About
Palos Verdes Ballet offers classical ballet training that includes pre-ballet classes, pre-professional division classes, and a Little Dancers program, along with competition coaching and private lessons. The program also offers summer programs such as a summer workshop and summer recital, as well as a master pas de deux class and participation in Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP), California Dance Classics, and the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Competition. An Adult Ballet Division is available, including a pre-pointe class for adults with prior experience.
• Ages: 3–18 years old
• Schedule: Adult Ballet Division classes meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8:15–9:40pm; summer programs run in four-week sessions and are offered for ages 5–18 and the Adult Ballet Division
Founded in 1955, Palos Verdes Ballet is the oldest established classical ballet company in the South Bay and is described as South Bay's premier classical ballet school and the only exclusive classical ballet studio on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The school offers a comprehensive and well-rounded ballet curriculum based on the Vaganova method, with classes that focus on technique, musicality, and artistry and that run from pre-ballet through a pre-professional division and an Adult Ballet Division. The Little Dancers program emphasizes fundamental skills for children ages 3–6, including listening and following skills, spatial awareness, musicality, creativity, and ballet basics.
Palos Verdes Ballet is an affiliated school of the nonprofit Palos Verdes Ballet Association, which operated from 1980 to 2020, and students perform with the company in two large professional-quality productions each year featuring international guest artists. The next production will be the 44th Anniversary production of The Nutcracker presented by Palos Verdes Performing Arts. A 46th Spring production audition at the studio is announced, with a minimum audition age of 5 years old. The organization also offers exclusive training throughout the summer and notes that one recent four-week summer session resulted in a substantial amount of work completed in that time.
The leadership team includes Director Sae Rom Lee Strickland, Founder Ms. Fay Gillette, and Director Emeritus Ms. Uta Graf-Apostol of the Palos Verdes Ballet Association. Sae Rom Lee Strickland trained exclusively at Palos Verdes Ballet with Uta Graf-Apostol after moving to the U.S., following early training at Yewon Art School in Seoul, Korea and the National Ballet of Korea on full scholarship, and she has been a Rehearsal Mistress for the entire Palos Verdes Ballet repertoire and a member of Colorado Ballet. Her performance repertoire includes Dying Swan, the title roles in Giselle and Cinderella, Myrtha, Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Marie Taglioni in Grand Pas de Quatre, Diana in Diana & Acteon, Walpurgisnacht, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, and Odette and Odile in Swan Lake.
Palos Verdes Ballet and its faculty have received recognition that includes Norika Matsuyama, former Soloist of San Francisco Ballet, receiving the Grand Prix Award and Uta Graf-Apostol receiving the “Outstanding Teacher Award” at the 2009 Youth America Grand Prix, and in the 2023 Youth America Grand Prix Tampa Final, Christine Ng (16) receiving a Bronze medal in the Senior Classical Category and placing in the top 12 in both Classical and Contemporary categories. The program offers the Fay Gillette & Brigida Giancaspero Scholarship Award, with a Scholarship Committee selecting recipients each year, and in 2025 the Brigida Giancaspero Scholarship Award was given to four students. The organization states a mission of using support and contributions to fund its goal of creating one-of-a-kind ballet productions for the community and student dancers and to address its inability to invite prestigious ballet artists from around the world.
No drop-ins are available, and families are asked to reserve a spot for a placement class so staff can assist in determining which class is suitable. Prior experience is required for Adult Ballet Division classes and for the new pre-pointe class in the Adult Ballet Division.
Last updated July 25, 2026.
• Ages: 3–18 years old
• Schedule: Adult Ballet Division classes meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8:15–9:40pm; summer programs run in four-week sessions and are offered for ages 5–18 and the Adult Ballet Division
Founded in 1955, Palos Verdes Ballet is the oldest established classical ballet company in the South Bay and is described as South Bay's premier classical ballet school and the only exclusive classical ballet studio on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The school offers a comprehensive and well-rounded ballet curriculum based on the Vaganova method, with classes that focus on technique, musicality, and artistry and that run from pre-ballet through a pre-professional division and an Adult Ballet Division. The Little Dancers program emphasizes fundamental skills for children ages 3–6, including listening and following skills, spatial awareness, musicality, creativity, and ballet basics.
Palos Verdes Ballet is an affiliated school of the nonprofit Palos Verdes Ballet Association, which operated from 1980 to 2020, and students perform with the company in two large professional-quality productions each year featuring international guest artists. The next production will be the 44th Anniversary production of The Nutcracker presented by Palos Verdes Performing Arts. A 46th Spring production audition at the studio is announced, with a minimum audition age of 5 years old. The organization also offers exclusive training throughout the summer and notes that one recent four-week summer session resulted in a substantial amount of work completed in that time.
The leadership team includes Director Sae Rom Lee Strickland, Founder Ms. Fay Gillette, and Director Emeritus Ms. Uta Graf-Apostol of the Palos Verdes Ballet Association. Sae Rom Lee Strickland trained exclusively at Palos Verdes Ballet with Uta Graf-Apostol after moving to the U.S., following early training at Yewon Art School in Seoul, Korea and the National Ballet of Korea on full scholarship, and she has been a Rehearsal Mistress for the entire Palos Verdes Ballet repertoire and a member of Colorado Ballet. Her performance repertoire includes Dying Swan, the title roles in Giselle and Cinderella, Myrtha, Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Marie Taglioni in Grand Pas de Quatre, Diana in Diana & Acteon, Walpurgisnacht, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, and Odette and Odile in Swan Lake.
Palos Verdes Ballet and its faculty have received recognition that includes Norika Matsuyama, former Soloist of San Francisco Ballet, receiving the Grand Prix Award and Uta Graf-Apostol receiving the “Outstanding Teacher Award” at the 2009 Youth America Grand Prix, and in the 2023 Youth America Grand Prix Tampa Final, Christine Ng (16) receiving a Bronze medal in the Senior Classical Category and placing in the top 12 in both Classical and Contemporary categories. The program offers the Fay Gillette & Brigida Giancaspero Scholarship Award, with a Scholarship Committee selecting recipients each year, and in 2025 the Brigida Giancaspero Scholarship Award was given to four students. The organization states a mission of using support and contributions to fund its goal of creating one-of-a-kind ballet productions for the community and student dancers and to address its inability to invite prestigious ballet artists from around the world.
No drop-ins are available, and families are asked to reserve a spot for a placement class so staff can assist in determining which class is suitable. Prior experience is required for Adult Ballet Division classes and for the new pre-pointe class in the Adult Ballet Division.
Last updated July 25, 2026.
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