Our Legacy

Westside School of Ballet is Los Angeles’ oldest and most successful public ballet school, founded in 1967 by Yvonne Mounsey of the New York City Ballet and Rosemary Valaire, a soloist with Britain’s Royal Ballet. Together they joined two of the great classical traditions — Mounsey’s Balanchine and New York City Ballet lineage and Valaire’s Royal Ballet training — into a single school, and that meeting of traditions still defines Westside today.

For more than half a century, Westside has provided the Los Angeles community with exceptional dance instruction. As a non-audition school, it welcomes children and young dancers of every age and level — from a child’s first steps at age 3 through dedicated pre-professional training — each nurtured in an inspiring, enriching environment.

Westside is equally a home for adults, whether returning to the barre after years away or discovering ballet for the first time. With ongoing, open enrollment, dancers are welcome to join throughout the year.

The school’s non-profit performing division, YLC Ballet, doing business as Westside Ballet of Santa Monica, has staged professional-caliber productions twice a year since 1973. Its full-length Nutcracker with live orchestra is Los Angeles’ longest-running production, and the acclaimed Spring Performances and Gala feature works ranging from classical masterpieces to contemporary and original pieces. Both are presented at The Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center.

These opportunities have launched aspiring dancers into professional careers with companies around the world — and have given every student lessons in dedication, respect, and commitment that serve them in whatever path they choose.

Yvonne Mounsey was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet during its formative years, dancing with the company from 1949 to 1958 and originating roles in ballets by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins that are still performed worldwide. In 1950 she made her debut as the Siren in Balanchine’s Prodigal Son — the role for which she is most famously remembered.

Robbins drew on her imposing height and commanding presence to cast her as the Queen in The Cage (1951), and on her gift for comedy as the Wife in The Concert (1956); he showcased her acrobatic quality in the Harp solo of Fanfare (1953). She led the Pas de Neuf in Balanchine’s Swan Lake and the Fourth Waltz in his La Valse, and when Balanchine choreographed his Nutcracker in 1954, he featured her in the Spanish divertissement. She also danced The Woman from His Past in Antony Tudor’s Lilac Garden and Brangaene in Frederick Ashton’s Picnic at Tintagel.

Born on a farm outside Pretoria, South Africa, Yvonne trained in the Royal Academy of Dancing method and refined her technique in London under the Russian émigré Igor Schwezoff. She joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1939, and after the outbreak of war danced with the Original Ballet Russe in Australia and North America under the name Irina Zarova, taking featured roles in works by Fokine, Lichine, and Balanchine.

In 1959 she co-founded the Johannesburg City Ballet, later the PACT Ballet. She moved to Los Angeles in 1966 and, in 1967, established what would become the Westside School of Ballet. Working alongside her co-founder Rosemary Valaire, she inspired and developed thousands of dancers over the decades. 

Yvonne Mounsey passed away in September 2012, leaving a ballet career that spanned more than eight decades and touched thousands of lives through her dancing, choreography, and teaching.

Born Rosemary Feuerheerd in London, she took her stage name from the character Valerius in Shakespeare’s The Two Noble Kinsmen. She danced as a soloist with the Royal Ballet from 1946 to 1954, earning the prestigious Solo Seal and counting Dame Margot Fonteyn among her inspirations.

Valaire became known for her devotion to the classical repertoire. She reconstructed the Royal Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty for companies across the Americas — including American Ballet Theatre in 1976, where she coached Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov in the lead roles — as well as Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Milwaukee Ballet, the Compañía Nacional de Danza in Mexico City, and Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico. She also staged Swan Lake, Coppélia, and Les Sylphides.

Her students went on to dance with leading companies worldwide: New York City Ballet principals Monique Meunier and Jock Soto and corps member Melissa Barak, American Ballet Theatre’s Christina Gibbs and Anna Liceica, and dancers who joined the San Francisco, Houston, Pacific Northwest, and Bolshoi ballets.

As we celebrate Westside Ballet of Santa Monica’s 60th Anniversary, I find myself reflecting on the extraordinary legacy of this organization and the thousands of lives it has touched since my mother, Yvonne Mounsey, and Rosemary Valaire founded the school in 1967. Sixty years of excellence is a remarkable milestone—made possible by generations of students, families, teachers, volunteers, donors, and supporters who believed in the transformative power of dance.

People often ask why we dedicate so much of our time, energy, and resources to Westside Ballet. For me, the answer has always been simple: Westside doesn’t just develop exceptional dancers—it helps shape exceptional people.

That philosophy has been at the heart of Westside since its beginning. My mother took immense pride not only in the students who went on to professional ballet careers, but also in those who carried the lessons they learned at Westside into every profession imaginable. I can still picture her face lighting up as she shared stories of former students who became doctors, teachers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, and community leaders. Her greatest joy wasn’t simply producing beautiful dancers—it was watching young people become passionate, hardworking, compassionate adults.

Our alumni continue to embody that legacy. While many have danced with some of the world’s leading ballet companies, countless others have found success far beyond the stage. What unites them is the foundation they built at Westside: discipline, perseverance, resilience, creativity, teamwork, and the confidence to pursue ambitious goals.

Ballet teaches so much more than technique. It teaches commitment. It teaches respect for others, responsibility, and the understanding that meaningful achievement requires patience and persistence. Students learn to overcome setbacks, celebrate one another’s successes, and discover that growth comes from showing up, working hard, and never giving up.

That is the legacy we continue to carry forward today.

Because of the dedication of our faculty, parents, volunteers, donors, and community partners, Westside remains committed to making outstanding ballet education accessible to all. Each year, we provide over $250,000 in tuition assistance so that financial circumstances never prevent children from pursuing their dreams. Through our performances and community programs, we introduce thousands of children and families to the beauty and inspiration of classical ballet while creating opportunities for young artists to grow both on and off the stage.

As we look toward the next 60 years, our mission remains as strong as ever: to enrich children’s lives through dance education, performance, and community engagement while inspiring future generations with the values of excellence, discipline, and artistic expression.

Westside’s story is still being written, and we invite you to be part of its next chapter. Your generosity ensures that future generations of children will continue to experience the confidence, resilience, artistry, and lifelong lessons that have defined Westside Ballet for six decades.

Thank you for believing in our mission and for helping preserve this remarkable legacy for generations to come.

With gratitude,

Allegra Clegg

Owner and Executive Director, Westside Ballet