Sasha Robertson, JD, ACUSA (Artistic Director), has been a part of the Ballet Etudes’ artistic staff for 7 years. Ms. Robertson began her ballet training with Marnell Himes-Ushijima and Gary and Muriel Joyce at Huntington Academy of Dance at age 5, studying and examining in the Cecchetti method. She continued her training with advanced commercial dance in high school and college. In high school, Ms. Robertson’s love for dance blossomed into a desire to share her knowledge, experience, and passion with others and she made the transition into teaching. After over 12 years, Ms. Robertson remains on HAD’s faculty. She has obtained her Associate teacher certification through Cecchetti USA and has submitted many students of different levels for their Cecchetti examinations. Ms. Robertson’s teaching experience also included a 6-year tenure at Endeavor School of the Arts, formerly Kimberly McEachern’s Newport Dance Academy, where she headed the ballet and pointe programs as well as the studio’s Cecchetti program. As an alumna of Ballet Etudes, Ms. Robertson has performed in the company’s Nutcracker countless times, dancing roles from Mouse to Snow Princess to Spanish lead, just to name a few…her roles have even included Maid and Party Parent! She has also danced lead roles in other Ballet Etudes productions, such as Cinderella, the Little Mermaid, and Snow White and the Magnificent 7. Ms. Robertson has directed and/or helped produce many Ballet Etudes productions, including Alice in Wonderland (2012), Nutcracker 2012, Nutcracker 2013, Snow White in the Old West (2014), and Coppelia (2014). Ms. Robertson graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre and Environmental Social Sciences. While at USC, she performed in several School of Theatre productions, including Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and Tom Stoppard’s “On the Razzle.” Ms. Robertson was also fortunate to be selected to choreograph a full dance accompaniment to the Greek tragedy, “Agamemnon.” Ms. Robertson also holds her J.D. from USC Gould School of Law and works as a Project Development and Finance attorney at Troutman Sanders LLP. She is grateful to be able to balance out her legal career by sharing her love of dance with the upcoming generation of ballerinas as Ballet Etudes’ Assistant Artistic Director. Ms. Robertson brings strong professionalism and organization as well as a wealth of teaching and directing experience to Ballet Etudes’ artistic team and is excited to continue to help the company’s young dancers thrive.