fire has been used to bridge an understanding of music to everyone from little 3 year olds to 65 year olds, dancers, musicians, actors, hobbyists and professionals alike.
Logan is excited to be back in a similar environment from where he got his start and finds that at the SLO Movement Arts Center, music and movement can be combined to further one's understanding of rhythm, melody, ear training, and musicianship.
Logan teaches: Music & Dance Theory & Appreciation and Private Music Lessons
INSTRUCTOR
ANNIE PETERSON is a local dancer and Pilates instructor with several years of teaching experience both here and in Santa Barbara. Her knowledge of ballet and the body make her uniquely qualified to work with dancers beginning their ballet journey.
Annie teaches: Primary Ballet, Level 1 Ballet, and Pilates for Dancers Mat Class
