Celeste Morningstar

Director & Teacher

Celeste Morningstar was born in Los Angeles, California and began her ballet training at Sheila Rozann Ballet School where she studied for eight years. At seventeen years old, she attended the School of American Ballet's summer course in New York City with such teachers as Alexandra Danilova, Antonina Tumkovsky, Stanley Williams, and Suki Schorer. She continued her education at Skidmore College in Saratoga, New York, where she studied and performed under the direction of ballerina Melissa Hayden. There she had the opportunity to perform some of George Balanchine's ballets such as "Stars and Stripes," "Concerto Barocco," and "Episodes".

She returned to Los Angeles to study with Stanley Holden of the Royal Ballet and it was there that she was asked to join the Arizona Ballet and later the American Festival Ballet under the direction of Steven Wistrich. Miss Morningstar toured the United States dancing in such ballets as "Pas De Dix," "Firebird," "Song of the Earth," "Shapes of Evening," "Aubade," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "The Nutcracker," and "Valse Fantasie".

Miss Morningstar lives in Rye, New York with her husband Joe and children Tom, Grace, and Jack and has taught at The Ballet Class since 1986. She has presented numerous lecture/demonstrations in area schools to educate children on ballet.

In 2007 she became the director of The Ballet Class upon the retirement of Lynne Stetson. Her primary objective remains teaching children the art of ballet as given to her by her many gifted teachers.