Lona Gomez, Dance Center Principal/Ballet Mistress

Lona Gomez, Dance Center Principal/Ballet Mistress A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Lona Gomez started dancing at the age of four. At fourteen, she was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at the Boston Ballet School. At age sixteen she accepted an apprenticeship with the Boston Ballet Company. When she was eighteen, she joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre under the direction of former New York City Ballet principal, Patricia Wilde. She danced soloist roles in most classical works, most notably as “Myrtha” in Giselle and “Bluebird” in The Sleeping Beauty. She has danced lead roles in an extensive repertoire of Bal¬anchine Ballets such as Serenade, Scotch Symphony, Donizetti Variations, Pas de Dix and Tarantella. She was chosen by Helgi Tomasson, San Francisco Ballet Director, to perform the lead role in Contredances partnered by Prix de Lusanne Silver Medalist, Pablo Savoye. New York Times dance critic, Anna Kisselgoff, singled her out for ad¬mirably leading the Pittsburgh troupe in Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie at Jacob’s Pillow. And she was noted by Pittsburgh dance critics for an “ebullient jump” as well as “gracious performances”. She is the Dance Center Principal and Ballet Mistress of Ballet Spartanburg where she joins a gifted and inspiring group of dancers and staff.