Degrees

B.M. and B.B.A., Loyola University New Orleans

Short Bio

Laura Zambrano, Director of the Loyola Ballet, began her dance education with Margarita Grishkevich and Gloria Castro at the Music Conservatory in Cali, Colombia, where she was first introduced to the Russian method of training. Returning to the United States, Ms. Zambrano was able to continue training in the Russian method under Gayle Parmelee, Director of the Loyola Preparatory Program, and was given the opportunity to perform with the Loyola Ballet. For these prime reasons, she elected to attend Loyola University earning a ballet minor degree. From 1987 to 1988, Ms. Zambrano was the repetitrice for the children's corps of the New Orleans City Ballet/Cincinnati Ballet, performing in The Nutcracker under the renowned artistic director Ivan Nagy.

Ms. Zambrano was the first foreign exchange student of Loyola University to complete a two-year pedagogy program of the Vaganova Russian syllabus at the State Choreographic School of Tbilisi, Georgia, in the former Soviet Union. She trained under Natalia Zolotova, a teacher at the famed Bolshoi School of Ballet in Moscow. She was awarded a certified teacher’s diploma in 1991.

Ms. Zambrano returned to New Orleans and the Loyola Ballet in 1997 as repetitrice and faculty member of the Preparatory Ballet Program. In the fall of 1999, she became a full-time faculty member of the university ballet program and was named Director of the Loyola Ballet.

Courses Taught

• Basic Ballet
• Intermediate Ballet
• Ballet Repertory