Sharing The Beauty And Tradition Of Classical Ballet

Phone: 619.523.5434

Point Loma School of Classical Ballet
2195 Chatsworth Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92107

Phone 619.523.5434

Email ericao@roadrunner.com

Please click on the map on the right for directions.

Faculty

Erica Ogdon, director grew up in San Diego in a home environment that was rich with music; her father, a composer and a professor emeritus at U.C.S.D and her mother a soprano who spent many hours singing and teaching in their home studio.

She began her ballet lessons at the age of 9 at local ballet studios. At age 16 she continued her ballet studies at California Ballet where she also performed with the company. After training with Erling Sunde (former company teacher of The Royal Ballet) she joined Indianapolis Ballet Theatre.

Since then Erica has also danced with Long Beach Ballet, directed by David Wilcox and Festival Ballet Theatre, directed by Salwa Rizkalla. Erica has also studied with Marat Daukayev (2006 - 2007) and following substitute taught for the Marat Daukayev school of ballet for all their ballet levels one through five. She strives to continually educate herself as well as keep in shape as a teacher and dancer. As well as giving herself class daily she has taken classes most recently with Valeri Tchekachov at Encinitas Ballet Academy & Arts Center, Glenn Edgerton at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, CA and others. In 2009 Erica attended a teachers workshop course taught by Finis Jhung in Los Angeles and the Royal Academy of Dance four day syllabus course for teachers in Long Beach, CA. Erica opened Point Loma School of Classical ballet in 2003.

Diana Nicastro has been teaching ballet in the San Diego area for over 20 years. She was born in Greece and has been dancing since age four. Diana received her early training in ballet with Suzanne Gutterson and modern dance instruction with June Lewis in New York. In Manhattan, she continued formal ballet studies at the Harkness Ballet School with her mentor David Howard. Diana went on to attend the Boston Conservatory of Music under the direction of Yasuko & Emiko Tokunaga, concentrating on classical ballet, pointe, modern dance and choreography. In addition she also studied with Ruth Sandholm Ambrose of Boston Ballet. After college Diana returned to Manhattan to continue her dance education at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, and further ballet training with David Howard. Diana teaches at the Academy of Performing Arts where she has worked with adults and children for the last 10 years; North County Dance Arts teaching Adult Ballet; and The Malshock Dance School teaching Creative Movement for young children. She was a former faculty member and branch manager of the California Ballet School for over 5 years and has taught for over 17 years at the Scripps Performing Arts Academy. Diana has completed the RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) Teacher's Course and continued studies include annual RAD conferences, as well as Teacher's workshops with David Howard and Master Classes with Gelsey Kirkland, Susan Jaffee & Sandra Jennings.

Lara Segura began dancing in San Diego at age seven. Since then she been involved in all areas of the performing arts. She has trained and performed with Faith Jensen Ismay, Patricia Sandback, Kathryn Irey, Allyson Green, Joe Alter and California Ballet. She has had the opportunity to perform at events such as Bravo San Diego, Celebrate Dance Festival and Trolley Dances as well as groups such as, Heatwave Productions, Patricia Rincon Dance Collective, Malashock Dance and the Mojalet Dance Collective. Lara was named 2002 Dancer of the year by the Palomar College dance faculty and was the 2005 Outstanding Graduate in Dance for San Diego State University. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance, Lara has enjoyed teaching and performing throughout San Diego and Europe. She believes in creating a fun and nurturing classroom environment whrere the core principles of dance coincide with the students growing love for the art form.

Sayat Asatryan was born in Yerevan, Armenia, and trained in Russia at the Voronezh Ballet School and St. Petersburg Ballet Academy. He was a principal ballet dancer with the Moscow Kremlin Ballet, touring internationally in France, Italy, Egypt, China, Japan, South America, Mexico, and the U.S.
Mr. Asatryan has worked with premier dancers and choreographers, most notably: Ekaterina Maximova, Vladimir Vasyliev, Chris Tabor, Victoria Simon, and Heinz Poll. Mr. Asatryan has performed leading roles in such classical and neo-classical ballets as: Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Carmen, Who Cares, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, and The Nutcracker.

In 2002, Mr. Asatryan staged the full-length ballet, Don Quixote, for the Santa Barbara Festival Balet. Also he has become the exclusive choreographer and booking agent of The Nutcracker for Southern Dance Theatre in Georgia. Mr. Asatryan also produced the First Russian Festival in the state of Georgia in 2006 and also became an actor for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia as well. Currently, he is the booking agent for the Santa Barbara Artists Management and freelance ballet teacher.

Olga Tchekachova, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. She graduated from the Perm Ballet Academy. Following this, she performed in starring roles with internationally recognized ballet companies, the Kirov-Marinsky Ballet, St. Petersburg Classical Ballet of Russia and Bristol Ballet of England. Traveling around the world, Ms. Tchekachova performed leading roles in many classical ballets: Don Quixote, Giselle, Coppelia, Nutcracker, La Sylphide, La Bayadere, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Shopeniana, as well as numerous contemporary pieces including G. Balanchine's "Who Cares". She had opportunity to perform in Russia, England, Germany, Ireland, Finland, Turkey, Italy, Taiwan, USA and Mexico. Olga Tchekachova was a finalist in the 6th New York International Ballet Competition in 2000.

"Olga Tchekachova is one of the stars of Giselle"
Santa Barbara News Press