Faculty

Stefan Calka received his formal dance training at Indiana University under the legendary Violette Verdy, whose mentorship deeply shaped his artistry and lifelong commitment to the craft.

He began his career with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal, touring internationally and serving as assistant répétiteur for John Clifford, staging George Balanchine ballets for both the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballets during the International Balanchine Centennial Celebration. He also toured China, performing in Clifford’s Casablanca at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.

In 2004, Stefan joined the Sacramento Ballet, where he enjoyed a distinguished 16-year career as a Company Artist. He danced leading roles including Prince Désiré (The Sleeping Beauty), Prince Siegfried (Swan Lake), Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Count Dracula (Dracula), and Jay Gatsby (The Great Gatsby), as well as featured roles in Carmina Burana. He was also a principal in works by George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Trey McIntyre, Lila York, Septime Webre, Amy Seiwert, Matthew Neenan, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Ma Cong, Jodie Gates, Edwaard Liang, and Adam Hougland, among others.

Alongside his performance career, Stefan developed a distinct choreographic voice and aesthetic. He created works for Sacramento Ballet’s Modern Masters series and the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, and choreographed for film projects including the feature Ukrainian Dance Movie directed by Roxy Toporowych. He also appeared in Toporowych’s documentary Folk! and in PBS’s Sugarplum Dreams: Staging the Nutcracker Ballet. He continues to choreograph and teach master classes nationwide.

A founding member of Capital Dance Project, Stefan has been a driving force in Sacramento’s arts scene, collaborating with local artists and musicians to create innovative new works. For over a decade, he has also served as teacher, ballet master, and choreographer for the Roma Pryma Bohachevsky Summer Dance Workshop, mentoring aspiring pre-professional dancers.

Since retiring from the stage in 2020, Stefan has served as Rehearsal Director for the Sacramento Ballet. In this role he works closely with choreographers, stages and maintains repertoire, oversees rehearsals and production planning, and mentors dancers through the creative process, continuing his lifelong dedication to the art of ballet.

Originally from Sacramento, California, Elise Elliott danced with the Houston Ballet for ten seasons, retiring as a Soloist in 2017. She enjoyed being featured in works by many choreographers, including Stanton Welch, Antony Tudor, Ben Stevenson, Jiri Kylian, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Christopher Bruce, Sir Kenneth Macmillan, Jorma Elo, Wayne MacGregor, and John Cranko. She was also fortunate enough to tour with the company to many countries, including Australia, China, Canada, Germany, and Spain. In 2017, Elise became Texas Academy of Dance Arts’ Ballet Director in The Woodlands, TX, as well as the Founding Artistic Director of TADA’s Youth Ballet Company. In 2021, Elise joined Texas Ballet Theater as the School Business Manager, as well as a Professional Training Division (PTD) and Advanced Instructor and choreographer in the esteemed school. In November 2022, Elise became one of the Rehearsal Directors for The Sacramento Ballet. . She is also a certified Pure Barre Instructor, as well as mother of 3!

R. Colby Damon was born and raised in Richmond, VA and received his early dance training at Richmond Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Virginia School of the Arts. Throughout his 12-year performing career, he danced professionally for Sacramento Ballet, The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Group, Northwest Dance Project, and BalletX among others. He has danced the works of George Balanchine, Alexei Ratmansky, Dwight Rhoden, Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa, Bobbi Jean Smith, Matthew Neenan, and many more.

As a choreographer, Colby has received commissions from Nashville Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, BalletX, Sacramento Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet II, Nashville Ballet II, Bryn Mawr College, and DeSales University, among others, and his work has been performed at festivals in Brazil, Mexico, Bermuda, and New York City. As a teacher, Colby has been on faculty at a number of prestigious dance institutions, including of The Rock School for Dance Education, Ballet Tech – NYC Public School for Ballet, Ballet West Academy, Nashville Ballet, The University of the Arts, and many others. He has additionally been invited to teach company class for Pennsylvania Ballet (currently Philadelphia Ballet), BalletX, Ballet Prejlocaj, City Ballet of São Paulo, Ballet Hispanico, BodyTraffic, Nashville Ballet, and Sacramento Ballet. He has also coached national finalists for the Youth America Grand Prix Ballet Competition, and received the Outstanding Choreography Award at the Philadelphia Regionals in 2019.

Colby holds a BA in Performing Arts from Saint Mary’s College of California’s LEAP Program, in addition to professional certificates in Non-profit Arts Management, Marketing Strategy, and Creative Advertising. He is currently the Director of Marketing for Sacramento Ballet, in addition to working as a freelance choreographer and dance teacher throughout the USA and beyond. http://www.colbydamon.com.

Amy Frost Schultze began dancing at a young age, trained on scholarship at Virginia School of the Arts and received her BA from Hollins University with a major in dance. She danced professionally for thirteen years with companies such as Orlando Ballet, FL, Charleston Ballet, SC, Roanoke Ballet Theater, VA, and has been a guest artist with several companies and schools throughout the US. She has performed principal and soloist roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, Romeo & Juliet, Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Les Sylphides, The Firebird as well as George Balanchine’s Allegro Brilliante, Serenade and Who Cares, and works by Fernando Bujones, Jerome Robbins, Jill Eathorne Bahr, David Parsons, Christopher Flemming, Thom Clower, Todd Eric Allen and Derek Reid.

Ms. Schultze has been teaching dance for over twenty five years and has enjoyed watching many of her students continue on into professional dance careers. Having taught for many studios, schools, companies, and universities, she has experience teaching all ages and abilities. She taught ballet at American Dance Festival at Duke University 2000-2006, choreographed and performed solo works as well as facilitated
post performance discussions and workshops and was sent as an adjudicator to National High School and College Dance Festivals.

Ms. Schultze has received her Professional Teaching Certificate (Dance K-12) from the
State of Florida and is certified to teach Progressing Ballet Technique. Since 2015, she
has been a teacher, choreographer, coach and stage manager for Holt Ballet
Conservatory in Nevada City, CA. She has choreographed and restaged numerous
classical and contemporary ballets and loves to see students shine onstage. She is
grateful to share her love of dance with Sacramento Ballet School.

Ava was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, and received her early training at the Flint School of Performing Arts. She then went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Ballet and Legal Studies from Indiana University. She also trained at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and performed with the company while there. Since joining the Sacramento Ballet in 2010, Ava has been a leading dancer with the company; some of her favorite roles have been Choleric in The Four Temperaments (George Balanchine), Tall Girl soloist in Rubies (Balanchine), soloist in Wild Sweet Love (Trey McIntyre), Myrtha in Giselle (Ron Cunningham), and Gertrude in Hamlet (Stephen Mills).  She has been a dancer with Texture Contemporary Ballet, Oakland Ballet and has performed at the Kennedy Center with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet.  Ava is also a founding member, dancer and teacher with local company Capital Dance Project.

Ava has over a decade of teaching experience and has been on faculty at the Sacramento Ballet School, Northern California Dance Conservatory and Indiana University.  She has also been invited to be a guest teacher at the Flint School of Performing Arts, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Mid-Columbia Ballet, and Ovations Dance Studio.