Our Faculty and Staff
The faculty at Roanoke Ballet Theatre are highly trained professionals. Our teachers have graduated with master's degrees in dance, have performed professionally around the world and have worked and taught with international dancers. All are trained in anatomy and kinesiology and are able to determine which classes are appropriate for your children.
Ms. Meythaler was a principle ballerina with the National Ballet of Ecuador. She has performed ballet and contemporary dance around the world including Peru, Belgium, Germany, Italy, England, France, Spain, Brazil, Columbia and Japan. She began dancing professionally at the age of fifteen with Compania Nacional de Dance in Ecuador and then joined the National Ballet of Ecuador in 1989. She also danced with Ballet Novo, Opera Ecuador and Koral y Esmeralda. In 2001 Sandra joined Roanoke Ballet Theatre. She is also an independent performing artist and teacher. Ms. Meythaler performs and teaches master classes in Flamenco, Salsa, Rumba and Afro-Cuban styles. Her multi talents are augmented by her world class teaching style which incorporates international dance styles in traditional ballet syllabus. Ms. Meythaler's awards include: |
Mrs. Deck earned her MFA in dance from Arizona State University after attending Hope College where she received the Florence Cavanaugh Dance Award. She has performed professionally with Andrew’s Arts Dance Company, Aerial Dance Company, Opera Roanoke, Mill Mountain Theatre, danah bella DanceWorks and is currently dancing with the Roanoke Ballet Theatre. Since 1994, Mrs. Deck has directed the Fleming-Ruffner Magnet Center for the Arts dance department and is proud to be the founder of the F.R.E.E. Dance Company. She is the creator of Dance Hypothesis and her choreography has been featured at Virginia Tech and Washington and Lee University. |
Amanda Willis received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Roanoke College and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies at Hollins University with an interdisciplinary concentration in dance and history. She grew up in Roanoke and has studied dance in the area for over twenty years. While at Roanoke College, she choreographed and performed in the theatre department's production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. As a student, she performed lead roles in several ballets including Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Anastasia, and Sleeping Beauty. Since beginning to teach five years ago, Amanda has contributed choreography for many different productions and has choreographed, directed, and produced a ballet based on the children's story Winnie the Pooh. She also spent a year in St. Andrews, Scotland, where she danced in a Scottish performance group called the Celtic Rose. Amanda is also a talented photographer and has contributed many of the photographs featured here on our website. |
Elyse Hart recently moved to Roanoke after being born and raised in New York. Dancing professionally since she was 13, she has been lucky enough to study with such legends as Luigi, Ann Reinking, Mia Michaels, and Finis Jhung. As a performer, her experience includes regional and Off-Broadway musicals, television commercials, Original Cast recordings and being a soloist with Ballet Long Island. As a choreographer, she has worked extensively including the Off Broadway shows Metropolitan Music, The Best of Forbidden Broadway and Gershwinʼs Blue Monday. |
Christina Thomas has studied various forms of dance for over 20 years. Her true love is ballet but over the years, she has expanded her knowledge in dance to include modern, jazz, and character classes. She has been a member of various companies in the Roanoke Valley, including the Southwest Virginia Ballet and Roanoke Ballet Theatre. Some of her performances include several RBT pieces in the 1996 PreOlympic Festival in Atlanta, a Seventeen Fashion Show Performance, and various tourings. She has also choreographed pieces of RBT’s performance Beatrix Potter in 1997 and was also Co-President of the RBT Company. She also studied as a dance major for 2 years at Radford University, focusing on Ballet, Pointe and Modern. Christina has taught and substituted throughout the years for various studios in the Valley and is excited to return back to RBT to assist in teaching this year. |
Musician and choreographer Vladimir Espinosa was born in Havana, Cuba in 1964. Specializing in Latin and Afro Cuban styles, Vladimir is professor of Latin Percussion, accompanist and Musician In Residence at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. Mr. Espinosa graduated from the ENA (School National of Arts) in Cuba in 1985. He also studied with the National Folkloric de Cuba. He began teaching at the Arts School in Jiguani Granma and the House of Cultural of Plaza in Havana.As a performer he has traveled extensively throughout the US, Europe, Central and South America. Vladimir has performed, taught and choreographed for many companies including: Caribeno (Cuba), Companies National de Danza (Ecuador), Orile (Cuba), and Rojo Oscuro (Ecuador). In 1994 he moved to Ecuador and performed with many musical groups including: Pueblo Nuevo (Ecuador), Havana Express (Cuba), Koral and Esmeralda (Ecuador). Vladimir has had the opportunity to play with excellent musicians, including: Carmen Gonzalez, Omar Sosa, Javier Tito Junco, and Savuca Son (Ecuador). Currently Vladimir is the musical director of the traditional Afro-Cuban group Las Manos del Sol, and Los Gatos.Los Gatos conducts workshops at elementary schools, high schools, and universities, also performs at festivals, theaters, and museums. With Michel Ferré, pianist from Cuba and former member of Havana Express, Vladimir recorded his latest CD Acoustic Latin Jazz. They are currently collaborating on new tour. |
Zuheil A. Bañuelos is a native of Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Spanish and a Minor in Dance. She also earned a Master's Degree in Hispanic Literature and currently is a Spanish Teacher in Salem High School. Her dance experience began in Middle School in Mexico. Teaching is her career and dancing is her passion. She has experience with a variety of dance genres from Ballet Folklórico de México, Latin, Aztec, and Modern dance. Flamenco was part of her life for six years in the University of New Mexico. "Flamenco is my third language", she emphasizes. She has been a founder of her own dance group Ritmo, Fuego y Passion. She was the director and choreographer for the music group Guajira for four consecutive years in Albuquerque, NM. |
Anita Smelser - Office Manager Anita Smelser has been a volunteer all her life. For five years, she ran a food pantry from her church, partnering with Second Harvest Food Bank to serve the needs of local residents; and, for the past four years she has chaired the children’s program at her church, Salem Church of Christ. Within the past 5 years, she and her writing partner have published several articles for a national weekly publication, The Lookout, which is sold nationwide to churches of her faith. In 2001, they compiled recipes and co-authored a cookbook, Celebrating Simplicity…comfort food for a simple life, which served as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. The book is a mixture of inspirational messages, uplifting quotes, and “home-tested recipes” that have raised over $8,000 for Salem’s Relay for Life. Having successfully reared a daughter who teaches dance, she loves being involved with a nonprofit dance organization that believes all children who wish to dance deserve an opportunity to do so. Anita co-owns a precision machine shop with her husband. On the days she’s there, she does everything from running a CNC lathe to assembling/shipping replacement parts for vintage Camaro/Firebird cars to marketing their business. |
Sandra Meythaler - Executive Director
