Faculty
Mark Erickson
Founder & Director
Mr. Erickson's dance credits include lead roles in most of the major ballets. He was a finalist in the International Ballet Competitions. He has taught Master classes through out North America including the Canadian School of Ballet. Some Film & TV credits include The River, American Gothic, Amazing Stories, In Living Color, and Star Trek-Deep Space Nine. After completing an 8 year run in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, Mr. Erickson opened The Ballet Studio in 2004.
Miss Barbara
Adminstration/ Costuming
Miss Barbara has been apart of our studio family since the very beginning. She was always very supportive of her two daughters who are former students of TBS and was always willing to lend a helping hand to any of the girls and teachers around the studio. Being at the studio so often, she was asked to take over the front office duties and costuming for our productions, where her degree in business management, textiles, and fashion merchandising gave her the experience necessary for the job. Miss Barbara is the heart of our studio, and we are so lucky to have her on our team!
Laila Debin
Instructor
Having been a dance instructor for over a decade, Laila began her dance journey at the age of 3. She has trained at multiple dance institutions with some of the most influential dance instructors. Laila has taught students of all ages and skill level, choreographed and produced multiple dance productions in various forms of dance, and has also taught master classes, musical theater, and pageants. Having studied dance in various different styles, Laila specializes (and favorites) Ballet, Lyrical, & Contemporary. Laila also holds a Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology. She uses her degree to help aid dancers in better understanding their bodies allowing them develop technique, gain strength where needed, to aid in healing their bodies, and avoid injury. She has been recognized with multiple awards, including the State of California Senate certificate of Recognition for her contributions to the dance community. Laila is dedicated to continue to inspire students, aid them in gaining confidence, and help them cultivate a love for dance. She is so grateful to be teaching at The Ballet Studio and to be able to pass down the joy of ballet.
Andi Albright
Instructor
Miss Andi fell in love with ballet at the age of three. She was trained in the Russian Vaganova method of classical ballet and is certified in Progressive Ballet Technique. She performed with the Festival Ballet Theater in productions such as The Nutcracker and Peter and the Wolf. Currently she performs in productions with The Ballet Studio.
​
Laurie Wolcott
Instructor
Laurie began dancing at age 6. During her training, she was involved with the San Francisco Children's Opera, Marilyn Mather School of Ballet and danced in lead rolls for Alice in Wonderland and A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Orinda Academy of Ballet. Laurie danced and performed with Contra Costa Ballet and was accepted in their company in 1980. She also has danced with Ballet Theatre of Marin performing in Paquita, worked with Anderson Sisters School of Dance in San Francisco and was a volunteer for San Francisco Ballet from 1988 - 1994. Following that, Laurie was a performing group dancer and instructor with DanceMakers playing Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls. In 1998 she became an instructor of Tap and all levels and ages of Ballet at Klamath Dance and Exercise. She has performed in many of The Ballet Studio productions since 2016 and is excited to share her decades of experience with the next generation of dancers.
Stacea Nelson
Adult Ballet Instructor
Stacea fell in love with ballet at the age of three. She danced soloist and principal roles for The Saint Paul City Ballet, Contra Costa Ballet, Berkeley Ballet
Theater, Capital City Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Northern California Ballet, and Suffolk
Ballet. Some memorable roles include “Juliet” in Romeo and Juliet, “Titania” in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, “Clara” in The Nutcracker, and “Fairy Godmother” in Cinderella. Although her training was heavily in the RAD method (Royal Academy of Dance, London), she has also trained in Vaganova, Cecchetti, and Balanchine
methods. She has been teaching ballet for many years and loves sharing her passion with others.
​
Veronika Part
Instructor
Former Soloist with the Kirov Ballet and Principal Ballerina for American Ballet Theater. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Veronika Part began her early training in artistic gymnastics before entering the Vaganova Ballet Academy in 1988. Part graduated in 1996 and joined the Kirov Ballet. She was promoted to soloist in 1998. Miss Part joined American Ballet Theatre in August 2002 and was promoted to Principal Ballerina in 2009. Her Extensive repertoire with the company included some of the following: Terpsichore in Apollo, Nikiya in La Bayadère, Zina in The Bright Stream,Fairy Godmother in Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, Twig in James Kudelka’s Cinderella, Prayer in Coppélia, an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, Kitri, Mercedes and the Queen of the Driads in Don Quixote, Glove Seller in Gaîté Pasrisienne, Myrta in Giselle, Queen of Shemakahn in The Golden Cockerel, the Sugar Plum Fairy in Kevin McKenzie’s The Nutcracker, Clara, the Princess in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Princess Aurora and the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, and Odette-Odile, in Swan Lake. Norris Performing Arts Center & The Ballet Department are proud to have Miss Part joining our staff.
Marilyn Navarro
Instructor
Ms. Marilyn began studying Dance and musical
theater in her college years and earned her AA
degree in Dance from Mira Costa Community
College in Oceanside CA. She continued her
studies at Cal State San Marcos and graduated with
a BA in Liberal Studies as well as earning her
master’s degree in education and teaching
credentials in Health/Dance & introductory English
from Azusa Pacific University. She has been
teaching High School and Middle School Dance,
Health & English for 23 years. Ms. Marilyn has been
married for over 20 years and has 4 children. Two
of which also dance at TBS! Ms. Marilyn has
performed for the past 2 years in the Nutcracker with
The Ballet Studio as well as Cinderella and is thrilled
to join the staff of this amazing studio! She will
always have a special place in her heart for dance
and plans to be a dancer for life!