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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. |
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Sandra Meythaler - Executive and Artistic Director 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 Series 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: |
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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. |
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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. |
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Megan Rindoks was only four years old when she fell in love with dancing at Dance Davidson, a small school that was above a fire station in her home town. From there she went on to study ballet at the School of North Carolina Dance Theater and Piedmont Dance Conservatory. She shifted her focus to modern dance when she began attending Hollins University in 2006. She has also spent the past few summers working and studying at the American Dance Festival. Megan graduated this past spring with a B.A. in both Dance and Communication Studies, and is excited to have an opportunity to spread her love of dance with the beautiful and talented students at Roanoke Ballet Theatre. |
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Sara Kosuth began dancing at the age of 3 at Susan Barnes Dance Studio, in Carbondale, IL. When she was 13 she started taking weekly ballet classes at the Alexandra School of Ballet, in St. Louis. MO During this time she attended two summer intensives with Katherine Dunham where she instructed classes in East St Louis. The next year she was accepted into Virginia School of the Arts (VSA), in Lynchburg VA. where she attended for three years until her graduation. When she was 18 she attended the North Carolina Dance Theatre's Conservatory Program in Charlotte, NC. The following year she received an Apprenticeship at Montgomery Ballet in Montgomery Alabama where she danced under the direction of Elie Lazar for two years. She received additional training with Milwaukee Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Orlando Ballet, and Richmond Ballet, and Montgomery Ballet Summer Programs. |
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Zuheil A. Banuelos is a native of Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Spanish, a Minor in Dance, and a Master's Degree in Hispanic Literature. She is currently teaching Spanish at Roanoke College. Her dance experience flourished when she was attending Middle School in Mexico. Dancing is her passion and teaching is her career. She has experienced a variety of dance genres: Ballet Folklorico de Mexico, Latin, Aztec, and Modern dance. "Flamenco is my third language", - she emphasizes with excitement. Flamenco was an essential element of her life for six years at the University of New Mexico. She embarked on her Flamenco journey with Eva Encinias Sandoval, founder of the National Institute of Flamenco in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has studied Flamenco under the tutelage of Joaquin and Marisol Encinias, Pablo Rodarte, and Omayra Amaya. She founded, choreographed and directed her own dance group "Ritmo, Fuego y Passion" to the music of New Mexico's group "Guajira" for four consecutive years in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is currently a Flamenco Instructor at the Roanoke Ballet Theater. She is also an active member of Fashionista Roanoke. She will be teaching a folk song from Seville, Spain called "Sevillanas". Her other dance ensembles are original songs from Ricardo Griego which are choreographed by Zuheil A. Banuelos. |
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Laura Froggatt is a member of the Tap Ensemble @ Virginia Tech. She has been tapping since she was three years old and competed for many years at the regional and national levels. In 2008 she performed her first solo at the New York City Tap Festival "Tap City". She also assists at a weekly after-school program for under-privileged children in grades 3-5 called "What's On Stage". This grant-funded program seeks to expose at-risk kids to the performing arts in a positive, nurturing environment. Laura enjoys volunteering for many non-profit organizations and this year she received the President's Volunteer Service Gold Award for her many hours of community service work. |
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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. |
