Claire Toner (Stallman) began dancing at age four in Saratoga, California, studying under Karen Millar before receiving a full scholarship to the San Francisco Ballet School. There, she trained under Gloria Govrin, Pascale Leroy, Shannon Bresnahan, and Jocelyn Vollmar, and attended summer intensives on full scholarship with the School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.
Claire danced professionally for ten years, performing with Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, and Diablo Ballet. Her featured repertoire includes Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun, Christopher Wheeldon’s Rush, Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette, as well as works by George Balanchine, James Kudelka, Helen Pickett, and Benjamin Millepied.
While dancing professionally, Claire earned her Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from Georgia Tech. She began her teaching career at Berkeley Ballet and has spent the last decade teaching at Alameda Ballet Academy, where she also served as stage manager for spring recitals. Claire lives in the East Bay with her husband and seven children, and is delighted to share her love of dance with the students at Orza Academy of Ballet.