Pacific Festival Ballet

Pacific Festival Ballet is a not-for-profit institution with a rich history of presenting performance art to the Greater Conejo Valley.  Our semi-professional company strives to cultivate tomorrow’s stars of the dance world while bringing the brightest talent from across the globe to our community.  Our partnership with the city of Thousand Oaks and the Bank of America Performing Arts Plaza provides a forum for creative expression from a strong network of company dancers, professional alumni and guest artists.  PFB features three major productions each season, preserving the tradition of classical ballet while creating innovative theater to explore the ever-changing facets of dance.

​2282 Townsgate Road, Suites 4/5/6, Westlake Village, CA 91361
(805) 906-2087 | pacfestballet.org

Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur, Merlin and Queen Guinevere are everyday discussion topics for Artistic Director Kim Maselli, as are conversations about fairies, dragons and squires.

Pacific Festival Ballet presents the legend of “Camelot” in a new and exciting production at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center on Saturday, May 16 at 2 p.m.

This is not a creative first for the company. Hollywood Composer Eric Allaman and Maselli have joined forces for almost 2 decades. In 2007, the duo premiered “The Sea Princess,” and in 2010, “Noah’s Ark.” These innovative full-length productions push the boundaries of traditional ballet by featuring original music, aerial performers and mixed media scenery.

“What excites me about our original work is to see the overwhelming response from the ballet novice and enthusiast alike,” says Maselli. “My goal is to inspire new ballet audiences by bringing this beautiful art form into the 21st century with a fresh twist. There is nothing old or stuffy about our ballets!”

The creative journey into Camelot has been a long road. With the successful premiere in 2019, the Covid shutdown left original productions such as “Camelot” sitting on the sidelines. Ten years ago, Allaman and Maselli sat down to embark on their third 90-minute score researching and gathering data on the legend of Camelot, which was critical to creating a storyline suitable for the stage and telling this familiar story without dialogue. Once the scenes and characters were structured, the next 9 months were spent building themes, melodies and intentions for the score.

“Kim and I spent quite a bit of time breaking down the scenes of the ballet and determining central characters and storylines,” explains Allaman. “Our ballets have a scored feel to them very much like a movie, so this creates an opportunity for the performers to story tell as well as dance.”

Through patron support and community fundraising, Pacific Festival Ballet sent Allaman to Russia two times to record the score of “The Sea Princess” and “Noah’s Ark” with a 50-piece orchestra. During the summer of 2016, PFB sent Allaman out once again, this time to Macedonia to record the melodic score of “Camelot.”

“Few regional ballet companies have the creative and financial resources to launch into original projects such as these,” says Maselli. “I feel grateful for the opportunity to bring ‘Camelot’ to the stage for our performers as well as for our community.”

Joining Forces

Community support for Pacific Festival Ballet is felt both on and off stage. Talented individuals from all aspects of the theatrical world are combining their abilities to bring “Camelot” to life.

With a cast of 80 dancers, over 100 costumes have been purchased or made by local professional seamstresses and volunteers. Every Saturday there is a bustle of activity at California Dance Theatre, the training school of Pacific Festival Ballet, where studios are filled with rehearsing dancers and the upstairs loft transforms into a creative workshop. Costumes are fitted and embellished, medieval capes tailored and trimmed, fairy wings attached and molded.

Several enchanting elements of Camelot are the stallions belonging to the Knights of the Round Table as well as the mystical winged creatures that mingle with the citizens of the land. Elaborate headpieces have been designed and built by experienced and rising artists.

“When these eight stallions gallop across the stage, I want the audience to gasp and feel as if they are transported to an English countryside,” says Community Designer Paige Loter.

With “Camelot” returning to the stage, it is everyone’s goal to get the word out.

“This original masterpiece is a theatrical experience created by our community and for our community,” says veteran theatre producer and PFB supporter Mark Reyes. “Everyone needs to come to the Bank of America Performing Arts Center to witness the brilliance of this original production and experience the wealth of talent in the Conejo Valley.”

© Copyright 2025 Targeted Media Partners LLC All Rights Reserved

Pacific Festival Ballet

At Cuizon Ballet Centre, our mission is to provide exceptional ballet training that instills passion and discipline in every dancer. We aim to create a nurturing environment where students can grow their skills and artistry.

2977 Willow Lane Suite 200, Thousand Oaks, CA 91361
805-494-8800 | cuizonballetcentre.com

By Tracy Marcynzsyn | Photography by Ben Malkin

Ballet brings a myriad of benefits for people of all ages. From a strong, flexible physique to increased brain function, the perks of practicing ballet leave a lasting impact on quality of life.

In addition to “flexibility, strength and balance, our brain functions differently after having a long-term amount of ballet,” explains Lisa Cuizon, founder of Cuizon Ballet Centre. “There are so many factors that go into ballet—listening to music, counting and recognizing patterns are all integral parts of ballet that are really good for the brain. The benefits are not just physical.”

As is often the case, learning under the guidance of an experienced, passionate teacher amplifies the positive effects of practicing this art.

“If you have good quality ballet teaching, you can modify the range for a layperson’s body and work in a range of where they’re at and build from there,” explains Lisa, a master dancer celebrating 25 years of teaching ballet to children and adults at her Westlake Village studio, Cuizon Ballet Centre.

“I’ve been teaching for 42 years,” she says with a smile, reflecting on her journey in the world of ballet, which started when she was just 7 years old.

“I decided I wanted to do ballet, and I begged and bugged my mom…I’ll never forget when she walked me across the street to the ballet studio and the front desk receptionist asked me how old I was,” Lisa shares. “I was 7; she told me I’d have to wait until I was 8. I remember walking back home and making my mom promise to take me back there on my 8^th birthday!”

Lisa received her birthday wish and began training at the San Fernando Valley Balanchine-based school, “which would become quite a famous school but, unbeknownst to us, was directly affiliated with the New York City Ballet and gave scholarships to The School of American Ballet,” says Lisa. True to form, at 15, she received a ballet scholarship and flew to New York for the first time with her mother.

“Back in those days, a scholarship meant you had a full ride, per-diem and airline tickets. My mom found us an apartment in Columbus Circle near the school, and I’d walk there every day for 6 weeks—it was lifechanging for me,” she recalls.

Dancing professionally at age 18, Lisa sings the praises of her teachers, especially prima ballerina assoluta (exceptional dancer) Melissa Hayden of the New York City Ballet who trained under Balanchine himself.

“Melissa Hayden was a taskmaster like no other; I attribute my success at becoming a dancer to her; she was so hard and so demanding,” she shares, noting her privilege of training with “world famous teachers at the American School of Ballet, such as Stanley Williams—the greatest dancers of the world would flock to him—and Willy Burmann, a famous teacher, dear friend and mentor. I was so fortunate!”

Today, Lisa’s students are lucky to receive the benefits of such an icon’s teaching. While she loves her role as a teacher, Lisa notes that she had not planned on pursuing a teaching career.

“I really stumbled upon teaching,” says Lisa, sharing how she had offered to help a fellow dancer who felt too tired to teach a class after one of their daily 4-hour rehearsals. “I fell in love with being a teacher and found that I loved teaching as much as I loved being a ballet dancer.”

“I love being able to pass on the knowledge that I was given; I was given so much and I worked with some of the greatest teachers to live.”

Teaching classes at various schools throughout her five pregnancies, Lisa opened Cuizon Ballet Centre in 2001, with financial backing from the parents of her devoted students. As she celebrates the school’s 25^th anniversary this May, Lisa marvels at her accomplishments, as well as those of her students.

“The beauty of ballet for the kids that do choose it as a steady practice is that they learn discipline, they learn focus, and how to overcome adversity; they see that you can have goals and you can achieve them if you put your mind to it and that you have to be committed…all of these lessons are so valuable in life,” she notes. “Some of my students have gone on to be professional dancers, doctors, surgeons and university professors…it’s really truly been incredible.”

Lisa’s small class sizes allow her to offer individual attention to every student.

“There are general corrections which are very important for everybody, and because I know all of my students, I know what needs to be worked on,” says Lisa, who also teaches adult ballet on Monday, Wednesday (10:30-11:30) and Saturday (10-11) mornings in addition to a full schedule of children and young adult classes.

“As we get older, the big fear is falling; ballet teaches balance with a focus on finding alignment in the body so you don’t injure yourself…adults, many of them in their 60s, are really taking advantage of what ballet can do for them,” notes Lisa, adding that the perception that ballet is an exclusive art is changing.

“There used to be a stigma that ballet was only for certain bodies, or for those who are young and flexible. It’s really changed, partly due to social media with people seeing other adults doing it.”

This July, Lisa offers her 25^th season of Summer Intensive classes. Held 5 days a week, 3 hours daily, for 4 weeks, the training covers everything from body conditioning, Pilates, floor barre, ballet technique, pre-pointe, pointe and variations.

“Everybody who does my summer intensive comes out very amazing,” says Lisa. “It’s very focused; my goal is to see everybody improve and achieve their potential.”

© Copyright 2025 Targeted Media Partners LLC All Rights Reserved