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.

Liza Emily Fritz 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 S. 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.

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.  

Megan Jackson has earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. There she studied Tap ranging from classical to hoofing styles, Ballet with teachers from New York City Ballet, Modern in techniques of Martha Graham, Jose Limon, and release, as well as all styles of Ballroom. She has performed in each Dance Concert held at the University as well as performing in the Charlotte Dance Festival. Megan has grown up in the Roanoke Valley dancing since the age of two. She has competed and won titles in various competitions on the East coast. She has also been trained in Yoga and has been teaching for two years. In the future, Megan hopes to spread her love and knowledge of dance to the rest of the Roanoke Valley!

Vladimir Espinosa - Afro Cuban Dance and Percussion Musician and choreographer 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.

Anita Smelser our Office Manager 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.