Clarissa Millen grew up in Long Island, New York and began dancing at the age of two. She fell in love with dance at an early age, performing in competitions at nine years old and studying classical piano as well. Around the age of twelve she transitioned to the American Theatre Dance Workshop where she studied Classical Ballet, Theater Dance, Tap, and Jazz. In high school she danced in her school’s dance company as well, performing contemporary works. This inspired her to attend Paul Taylor’s summer intensive for two years which grew her love for contemporary dance. Clarissa continued her training at the esteemed University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance. There she studied Release Technique, Counter Technique, techniques from Martha Graham, José Limon, Tricia Brown, and Merce Cunningham. Post graduation she earned her Masters of Science in Management from Wake Forest University. During that time she started practicing yoga and earned her 200 hour RYT to be a Yoga Teacher.

Now, Clarissa is training to be a competitive ballroom dancer, but still enjoys teaching; combining her passions of dance and yoga to make her classes a fun and safe space for all students to learn, grow, and move. This is Clarissa’s second year at Virginia Beach Ballet Academy and she is so excited to share her love of dance with the best ballet school in the area. She also enjoys taking ballet classes from Ms. Ana, knowing that great dancers and teachers always keep learning too.