Eliza Panzella Eliza Panzella, a native of the British Virgin Islands, began the study of ballet at the St. Thomas School of Ballet at the age of four. Since then, Eliza has had the privilege to study and perform with the Pittsburg Ballet Theatre and the Nancy Ellis School of Ballet in Rangeley, Maine. Along with her intensive ballet training, Eliza also joined the UMF Dance Company in 1996 and traveled the east coast and Canada for four years performing modern and improvisational company pieces. In 1998, Eliza began her teaching career for EcoVenture and taught creative movement and modern to students. Since then, she has taught lecture demonstrations and classes in ballet, modern, hip hop and creative movement in venues such has preschools, high schools, camps, after school programs and studios from Maine to Philadelphia. Eliza graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia with her BFA in Dance Education. During her four years in Philadelphia, she was honored to study under such notable choreographers and dancers as Gabriel Masson, Kim Bears, Ronen Koresh, Brian Sanders, and learned and performed the famous Trio A under Yvonne Rainer. Eliza moved to San Diego in 2003 and has found her home as the director of dance at Westview High School and a modern and ballet teacher at Danceology. She is currently finishing her master’s degree in Secondary Education at the University of Phoenix.