About Tacoma City Ballet

Executive Staff | Artistic Staff | School Faculty

• Miss Erin M. Ceragioli, Executive Director, Artistic Director, Director of Tacoma City Ballet School, School Faculty
  Miss Ceragioli serves as the Executive and Artistic Director of Tacoma City Ballet, and the Director of Tacoma City Ballet School. For over three decades, she has forged a reputation as a master teacher and a choreographer who has staged many full-length ballets in the classical repertoire and has also choreographed numerous original ballets. Miss Ceragioli began her primary study of classical ballet under Miss Archalee Correll, and continued her advanced study under the tutelage of such stellar teachers as Harold Christensen, Lew Christensen, Willam Christensen, Benjamin Harkarvy, Robert Joffrey, Janet Reed, and Maria Tallchief. After a short professional career, Miss Ceragioli studied the syllabi of the Danish, English, French, Italian, and Russian Schools of Ballet earning her teaching certifications. She joined the Faculty of The Jan Collum School of Classical Ballet in 1987, and after four years of serving on the School Faculty, as Ballet Mistress, and as Assistant Artistic Director of the Company, Miss Jan Collum appointed Miss Ceragioli as
  Co-Artistic Director of BALLETACOMA. In 1995, BALLETACOMA was re-christened Tacoma City Ballet, and Miss Jan Collum assumed the title of Artistic Director Emeritus formally passing her legacy to Miss Ceragioli.

• Miss Nora Kelley, School Faculty
  Miss Kelley began studying ballet at the age of seven. She began her formal classical training under the tutelage of Miss Erin Ceragioli at Tacoma City Ballet School in 2009. While performing with Tacoma City Ballet Company, Miss Kelley danced numerous corps de ballet roles, as well as principal roles. In 2023, Miss Kelley graduated from Washington State University with double degrees in Psychology and Biology. After graduation, she returned to Tacoma and serves the community as a Mental Health Technician at Tacoma General Hospital. Her love of classical ballet brought her back to perform in the Professional Division of Tacoma City Ballet Company. Miss Kelley is thrilled to also serve as a Faculty Member of Tacoma City Ballet School.

• Mr. John DeLoma, Ballet Master, School Faculty
  Mr. DeLoma began studying classical ballet under the tutelage of Miss Jan Collum at the age of 4. He has studied under master teachers from San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and New York City Ballet. After a performing career in which he danced leading roles in major classical and neoclassical ballets, Mr. DeLoma pursued a degree in architecture, and has been the principal owner of his own firm since 2003. Mr. DeLoma serves as a Faculty Member of the Tacoma City Ballet School specializing in Men’s Technique and Pas de Deux.

• Mr. Travis Goldman, Ballet Master, School Faculty
  Mr. Goldman began studying classical ballet in Port Angeles at Miriam’s School of Dance. After moving to Tacoma, he continued his studies under Miss Jan Collum. Mr. Goldman has studied under such master teachers as Hugh Bigney, Willam Christensen, Robert Joffrey, and Kabby Mitchell III. Mr. Goldman has danced principal roles in classical, modern, and contemporary repertoire. Each season, he reprises his role as Herr Drosselmeyer in Tacoma City Ballet’s The Nutcracker. Mr. Goldman is an award-winning choreographer, who has received regional acclaim for his innovative choreography, and is also a talented musician who has composed music for his original choreographies. In 1998, Mr. Goldman joined the Faculty of Tacoma City Ballet School. Mr. Goldman is Owner of North Coast Kayaks (NC Kayaks), and continues to serve as Ballet Master and Resident Choreographer of Tacoma City Ballet Company, and as a Faculty Member of Tacoma City Ballet School.

• Miss Melissa Lovejoy-Goldman, Ballet Mistress, School Faculty
  Miss Lovejoy-Goldman received her classical ballet training at Tacoma City Ballet School under the tutelage of Miss Jan Collum and Miss Erin Ceragioli. While continuing to perform with Tacoma City Ballet Company, Miss Lovejoy-Goldman attended the University of Washington and received her Bachelor of Arts. In 2001, she joined the Faculty of Tacoma City Ballet School and also served as General Manager of Tacoma City Ballet. Miss Lovejoy-Goldman is Vice President of Enterprise Engagement Resources at Northwest Credit Union Association, and continues to serve as Ballet Mistress of Tacoma City Ballet Company, and as a Faculty Member of Tacoma City Ballet School.

• Miss Anne Milner, School Faculty
  Miss Milner began studying ballet at the age of eight. She began her formal classical training under the tutelage of Miss Erin Ceragioli and Mr. Joel Myers at Tacoma City Ballet School in 2015. While performing with Tacoma City Ballet Company, Miss Milner danced numerous corps de ballet roles, as well as principle roles. In 2019, Miss Milner attended Boise State University in Idaho, and was also accepted into the Idaho Dance Theatre performing from 2019 to 2021, and continuing her classical training under Marla Hansen, Artistic Director of Idaho Dance Theatre. Miss Milner returned to Tacoma to begin her journey of attaining her Registered Nursing Degree. She is thrilled to be back at Tacoma City Ballet now working as a professional dancer in Tacoma City Ballet’s Professional Company Division, and as a Faculty Member of Tacoma City Ballet School.

• Ms. Kara O’Toole, Development Director, Adult Open Program Director, Pilates Mat Instructor, School Faculty
  Ms. O’Toole has served on the dance department faculties of the University of Washington, University of Memphis, George Mason University, and Cornish College of the Arts. She has served as Executive/Artistic Director for Velocity Dance Center in Seattle, and as Executive/Artistic Director for Orcas Center on Orcas Island. As a performer, Ms. O’Toole danced professionally in the works of many notable choreographers including Jose Limon, Bebe Miller, Mark Morris, Vaslav Nijinsky, Paul Taylor, and Pat Graney. Ms. O’Toole holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Washington and a BA from Mount Holyoke College. Ms. O’Toole has been living in Tacoma with her family since 2018, and serves on the faculties of Pacific Lutheran University, Tuladhara Yoga, and Seattle Theater Group in the Dance for Parkinson’s Program. Ms. O’Toole is thrilled to be working at Tacoma City Ballet as Development Director, Adult Open Program Director, and Faculty Member of Tacoma City Ballet School.

• Miss Barbara Land, Guest Master Ballet Instructor
  Miss Barbara Land, MA, MFA, ARAD, is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a dance educator, she is known for her writings on dance history, dancer’s wellness and injury prevention. She attended Point Park College, University of Pittsburgh, and the University of British Columbia where she completed her doctoral studies in anthropology with an emphasis in Ethnochoreology. Miss Land holds a teaching diploma and certificate from the Royal Academy of Dancing, London, England. She is the founding director of ballet at the University of Nevada, Reno, and directed the dance programs for 25 years. She has choreographed for the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Nevada Opera Company. Miss Land has instructed both teachers and students at Vassar College, New York, Wagner College, Staten Island, Banff Center for the Arts, Canada, Pepperdine University Summer Dance Program, Ballet Metropolitan, Columbus, Ohio, and the Royal Academy of Dancing International Summer School. As an author, she has written and published the following: History of Dance and Culture Parts I and II. Dance Composition and Production, Methods of Teaching Movement Activities K to 12, and Selected Writings in Dance Criticism and Aesthetics. Miss Land is the recipient of the State of Nevada Governor’s Arts Award, and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Nevada, Reno, College of Liberal Arts. In 2020, she was recognized by the Royal Academy of Dancing, London, England as one of the three most celebrated ballet teachers in the world. Miss Land is the Executive Director of Nevada Building Hope Foundation, a non-profit organization that works in both the US and South America. Nevada Building Hope Foundation/ USA produces free-of-charge dance concerts in Northern Nevada for those in need. For the past ten years she has produced concerts at the Marvin Picollo School, VA Hospital, and Regency Senior Center. Nevada Building Hope Foundation/Peru works on humanitarian and arts projects in the Amazon Rainforest.

Administrative Staff

• • • Rebecca Jensen, School Receptionist
    • Kumi Oya, Company Archivist

Ballet Class Piano Accompanists

• • • Jeff Anderson
    • Marina Katsel

Theatrical Production Staff

• • • Salvatore Lucente, Technical Director, Set and Properties Design and Construction Director
    • Walter Kilmer, Lighting Designer
    • Bernard Kwiram, Tacoma City Ballet Orchestra Music Director
    • Byeong W. Chae, Tacoma City Ballet Photographer