Rising Stars: Meet Christina Hampton of Gilbert

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Hampton.

Hi Christina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In January of 2006, I moved from FL to AZ after retiring from a 22 year professional ballet career. I was hired by Jeanne Wright to teach ballet in 3 of her 4 dance schools. After a few years, she encouraged me to start a pre-professional ballet company for students to have the opportunity to train and perform ballets from the classical ballet repertoire. In 2010, Arizona Youth Ballet (AZYB) began its inaugural season and we performed “The Land of the Sweets” from Act II of the Nutcracker, and later that spring we performed Act II from Swan Lake.

We began with 20 dancers in 2010, and now we have over 50 dancers in 2025. Every season we perform two productions. We perform the Nutcracker in December and a Spring show at the end of May at the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center. Over our 16 seasons, we have performed various ballets in the classical repertoire such as Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Coppelia, Paquita, Raymonda and Snow White.

We strive to run our youth ballet company like a professional company. Dancers attend our weekly technique class and rehearsals on Saturdays with our artistic staff, while continuing their weekday training at the studio of their choice. We offer strong technical training by our highly regarded faculty in a positive and nurturing environment.

Dancers are admitted to our program through an audition process twice yearly, in August and January. We are located at 1495 S. Higley Rd. in Gilbert, AZ at CanDance Studios.

In addition, we offer a Ballet Summer Intensive program, to dancers aged 7 and above. We are a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization, governed by a board of directors.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No it has not. Jeanne passed away in 2013 so we had to find a new location to hold classes and rehearsals. We wanted to find a location that would give us the opportunity to grow and share our love of ballet. It took awhile to find the right fit, but we have at CanDance studios.

We have had some growing pains as well. As our dancer numbers grew, we had to buy more costumes, which meant more storage space for the costumes, and as we performed more and more ballets, we acquired more sets and props which again increased our storage needs.

As we continued to grow, I knew I would need to have more help running the company. We now have 5 instructors on staff to teach classes and run rehearsals.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I became an accomplished dancer at a young age due to the training and performance opportunities I received. My teacher saw me helping my fellow dancers and encouraged me to start teaching because I had an eye for knowing how to fix dancers who were struggling. I began assisting classes at 13 and teaching my own classes by 15. I received my first professional performance contract at age 15. I continued to teach throughout my professional performing career.

I had two knee surgeries at the age of 22. I spent the next year learning how to recover and get stronger with Physical Therapists. One of my specialties is helping dancers return to the stage after major injuries and surgeries. I think what sets me apart has been the ability to help dancers be the best they can be regardless of body type. For example, even if a dancer has difficulty with flexibility or turn out, I can use my own experiences to help teach them how to use their muscles and proper alignment to reduce risk of injury.

I am very proud of how much AZYB has grown and the performing opportunities we have given and continue to give to dancers in the east valley. We have had many young dancers graduate and move on to become professional ballet dancers as well as Physical Therapists, Pilates instructors, costume designers and tutu makers!

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Putting on full length productions is a lot of work, but they are very rewarding. We started out with no sets and very few props and costumes. It took time to collect/build/buy enough costumes and sets for the different productions.

I was well aware of what I was getting myself into when I started AZYB since I grew up in a pre-professional ballet school. I remember my mom helping with sewing costumes. I knew one of the most important things is getting the students families involved and have them help prepare for the performances. We have been very lucky to have parents who have great creativity and skills to help us put my vision onto the stage.

Pricing:

• $600 for the entire season. This includes all costumes, production fees, rehearsal fees and company class

Contact Info:

• Website: https://arizonayouthballet.org

Image Credits
Fourwalls Photographic