Director/Instructor/Owner

Pedro Szalay

Pedro is our inspiration, our example and the beating heart of Star City School of Ballet.  A great teacher in all the sense of the word. You can read more about him here.

Founder/Teacher

Tess Post

Founder of both our school and Southwest Virginia Ballet.

A true visionary and wonderful teacher. Miss Post is an important presence within the academy  and a link to our community. 

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Tess (Terri) Post, originally from Norfolk, Virginia, received her early ballet training at the Norfolk Civic Ballet. She continued her studies and professional career in NYC with many legendary teachers and directors. Tess opened The Post School Of Ballet in 1987 and in 1990 founded the Southwest Virginia Ballet Company, serving as Artistic Director until 2006, when she and her husband Gene moved to upstate NY. Mrs. Post is thrilled to be back in the Roanoke Valley and teaching at Star City School of Ballet.

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Educator/Choreographer

Lawrence Blake

A native of Virginia, attended the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC.  During his senior year, he toured nationally with the Agnes DeMille Heritage Dance Theater and upon graduation was asked to join the North Carolina Dance Theater. After two seasons with NCDT, Laurence joined The Joffrey II Dancers and joined The Joffrey Ballet in the fall of 1977. He has danced ballets by such notable choreographers as Glen Tetley, John Cranko, Twyla Tharp, Sir Fredrick Ashton, Agnes DeMille, Gerald Arpino and Robert Joffrey. 

He has taught both nationally and internationally, most notably at the BalletKadiem in Stockholm, Sweden; Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA; University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; Governors Magnet School of the Arts, Norfolk, VA; Orange County High School of the Arts, Los Alamitos, CA; Regional Dance America/ Pacific Festival, Bremerton, WA; the Conservatory of Performing Arts, Pasadena, CA; Nevada Ballet Theater; and Island Moving Company, Newport, Rhode Island.

Laurence served as Assistant, Associate and Interim Dean of the Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance at the California Institute of the Arts, as well as served on faculty from 1982 until his retirement in 2017. Laurence taught ballet and contemporary dance, composition and choreography at CalArts.

As Resident Choreographer for the Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, he has received nominations for the Lester Horton Award for Outstanding Choreography for his ballets “TUNNEL”, “BLACK ANGELS” and “THE NUTCRACKER”. Laurence has served as Associate Artistic Director of the Pasadena Dance Theater where he has choreographed several ballets for the company. His ballet “HOLBERG SUITE” was awarded the National Choreography Plan Award ‘97. The Regional Dance America/Pacific region presented his ballet “ORIGINS” at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS in June 2006. Laurence has been commissioned to choreograph work on the Island Moving Company, Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, Hawaii Ballet Theater, Inland Pacific Ballet, Cal State University Long Beach, Loyola Marymount University and the Houston School of Performing and Visual Arts.  

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Modern Dance/Teacher

Isabel Meyers

Isabel Meyers is a contemporary and modern dance artist and choreographer. She grew up as a student of the Academy of Dance in Warner Robins, Georgia, and went on to earn her degree in Dance from Hollins University in the spring of 2021. For three years, she served as the co-director of the Hollins Repertory Dance Company, where she organized and choreographed company performances and taught dance classes in her community. She is an alumna of American Dance Festival and Bates Dance Festival, and she is certified in the National Dance Institute Art of Teaching. 

Ballet Teacher

Keeley Slaughter

​Keeley grew up in the greater Roanoke area and started in gymnastics at 2 years old. After competing in gymnastics for nearly ten years she left competitive gymnastics to pursue her dream of dance. At 12 years old she stepped into the ballet world at Southwest Virginia Ballet. Her repertoire with the ballet includes Coppelia, Firebird, Peter and the Wolf, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, excerpts of Swan Lake, Carmina Burana, and Windows with the Richmond Ballet. Through the ballet she was able to work with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Opera Roanoke, and the Roanoke Youth Symphony Orchestra. She also traveled to the International Prague Festival and got to represent the United States as the only American Talent of Dance award recipient. After graduating, she briefly danced with the Orlando Ballet and began teaching ballet classes. Following a desire to pursue more in-depth and diverse training she moved to New York City to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. After spending 2 years in New York and 2 years in Los Angeles training and auditioning she graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts.Her robust training background includes both east and west coast performing arts industries and range from acting, musical theatre, film, and various types of dance. Studying and assisting under world renowned choreographers from the big screen, Broadway, and various ballet companies, she has been able to hone her skills as a professional dancer and teacher. She has been honored to earn both teaching and dancing recognition from the Youth America Grand Prix. She hopes to bring her experience with the modern-day industry and her multifaceted knowledge to the ballet to guide it’s students into future careers within the performing arts and develop their creative outlets.

Pilates Instructor

Sarah Early

I started seriously practicing Yoga in 2007 after attending a weight lifting class that left me so sore that I could barely move!  I thought I would go to the Yoga class to try and "stretch it out".  The first class had me hooked and I soon found myself attending class at least 3 times a week from then on, if I missed a class I felt so unbalanced. 

2013 Group Exercise Certified

2014 Yoga RYT 500/YogaFit 

2014 Pilates /Jeff Howard/ Pilates Unlimited/PilatesFit

2015 Barre Above Certified/Tricia Madden & Leslee Bender

2015 PLYoga certified

2016 Became Master Trainer for Barre Above

Works at the YMCA, SpaFit, Star City School of Ballet, as well as wellness work for corporations.  

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I love my work!  I’ve been able to turn one of my biggest hobbies into a career!  

Ballet Instructor

William Smith

William Smith began his training in the public school system at William Ruffner Middle
School, under the instruction of Teresa Timko Mayer. Timko Mayer then introduced Smith to The Post School of Ballet, now Star City Ballet, under the direction of Terri Tess Post. Smith continued his studies with The Post School of Ballet until his senior year. Smith then went on to join the Dance
Theatre of Harlem, in New York City. Under the direction of Arthur Mitchell. At Dance Theatre of Harlem, he performed in countries such as Innsbruk, Austria, Bejing and Shanghi China, Cape Verde, Africa and various other countries in the United Kingdom and Europe. While performing in London, Smith was spotted by then artistic director of Scottish Ballet, Ashley Page. Smith was invited and attended an audition for the company and was offered a contract with the company as “Coryphee”. Smith then proceeded to dance with the company for the next decade. While dancing
with Scottish Ballet, Smith had the opportunity to work with world renowned choreographers such as Geoffrey Holder, Richard Alston, Patricia Neary, Michael Smuin, Val Caniparoli and many others.

Conditioning , Contemporary and Improv.

John Canfield

Originally from Virginia, John Canfield grew up training at local dance studios including the Southwest Virginia Ballet under Pedro Szalay. In 2011 he moved to Canada to attend Canada's National Ballet School in Toronto. Upon graduating in 2014, he joined the Alberta Ballet, where he danced for five seasons, working directly with choreographers Aszure Barton, Jean Grand Maitre, Anne Plamondon, Yukhichi Hattori, and Wen Wei Wang, among others. In 2020, John joined Cas Public as a dancer, performing the work of Hélène Blackburn for one season. In addition to his involvement with a number of private movement research programs across Canada, John has attended Springboard Danse Montréal and Creative Gesture at the Banff Centre for the Arts. He joined Ballets Jazz Montréal in 2021 and began touring extensively in North America and throughout Europe. During this time he explored works by Crystal Pite, Andonis Foniadakis and many others. He leaves the company in June 2024. He is glad to be in Roanoke for a short season. 

Educator

Justine Thomas

Justine is our resident baby ballerina charmer. She is an expert at keeping the littlest ballerinas engaged and enjoying their class. She graduated high school in the class of 2021. She has been training
in dance for fourteen years with various dance schools and had been with
Southwest Virginia Ballet for two years, but she has had a passion for dance all of her life. Currently, Justine has been working towards and will be graduating from Virginia Western Community College with an associate’s degree in General Studies this year. She hopes to attend Hollins University and major in dance and creative writing. In the future, Justine wants to pursue a career in dance and become a dance teacher. She also wants to pursue a career in writing and becoming an author. 

Greeter/ School Mascot

Juno

At our dance school, our dedicated greeter dog, Juno, plays a vital role in creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere for dancers of all ages. As soon as students walk through the door, Juno greets them with a wagging tail and a big, friendly smile. Her presence helps to ease any nerves and brings a sense of joy to everyone she meets. Whether he's offering a paw for a high five or simply basking in the attention and belly rubs, Juno's unconditional love and playful energy set the tone for a positive and inclusive dance experience for all who enter our studio. Come on in and say hi, she loves when you rub at the back of her coat behind her service vest.