Flor de liz norris
As Director, I welcome new faces and energetic bodies to join me in spreading the joy of dance. As a student of dance for over 20 years my raw passion for the art of dance continues to grow. Dance was awakened in me at the age of ten when I performed my first public concert as a member of St. Joseph Ballet. With the training came an awareness of the importance of an arts education and how it can change the course of one's life. Under the guidance of Beth Burns (artistic director, St. Joseph Ballet) and famed choreographer/dancer Donald McKayle, I pursued further training in dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). Subsequently after my training at UNCSA I came to Tucson where I earned my MFA at the University of Arizona. Over the years I've had the opportunity to work with a number of famed choreographers further enhancing my love of dance which I hope to help you experience.
LOIS BLACK
Lois Black-Unkrich was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1956 where she began dancing in her mother’s school at the age of three. After moves to Hawaii, Northern California and Scottsdale Arizona, Lois settled with her family in the Phoenix area in 1970 where she became a serious ballet student at The Phoenix School of Ballet under the guidance of retired American Ballet Theatre soloist Kelly Brown.
At the age of 16, Lois auditioned for Jillana of New York City Ballet and was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship to attend the School of American Ballet’s summer program at Julliard where she attended in 1972.
Lois began her professional career with Arizona Ballet Theatre in Phoenix under director Steven Wistrich in 1976 and in the spring of 1979 accepted a contract with The Des Moines Ballet from director and choreographer Jorge Samaniego of The Nederlands Dance Theatre performing in many original works by Sananiego including I.P.B.N.’s film production of Romeo & Juliet.
In 1982 Stephan Laurent began his directorship of The Des Moines Ballet producing several ballets among them The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Coppelia where Lois was a featured dancer.
After leaving Iowa and The Des Moines Ballet in 1986, Lois danced a season under director Jean Paul Comelin in Tucson’s Arizona Dance Theatre and from 1987 through 1994 was a member of Mary Beth Cabana’s Ballet Arts Ensemble (now Ballet Tucson).
Lois is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
WHITNEY HESTER
Originally from Dallas, Texas, Whitney Hester began her training at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. At the end of her junior year, Whitney was offered an apprenticeship with Complexions Contemporary Ballet where she spent her senior year performing works by Co-Artistic Director, Dwight Rhoden. During her time with the company, Whitney had the opportunity to travel and perform across America, in Israel and Serbia, and even be a part of a new work which was debuted at the Joyce Theater in New York City. Simultaneously in her senior year, Whitney was awarded an Honorable Mention in Modern Dance and named a YoungArts finalist in Ballet, where she participated and performed in YoungArts Miami week. Whitney was also named a semi-finalist for Presidential Scholar in the Arts.
Continuing her studies, Whitney attended the University of Southern California where she was able to collaborate in choreographic processes with directors, William Forsythe and Jodie Gates as well as perform iconic works by George Balanchine, Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, Barak Marshall, and Jodie Gates. Whitney holds a BFA in Dance from the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and a minor in Sports Media Studies from the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. During her senior year, Whitney was awarded the first ever Glorya Kaufman Endowed Scholarship for the Class of 2020 as well as the Renaissance Scholar Distinction for her academic achievements while pursuing two widely separate fields of study.
This is Whitney’s 6th season dancing professionally and she is very excited to be joining Ballet Tucson this season.
REBECCA GARCIA
Becca began dancing at age 3 and trained in the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus in Great Britain and continued dancing at Creative Dance Arts in Tucson. She has earned numerous awards while intensively studying, performing, and competing in ballet, tap, and jazz.
Bringing more than a decade of teaching experience, a passion for education and a love of dance to the classroom, Becca seeks to foster children’s natural creative movement and excitement for dance within a classical technical framework.
LEILANI GOMEZ
I grew up here in Tucson AZ. I am a current student at the University of Arizona getting my bachelors in Elementary Education with my endorsement in Bilingual Education. I have been dancing since the age of 3 years old and started my dance journey here at Flor De Liz Dance. My passion for dance grew as I got the chance to grow up in this studio. I have been trained in Ballet, Hip hop, Tap, Folklórico, Jazz, Lyrical, and so many more styles. At this studio I was able to meet some of the most amazing teachers and also made some great long life friends. At the age of 15 I moved from studio dancing to highschool dance and continued my journey through the Flowing Wells High School dance program.
Now I have had a full circle moment and have been given the chance to teach here at the studio that I grew up in & have been teaching here for about 3 years now & i couldn’t be happier! Besides being a dance teacher here I am also a Cheer coach for the flowing wells high school cheer team.
I am so glad that I get to work at the place i like to call my second home and inspire dancers to have a passion for dance. This studio taught me everything that I know & helped mold me into the dancer that I am today. I have made some beautiful memories here and I will continue to do so not as a dancer but as a teacher. I love getting to work with kids of all ages & getting to teach them the art of dance through the studio that created that love of dance for me is an opportunity that I will always cherish and I hope to be able to share that passion with you!
Olivia Bellone
Olivia Bellone grew up in New Jersey and started her ballet training with the American Ballet Theater National Training Curriculum under Pamela Levy and Maeve Dougal. From 2019-2022, Olivia trained with the Academy of Dance Arts under Nicholas and Shayne Mishoe, and Elena Kunikova at STEPS on Broadway. In 2022, during her senior year of highschool, Olivia moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where she trained with Ballet West Academy. In 2023, Olivia was promoted to Ballet West Trainee. With Ballet West, Olivia has had the honor to perform in ballets such as Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Willam Christensen’s The Nutcracker, George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Allegro Brillante, and August Bournonville’s Napoli. Olivia has also trained at several summer intensives, including at Jacob’s Pillow lead by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, The HARID Conservatory, American Ballet Theater, and Ballet West’s artÉmotion Intensive.
CHRIS OLLAR
Chris Ollar has an extensive background in various genres of dance such as Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, and Musical Theater. He currently teaches our Tap and Lyrical classes. Chris enjoys sharing his passion for dance with his students.
BRITTANY SCHOER
Brittany began dancing at age three in Broomfield, Colorado. She trained at Dance Arts Studio, and performed with their company for eight years. She was also a guest artist with Danse Etoile Ballet’s company for one year.
Brittany went on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from the University of Wyoming in December 2015, where she studied modern, ballet, pointe, jazz, tap and vertical dance. During the summer of 2015, Brittany attended Yoga Adventure’s 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training. She fell in love with teaching yoga, and incorporating it in her dance classes.
After graduation from UWYO, Brittany danced professionally with two small contemporary companies in Denver, Colorado for two years. In August 2017, Brittany moved to Alamosa, CO with her husband. There, she continued to teach yoga, began to teach group fitness classes and started a kids dance program. She then fell in love with fitness and became an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer in January of 2019. Since then, Brittany has been closely working with clients one-on-one to help them achieve their goals.
In February of 2021, Brittany and her husband moved to Tucson, AZ.