Pacific Northwest Ballet School proudly announces Lauri-Michelle Houk as its new Managing Director, welcoming her back to Seattle. Houk, a former soloist with Pacific Northwest Ballet (1987–1995) and PNB School faculty member, most recently served as Founder, Director, and CEO of the San Elijo Dance and Music Academy in San Diego.
As Managing Director, Houk will oversee the school’s administrative and operational functions, including enrollment, finances, fundraising, marketing, facilities, and class scheduling. In collaboration with the School Principal, she will manage instructors, engage with PNB School families, and champion the organization’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (I.D.E.A.) initiatives. Houk succeeds Denise Bolstad, who is retiring after an extraordinary 45-year tenure with PNB.
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome Lauri-Michelle as PNB School’s new Managing Director,” said Peter Boal, PNB School Director. “She leads with an extensive knowledge of ballet and a focus on each individual student and their family. I’m excited to reintroduce her to our PNB community.”
“I am thrilled to be joining Pacific Northwest Ballet School as the incoming Managing Director,” said Houk. “As I take this next big step, I’d like to thank my husband Ben, our five children Madeline, Katherine, Elizabeth, Michael, and Alexandra, and all of my teachers, fellow administrators, and company and school directors who have come before me and inspired me over the years.”
As Houk gets reacclimated to Seattle, PNB School is also promoting two familiar faces into new positions with the School: Former Assistant Principal Marisa Albee, on the School faculty since 2001, has been promoted to Principal. And Deborah Kenner, who joined the PNB School faculty and PNBConditioning staff in 2010, takes over Albee’s former position as Assistant Principal, primarily focused on the School’s Eastside location, the Francia Russell Center.
Lauri-Michelle Houk began her training under Marjorie Tallchief and George Skibine at the Dallas Ballet Academy, with summer studies at the School of American Ballet (SAB) and Suzanne Farrell’s Cedar Islands Ballet Camp. At 15, she joined SAB as a winter student, graduating from the Professional Children’s School. By 17, she apprenticed with the Dallas Ballet and then danced four seasons with the Chicago City Ballet, where she was featured in the PBS documentary Balanchine’s Ballerinas, coached by Maria Tallchief in The Four Temperaments.
From 1987 to 1995, Lauri-Michelle performed with Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) under Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, dancing in Balanchine works like Rubies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Concerto Barocco, and Apollo. She also took principal roles in Stowell’s Duo Fantasy, Hail to the Conquering Hero, and the Stowell/Sendak Nutcracker, alongside works by choreographers like Mark Dendy and Lar Lubovitch. From 1996 to 1998, she was a principal dancer with the Nashville Ballet under Benjamin Houk and taught at its school. In Texas, she served as company teacher for Dallas Black Dance Theater, Children’s Cast Director for Fort Worth Dallas Ballet’s Nutcracker, and assisted in staging Stowell’s Carmina Burana. She later taught full-time at PNB School under Peter Boal and returned as a guest teacher in 2024.
In 2001, Lauri-Michelle and her husband Ben founded the San Elijo Dance & Music Academy, now a leading dance institution in San Diego County with a second location in 4S Ranch. She also established West Coast Ballet Theatre, San Elijo Dancewear, and San Diego Performing Arts in Education. Her former students have become choreographers, teachers, and dancers in companies like PNB, SAB, ABT, San Francisco Ballet, and Hubbard Street, with others excelling in film, musical theater, and universities like Juilliard and Stanford.
Marisa Albee joined Pacific Northwest Ballet School’s faculty in 2001. She trained with her parents at the Albee School of Dance and later the School of American Ballet. Albee first joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice and later got promoted to Soloist, dancing for eight seasons. Teaching since 1998, she previously taught at Washington Academy of Performing Arts. At PNBS, she serves as Assistant Principal. Albee focuses on engaging younger students through encouragement, fun, and instilling confidence. Albee is also the founder of Ballet in Form, an educational website for teachers and dancers.
Deborah Kenner joined Pacific Northwest Ballet School’s faculty and PNBConditioning staff in 2010. She holds a B.F.A., an M.S. in Kinesiology, and PhD ABD in Health and Human Performance. Trained at the University of Arizona (as a Full Dance Scholarship recipient) and Colorado Ballet, she danced professionally with Colorado Ballet and David Taylor Dance Theatre for ten years. She is an NCPT certified Pilates instructor and Balanced Body Educator, and has previously taught at Academy of Colorado Ballet and Tucson Regional Ballet. Kenner has created PNBS conditioning videos and curriculum for Dance for All, which she currently teaches. In addition, Kenner serves as a teaching artist for Dance for Parkinson’s.
Founded in 1974, Pacific Northwest Ballet School is recognized as one of the top ballet training institutions in the United States. The School offers a wide range of classes and programs designed for students ages two through adult, offered through its two locations in Seattle and Bellevue, WA. Under the direction of Peter Boal, PNB School offers a complete curriculum in the Balanchine tradition. As the first ballet school in the US to have a therapist, dietician, and physical therapist available for all students, PNB School combines professional guidance with mental, physical, and emotional support to wholistically prepare ballet students for the demands of professional dance and beyond. PNB School’s faculty includes former members of Pacific Northwest Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and more, who bring a wealth of experience and expertise to their teaching. For more info, visit PNB.org/School.
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