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Director/Choreographer

Sophie Monat was born in London, England and began her professional career in Europe where she danced with the Lille Opera Ballet in France and the National Ballet of Portugal. Following eight years as Ballet Mistress to the New Jersey Ballet, she served as Director of the Classical/Contemporary Dance Department at the Orange County High School of the Arts, and was also Ballet Mistress to the State Street Ballet in Santa Barbara. Ms. Monat is currently a member of the full time faculty at the California State University Long Beach Department of Dance, where she teaches, directs and choreographs for the department’s dance concerts. Ms. Monat also works  extensively as a guest artist and has taught company class for ODC/San Francisco, the Lyon Opera Ballet, the Hartford Ballet, and Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet. She has choreographed, taught, and staged a wide range of classical and contemporary ballets for ballet companies, dance festivals, professional schools, and universities including Stanford University, Scripps College, Loyola Marymount University, UC Irvine, the Orange County High School of the Arts,and Montclair State University, New Jersey. A three-time recipient of the finalist award at the McCallum Theatre’s Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival in Palm Desert., Ms. Monat formed her dance company, Monat Dance in 2009. The company performed at Celebrate Dance 2011 at the Alex Theatre, and most recently the company won the 2011 Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival's 2nd place award for Monat's ballet, Vista.