FACULTY
Petit Allongé Bella NY
Isabella Maria Torres
Founder / Teacher
Isabella started practicing ballet at the age of 3 and has studied under Seiichi Shinohara, Yurie Shimomura and Shiro Mizoshita as well as Ballet lessons at Alonzo King LINE Ballet in San Francisco.
In New York,she studied under Richard Pierlon of STEPS on Broadway.While pursuing a career as a professional dancer at theaters and for music programs, she has been expanding her activities as an instructor.In Tokyo, she teaches children's ballet classes and ballet exercise classes for adults. In June 2019, she organized her own ballet workshops for children at Gibney Dance Choreographic Center and Ripley Grier Studio in Manhattan, NY.She has recently been invited to teach at Asahi Seimei Gymnastics Club in Tokyo, where she is involved in choreography of floor excercises and trains young female gymnasts who are aiming to be future Olympians.Isabella made her first New York performance at Carnegie Hall in October 2022.
Mai Murata
Pianist
Mai MURATA began classic ballet at the age of 3 and started playing the piano at the age of 4, later graduated from the TOKYO COLLEGE OF MUSIC with Bachelor of Music in piano course. She has studied the piano under Mika NAKAKUKI, and Hiroyuki NUMATA, Izuru KOBAYASHI, and ensemble under Jun UEKI. She won multiple awards in a number of competitions held in Japan and performed in theDebut Recital Finals upon her graduation.Her background in ballet led her to have a strong interest in becoming a ballet pianist, so she studied with a ballet company in Tokyo while still in college. Since then, she has been active as a ballet pianist at a company in Japan, affiliated with the Royal Academy of Dance. She has been playing the piano in collaborative projects with companies and also in ensembles since her graduation. She has also dedicated her time to teaching students,serving as a music teacher at junior high schools, high schools, and vocational schools in Tokyo.
Lily Saito
Guest Teacher
Lily Saito began her training at School of American Ballet, where she had the privilege of performing at Lincoln Center. She then trained at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and Ellison Ballet before joining Washington Ballet as a full scholarship trainee.
In 2015, Saito joined American Repertory Ballet’s company. During her time there, Saito danced many notable roles. In addition to performing numerous lead roles in The Nutcracker. She has tremendously appreciated the opportunity to work with Kirk Peterson at both Washington Ballet and American Repertory Ballet, and cites the intricate, yet delicate choreography of his Eyes That Gently Touch as a favorite role.
Lily joined Nashville Ballet in 2018. Since then, she has performed roles in Paul Vasterling’s Firebird, Romeo & Juliet, Peter Pan, Seasons, Nashville’s Nutcracker, and Swan Lake.
Zoey Xinyue Zhou
Pianist
Zoey Xinyue Zhou is a collaborative pianist studying at the Juilliard School with Lydia Brown, Brian Zeger and Jonathan Feldman. She obtained her bachelor degree with first class honours at the Royal Academy of Music in London, studying with Ian Fountain and Andrew West. Aged 5, Zoey started the piano. Zoey participated in the Kulangsu Music Festival, RAM Summer Piano Festivals and Aspen Festival. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Paul Hall, Duke’s Hall, David Josefowitz Recital Hall and Angela Burgess Hall.