Lauren Steele

Lauren Steele is a Southern California–based dancer, educator, and arts leader, and the Co-Founder of New Classics Ballet Theatre, which she established alongside fellow dancer Katie O’Gara to honor classical ballet traditions while supporting emerging and contemporary voices. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance from the University of California, Irvine, where she performed in faculty, undergraduate, and MFA concerts, including Dance Visions, appearing in George Balanchine’s Serenade, works by Vitor Luiz (Bitter Suite and Luna E’motions), and Molly Lynch’s Moonlight. Lauren also performed in MFA works by Ashley Cook (My Felicity and Fabric of Life) and repertory by Taylor Grandy, Theodora Oldfield, and Milena Raeber, and in 2025 appeared as a Friend in Coppélia at the SoCal Ballet Scene Festival. Her early training includes full-length ballets with the Academy of Ballet Arts, participation in the Youth America Grand Prix, and performance at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive (La Bayadère). As an educator, Lauren teaches ballet throughout Southern California and is a certified Progressing Ballet Technique instructor. She is a two-time recipient of the William J. Gillespie Foundation Scholarship.