Her professional training began at the State Ballet of Oregon and continued at the Cornish School of the Arts in Seattle, Washington, throughout high school. She went on to earn a BFA in Ballet Pedagogy from the University of Utah and an MA in Dance from the University of Arizona.

Following her Master’s degree, Sylvia became the Director and Owner of the Children’s Danscompany, where she produced full-length fairytale ballets annually. Before launching her own business, she gained extensive teaching experience, including instructing at Salt Lake City’s renowned Christensen Center and working with the city’s Parks and Recreation department. While pursuing her Master’s degree in Tucson, she taught ballet to non-major university students and led multiple classes through Tucson Parks and Recreation. Most recently, she spent a summer in Maine, teaching young children outdoors in a mountain setting and directing a full-length story ballet for their final performance.

With experience teaching students ranging from ages 3 to 18, as well as adult classes, Sylvia finds her greatest joy in working with children and fostering their love for dance.

Her professional performance experience includes State Ballet of Oregon, Utah Ballet, the University of Arizona, Tucson 10th Street Dance Works, and Zenith Studios in Tucson.

At 15, she relocated to Chicago, IL, to pursue professional training at the Joffrey Ballet Academy, studying under Bolshoi Ballet Academy graduates Anna Reznik and Alexei Kremnev. The following year, at 16, Sofia was accepted into the Joffrey Ballet’s trainee program, where she gained valuable performance experience and had the opportunity to work more closely with the company.

 

At 17, Sofia decided to focus on the Balanchine technique, transitioning away from her Vaganova training at the Joffrey. She enrolled at the Miami City Ballet School, receiving instruction from Alexander Carter and Getta Constantinescu. The next year, at 18, she was awarded a scholarship from the School at Steps in New York City, where she trained under former American Ballet Theater principal dancer Leslie Browne. During her time in New York City, Sofia auditioned for and secured a spot in Ballet Austin’s fellowship program in Texas for the following year under full scholarship.

While at Ballet Austin, she enjoyed numerous performance opportunities with the company and completed an internship with their costume department.

In addition to her year-round training, Sofia has attended several prestigious summer programs, including Boston Ballet, The School of American Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Ballet Chicago, The Bolshoi Ballet Academy in both NYC and Moscow, Russia, as well as American Ballet Theater in NYC, and Ballet Austin.