Melissa French: Melissa began her ballet training with Terri Hayes and Anthony Sellars in Huntington Beach, CA. She studied under scholarship with The Pennsylvania Ballet (The Rock). Teachers including Violette Verdy, Roy Kaiser, Gloria Govrin, Lupe Serrano, and David Howard. Melissa was awarded a full tuition scholarship from the Joffrey Ballet. She attended Orange Coast College as a dance major. As a soloist and principal dancer for Ballet Pacifica, she had roles created especially for her by choreographer such as: David Allan, Anne-Marie DeAngelo, Molly Lynch, Robert Sund, Paul Vasterling, and has danced principal roles in ballets by George Ballanchine, Lynn Taylor Corbett and Choo-San Goh. In 2001 She joined The Nashville Ballet as a principal dancer and went on to perform in Swan Lake, Giselle, The Nutcracker, Les Patineurs, Firebird, Dracula, Pas de Quatre as well as many original works. She has taught at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, Ballet Pacifica in Irvine, and The University of Cailfornia, Irvine. From 2011-2014 she was the Artistic Director of The NewArt School of Ballet in North Carolina and was awarded The Innovative Artist Grant from the United Arts Council of Catawba County. There she created Alice and Wonderland, Cinderella & The Nutcracker. From 2015-2017 she was Artistic Director and founder of Hickory Ballet Academy where she staged and choreographed Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Paquita, Peter and the Wolf & Giselle. Melissa received grants from The United Arts Council. Most recently Melissa worked for Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian nonprofit humanitarian organization, in donor ministries. She currently works at The Green Room Community Theatre as Executive Assistant.

Eva Gildo: Eva started dancing when she was 10 at Ann Freeman Dance Academy. Then soon after that, she made the transition to train under Melissa & Michael French at New Art School of Ballet and Hickory Ballet. She has trained with Hickory Ballet Academy and has taught ballet there for several years. She was blessed to be able to dance various principal roles such as, Sugar Plum Fairy , DewDrop Fairy, and Arabian in the Nutcracker. Alice, in Alice in Wonderland and many other roles. In 2021, she received a full trainee contract to dance with Charlottesville Ballet. Eva is now living in Hickory NC and is teaching at French Ballet Conservatory where she has had the opportunity to choreograph and stage classical repertoire for The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty.