People
Our Faculty, Musicians & Staff
Our Team
Marin Ballet professionals bring a wealth of experience and diverse backgrounds to the organization. Our leadership team (pictured at left includes (L to R) Nancy Rehkopf, Marketing and Development Consultant; Julia Adam, Resident Choreographer: Catherine Hader, Director of Marin Ballet; and Stephanie Taubert, Operations Manager and Registrar. Our teaching faculty have professional dance backgrounds from some of the world’s finest companies. Some bring the dedication they learned as Marin Ballet alums to the studio with them every day. The Board of Trustees includes business professionals and community leaders who ensure fiscal stability and good governance. Whether staff, faculty, board members, or parents – all are dedicated to Marin Ballet’s mission of developing confident, healthy and joyous students through excellent ballet training, performance opportunities, mentorship and community engagement.
Meet our Faculty
Catherine Hader
Catherine Hader became the Director of Marin Ballet in July of 2024. A graduate of Canada’s National Ballet School, Catherine began her professional career with The National Ballet of Canada under Artistic Director Erik Bruhn. She went on to a successful dance and film career in Los Angeles that includes five film industry awards as Co-Producer of the dance documentary An Improbable Dream. In 2013, she started teaching at the School of Ballet Arizona under Carlos Valcarcel and later, under Maria Simonetti. In addition to her dance career, Catherine is also a certified yoga instructor, bringing an emphasis on health and wellness to Marin Ballet students.
Catherine Hader
Director of Marin Ballet
Laurie Klein
Laurie celebrates her 50th year of teaching with Marin Ballet this year! Her association with the school started in the 1950’s when she trained with Marin Ballet’s founder, Leona Norman, and was a member of the original Marin Civic Ballet. After graduation, she joined Norbert Vesak’s Western Dance Theatre, performing in Canada and the northwest. Returning home, Laurie began teaching when Marin Ballet opened its new facility at 100 Elm. She currently teaches Level 2 and 3 students, as well as Beginning Ballet for Teens and Adults.
Laurie Klein
Beginning Ballet Faculty
Corinne Jonas
Corinne Jonas received her training at Marin Ballet and danced professionally with the Houston Ballet and Diablo Ballet, performing principal and soloist roles in ballets by George Balanchine, classical and contemporary works, and roles created for her. Ms. Jonas worked with esteemed artists such as Dame Margot Fonteyn, Sir Kenneth Macmillian, Ben Stevenson and Paul Taylor and was featured in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. Ms. Jonas directed Berkeley Ballet Theater until joining Marin Ballet’s faculty in 2006.
Corinne Jonas
Artistic Administrator & Community Engagement
Julia Adam
Julia trained with the National Ballet School in Toronto, and upon graduation in 1983, spent five years with the National Ballet of Canada, and then joined the San Francisco Ballet in 1988, becoming a principal dancer in 1996. Upon retiring from the stage in 2002, Ms. Adam quickly gained recognition as one of the dance world’s rising talents in choreography. Ms. Adam has been featured in Dance Magazine, received the Isadora Duncan Award for Choreography, and currently directs her own dance company.
Julia Adam
Resident Choreographer
Dave Kato
David Kato trained at Marin Ballet and holds a B.A. in Dance from Dominican University. He danced professionally with Empire State Ballet in New York and has danced as a Guest Artist with many Bay Area companies including Oakland Ballet, Western Ballet, Berkeley Ballet Theater, and Margaret Wingrove Dance Company. He has taught technique, pas de deux, and boys’ training in schools throughout the Bay Area, and joined the MB faculty in 2003.
Dave Kato
Boys Training Faculty
Laura Skapik
Laura trained with Contra Costa Ballet, California Ballet and Oakland Ballet Academy. At age seventeen she joined the Oakland Ballet Company. After dancing with OBC she earned both a BA in Dance and an ABA-approved post-baccalaureate paralegal certificate from Saint Mary’s College of California. Laura has taught at Ballet Arts in Oakland and Oakland Ballet Academy. She is honored to be a part of Marin Ballet’s faculty since 2018.
Laura Skapik
Pre-Ballet / Ballet Prep Faculty
XIAO LIU
Xiao was born in China and began her professional training at 11. She received her B.A. in Ballet Pedagogy from the Beijing Dance Academy and has won prizes in national and provincial dance competitions. She has taught ballet at Berkeley Ballet Theater, Marin Ballet, and Smuin Ballet.
Xiao Liu
Erica Felsch
Erica received her professional training from North Carolina School of the Arts and the San Francisco Ballet’s Pre Professional Program. She performed in many company productions with SFB, and toured with the company in their production of “Don Quixote”. Erica went on to dance with Colorado Ballet in 2005. She also guested with various companies including Madison Ballet. She joined Ballet Arizona in 2008, and after four seasons with the company she joined Smuin Ballet. After 7 seasons with Smuin, Erica continues to dance as a freelance artist, and will teach and choreograph.
Erica Felsch
Rowan Williams
Rowan grew up competitively Irish Dancing at her mother’s Irish Dance school in Seattle, WA alongside training at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, spending summers with American Ballet Theatre NY and San Francisco Ballet School. After graduating from PNB, Rowan chose to pursue a BFA in Dance with Alonzo King LINES Ballet, graduating Summa Cum Laude May 2022. Rowan is also a certified GYROTONIC® trainer and is teaching gyrotonic and dance around the Bay Area and working as a freelance professional dancer. Rowan taught contemporary movement and Rep. to Levels 3 and 4 in Marin Ballet’s summer program 2022 and officially joined our Pre-Ballet faculty in the spring of 2023.
Rowan Williams
Damon Mahoney
Damon Mahoney began his performing career in the Bay Area in 2005 where he danced with a variety of companies including Savage Jazz Dance, Peninsula Ballet Theatre, Moving Arts Dance, Los Angeles’ Luminario Ballet, San Diego Opera, and principal roles with Oakland Ballet, San Francisco Opera and Menlowe Ballet. Damon has taught ballet and Pilates for over ten years and loves to weave elements of the two together, with an emphasis on healthy technique, form and foundation.
Damon Mahoney
Charlie Martin
Charlie Martin (they/them) trained at the Western Oklahoma Ballet Academy and studied on scholarship at ABT and Joffrey Ballet School’s Summer Intensives. Charlie then danced professionally with Kansas City Ballet for 11 seasons, performing leading roles in works by Twyla Tharp, José Limón, Val Caniparoli, and George Balanchine, among others. They also danced with Robin Dekkers’ Post: Ballet in San Francisco, Owen/Cox Dance Group in Kansas City, Remix touring Austria, and Oklahoma City Ballet. Martin’s choreography has been performed by Kansas City Ballet, Central Oklahoma Ballet Theatre, and Quixotic Fusion, to name a few. Charlie is also a repetiteur, staging works for professional companies, including work by Val Caniparoli and Penny Saunders. Previously, Mx. Martin was on faculty for the Oklahoma City Ballet Yvonne Chouteau School and Askew Ballet Academy, in addition to guest teaching for many schools and pre-professional companies. Charlie Martin is an ABT® Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 5, and is thrilled to join the Faculty at Marin Ballet.
Charlie Martin
Assistant School Manager
Freesia Bornstein
Freesia Bornstein started dancing at the age of 3 in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. When she was 14, she began training with artistic director Eddy Bray of Mainstage Academy of Dance and Bray Ballet in their pre professional program. A few years later, Freesia began teaching the intermediate ballet level at Mainstage. Upon graduating, Freesia then continued her training at the University of the Arts where she worked with choreographers such as Sidra Bell, Shayla Vie Jenkins, Jesse Zaritt, Micheal Sheridan and others. After two years at UArts, Freesia is now completing her degree at Dominican University through the LINES ballet BFA program.
Freesia Bornstein
Intermediate Ballet
Catherine Louie
Catherine Louie trained at Marin Ballet for 14 years. In 2023, she was inducted into the NHSDA, before completing her training at MB and graduating in June of 2024. Catherine was featured as the Lead Chinese dancer and the Lead Spanish in Nutcracker. During her junior and senior year, she volunteered in the pre-ballet division and was hired to teach as part of the Beautiful Earth Dance Camp, before officially joining the Marin Ballet faculty in the summer of 2024. Catherine taught pre-ballet and in the lower division Level 4. She will continue to teach pre-ballet on Saturdays, coupled with attending the University of the Pacific to major in their 2+3 Pre-Pharmacy Program.
Catherine Louie
David Justin
David Justin, most recently serving as Artistic Director of Ballet Wichita, David joins the Marin Ballet Advanced faculty after serving in academia for over 17 years. David has also been an interim ballet master and men’s program coordinator for Kansas City Ballet and was the founding Artistic Director of American Repertory Ensemble. Formerly a principal dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet, a soloist with San Francisco Ballet and beginning his career with Boston Ballet, David has toured the globe extensively. David’s dancing was described as “alluring and mercurial,” “polished,” “brilliant,” and “fearless.” David’s own critically acclaimed choreography has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, National Choreographic Institute (NYCB), Dance Gallery NYC, and American College Dance Association, to name a few. Reviews of his choreography describe it as “surprising,” “poetic,” “athletic,” “inventive,” and “intelligent.” David holds a master’s degree in dance in Education and the Community from the University of Birmingham, England.
David Justin
Ethan Epstein
Ethan Epstein is from Boston, MA where he began his ballet training at Boston Ballet School. Ethan went on to train at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Darla Hoover and Marcia Dale Weary, where he danced principal and soloist roles in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Emeralds, and Alan Hineline’s Coppelia. Professionally, Ethan has danced at Alabama Ballet and Oklahoma City Ballet. He danced roles including Candy Cane in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, The Champion Roper in Agnes de Mille's Rodeo, and Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty. Ethan taught at the Alabama Ballet School and Birmingham Academy of Dance while dancing professionally. Ethan has served as the Children’s Rehearsal Director for Balanchine’s Nutcracker at Alabama Ballet for four years and has guest taught company class at Alabama Ballet. He also returns to CPYB to teach during the summer and is very excited to teach at Marin Ballet!
Ethan Epstein
Alice Svetic
Alice is a dancer+choreographer+educator based in Oakland, CA. Originally from Milwaukee, WI, Alice received a BFA in Dance from University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MFA in Dance from Hollins University, where she was an adjunct professor of ballet and contemporary dance practice. Alice is currently a dance artist with SF-based Alex Ketley’s The Foundry and a teaching artist with the Alonzo King LINES Training Program. After guest teaching Contemporary technique and composition for Marin Ballet students in July of 2024, Alice joined the faculty in September of 2024, in our Open Adult Ballet division.
Alice Svetic
Stephanie Scarpello
Stephanie received her training at Marin Ballet, studying with Svetlana Afanasieva, Leslie Crockett, and Shannon Bresnahan. She danced with COM Dance Company, and continued her studies at the University of San Francisco, where she graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. in Performing Arts & Social Justice. Stephanie developed a love for teaching young children through her mother Signe Lando, a long-time pre-ballet teacher with Marin Ballet. It is an honor follow in her steps, and carry on her passion for dance education. Mrs. Scarpello joined the Marin Ballet faculty in 2003. She left briefly in the summer of 2023, but now returns as a substitute for our pre-ballet and primary division.
Stephanie Scarpello
Meet the Board of Directors
The Marin Ballet board of trustees has been in continuous operation since 1963. Charged with ensuring the school’s fiscal security and governance, the board meets regularly, providing quarterly updates in Marin Ballet’s eNewsletter. The Board has recently completed a 3-year strategic plan. We invite you to look this over and send any comments to our board president, Mona Steinberg.
Looking for a Faculty Member?
Musicians
Michiyo Grosz
Timothy K. Murphy
Staff
Nancy Rehkopf, Marketing and Development Consultant
Julia Adam, Resident Choreographer
Stephanie Taubert, Operations Manager & Registrar
Sara AbuShaban, Marketing and Development Coordinator
Lauryn Smeester, Office Administrator & Volunteer Coordinator
Board Of Trustees
Mona Steinberg, President
Rich Jensen, Vice President
Ann Elias, Secretary
Bahar Ozgur, Treasurer
Joe Allanson
Jennifer Henerlau
Stephanie Henerlau
April Oliver
Marielle Murphy
Ashish Sharma