Courtney received her training in Houston, TX, studying
primarily under Anne and Nicholas Polajenko, Gilbert Rome, ABT's Alexander
Minz, Claire Duncan, and James Clouser. She also had the opportunity to study
with Fosse jazz dancer, Delia Weddington-Stewart, for five years while growing
up in Houston. She trained for a year at the University of Utah under Li-Chou
Chang and had the opportunity to work with Sir Anton Dolin and Toni Lander,
restaging Pas de Quatre in the role of Marie Taglioni. She danced with several
ballet companies including Atlanta Ballet, South Carolina Ballet Theater, and
Cleveland San Jose Ballet. She danced lead roles in ?Serenade? as the Russian
Lead, ?Paquita? as a soloist, ?Sleeping Beauty as Princess Aurora?, Concerto
Barocco’s principal, a Raymonda Variations soloist, and in Lynn-Taylor
Corbett's Appearances. Courtney has been teaching ballet since 1978 for various
studios in Houston, Florida, and Cleveland, including teaching at the
University of Akron's and Kent State's dance department. She received her B.A.
in Anthropology and Communications from Cleveland State University in 1997 and
excavated for three field seasons on the Maya Mountain Archaeological Project
in Belize, Central America with Dr. Peter Dunham. In 2004, Courtney began
managing Cleveland City Dance and created the non-profit, 501(c) 3, City Ballet
of Cleveland in 2009, and as the Artistic Director of this pre-professional
ballet company. Cleveland City Dance became a competitor at YAGP in 2018.
Alumni are currently dancing with NYCB, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Brooklyn
Ballet and more.