Katie O’Gara

Katie O’Gara is a Southern California–born ballet artist and co-founder of New Classics Ballet Theatre. With nearly two decades of training and performance experience, she has developed a strong technical foundation and a deep passion for narrative ballet. She trained at Pasadena Civic Ballet, where she performed leading roles including Clara in The Nutcracker, Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and Alice in Alice in Wonderland, and participated in community outreach performances introducing young audiences to ballet. Katie attended the California School of the Arts – San Gabriel Valley as a ballet and contemporary dance conservatory member during high school. She attended summer intensives with The Rock School for Dance Education, American Ballet Theatre, and the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, and was a Top 24 finalist in the Senior Women’s Classical Division at Youth America Grand Prix. She earned a B.A. in Dance and a B.S. in Neurobiology from the University of California, Irvine, where her repertoire included Myrtha in Giselle, Russian Girl in Serenade, a soloist role in Paquita, and several original works by Molly Lynch, Tong Wang, and Vitor Luiz de Souza Santos. Katie currently teaches ballet and tap at Pasadena Civic Ballet, sharing her passion for dance with the next generation of artists. Outside of the studio, she works as a veterinary assistant, channeling her love for animals, science, and service.