Aaron Orza, former San Francisco Ballet Company member, former Ballet Master of The Rock School for Dance Education, Founder and Director of Nashville Classical Ballet Academy, and Youth America Grand Prix Outstanding Teacher, comes from a deeply rooted classical ballet family. Both of his parents danced with Oakland Ballet, and all five of his siblings trained seriously, with several going on to professional careers with companies including San Francisco Ballet, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and companies abroad.
Aaron’s earliest training was shaped by several influential teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Yehuda Maor played an important role in his formative years, as did Damara Bennett, former director of City Ballet School, whose teaching and influence helped shape a generation of young Bay Area dancers.
Aaron, his twin brother, and their younger brother distinguished themselves early, consistently receiving full scholarships throughout their training—a reflection of both their talent and the exceptional work ethic instilled in them from a young age.
Aaron later received the majority of his formal training at San Francisco Ballet School under the directorship of Lola de Ávila. His principal teacher was the renowned Cuban dancer and teacher Jorge Esquivel, whose influence became fundamental to Aaron’s development as a classical dancer. During these formative years, Aaron had the extraordinary opportunity to study with a distinguished group of teachers and artists including Irina Jacobson, Johan Renvall, Parrish Maynard, Edward Ellison, Ricardo Bustamante, Mikko Nissinen, and Yuri Zhukov, among many other great teachers and artists.
Aaron also attended the School of American Ballet in New York on full scholarship for four summers and, in 1997, was invited to remain for the academic year. There he studied under Stanley Williams, Andrei Kramarevsky, Richard Rapp, Jock Soto, Peter Boal, Damian Woetzel, Peter Frame, and other distinguished members of the SAB faculty. Aaron was part of the final generation of dancers to study directly under the legendary Stanley Williams, an experience that would have a lasting influence on his understanding of classical technique, musicality, and the responsibility of passing knowledge from one generation of dancers to the next.
Aaron’s relationship with San Francisco Ballet Company began well before he officially joined its ranks. As a student at San Francisco Ballet School, he had already appeared in Company productions, but at 14 came an important turning point. Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson personally selected Aaron to perform the Regiment in George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes for a San Francisco Ballet Gala. It was his first opportunity to step beyond traditional student roles and perform a true Company role alongside San Francisco Ballet’s professional dancers—putting his years of training into practice at the professional level.
That experience became an early glimpse of what was ahead. At 17, Aaron was awarded an apprenticeship with San Francisco Ballet, and within a few short months, following a School showcase, Tomasson personally approached him backstage and offered him a contract with the corps de ballet. That moment officially launched Aaron’s 13-year career with the Company.
During his 13-year career with San Francisco Ballet, Aaron performed an extensive range of classical and contemporary repertoire, including works by George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Lew Christensen, Helgi Tomasson, Lar Lubovitch, Yuri Possokhov, John Neumeier, Christopher Wheeldon, William Forsythe, Alexei Ratmansky, Val Caniparoli, and many others. Those years provided Aaron with an extraordinary artistic education, surrounded by and working alongside generations of distinguished dancers, choreographers, ballet masters, teachers, and coaches. He considers that experience—and the standards, discipline, artistry, and mentorship that came with it—fundamental to the teacher and mentor he is today.
After retiring from performing, Aaron discovered a deep passion for teaching, coaching, and mentoring the next generation of dancers. While teaching on the West Coast, his reputation as a teacher and coach began to travel through the ballet community. Across the country in Philadelphia, Bo and Stephanie Spassoff, Directors of The Rock School for Dance Education, heard of Aaron and his work through word of mouth. They personally reached out to him and brought him to Philadelphia, where he was hired as Ballet Master of The Rock School. During his tenure, Aaron worked extensively with the school’s pre-professional dancers, helping prepare and guide students who would go on to professional careers and prestigious training programs around the world.
For seven years, Aaron and his wife, Kristin Lindsay Orza, dedicated themselves to building Nashville Classical Ballet Academy from the ground up. What began as a small, ambitious program grew into one of the most recognized and awarded ballet schools in Tennessee, earning a reputation for excellence in classical training and artistry. Under their leadership, students were accepted into prestigious schools, training programs, and professional institutions across the United States and abroad, including The Royal Ballet School, English National Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and Philadelphia Ballet, among many others.
Most recently, following their years in Nashville, Aaron and Kristin were selected to join Vitacca Ballet and School for Dance in Texas, where they took on leadership roles across its Houston and Woodlands locations. Aaron served as Classical Director, while Kristin held a directing role within the school. Together, they brought their experience in classical training, coaching, mentorship, and program development to the organization, working closely with students and faculty while continuing to develop the high standards of training that have defined their work together.
Aaron has now returned back home to the Bay Area, where he is excited to invest that experience in the community that first shaped him. As a Bay Area native, Aaron holds a deep respect for the extraordinary ballet tradition of the region and for the generations of dancers, teachers, artists, and institutions that have emerged from it.
Having been fortunate to train in the Bay Area during a period he considers among the most formative and exceptional of his life, Aaron understands firsthand what can happen when young dancers are surrounded by great teachers, uncompromising standards, discipline, artistry, and meaningful mentorship. The opportunity to return home and help carry those values forward holds particular significance for him.
Today, as Founder and Director of Orza Academy of Ballet, Aaron is bringing together a lifetime of experience—as a Bay Area student, professional dancer, teacher, coach, Ballet Master, and school leader—to create something meaningful for the next generation. Together with Kristin, his mission is to provide the East Bay with exceptional classical ballet training rooted in professional standards while creating pathways for young dancers to pursue their highest aspirations.
For Aaron, Orza Academy of Ballet is more than the beginning of a new school. It is a return to where his own journey began and an opportunity to give back to the community and tradition that gave him so much—preserving the values of the training that shaped him while carrying them forward for a new generation of Bay Area dancers.