Monica was born and raised in Oxnard where she began her training with the Channel Islands Ballet Academy. At age 17, Monica accepted a full scholarship and stipend with the San Francisco Ballet School. Monica continued dancing with the San Francisco Ballet Company for three consecutive years, performing classics such as The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and many neoclassical works. Monica performed many leading roles as a guest artist with regional and national companies. Monica also directed her sold out production of “Toxique… a love fever” a cabaret that ran for 3 consecutive weekends in Santa Barbara.

Due to her knowledge of dance, knack with children and bilingual skill, Monica has taught creative movement classes to nearly every public school in Ventura County. Thus, Mrs. Thompson was an El Concilio Latino Leadership Honoree for Cultural Arts in 1998. El Concilio stated “She is an excellent role model for our children, a wonderful mentor…In her presentations she builds self-esteem and the importance of hard work, commitment and staying in school”.

For over 20 years Monica has been a well-respected instructor and choreographer in Ventura County. Premier Dance Studio has been voted among the “Best of” Ventura County for best dance studio and dance instructor since 2008.

Monica combines her business savvy with her natural talent as a dance educator and owner of Premier Dance Studio. She feels fortunate to share her passion and professional dance experiences with her Premier students and most importantly giving back to her community.

Marni King began her career as a dancer winning multiple scholarships in ballet, jazz and modern from Ballet Arts, Professional Dancers Society, Stanley Holden’s, Debbie Reynolds , and the Ka Ron Brown Dancers company. Her credits as a dancer includes; Debbie Reynolds celebrity benefits, Stevie Wonder’s “Black Arts Festival” at the Rose Bowl, ” 14th Annual NAACP Image Awards”, opened for a Richard Pryor movie premier, a tribute to Foster Johnson hosted by the Nicholas Brothers, P.D.S. Tribute to Johny Carson, performed with the ” Dottie Starr Tap Dancers”, on a “Different Strokes” episode, the NBC Affiliates Awards Show and many more. She has taught and choreographed in the Ventura and L.A. County area for over 20 years.

In addition to yearly spring performances, she choreographed; Nutcracker; advanced tap for Academy of Dance Tap Team winning multiple awards and invitations to nationals from Starbound, Kar, Tremaines, Dance Rave and Headliners; also a ballet duet that won the highest score in their group size for Starbound. Recently she’s won High Gold with Premier’s Tap Team as well with the intermediate and advanced tappers. Also, Marni acted as head choreographer and judge for the Ventura County “Festival of Talent” directed by Brian Macdonald artistic director of the Rubicon Theatre. She loves to share her passion for dance with her students!

Samantha Ruberti Is a Classical Ballet, Pointe, and Contemporary teacher from Southern California. She grew up in a strict Russian Vagonova technique ballet school where she honed her skills under Clarissa Boeriu and Monica Thompson, who first put her en pointe almost 20 years ago. She developed her Contemporary passion while training under Jason Coosner and Krenley Guzman at Ventura College and continued training at Rock School for Dance Education and Joffrey Ballet New York. She then moved to Italy with her husband and directed the Aviano Air Force military base’s Dance Program. She then went on to teach at two competitive dance studios in Florida where she received high marks for choreography and teaching technique. Returning to Italy in 2019, Sam went back to the classroom to study under Ballet mistress Gabriella Arnoldi and eventually started to teach her peers in Italy as well. In 2020 the Pandemic hit and Sam with her husband and two children made the decision to return to California to be with family and now is incredibly excited to join the Premier Dance Studio! Sam’s passion for teaching started when she was young and has continued to grow. Her philosophy in training elite dancers involves hands on learning and primarily dancing alongside the students. She loves to teach in her pointe shoes to help students connect with what they are feeling and how it should look. Sam is a fun energetic teacher who prides herself on being able to connect with the student on a personal level so that they may be open to constructive criticism in a way that will help them accomplish their dance goals and continuously blossom into dancers and wonderful people they are destined to be.

Elizaveta Domracheva is from Santa Barbara, CA and began her ballet training at age three at State Street Ballet Academy (formerly Gustafson Dance). As a young dancer she performed with State Street Ballet in Appalachian Spring, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, and Love, Love, Love. She went on to study at the Perm State Ballet College in Russia, graduating with honors, and danced professionally with Russian Ballet Theatre in Moscow. She has performed throughout Germany, Switzerland, China, and Greece, performing soloist and principal roles in Swan Lake. Elizaveta won Second Place in Pas De Deux at the International Ballet and Contemporary Dance Competition in Italy, was a finalist on the Russian National Youth Talent TV Show in Moscow and performed the principal role of Lise in La Fille Mal Gardee at the famous Perm Opera and Ballet Theater in Russia. She has also performed as a principal guest artist with Fresno Ballet Theater and Ventura County Ballet. Elizaveta joined State Street Ballet in 2022.