Valerie Lewis has devoted over 60 years to ballet. She first began studying ballet when she was six years old with Mara Lysova in the Oxnard/Ventura area, and at age 14 received Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation scholarships to train at the School of American Ballet in New York City. Throughout her career, she trained with many renowned teachers such as George Balanchine, Stanley Williams, Alexandra Danilova, and Marc Wilde, and danced with such greats as Marianna Tcherkassy, Fernando Bujones, and Gelsey Kirkland. In addition, she was a principal dancer at Santa Barbara Ballet for several years. Valerie has taught at Civic Dance Center for over 40 years and for many years assisted Cindy Trueblood in the production of The Nutcracker. She also served as the Artistic Director of Bakersfield Regional Ballet Company for 12 years.

Valerie is married to Steve, and they have a son and daughter-in-law, Josh and Katie, living in Bakersfield, and a daughter and son-in-law, Kristin and Ed, living in Boston. She has four grandchildren—Marshall, Myron, Matheson, and Maddalena.

Valerie is very thankful and blessed to be able to continue to pass on her knowledge and love of ballet to others in our community.