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 training at Wallasey School of Ballet and Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy. He joined Houston Ballet in 2004 and was promoted to first-soloist in October of 2018. After 18 years dancing with Houston Ballet, Chris retired.

Chris is currently a Pre-Professional instructor at Houston Ballet Academy.

Chris and his wife, Michelle Coomer, have 3 children. He is excited to share his love and knowledge with his students.

Steven Carmona

Elite Competition Director & Instructor

Steven 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, where he performed at prestigious venues such as The Houston Hobby Center and Wortham Theater for the Dance Houston Contemporary Dance Festivals. Steven earned several leading roles in full-length ballets including Don Quixote and The Nutcracker, and performed contemporary works and classical ballet variations in the company’s annual mixed repertoire production, Enchanted Evening. He also competed in the esteemed Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition.

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

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. 

Rachel Van Buskirk

Instructor

Rachel Van Buskirk is a celebrated dancer, choreographer, educator, and co-founder of Atlanta’s Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre. She began her dance training with the Royal Academy of Dance, earning her Advanced R.A.D. certification, and continued her studies under Li Yaming of Coastal City Ballet. Rachel danced professionally with Atlanta Ballet for 13 years, performing in featured roles across a wide range of classical and contemporary works by renowned choreographers. Highlights include North American premieres of David Bintley’s Carmina Burana as the principal lead “Fortuna”, Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine, and the world premiere of Lauri Stallings’s big with Big Boi from Outkast. Her favorite roles include "Lucy" in Micheal Pink’s Dracula, “Autumn” in James Kedulka’s Four Seasons, and the duet in Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16. Other featured works include Ohad Naharin’s Secus, Alexei Ratmanksy’s Seven Sonatas, Alex Eckman’s Cacti, and Christopher Wheeldhon’s Rush.

Rachel has been recognized for her artistry and leadership, appearing on the cover of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch,” named to ArtsATL’s “30 Under 30,” and honored with a Nonprofit Leadership Award. As co-founder of Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre and Terminus Ballet School, she has expanded her role as a choreographer & creative director with works like Secrets, Peter & the Wolf, The Nutcracker Suite, and The Wave Breaks, which was awarded Regional Dance America’s National Choreography Award in May 2025. Rachel is a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), and she is completing her bachelor’s degree in Management at Georgia State University with a 4.04 GPA, expected to graduate in Fall 2025. In addition to her artistic and academic work, Rachel is also embracing her newest and most rewarding role—motherhood.

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…

Laura Hilley

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.

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.

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.

Anahi Barroche

Instructor

Bio coming soon…

Ella Hagdorn

Instructor

Bio coming soon…