Nelliana Castro was five years old when she attended her very first ballet class at a local studio. Although that was only for a short time it was at age 8 when she whole heartedly returned to dance and began attending Valverde School of Performing Arts for hip hop, jazz, contemporary and ballet.
She truly enjoyed learning and performing in dance recitals but as her interest in gymnastics grew she began training at Precision Gymnastics where she developed great strength and discipline for fitness. When becoming part of the excel team required more gymnastics training and less dance time, she made the decision to focus solely on dance. Nellianna discovered her passion for Ballet when she joined Inland Pacific Ballet Academy in 2013.
Since joining IPBA, she has attended multiple Summer Intensives, performed in Inland Pacific Ballet’s The Nutcracker and appeared in the annual Academy recitals, Tarzan, Swan Lake and numerous others throughout the years. In 2020 she auditioned and was thrilled to have been accepted into American Ballet Theaters Summer intensive program.
In 2021 she graduated from Upland High School where she was an honor student, Co-captain of the Dance team, participated in dance competitions and school performances.
Nellianna is currently a Junior at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona as a Psychology Major, and as part of her minor in fine arts she also studies Contemporary Ballet in college that granted her the opportunity to perform at Cal Poly.
“Because I’ve had the best IPBA teachers nurturing my love for Ballet, it will always be a part of my life and I am immensely grateful to have been accepted as an IPB Academy apprentice this year and look forward to an unforgettable experience!”
