Rena has worked as a software engineer for over 15 years and is currently a technical product manager at Zillow. In addition, she has been a lifelong ballet dancer in the Orange County area. She danced professionally with the Anaheim Ballet, performing the Arabian Queen in their Nutcracker tour in Nevada and Southern California and dancing soloist roles in Hans Christian Andersen, Martini, Carnival of the Animals, and Balanchine’s Serenade.

Over the last decade she has been teaching ballet at schools throughout Southern California, including Jimmie Defore Dance Center, Anaheim Ballet School, Maple Conservatory, Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet, V&T Dance, and Laguna Dance Theatre. She has focused her teaching primarily on adult ballet, offering open classes to the community in a wide variety of levels from beginner to advanced. She loves passing down her knowledge and passion for ballet to her students, placing emphasis on artistry. During the covid pandemic, Rena began offering her classes complimentary to local professional dancers so that they could maintain their physical training during the difficult period of not having performance work. Through the SoCal Ballet Scene, she is able to continue offering this service to professional dancers.

Over decades of building connections with the ballet community in Southern California, Rena saw firsthand the abundance of great ballet talent that resides in this area. She also saw that there was a void of opportunity for the local professional dancers to perform and connect with the arts-loving community around them. This led her to found the SoCal Ballet Scene. In 2019 she started the organization on social media to help spread awareness about the various ballet companies in SoCal, with the goal of eventually creating a ballet festival to feature local artists and foster community. The plans for the festival got postponed with the onset of the pandemic, so Rena began producing short dance films as a means to provide opportunity for local choreographers and dancers. Rena's vision for the ballet festival was realized in September 2022. She directed and produced the festival performance at the Robert B Moore Theatre in Costa Mesa, featuring 34 professional dancers from across Southern California in a mixed repertoire program, showcasing a wide variety of styles from classical to contemporary ballet. The festival united many local ballet organizations in a single celebration of the artform, with over 550 people from the community who attended and were able to see and connect with the local ballet artists.

With over 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry, Lana Devore is a highly accomplished creator, producer, and show director, with a focus on theme park entertainment. She began her career at Walt Disney Company in 1985, eventually becoming a Staff Show Director, overseeing various shows and special events during her 15-year tenure. In 2002, Lana joined Perfect Productions, working as Creative Director and Producer on events for Canon Inc. Since 2005, she has collaborated with Universal Studios Japan, directing a variety of shows and attractions, including those for Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Halloween Horror Night mazes. In 2014, Lana returned to Walt Disney Company as a consultant Show Director for special events. As the president of Devore Productions, LLC, Lana leads a unique production company specializing in corporate special events, with a particular emphasis on serving clients like BSH - Bosch, Thermador, Gaggeneu Brands. Her passion for the arts and expertise make her a sought-after professional in the industry.

With more than 10 significant, published opinions in favor of her clients, including successfully arguing before the Supreme Court, and an emphasis on environmental justice including significant involvement in the remediation and redevelopment of the Signal Hill oil field, Sanaz (Sunny) K. Soltani serves as the first female city attorney in Carson. She specializes in complex real property development. In her short tenure in Carson, she has played a significant role in reshaping the trajectory of the community, including negotiating a $45 million settlement against the largest oil refinery on the West Coast and has preserved the City of Carson’s rent control protecting the senior citizens of the community.

She is a founding member of the law Firm of Aleshire & Wynder, LLP, the youngest equity partner and the first female on the Firm’s management team. Sunny has been awarded the title of one of the “Woman of Influence” of Los Angeles County by the Los Angeles Business Journal “for exceptional legal skill and achievement across the full spectrum of responsibility, exemplary leadership as evidenced by the highest professional and ethical standards, and for contributions to the Los Angeles community at large.” In 2021, she led her team to victory in the dismissal of an $85 million action against her client brought by a nationwide developer related to a project valued at more than half-a-billion dollars. In addition to legal remedies, Soltani assists her clients with legislative solutions and has successfully secured the passage of several important legislative bills significantly improving the regulatory position of her clients.

Sunny began taking ballet classes in her adult life and has loved being a part of the local ballet community. In 2023 she co-produced and wrote a full-length ballet production called The White Feather, which tells the story of the women's fight for freedom in Iran. The production has had sold-out performances in both OC and LA.

Growing up in the Bay Area, Alina began her dance journey by training and competing in jazz and tap. When she was 10, her love for dance shifted to classical ballet which then became the sole focus of her training, studying at Ballet Petit and Oakland Ballet Academy. Some of her favorite ballet memories include performing the role of Marie in Oakland Ballet's Nutcracker under founding Artistic Director Ronn Guidi and training at the Bartholin International Ballet Seminar at the Royal Danish Ballet Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark. After her high school graduation, Alina inadvertently took a 10 year hiatus from dancing, during which time she studied Sociology at UC Berkeley, pursued a career in Marketing and Market Research, began dabbling in graphic design, got married and started a family. As she began itching to get back in ballet shoes, Alina is so thankful to have been introduced to Rena—loving her classes and now the wonderful opportunity to serve on the SoCal Ballet Scene board with her.

With 41 years as an occupational therapist/certified hand therapist, Jeanne is specialized in the treatment of hand/upper extremity trauma, neurological injury and pediatric hand differences. She relocated from private practice in Colorado to Southern California to develop the Pediatric Hand Program at Children's Hospital Orange County - CHOC. Together with the MD’s, she expanded community awareness, and the program grew 50% for this population. She continues specialized therapy services with Orthopedic Specialty Institute and Saddleback MemorialCare Rehabilitation.

Enjoying a lifelong passion for the arts and ballet, she enrolled her daughter in dance classes at age 3. This furthered her participation with instructors, families, and dance productions behind the scenes as her daughter danced beyond college.

As an adult dancer taking ballet classes, she met Rena, the gifted ballet instructor training ballet technique, artistry and adult dancers, Rena encouraged her to never stop dancing! Jeanne assisted Rena with the Fall 2022 SoCal Ballet Scene production and is thrilled to continue bringing ballet art and awareness to our community.

Teresa began studying ballet with Lois Ellyn at the age of five and continued her training with Charles Maple at Maple Conservatory of Dance performing with Maple Youth Ballet and later with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Teresa has had the opportunity to dance in works by George Balanchine, Terrence S. Orr of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Charles Maple, Rex Wheeler, Lois Ellyn, Sheree King, and Scott Anderson. She is currently dancing with Nouveau Chamber Ballet and teaches ballet at Lois Ellyn Ballet Studio.

Following a career that spanned more than 40 years, Candice retired from a corporate executive position in 2021. Candice’s career includes working for four governmental agencies and one publicly traded company. Among her numerous responsibilities were creating, developing and executing small and large scale events including music festivals, parades, beauty pageants and major holiday celebrations. Candice’s strengths include vision, forward planning, leadership, and communication, as well as developing and fostering positive and collaborative relationships with community organizations.

Outside of her corporate career, Candice trained as a dancer in ballet, jazz, ballroom and disco. Her experience includes serving as the Dance Program Supervisor for the City of Anaheim and was honored to have been selected as a professional cheerleader entertainer for the Los Angeles Rams for three consecutive years. Candice holds and Associate Arts degree in dance, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Education with an emphasis in Dance. She has been a ballet and jazz instructor for dancers ages 3 through adult and has choreographed numerous pieces for dance studio annual performances and galas.

Steve retired in 2022 from a career with churches and community agencies in the Midwest and southern California. He brings experience in nonprofit management and funding to SoCal Ballet Scene.

With no previous experience in dance, Steve began taking ballet classes at age 35, after his daughter started ballet in northeast Ohio. A supportive teacher gave him small parts in the school's annual Nutcracker and partnering opportunities in other productions. Steve continued taking classes at Missouri Contemporary Ballet and performed as Mother Ginger in their Nutcracker and as the Griffon in Alice in Wonderland. Coming back to southern California in 2015, Steve has taken class with Rena for several years. He has performed as Father Stahlbaum in Orange County Ballet Theater's Nutcracker since 2016.

Sharon trained at the School of American Ballet in New York under the tutelage of the legendary George Balanchine. She then danced with the New Jersey Ballet, Eglevsky Ballet, Princeton Ballet, and the New World Ballet. Her love of pas de deux led her to adagio/exhibition dance. She won her first World Championship for exhibition dance at Madison Square Gardens. She then went on to become a 4-time Exhibition Dance Champion at Blackpool, England, considered the Wimbledon of ballroom dance, as well as a 3-time Star Search winner and a 7-time U.S. Open Cabaret Champion. Throughout her career, Sharon has performed at the Kennedy Center, the Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Olympics, and in Hollywood movies. In 2013, she won “Best global female dancer” at the Huading Awards in China. Sharon is also a published author of several novels. She currently teaches ballet at the American Ballet Theatre Gillespie School in Costa Mesa. Sharon is delighted to be part of the SoCal Ballet Scene and is grateful for the opportunities this organization has provided for local choreographers and dancers.

Born and raised in Southern California, Anna trained in classical ballet across California. At age 12 she was awarded a full scholarship to attend the San Francisco Ballet School's summer intensive, and at 15 years old she moved up north to train full time in the San Francisco Ballet School's year round program. After her training, Anna freelanced in LA and OC in performances such as Glory of Christmas, The Nutcracker, and the Opera "Nixon in China". She then moved to Chicago to dance professionally with the Joffrey Ballet as a trainee.

Due to injuries, Anna decided to step away from her professional ballet performance career and went to college at Loyola University Chicago. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing. After graduating, Anna joined Bosch, where she worked across different divisions and teams in the company, including an international assignment in Germany. After 8 years of not dancing, Anna decided to start taking ballet classes again, where she met Rena and was introduced to the SoCal Ballet Scene. After attending their Ballet Festival, she knew she wanted to get involved and support this organization by sharing her business expertise and passion for volunteering with nonprofits. Anna is grateful to be involved in the ballet world once again and loves being part of the SoCal Ballet Scene promoting their mission of supporting the art of ballet in Southern California.