Owner & Artistic Director

Ms. Riley started dancing at the late age of 13 with the goal of becoming a professional ballerina. She took her first classes at Edmunds Towers & with Andrea Stafford. To achieve her dream, she sought out more intensive training and joined Valentina’s School of Ballet in Michigan. There, she trained six days a week under master teacher Valentina Barsukova. She has competed in the biggest ballet competitions, winning awards in Canada and America, and received multiple offers and scholarships to top schools including the National Ballet School of Canada, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Kirov Ballet Academy, and the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow. At 16, she became the first North American to be admitted to the Belarus State Ballet Academy, where she performed with the Belarus National Ballet in productions such as Sleeping Beauty. Ms. Riley is a Bolshoi Ballet Academy Certified Teacher.

Ballet Teacher

Ms. Ekaterina is a graduate of the prestigious Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she trained under legendary faculty including Altynai Asylmuratova and Ludmila Kovaleva. During her years at the Vaganova Ballet Academy, she performed with the Mariinsky, Alexandrinsky, and Hermitage Theatres. After graduating, she joined the Moscow Classical Ballet in Russia and later the Metropolitan Classical Ballet in Texas. Ms. Ekaterina brings over twenty years of professional performance and teaching experience to Windsor Ballet Academy. She is passionate about sharing the artistry, discipline, and traditions of the Vaganova method while inspiring students to develop strong classical technique, confidence, and a lifelong love of dance.

Our invitation-only competitive program for students ages 9-18 

Windsor Ballet Academy’s competitive team – our pre-professional program – is Windsor’s most elite training, where students are prepared for a career in dance. Entrance into the program is by audition or invitation only – students with potential are scouted throughout the year. This is a highly selective program.

Pre-professional students train extensively (5 days a week) in classes including ballet, pointe, variations, rehearsal, contemporary, stretch, and conditioning. They compete in the best ballet competitions and audition for the top ballet schools and companies around the world.

These students also have the opportunity to perform in two ballet productions each year – the Nutcracker in December and another full-length ballet in June.