How to Teach Preschool Ballet: : A Guidebook for Teachers (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781500631567)

Gina Mayer, aka "Miss Gina Ballerina", is a teacher of all forms of dance and theater and has been teaching since 1996. Dance has always been a part of her life. It all started at age two when she told her mother that she wanted to take dance classes and she never looked back. Having a love for all forms of the performing arts led Gina to pursue tap, jazz, hip hop, ballet, voice and acting while growing up. She then went on to receive her BFA in theater and a minor in dance from the University of Minnesota in Duluth. Since graduating, she has had the privilege of performing with some great companies including the Guthrie Theater, Chanhassen Dinner Theater and the Lyric Opera of NY. In 2001 Gina and her husband moved to New York city. There they had the opportunity to study with great voice and dance teachers, perform and teach. Gina loved the opportunities which included being the resident choreographer for the Pied Piper Children's Theater Company. It was while she was teaching in New York that Gina started to develop her Wish Upon a Ballet program for preschoolers. When she and her husband decided that they wanted to start a family however, they thought it would be better to move back to Minnesota to be closer to their families. Since being back in Minnesota, Gina continues teaching through her own program called Mayer Arts teaching children who wish to dance or perform musical theater. Most of her programs are through community education or parks and recreation programs. They are meant for students who don't want to compete or for parents who want something more affordable and less high maintenance. Gina continues to study dance and voice and believes that artists are never finished perfecting their craft. She still performs from time to time with the company that she and her husband started called the Twin Cities Lyric Theater.