The most rewarding aspect of our studio for our staff is the longevity of our students. We have many, many students who began at the Conservatory as toddlers, and have grown into phenomenal artists right before our eyes. Some have gone on to careers as professional dancers or dance educators; some have gone on to become doctors, lawyers or engineers. But all of them feel strongly that their time studying dance at the Conservatory has had a profound and positive influence on who they are as people.
From our students’ first plie to their final bow, we support our kids for every step of their journey.
Artistic Director Stefanie M. Best
Stefanie was born in San Francisco and was encouraged in the classical arts by her mother, a Russian emigree. Stefanie furthered her ballet training at Southern Methodist University, and received a Masters Degree in Dance from the University of Houston. She also spent three years at the Houston Ballet Academy.
Upon returning to Dallas, Stefanie spent ten years dancing for Krassovska Ballet Jeunesse, under the direction of Nathalie Krassovska, former prima ballerina of the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo and the London Festival Ballet. Mdme. Krassovska worked directly with the most influential choreographers of the early 20th century, including George Balanchine, Michel Fokine, Bronislava Nijinska, Leonide Massine, Anton Dolin and many others.
Mary Muller
Mary began dancing with Stefanie Best in 1995 with the Krassovska Ballet Jeunesse, and began teaching for her at the Allen Conservatory of Dance in 1999. She has a BFA in Ballet from Texas Christian University, and over 25 years of teaching experience with children and adults of all ages. She was accepted to the School of American Ballet at age 12, and received many scholarships throughout her training. She studied with Kathy Chamberlain, Jerry ByWaters Cochran, Lisa Fuscillo, Ellen Page Garrison, Nathalie Krassovska, June Nelson, Fernando Schaffenberg and others performing principal roles such as Swanilda, Black Swan, Snow Queen, Sugar Plum Fairy, and both leading and support roles in many other ballets such as Les Sylphides, Sleeping Beauty, La Boutique Fantasque, Don Quixote, Faust, Pas de Quatre as well as many roles created specifically for her.
Linda Oustalet
Linda studied classical ballet from childhood through her teen years and returned as an adult to study at the Allen Conservatory of Dance and at Collin College. Linda has danced in the Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Coppelia and excerpts from Pas de Quartre, and Paquita.
Yvette Bauder
Classically trained, Yvette has been part of the dance world for over 30 years. She has performed in many ballets such as “Sleeping Beauty”, “Swan Lake”, “Coppelia”, and “the Nutcracker” in professional productions in Houston, Nashville, and Dallas. Switching gears in the early 90’s Yvette was chosen to be an “Elite Dancer” with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Show Group and danced in two Super Bowls during her DCC days. Yvette has been teaching for 35 years and was the owner/director of Stonebridge School of Ballet in McKinney. Her ballet choreography has won top awards and her students have been accepted by prestigious summer dance programs at the Kirov Ballet and Joffrey Ballet.
Amit Katz
Meet Amit Katz, a talented dancer and recent graduate from Brenau University (Gainesville, GA). Amit is eager to share her passion for dance with others and inspire young people to explore their creativity and embrace their unique identities. By doing so, she hopes to raise awareness regarding emotional stress that young people experience these days and contribute to improving their quality of life.
Amit means “friendship” in Hebrew and resembles similar meanings in Latin languages (amitié, amici, amistad). She was born in Madrid Spain and raised in Frankfurt Germany, Herzliya Israel (where she attended a leadership Jr. High School program), and Plano Texas (where she graduated from Plano West Sr. High School). Amit brings her multi-cultural experience and friendship into her creation process.
Amit discovered her love for dance at the age of 13 and has since dedicated herself to mastering a range of styles, including ballet, modern, contemporary, and jazz. Her rigorous training and dedication to her craft have allowed her to perform on stages both locally and abroad, where she has captivated audiences with her grace, precision, and enthusiasm.
Her professionalism and dedication were noticed by Brenau University’s recruiters, who offered her a full-ride scholarship. She graduated from Brenau University in Spring 2023 with honors and earned a BA degree in Dance with an advanced ballet concentration. Amit is now poised to pursue her dream of becoming a professional dancer and choreographer. She is therefore excited to continue dancing as a professional dancer with Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Amit will dedicate her time between rehearsals and performances to pass her passion for dance to younger dancers as a dance teacher.
Adilyn Krevanko
Adilyn began her dance journey at the age of three at Moxy Dance Studio. She continued her early training at Oregon Ballet Theatre from ages 5 to 8, followed by study under Kasha Watts—formerly the director of Sultanov Ballet Academy—from ages 8 to 12.
After relocating to Texas, Adilyn started dancing at the Allen Conservatory of Dance while simultaneously performing with the Allen Civic Ballet. With the Allen Civic Ballet, she danced in multiple productions of The Nutcracker, most notably in the role of the Dew Drop Fairy. She has also danced in excerpts from many of the classics, including Don Quixote, The Awakening of Flora and Paquita. Adilyn is excited to share her love of dance with the next generation!
Anna Ward
Anna Ward received her earliest dance training from Frank and Irina Pal in her hometown of Wichita Falls, TX. Ms. Ward was a scholarship student with Neubert Ballet at Carnegie Hall, New York City and at the Harvard Summer Dance Center. She was a choreographer and a performer as a young student. While living in New York City, she studied with Istvan Robosky and Peter Nelson. She had modern dance training at the Murray Louis/Alwin Nikolias Dance Lab.
Upon returning to Texas, Ms. Ward began her advanced study with Mme. Nathalie Krassovska in Dallas. She choreographed and performed in many ballets for the Krassovska Ballet Jeunesse of Dallas. For many years she directed the children’s program at Krassovska School of Classical Russian Ballet and also taught and choreographed for three years at City Ballet Dallas.
Ms. Ward performed in the musical TEXAS as the Lead Flame under direction of Neil Hess. Along with dancing principle roles with the Ballet Jeunesse she also performed with North Texas area companies such as Irving Ballet, Ballet Met, Dance Fusion, Allen Civic Ballet and others. She enjoyed six seasons with the Dallas opera as a featured dancer.
Anna Ward’s choreography has been set on many Texas ballet companies such as Allen Civic Ballet, Ballet for the 21st Century, The Woodlands Festival Ballet, Galveston Ballet and Irving Ballet. She has twice participated in the Southwest Regional Choreography Conference. She held the position of Artistic Director for Galveston Ballet from 2005 until 2010. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Emerson College in Boston and a Texas teaching certificate from Dallas Baptist University.
Ms. Ward was recently honored by being named Artistic Advisor for the Ballet Foundation for the 21st Century, located in Dallas, TX. Ms. Ward was commissioned to teach at the prestigious Salzburg International Ballet Academy in Austria for the summer of 2008. In the summer of 2009 Ms. Ward traveled to New York’s Long Lake Performing Arts Center to choreograph several original ballets. In June of 2010 Galveston Ballet was invited to tour Norway to perform Ms. Ward’s choreography.
She is part of a network of international faculty for Salzburg International Ballet Academy (SIBA) and European Dance Arts Salzburg (EDAS). She continues to pursue the creation of her original ballets.
Richard Trimmer
Richard began his career at the age of 17 in Colorado under the direction of W. Lawrence Boyette and Carla Parks. Richard studied both Cecchetti and Vaganova styles under such notables as Natasha Krassovska, Igor Youskevitch, Leon Danilean, Bill Martin-Viscount, and Jutec Kasamon. He also studied Martha Graham technique under James Nearing. He has performed with companies in Denver, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, Little Rock, Shreveport, Lubbock, Chattanooga and been a Guest Artist with numerous ballet companies across the country. His most notable principal roles were in Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Nutcracker, La Bayadere, Don Quixote, Les Sylphides, Flower Festival, and Paquita. Mr. Trimmer has also choreographed a number of ballets and Pas de Deux.
Viviana Lubertino
Former principal at the Ballet del Teatro Municipal de Santiago Chile.
Former ballerina with Ballet del Teatro Argentino de La Plata.
Graduated from Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colon.
Emma Kentner
Emma began dancing at the age of four at the Allen Conservatory of Dance. In 2011, she joined the Allen Civic Ballet under the direction of Stefanie Best, where she performed featured roles in The Nutcracker including Clara, Snow Queen, Dew Drop Fairy, and the Sugar Plum Fairy. During her time with Allen Civic Ballet, she also performed roles in productions of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, and excerpts from Swan Lake. During her training, Emma attended summer intensive programs with Ballet West, Kansas City Ballet, and Oklahoma City Ballet, and received additional instruction through workshops with Anais Chalendard, Megan Fairchild, Tiit Helimets, Sasha De Sola, and Stephanie Rae Williams. She also had the opportunity to compete at YAGP and was fortunate to have been placed in the Top 24 in the Women’s Senior Classical category both in 2016 and 2018.
After graduating high school, Emma joined the Kansas City Ballet Second Company (2018–2020) under the direction of Devon Carney. Here she performed a variety of corps de ballet roles in Devon Carney’s “The Nutcracker”, including Snowflake, Marzipan Shepherdess, and Flower. In addition to her performance experience, she has taught intermittently at the Allen Conservatory of Dance since 2021.
Emma earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science from Brigham Young University–Idaho in 2024 and is excited to return to teaching, where she looks forward to sharing her passion for dance with the next generation of students.