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 both a rigorous technical foundation and a lifelong passion for narrative ballet.

Her early training began at the VonderHaar Center for the Performing Arts, followed by intensive study at Pasadena Civic Ballet, where she trained under world-renowned artists Petra Conti and Eris Nezha, as well as Craig Williams, Diane De Franco Browne, Jackie Kopcsak, and Valeria Gortchakova. She performed leading roles including Myrtha in Giselle, Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Clara in The Nutcracker, and Alice in Alice in Wonderland. She also participated in community outreach events, introducing young audiences to ballet through character appearances.

Katie’s classical foundation was further enriched by five consecutive summers at The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, where she trained at the highest level under Bojan Spassof, Stephanie Wolf Spassof, Jody Anderson, and Justin Allen. She also attended intensives with American Ballet Theatre and the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. In 2019, she was a Top 24 finalist in the Women’s Classical Ballet Senior Division at the Youth America Grand Prix. Her performance career also extends to screen work, including Chronic by Claire Rosinkranz, The Swan Who Lived Twice produced by Don’t Blink Pictures, and En Avant with Neutrogena Studios.

At the California School of the Arts–San Gabriel Valley, Katie expanded her artistry as a member of the Ballet and Contemporary Dance Conservatory, where she also began choreographing original works. She continued her training at the University of California, Irvine, earning a B.A. in Dance and a B.S. in Neurobiology. While at UC Irvine, she performed as “Russian Girl” in Serenade, restaged by Zippora Karz and Diane Diefenderfer, and in original and adapted works by Tong Wang, Molly Lynch, and Vitor Luiz. She was also a recipient of the William J. Gillespie Scholarship.

Katie’s expertise extends beyond ballet performance. She is a classically trained flutist and has published research in Alzheimer’s disease at UC Irvine, where her work was recognized with the Excellence in Research Award. She is currently working as a veterinary assistant and teaches ballet and tap at Pasadena Civic Ballet.

Through New Classics Ballet Theatre, Katie aims to merge her classical training and creative vision to tell original stories through ballet. She is committed to honoring ballet’s traditions while creating work that resonates with today’s audiences, making the art form accessible, innovative, and enduring for future generations.