Brande Dunn is a native of Huntington Beach and an alumna of the University of California, Los Angeles, where she graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in French and later, a Master's Degree in Education from The University of California, Irvine. She began her early training with SCATS as a gymnast and later joined Festival Ballet Theater as a principal and soloist ballerina for the company. Her training was in the Vaganova Method under the direction of Salwa Riskalla, Director of Southland Ballet Academy. She continued training in classical dance at UCLA, summers with Boston Ballet and in Paris, France at Le Centre de Danse du Marais.
She has performed with Festival Ballet Theater and ECNAD Contemporary Dance Group of Los Angeles in addition to dancing in the seasonal performances of The Glory of Christmas and Easter and classical repertoire such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle and Coppelia. Mrs. Dunn has been teaching classical dance for 30+ years having taught many years for both Southland Ballet Academy and Hudson Dance Academy. She is currently on staff with The Academy for the Performing Arts (APA) and Orange Coast College as a ballet teacher. Mrs. Dunn is a full-time French teacher at Huntington Beach High School and officially joined APA in 2011 as Director of Ballet Ensemble and is honored to be working with such a wonderful and creative group of people.
Instructor of: Ballet