About our Seminar Instructors

Our instructors are some of the best costumers and designers working today, and all bring many years of talent, experience, and expertise to the classroom. Not only are they the best at what they do, they are also wonderful teachers.

These short bio's are intended to provide you with just an inkling of their very extensive backgrounds and abilities.

Ms. Claudia Folts has over 35 years experience in the world of ballet, as a professional dancer and director onstage and backstage, in the classroom and the design shop, as a student and a teacher, and as a school owner, company director, and author. She is much in-demand as a costume and stage designer, and to costume individual dancers and entire ballets.

She has been designing and constructing tutus and other dance costumes for over 35 years, has written and published several books on dance costume design, construction, and decorating, and has designed and published a wide range of adult and children's dance and costume patterns.

She is considered one of today's leading authorities on dance costuming, and her books and patterns are in use by professional and amateur costumers at ballet companies and schools all around the world. Her designs have been commissioned for performance and competition, film and television, print and advertising, and have won numerous awards and acclaim.

She has designed and/or created tutus and other costumes for several prestigious dance companies, including North Carolina Dance Theatre, The Joffrey Ballet, Charleston Ballet Theatre, Ballet Trocadero, Ballet San Jose, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre-II, and many many others, for several RDA companies, and for hundreds of dancers competing in the International Ballet Competition (IBC), New York International Ballet Competition (NY-IBC), Youth America Gran Prix (YAGP), Prix de Lausaune, and in regional, national, and international pageants and competitions, and for numerous guest artists.

Ms. Folts has conducted tutu and costume design, construction, and decorating seminars since 1996, and has taught this fine art to costumers from every continent. She fully understands the techniques and methods of 'The Masters of Yesteryear', and successfully combines those methods and techniques with today's fabrics, technologies, and choreographic styles.

Her design credits include "The Nutcracker", "Sleeping Beauty", "Swan Lake", "Don Quixote", and "Cinderella", as well as numerous lyrical pieces and period costumes. She has worked with Ballet Etudes, several schools, studios, and companies, Sue Turner-Cray of the "Manchester Girl", and designed costumes for the Youth America Grand Prix competition. Some of her work will be featured in a soon-to-be-released photographer's book of tutus.

Ms. Beasley is known for her patience and for the care with which she develops her designs, as well as for her friendly, easy-going, and ‘approachable’ teaching style.

Originally a native of Seattle, Washington, she now resides in California, where she works as a freelance artist, and lives with her daughter and son (who, as we understand, is an aspiring chef of some renown – be nice, you might get a dinner invite!).

She has worked in varying capacities for several nationally and internationally known theatres such as the Old Globe Theatre and the San Diego Opera. With her background in dance and theatre, and diverse training in patterning, draping, theatrical lighting, set design, and makeup, she brings a trained eye to her costume designs and constructions.

For the past several years Ms. Lugo has been enjoying her tenure at the New York City Ballet, first as their Millinery person and now as their First Hand. Her eye for detail, appreciation for fine materials, and dedication to impeccable construction and old world techniques makes her a perfect fit at City Ballet, where she has refurbished and recreated many of Karinska’s designs, as well as created new millinery pieces for Holly Hynes and Ian Falconer. She hopes to continue constructing in the great Karinska’s tradition.

They work with Claudia at the seminars as classroom-assistants and tiara design instructors. In Claudia's words: "Jessica and Christine are fabulously talented !"