Michelle Coomer

Owner, Director & Instructor

MICHELLE COOMER was born in Southern California. She started dancing at the age of 3. She trained in jazz, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, and gymnastics. She enjoyed performing and competing in many dance competitions. In 1998, she won the title of Junior Miss Dance of Southern California at the Dance Masters of American Competition for her classical ballet technique. Soon after, she attended the summer programs of The School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and The Houston Ballet Academy.

At the age of sixteen, Michelle was asked to join the Houston Ballet Academy’s prestigious year-round training program on full scholarship and stipend. During that time, Michelle represented the Houston Ballet Academy in The USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. There she was a finalist and received the Heinz-Bosl Foundation Scholarship award.

In 2002, Michelle joined the Houston Ballet. In 2007, she was promoted to Demi-Soloist. After 9 years of dancing with the Houston Ballet, Michelle retired to focus on starting her family. She and her husband, former Houston Ballet first soloist and Ballet Master, Christopher Coomer, have 3 beautiful children. She has taught around the Pearland and Houston Area for the past several years. Michelle is thrilled to be able to share her knowledge and love for dance with dancers in the area.

Kelly Robles

Business Manager & Owner

Bio Coming Soon

Christopher Coomer

Owner & Instructor

CHRISTOPHER COOMER was born in Birkenhead, England, and received his early training at Wallasey School of Ballet. At the age of sixteen, he was invited to join Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, where he trained for three years before joining Houston Ballet as a company member in 2004. He was promoted to First Soloist in October 2018.

After an 18‑year career with Houston Ballet, Chris retired from performing and transitioned into teaching and leadership. He went on to serve as a Ballet Master and found his passion for training the next generation as a Pre‑Professional instructor at Houston Ballet Academy. Chris splits his time between teaching at Houston Ballet Academy and leading Coomer Ballet Conservatory’s Pre‑Professional Upper School Division.

Chris and his wife, Michelle Coomer, have three children. He is excited to continue sharing his love, experience, and deep knowledge of ballet with his students.

Steven Carmona

Elite Competition Director & Instructor

STEVEN CARMONA began his dance training at the age of five, immersing himself in all genres of dance. His passion for Jazz, Tap, and Ballet quickly distinguished him as a versatile and dedicated performer. Over the course of ten years, he competed extensively at regional and national dance competitions, showcasing both technical precision and artistic expression.

He was a member of Ballet Jetè Pre-Professional Ballet Company under the direction of Milena Leben. Steven’s tap career includes membership in TNT Tap Company, where he performed in the Space City Tap Festival’s Showcase alongside renowned artists such as Jason Samuels Smith, Chloe Arnold, Acia Gray, and Derek Grant. At the age of 14, Steven began choreographing solos, duets, and group dances in various styles, specializing in Contemporary, Jazz, and Tap. He collaborated with multiple studios across the Houston area before finding his artistic home at Coomer Ballet. As one of the original instructors when the studio first opened, Steven began teaching part-time and has since grown into a pivotal leadership role.

He currently serves as the ELITE Company Director at Coomer Ballet, where he trains dancers to excel in the competitive dance arena and continues to deepen his expertise in dance education and choreography. Beyond his work with the Competition Team, Steven contributes to all aspects of studio life—including stage management, social media, costume design for both competitions and The Nutcracker, technical production for performances, and the development of new summer camps and workshops.

Now in his sixth year with Coomer Ballet, Steven remains committed to inspiring and educating dancers both within the studio and throughout the Houston dance community.

Aimee Kilgore

Upper School Pre-Professional Director, Adaptive Program Director, & Instructor

AIMEE KILGORE (she/her), Pre-Professional Division Director, is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer currently based in Houston, TX. She grew up in the Houston area training under Sharon Teague and Lauren Anderson, performing lead roles such as the Snow Queen and Sugar Plum Fairy in Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker, Odette (Swan Lake), Paquita from Petipa’s Paquita, the Sylphide (La Sylphide), and many more. She supplemented her classical ballet training at HSPVA under Janie Carothers and Courtney D. Jones, where she graduated as dance major. Aimee spent summers studying at prestigious schools such as Ballet West, LINES, Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet, SALT, and Batsheva Dance Company. She went on to graduate summa cum laude from the Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA Program in San Francisco in 2021, where she had the opportunity to perform around the Bay Area in residencies and with choreographers such as FLOCK, Maurya Kerr, Liv Schaffer, Dexandro Montalvo, and more. Since moving back to Houston, Aimee has been a teaching artist with Houston Ballet’s Education and Community Engagement program since 2022, where she travels to various schools and hospitals teaching adapted dance to students with Autism, Down Syndrome, and children diagnosed with cancer. Outside of dancing and choreographing, Aimee is working towards her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Dance/Movement Therapy. Aimee is elated to have the privilege to share her knowledge with a broad range of dancers and movers. 

Laura Hilley

Lower School Pre-Professional Director & Instructor

LAURA CATHERINE HILLEY began training at Mobile Ballet at age three. As her passion for the art grew and her performance opportunities increased—under the artistic direction of Winthrop Corey—she became singularly focused on dance.

After multiple summer intensives in New York City, first with American Ballet Theatre and then with The School of American Ballet, Ms. Hilley relocated to Houston to train full-time with Houston Ballet Academy on merit scholarship. While there, she had numerous opportunities to perform works by Stanton Welch and Ben Stevenson O.B.E. with Houston Ballet.

Ms. Hilley then became a member of Cincinnati Ballet, where she worked with choreographer Adam Hougland and toured with the company to The Kennedy Center. Some of her favorite reps include Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias, Victoria Morgan’s Cinderella, and Septime Webre’s Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan.

With her love of teaching and performing, she is sought as a guest performer and master instructor throughout the Houston community and region.

Emily Hannigan

Instructor & Office Coordinator

EMILY HANNIGAN began her formal ballet training at the age of ten with Ballet San Antonio Academy and later performed as a company member with Ballet San Antonio. She continued her training through summer intensive programs at Houston Ballet Academy, San Francisco Ballet School, and Boston Ballet School. After earning her undergraduate degree, she returned to ballet as a company member with Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre in San Antonio.

Emily earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a Master of Business Administration from the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. Prior to joining Coomer Ballet Conservatory, she worked as a Human Resources Business Partner in the chemical industry.

In addition to her teaching role, Emily serves as the Office Coordinator for Coomer Ballet Conservatory, where she combines her lifelong passion for dance with her professional experience. In the summer of 2026, she furthered her teaching education by attending instructor training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, focusing on syllabus work, pedagogy, and continued development as an educator.

Emily and her husband are the proud parents of two wonderful children.

Jeremy Carmona

Instructor

JEREMY CARMONA began dancing at Kennedy Dance Theatre at the age of five. He has studied many genres including Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip Hop and Contemporary. He participated in the Space City Tap Fest with World-renowned choreographers Jason Samuel Smith, Chloe and Maude Arnold, Derek Grant and Acia Gray. Jeremy also danced with Kennedy Dance Theatre’s Ballet Jete Pre-Professional Company under the direction of Ms. Milena Leban. He was a member of Ballet Jete for six years and competed in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in Dallas and Houston. He performed at The Houston Hobby Center and Wortham Theater. Jeremy had lead roles in The Nutcracker Ballet and many Tap productions.

Jennifer Godinez

Instructor

Bio coming soon…

Khila Lyons

Instructor

KHILA LYONS was born and raised in the Houston area, and now lives in Pearland, Texas. She fell in love with dance at an early age and started training briefly before joining the Pearland High School Prancers in 2016 as a freshman. Fast forward to junior and senior year, she was a part of the military officer line as a Junior Lieutenant and during her senior year she was Co-Colonel with Laci Cannon. After high school, she chose to continue dancing at Stephen F. Austin State University as a member of the SFA Dance Team and was offered an amazing position at Ascension Dance Co. as a part of their Dance Staff. After two years with SFADT and a National Championship later, she decided to end her competitive dance career and started to do more choreography and technique lessons to high school dance teams and students of all ages around the Houston area. Khila is also currently a Houston Texas Cheerleader.

Kajal Desai

Instructor

KAJAL DESAI – Bollywood Dance Teacher - has been dancing since childhood, with experience in almost every form of Western and South Asian dance, fusing together to create her personal style of expressive, storytelling, powerful movements to Bollywood music.  Kajal began her post graduate professional career as an Organizational Management Consultant with a Masters Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. She was able to use and build upon those skills when she co-founded Doonya, a Bollywood dance and fitness company, in 2005. In developing Doonya’s core curriculum, dance style and fitness formula, her goal was to standardize the technique around Bollywood dance so that it correctly translated into fitness media, classes, and training programs. Through her role at Doonya, Kajal has presented and appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Oz Show, LIVE with Kelly and Michael, The Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda, and Great Day Houston.  Though Kajal is no longer running the Doonya business, she still teaches and trains other instructors in the program. She also continues her work in overall health, wellness, and dance through various platforms in the Houston area, including teaching Bollywood dance classes to kids, mindful movement classes in local schools through the Hope Stone program, and Bollywood master class workshops. Over the last few years, she has conducted master classes and summer intensives in diverse styles of Bollywood at HTXConnect, HSPVA, and Coomer Dance. Kajal's goal is to spread dance wide and far, for everyone to have the chance to dance and feel the joy of movement.

Ella Hagdorn

Instructor

Bio coming soon…