PATRICK FRANTZ, Artistic Director, was born and raised in Paris, France. He began his training at the Paris Opera Ballet School, while as a child prodigy pianist he also pursued extensive musical studies. At the age of 22 he became Premier Danseur with the Paris Opera Ballet, continuing his second vocation as a concert pianist. In 1970, Mr. Frantz moved to the United States where he performed as principal dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet and continued his career as choreographer and teacher.

In 1978, he was named Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, where he founded the company school. Mr. Frantz’s critically acclaimed ballets have been performed internationally by Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, San Diego Ballet, Tucson Ballet, and Ballet du Rhin. Mr. Frantz is a faculty member of the Idyllwild Arts Academy, The Maple Conservatory of Dance, and his own La Danserie Conservatory. He is also a frequent guest teacher at the Pittsburgh Balle t Theater School, Point Park University, the Ecole Superieure de Danse Contemporaine de Montreal and Le Conservatoire de Danse de Montreal. Mr. Frantz has guest taught regularly in Montpellier, France, and has been invited to teach and choreograph for the Paris Conservatory, the Dansheus in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the C.S. Lewis Foundation in Oxford, England.

PATRICIA DAVIS, Executive Director, was born in Los Angeles, California. In 1965, she was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship to the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet. Ms. Davis danced for two seasons with American Ballet Theater Repertory Company and made frequent guest appearances with regional ballet companies. She joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theater in 1978 as a soloist and became a principal ballerina in 1980. Ms. Davis has danced many of the lead roles in the classical repertory including Giselle, Odette/Odile, and Swanhilda in Coppelia. Rave reviews followed her moving rendition of Michael Smuin’s Harp Concerto Pas de Deux. Anna Kisselgoff of the New York Times stated: “Davis...has a special purity of classical dancing. She is so extremely well placed and schooled, with a beautiful floating jump.” These qualities inspired many leading roles in Patrick Frantz’s contemporary ballets, among them Firebird, Romeo and Juliet, and The Triumph of Dance.

JUDY PISARRO-GRANT, Administrative Director, Resident Choreographer, is from New York City, where she graduated from The High School of Performing Arts with Honors in Modern Dance. In New York, she danced with the Laura Foreman Dance Theater including performances at The Museum of Modern Art’s Summergarden series and the Kennedy Center’s Art Now Festival. She was also a faculty member of Choreographers’ Theater at The New School. After relocating to Los Angeles, Ms. Pisarro-Grant earned a Master’s degree in psychology.

In 1999, she joined La Danserie and made her choreographic debut with the company in 2001. In addition to works created for La Danserie, Ms. Pisarro-Grant has presented solo work at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica. Her live dance/video piece was produced by Dance in L.A. for Caught Between: Dancing for Camera and Live Audience. In 2009 she choreographed a new multi-media production of the Miracle Worker for Hayworth Productions and in 2011 premiered her own dance/the ater piece “Rockaway Beach, or so I Recall” at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Ms. Pisarro-Grant coordinates La Danserie’s school outreach program and teaches Modern at Le Studio, Pasadena.

TATIANA A'VIRMOND, choreographer, dancer, began her classical ballet training in Brazil where she graduated from Guaira Ballet School and became a member of Guaira Ballet Theater Foundation. Tatiana was a winner of a gold medal at the National Ballet Competition in Brazil, a silver medal at the Latin American Ballet Competition, and while in the United States, she won two gold medals for the best choreography at the National Dance and Winners Regional Competitions in Santa Cruz. In New York City, she danced with various companies such as Connecticut Ballet Co., Ballet Hispanico of NY, Hudson Repertory Theater, and Dance Brazil. While in San Francisco Bay Area, she performed off Broadway shows such as "She Loves Me" with Theater Works, "Pal Joey" and "Wonderful Town" with Marin Theater Co. As a Classical Ballet dancer, she performed as principal dancer with Peninsula Ballet Theater, Theater Ballet of San Francisco, and Western Ballet. As a contemporary dancer, she performed as principal with Mark FoehrignerDance Project, touring nationally and internationally where she was critically acclaimed by Dance Magazine: "Passionate personality". Upon moving to the Los Angeles area she began performing with La Danserie, where she was critically acclaimed by Lewis Segal from LA Times for her choreography in Alma Brasileira: "A'Virmond's artful new quartet…"

NICOLE MATHIS, choreographer, dancer, joined La Danserie in 2000 immediately following graduation with a BFA in dance from the California Institute of the Arts. Her training began with Yvonne Mounsey and Rosemary Valaire and later, with Russian teachers, Ninel Kurgapina, Marat Daukayev, Yuri Grigorivich. Since 2000 she has steadily trained with the artistic director of La Danserie, Patrick Frantz. She began dancing professionally with Pacific American Ballet Theatre and continued her career with: Media City Ballet, City Ballet of LA, The Ballet Collective, Louise Reichlin and Dancers, San Pedro City Ballet, Wenta Ballet of LA, Ballet Pacifica, The Crystal Cathedral, Pasadena Dance Theatre, Golden West Ballet, Star Dancer, and Ballet Theatre International. She has performed leading and supporting roles in the following classics: Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, Les Sylphides, La Vivandiere, Cinderella, Paquita, Swan Lake, Gayenne, Stars and Stripes, La Bayadere, A Midsummer’s Nights Dream, and in n umerous original ballets. In addition to her extensive professional experience as a dancer, Nicole has spent three years as resident choreographer for Venice Visionary Performing Arts. Nicole is currently a full time dance teacher and dance coach at Taft High School in Woodland Hills and teaches at Marat Daukayev’s School of Ballet. She holds a teaching credential in physical education and completed her Master’s in Education Degree from National University in June 2010.

MARY WILSON, choreographer, dancer, is from Canoga Park, CA and graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a BFA in Dance in 2006. In June of 2010, Mary received her Master of Arts in Education and Secondary Teaching Credential in Physical Education from Loyola Marymount University. Mary has been dancing since the age of 2, has performed in various musicals through Golden Performing Arts Center, and studied under Patrick Frantz at Rozann Zimmerman Ballet Center. Mary is a dance teacher and coach at Bishop Alemany High School. She recently completed her Masters degree in Education.

CAITLYN CARRADINE, dancer, graduated from the Vienna State Opera Ballet School in Austria in 2001. She apprenticed with the Vienna Volksoper and worked in numerous productions for surrounding opera houses including "Aida" for the State Opera House. She founded her company Los Angeles Contemporary Ensemble and has created around 30 original evening length experimental dance productions over the past 9 years. Currently she is enjoying more collaborative processes and is very happy to be a part of La Danserie.

Taylor Kealy, dancer, is a Southern California Native who started Jazz dance at the age of 6. She then joined a competition group where she studied Lyrical, Ballet, Hip Hop, and Tap. She has competed at numerous dance competitions such as Headliners, Showstoppers, Tremaine, and Hall of Fame. At the age of 12 she joined Monie Adamson’s Focus Dance Center dance company. Taylor attended Orange County High School of the Arts, where she was in the Commercial Dance Department. In 2007 she became part of Joey Tarwater’s JET Dance Company based out of Santa Fe Springs. Taylor also supplemented her training at Maple Conservatory. In July 2010, Taylor joined David Wilcox’s Long Beach Ballet on their performance tour in China, where they performed in six different cities. Taylor has performed in productions such as Dancers Responding to Aids and West Coast Dance Center’s production of Cinderella. Taylor is currently working on earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance Science at California State University, Long Beach. She intends to gain a Pilates Certification.

Natalie Kramer, dancer, originally from Dallas, Texas, has been dancing since age three, and has enjoyed professional experience with Ballet Concerto, Collin County Ballet Theatre, New World Ballet, Nathalie Krassovska, Soili Arvola, Fernando Bujones, Bruce Marks, Max Stone, and Fort Worth Dallas Ballet. She attended master classes with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet, Marguerite Derricks, and won awards at Tremaine and L.A.Danceforce competitions. She holds a B.A. in Arts and Performance from the University of Texas, Dallas. From 2006-2008, Natalie founded Commedia Ballet Theatre, a non-profit professional ballet company, directing several original productions. After re-locating to L.A. to pursue her passion for dance, she has worked to pursue her passion for dance, she has worked with ABLA, American Cinematic Ballet, Conejo Civic Ballet, California Dance Theatre, California Dance Academy, and Studio One, and also appeared as a guest dancer for Eva Longoria's "Rally for Kids with Cancer," "Legion of Hope" Fashion Show, VH1's "Save the Music" Benefit, and "Carnival, The Choreographer's Ball." She currently dances professionally with Media City Ballet, and La Danserie, as well as back-up dancer for Chasen Greenwood, Recording Artist.

TAMARA McCARTY, dancer, has studied all disciplines of dance since the age of five: ballet, modern, jazz, and tap with various teachers including Joanna Santor, Mike Williams, Judy Pisarro-Grant and Patrick Frantz. She joined La Danserie at age 16 as a trainee with the company’s school outreach program and was promoted to company member six months later. Currently, she continues to develop her artistry at Cal State University Long Beach as an Honors BFA candidate in dance.

MEAGEN MENDOZA, dancer, is a native of the San Fernando Valley who has been a part of the La Danserie family since she was 12 years old, when she made her debut with the company. She began her training with Patrick Frantz at Rozann-Zimmerman Ballet Center (now California Dance Academy) where she currently teaches. She was trained in a variety of dance styles including jazz, hip-hop, modern, folklore, and Latin ballroom. In Provo, Utah, she was a finalist at the March 2007 U.S. National Amateur Dancesport Championships and 6th in the Adult Latin Division. Meagen has traveled in the United States with the Massenkoff Russian Folk Festival and has performed at Disney Hall. El Capitan Theater and in many other venues.

CANDICE SANCHEZ OWEN, dancer, grew up in Lancaster, California and has been dancing since the age of 12. She has training in various forms of dance including jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, hip hop, and modern. Candice has worked and trained with many top instructors and choreographers in the industry. She is an alumna of the Edge Performing Arts Center Scholarship Program in Hollywood, California where she received training in voice, comedy improvisation, and gymnastics. She was also a member of the Antelope Valley Ballet based in Lancaster, California. She recently spent two months in Salt Lake City dancing and performing Odyssey Dance Theater’s annual show Thriller. Candice has worked in stage, industrials and music videos.