Tradition. Precision. Grace.
Our Philosophy
At Laguna Dance Theatre, we believe in creating a nurturing and supportive environment that fosters the growth and development of our students. Our comprehensive training programs provide superior instruction in Classical Ballet, Contemporary, Lyrical, Tap, Jazz, and Pilates for students of all ages and levels. Our goal is to inspire our students to be passionate about dance and to help them reach their full potential as dancers and individuals.
Shery Gilbert
Founder &
Artistic Director
Ms. Gilbert, began her training in Los Angeles at the Lichine Studio under the tutelage of Irena Kosmouska, later moving to Long Beach Ballet and eventually to Orange County Ballet under the direction of Michael Panieff. While recovering from knee surgery, she obtained a BFA at the University of California, Irvine. It was there that she met Antony Tudor, the associate director of the American Ballet Theatre. Mr. Tudor became her mentor and changed the way she approached Classical Ballet. Ms. Gilbert became a member of Ballet Nacional de Panama. She continued to study with Jillana, former NYCB Principal and Wilhelm Burmann in New York City. In addition to founding Laguna Dance Theatre and Laguna Ballet, she continues to actively coach dancers of the New York City Ballet, Miami City Ballet and Nevada Ballet Theatre. Ms. Gilbert is also a member of the CA Dance Advisory Board and sponsor of the CA Dance Festival 2005 & 2006.
Ellen Cretti
Pre-Ballet, Tap & Jazz
Mrs. Cretti is a former Manhattan Rockette who toured cross-country with Bob Newhart, Ricky Nelson, The Four Seasons, and the New Christy Minstrells. Ellen has choreographed and performed in numerous musical and dance productions including Rosie in Bye Bye Byrdie, The Boyfriend, Mame. South Pacific, Oklahoma. She played the lead roles in original musical productions of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella at the PAF Playhouse in New York. She performed in Guys and Dolls under the direction of Brian Dennehy. She trained in musical theatre and assisted in classes at Hurbert Berghof Studio in New York City. She was the Founder/Director of the Hillside Studio, for Dance and Drama in Huntington, New York for ten years. She taught at the Royal Dance Center in Florida from 1985-1999. Ellen relocated to California and has been with Laguna Dance Theatre for fourteen years. She has a gift to teach preschoolers and has successfully developed a dynamic children’s dance program here at LDT.
Emily Falcone
Ballet
Emily began her training at Laguna Ballet under the direction of Shery Gilbert at the age of six. She attended summer intensives at Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. While dancing at Laguna Ballet, Emily performed many leading roles including the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and Odette in Swan Lake. She is Body Arts & Sciences International (BASI) certified in Pilates and obtained her BS in Kinesiology from California State University, Fullerton. With a passion for movement, Emily went on to earn her Doctorate in Physical Therapy and currently specializes in the treatment of the pediatric population and works with children with developmental delays and disabilities. She considers Laguna Ballet a second home and is thrilled to be a part of the team.
Sheri Giller
Ballet
A native of Southern California, Ms. Giller started ballet classes in La Habra, Ca. under the private instruction of Marie Hite, from whom she received her training in the Vaganova method. In 1991 she joined Ballet Pacifica in Laguna Beach and Irvine as a company dancer under the directorship of Molly Lynch. She continued to dance and teach for the company until 2003. Her performance credits include many of the classical ballets such as The Nutcracker, Les Sylphides, and Paquita as well as works by George Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, and many more contemporary works by both well established and up-and-coming choreographers. Many of the roles she performed throughout her career were created for her and she received much recognition for her precise footwork, musicality, artistic quality, and the strength and fluidity of her movement.
With a teaching career that has spanned over 35 years, Ms. Giller has held the positions of Co-Artistic Director and Ballet Mistress of both Tucson Regional Ballet in Arizona and Piedmont Ballet Theatre in North Carolina respectively. Many of her students have been accepted to and attended such summer intensive programs and year-round schools as Juilliard, Harid Conservatory, Ballet West, The Bolshoi Academy, School of American Ballet, Ballet Austin, Houston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Conservatory, The Ailey School, Ballet Met, The Joffrey Ballet School, and American Ballet Theatre.
Ms. Giller has earned certifications in Bikram Yoga as well as Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT). As a dance educator she is committed to providing high-caliber ballet training for all students regardless of future career goals and a motivating environment that promotes dance’s unique ability to increase each person’s self-esteem through discipline, physical awareness, and the joy of movement.
Instructors
Thel Moore III
Ballet
Born and raised in Baltimore MD and started formal ballet training at the Baltimore School for the Arts. Thel moved to Connecticut at the age of 15 to finish training at the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory. While training Thel had the pleasure to learn from ballet legends Eleanor D’Antuono and Kirk Peterson as well as Victoria Mazzarelli who worked with William Forsythe in Frankfurt Ballet. Thel was invited to perform at the Inside/Out theater at Jacob’s Pillow where he performed a mixed rep. Upon graduating he took his first job with the second company at Charlotte Ballet under the direction of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. After one season hemoved to Richmond VA and joined the Richmond Ballet, where he spent 5 seasons with the company. Thel has had the pleasure to work with many incredible choreographers and artists such as Patricia McBride, Desmond Richardson, Ma Cong, and Val Caniparoli. As well as performing in works such as “Who Cares?” “Theme and Variations” “Carmina Burana” and many story ballets and performing the second pas de deux in Jerome Robbins’ “In The Night”. Thel always knew he had a passion teach. He has taught at the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory summer intensive and various schools in Virginia.​​
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​​Natalie Jameson has been an Orange County competitive choreographer, dance instructor & coach for over 19 years, where she’s honed her craft at Dance Dynamics, PCAD, Oceanside Dance Academy, Richter, and many more. Natalie has trained in the commercial dance department at OCSA, winning best lyrical dancer of the year her senior year, continuing as a dance major at OCC & Chapman University. She is currently a guest choreographer for TDC in Carmel, CA. She has created pieces for high schools such as Mater Dei HS, SJHHS, Esperanza HS & MVHS. Miss Jameson continues to judge for high school dance team auditions and competitions. Natalie was a Certified Move Competition judge in 2015. Having won multiple choreography awards, choreographing is her biggest passion. She headed her own pre-professional dance company, Jameson & Co, created in 2016. In 2021-Jameson Dance Company for competitive dancers! She cannot wait to share her love of dance with the next generation!
Natalie Jameson
Lyrical
Sara Windal
Ballet
Mrs. Cretti is a former Manhattan Rockette who toured cross-country with Bob Newhart, Ricky Nelson, The Four Seasons, and the New Christy Minstrells. Ellen has choreographed and performed in numerous musical and dance productions including Rosie in Bye Bye Byrdie, The Boyfriend, Mame. South Pacific, Oklahoma. She played the lead roles in original musical productions of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella at the PAF Playhouse in New York. She performed in Guys and Dolls under the direction of Brian Dennehy. She trained in musical theatre and assisted in classes at Hurbert Berghof Studio in New York City. She was the Founder/Director of the Hillside Studio, for Dance and Drama in Huntington, New York for ten years. She taught at the Royal Dance Center in Florida from 1985-1999. Ellen relocated to California and has been with Laguna Dance Theatre for fourteen years. She has a gift to teach preschoolers and has successfully developed a dynamic children’s dance program here at LDT.
Andrew Playford
Contemporary
Andrew Playford grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and began dancing at CARE Conservatory of Ballet. He has attended summer programs at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Washington Ballet, Indy Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Boca Ballet Theatre, and the Chautauqua Institution under Kennedy Center honoree Patricia McBride. Andrew attended Indiana University where he completed Ballet Pedagogy and obtained his BSOF in Ballet and Environmental & Sustainability Studies under the close personal instruction of Sophia Fatouros, Sarah Wroth, Kyra Nichols, Michael Vernon, Carla Korbes, Sasha Janes, and Christian Claessens. After graduation, he joined Ballet RI before moving to California and joining Ballet Project OC.
Mikayla Fleming
Ballet
Based in Orange County, Ca, Mikayla Fleming is an award-winning dancer and choreographer. As an alum of LDT and Orange County School of the Arts, Mikayla has also trained with Lauren Richter, and Jennifer and Dmitri Kulev. From there, her training continued at Ballet West and Tulsa Ballet, working under directors Evelyn Cisneros and Beatrice Sebelin. She enjoys instructing and finding ways to encourage students through movement. Mikayla is excited to be back teaching at Laguna Dance Theatre.