Flor de Liz Dance

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.

JEFFREY HUGHES

Jeffrey Hughes started dancing as a child in Alameda, California. During his early youth, he performed with the Bolshoi Ballet and the Kirov Ballet when they appeared in San Francisco. Jeffrey received a Ford Foundation Scholarship from ages 12 to 16, awarded through the School of American Ballet in New York City.

As a teenager, Jeffrey danced with the Oakland Metropolitan Ballet and served as a guest artist for several companies throughout Northern California. At age 17, Robert Joffrey awarded him a scholarship to attend the Joffrey Summer Program at Pacific Lutheran University. At the end of the program, Mr. Joffrey invited Jeffrey to move to New York City and join Joffrey II upon graduating from high school.

Jeffrey enjoyed a 22-year professional dance career with Joffrey II, the Joffrey Ballet, the London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet), Cleveland/San Jose Ballet, and shorter engagements with Oakland Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, and Atlanta Ballet.

Jeffrey has served as Artistic Director of Ohio Ballet; Interim Director and later Rehearsal Director of Hong Kong Ballet; Associate Director and Ballet Master of Ballet de Monterrey; Ballet Master for Alonzo King's LINES Contemporary Ballet; and Founding Director of Ballet Atlantis, an educational performing group. He has also served on the faculty of dance schools in San Francisco, New York City, and Hong Kong.

He has choreographed more than 80 ballets, ranging from solos and small chamber works to full-length classical ballets and original story ballets. His choreography has been performed in China, Hong Kong, South Africa, Mexico, and the United States.

Jeffrey danced in the Herbert Ross film Nijinsky, appeared in the Dance in America television special with the Joffrey Ballet, and performed a pas de deux in London that was broadcast on Granada Television. He was the choreographic stand-in for Mikhail Baryshnikov while Jerome Robbins choreographed Other Dances for American Ballet Theatre (ABT). Jeffrey also performed with the Joffrey Ballet in the Soviet Union in 1974 and with the London Festival Ballet in Communist China in 1979.

He received an award for choreography at the Tao Li Bei Competition in China, becoming the first Westerner to do so. He also received an Emerging Choreographer Award at the Southeastern Regional Ballet Festival.

Jeffrey currently teaches and choreographs for Ballet Rincon and Gotta Dance in Tucson.

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

Leilani is a Tucson native and a proud University of Arizona graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Education. Her love for dance started right here at the studio she is so lucky to now call her second home. From a young age, she grew up dancing, training in Ballet, Hip Hop, Tap, Folklórico, Jazz, Lyrical, and so many other styles. More than just learning to dance, this studio gave her a place to grow, incredible teachers to look up to, and friendships that have lasted a lifetime.

At 15, Leilani began her journey into high school dance through the Flowing Wells High School Dance Program. Dance continued to be a huge part of her life, eventually leading her to become the Dance Teacher at Flowing Wells High School, where she directs Momentum Dance Company and FWHS Pomline.

Coming back to the studio that started it all has been such a special, full-circle moment for Leilani. She spent so many years here as a student making memories, finding her passion, and learning from teachers who helped shape the dancer she became—and now she gets to do the same for the next generation of dancers!

Leilani absolutely loves working with dancers of all ages and watching them grow both inside and outside of the studio. She is so grateful to be back in a place that has always felt like family and to have the opportunity to share the same love of dance that was given to her. She hopes to create a space where every dancer feels welcomed, supported, inspired, and most importantly, like they are part of the family. She can’t wait to make many more beautiful memories with all of you!

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.