Amanda is an attorney, mother of two and a ballerina in her own right. She was accepted to join the Joffrey trainee program out of high school but the timing was not right so she went on to college at the University of Michigan and then attended the University of Iowa College of Law. She is now a Laguna Beach resident, partner in the law firm of Sugg & Paracuellos, LLP and still takes two ballet classes per week. She brings to the Board 20 years of experience as a business lawyer as well as her enthusiasm and extensive knowledge of dance.

Robert (Bob) Braun retired as a senior partner with the law firm of Rutan & Tucker where he practiced for over 40 years.  He specialized in the resolution of complex business disputes and was the lead lawyer in matters where more than $1.5 billion was at issue.  He has participated in numerous trials, arbitrations, mediations and negotiations. In addition to representing clients he mentored attorneys at Rutan, taught classes to outside attorneys fulfilling continuing education requirements imposed by the California bar, taught classes to his clients’ in-house attorneys and taught a class to newly appointed judges. He has served on a bar association committee vetting judicial candidates.  Los Angeles Magazine selected him as one of the outstanding attorneys in Southern California.

He received his BA from USC and was selected by the University as one of the five most outstanding male graduates in the class of 1967. He received his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1970 and was selected by the faculty as the most outstanding oral advocate in his graduating class.

He has been active in community affairs.  He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Laguna Art Museum for 10 years, serving as an officer and as a member of the executive committee, finance committee and governance committee.  He served for eight years on the Board of Trustees of the Laguna Beach Education Foundation (SchoolPower), served as its president, and volunteered for several school board committees. He is currently on the Board of Directors for Planned Parenthood of San Bernardino and Orange Counties where he serves on the finance committee and the audit committee. He was active in the annexation of South Laguna by the City of Laguna Beach and served on the Board of the South Laguna Civic Association.

Karen Wilson has a diverse and long history with nonprofit organizations. She has worked professionally serving populations such as women, children, minorities, prisoners, and immigrants. She has experience working with the challenges of immigration, education, human trafficking, disabilities, social services, and international justice.  She has traveled broadly to serve the most poor and neglected of the world and continues to dedicate herself to helping others. Karen also cares deeply for dance and its ability to unveil humanity at its best. Her passion for dance has brought her to Laguna Dance, and she is committed to strengthening the awareness and appreciation of dance in her community. Karen and her husband Doug love to travel, explore, and read, and are involved in a variety of sports.  They have a daughter and three grandchildren in California, as well as a son in Boise, Idaho.

Ward has over 40 years experience as a practicing CPA and business executive, including over 15 years as a senior partner in a Beverly Hills CPA firm and the large regional firm into which it merged; and eight years as COO/CEO of a boutique financial services firm in Irvine.  He currently works exclusively with one family as their “financial consigliere” overseeing all aspects of their financial lives.

Crystal retired as the Director of Litigation and Training from the Legal Aid Society of Orange County (now Community Legal Aid SoCal) after over four decades in legal services representing very low income clients. Her practice focused on affordable housing, exclusionary and discriminatory zoning practices, and landlord tenant issues. After retirement she has continued doing work for Western Center on Law and Poverty and Community Legal Aid So Cal. She was honored by the Anti-Defamation League, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, and the Public Law Center for her legal work. <

Prior to attending law school, Crystal was a professor at the University of San Diego College for Women. She has degrees from Stanford University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of San Diego School of Law.

Crystal has served on the Board of Directors of the Center Dance Alliance (Segerstrom Center for he Arts), Western Center on Law and Poverty, Orange County Community Housing Corporation, and the Public Law Center. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Hagan Place, an affordable housing project in Orange County.

Crystal is an enthusiastic supporter of dance in all forms, especially ballet.  She is also the proud parent of the new editor of Dance Magazine!

Alison Eggers is a native of Laguna Beach, having graduated from Laguna Beach High School. After high school, she attended Bard College in upstate New York with a degree in Drama and Dance. Post college, she moved to New York City and worked in lighting design. She was an archival lighting designer for museums for over 20 years at such places as the American Folk Art Museum, Rubin Museum of Art, New York Historical Society, Museum of Biblical Art, Museum of the City of New York, the Museum at FIT, Sotheby's Auction House, as well as Indiana State Museum, National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, and the NASCAR Hal of Fame in Charlotte, NC.

While continuing to do lighting work, Alison was hired by American Ballet Theatre in New York City to teach the students at their school. Allison has been affiliated with American Ballet Theatre since she started teaching for the Young Dancer Summer Workshop during its inaugural year. She was the Dance History teacher on staff for ABT's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School from 2013 to 2020. In addition to teaching students at the school, she also worked with ABT's apprentices and the ABT Studio Company dancers. She has lectured for the ABT NYU Masters' Degree Program in Dance Pedagogy and has been a contributor to the school's Raising the Barre workshops and symposia.

In 2021, Allison and her husband, Marc Eigenmann, a French chef, and their two sons relocated back to Laguna Beach. She was recently elected PTA President at El Morro Elementary School, the school she once attended.

Christy Miller is a distinguished professional with over 24 years of experience in senior roles within the tech industry. Her career is marked by exceptional leadership and strategic acumen, contributing to significant growth and innovation across various organizations. Beyond her professional achievements, Christy is deeply committed to community service. She has actively served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, applying her expertise in technology and business to advance their missions. Currently, she is a member of the Laguna Beach Beautification Council, where she plays a pivotal role in enhancing the local community's aesthetic and cultural environment. Christy lives in Laguna Beach with her husband Ryan and their dog Harrison.

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Dr. Dianne Howe caught the dance spark as an earnest six-yar-old when she began her ballet studies.  In college she was introduced to modern dance, which led to her BFA in Dance from the University of Utah, and later her MS, MFA and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. She was a professor of Dance at the University of California, Irvine for 8 years and prior to that on the dance faculties of the University of Illinois at Normal, San Francisco State University and University of Wisconsin, Madison.  Dianne is the author of Individuality and Expression: the early German modern dance, as well as several book chapters and articles on choreography, aesthetics, and dance education.  Additionally, Dr. Howe wrote and presented papers, lectures and panel presentations, both nationally and internationally. She was one of the authors of the Dance Standards for Goals 2000: what every child should know and be able to do and has collaborated on projects with several national organizations, including National Endowment for the Arts, Kennedy Center—Alliance for Arts Education, National Association of State Arts Agencies, the Getty, U.S. Department of Education, and Music Educators National Conference. On the international scene, Dianne has consulted with the Association for Contemporary Dance of North Rhine-Westphalen, Germany, and has given papers at conferences in Germany and Hong Kong. Dianne was on the board of the National Dance Association (now National Dance Education Organization), the largest national dance education organization, and held the positions of Chair of Education, Vice President and President.

After her career in academia, she turned to the local arts scene. Dianne joined the Development Department of Orange County Performing Arts Center (now Segerstrom Center for the Arts) in April 1995 and retired in February of 2022. As a member of the Development Department, she sat on departmental planning and procedure committee. In January 1997, she was promoted to the position of Director of Support Groups, when she oversaw and assisted with the work of the members of the various support groups. In addition to overseeing the Support Groups office, Dianne often gave Preview Talks for the ballet performances and open rehearsals, and lectures and seminars on various topics of dance and Center performances to the support groups members and community groups.She also worked with the Center’s Education Department adjudicating artists for the Center’s school presentations and residencies. In the fall of 2022, she gave a series of classes in dance history to the upper level ABT Gillespie School students.  

Edie has experience fundraising for several organizations: SchoolPower, Friendship Shelter, Jewish Family Services as well as the Laguna Playhouse where she has served on the board. Presently she is on the board of the Kevin Armstrong Foundation, which sets up extracurricular sports programs for the middle schools in Santa Ana. Additionally she is the Trustee of the Melvin J. Tonkon Memorial Scholarship for Laguna Beach High School. Ms. Tonkon is also a past teacher and trained as a career counselor for college.

Karen Redding is a seasoned psychotherapist with 30+ years in the mental health field, bringing a contemplative and integrated approach to working with people. She teaches and facilitates mindfulness-based meditation groups with a psychotherapy practice in Laguna Beach where she has lived for many years with her husband and son (now grown up)!

Karen was involved with School Power, and wrote a monthly column for the Indy about psychological topics presented at the PTA Coffee Break. Her time with The Friendship Shelter included supervising MSW interns as well as being involved with The Artists’ Collective, a group of artists who shared the experience of homelessness while residing at The Friendship Shelter. 

Her fine art photographic work, Travels Through Humanity with a social documentary focus on both contemplative themes and indigenous people throughout the world, has received attention in several art exhibits in Southern California. A recent book publication, Ten Ways to Awaken the Wise Heart: A Photographic Journey combines her experience as a world traveler to the domain of being a deep listener with an attentive heart to the world at large as well as the world within.

Karen has always loved the arts, particularly dance and is very excited to be part of the Laguna Dance Festival board, especially in its 20th year.

Margot Shapiro is a seasoned investment professional with 20+ years in private equity and venture capital. She grew up in the great Midwest where she spent her early years and throughout high school dancing with the Detroit Contemporary Civic Ballet Company. Many people said she was always on her toes, and she proved it by taking the leap out west to go to college at Stanford, where she studied geology. She fell in love with business at a summer job while analyzing oil company assets for a bank.

After college, Margot started her career in the Investment Banking division of Goldman Sachs. Afterward, she joined a private equity partnership in New York where she worked on venture capital and leveraged buyout deals for the firm’s 30 portfolio companies totaling $6 billion in revenue. Eventually she moved back to the Midwest and rejoined Goldman Sachs, where she raised $70 million for private wealth teams. She also helped launch the Wolverine Venture Fund at University of Michigan and actively served on its founding Board of Advisors for six years.

After a move to California and a desire to start her own fund, Margot co-founded LMN Ventures in 2010 with two business school classmates, investing their own capital in early stage women-led businesses in the Consumer and Health & Wellness sectors. With a passion for the better-for-you CPG space, she joined Spiral Sun Ventures as a Managing Partner in 2018 when Mark and Michael saw the light and knew they needed a woman in the mix.

Margot holds a BS in Applied Earth Science and an MS in Petroleum Geology from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She serves on the Advisory Board of Women Entrepreneurs Global. She is married, lives in Laguna Beach, CA and has three grown children.

Mari began dancing at an early age.  She graduated from the UCLA dance program with a B.A. in choreography. Having an interest in psychology and the therapeutic aspects of dance she obtained her masters degree in Dance/Movement Therapy and went on to practice in clinical and residential settings. Mari then obtained an MFT before establishing a private practice. She continues to mentor and supervise Dance/Movement Therapy students.

Mari and her husband Ward have raised two daughters and they are now thrilled to have become grandparents. After moving to Laguna Beach in 2008, Mari has enjoyed the practice of yoga, the care of canines and travel. She is excited to leap from her love of dance to being a part of the Laguna Dance Festival board.

A California native, Mary has lived in Laguna Beach with her husband Michael, an attorney, for forty years. A recently retired speech pathologist, she is a lover of dance, particularly contemporary and modern ballet. She is a past board member of School Power and long time member of the National Charity League. She is a welcome addition to the Board.

Nancy is active in many non-profits including Laguna Dance Festival, United Way of Orange County and the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at UCI. Bringing the arts to the people of Orange County has been one of her primary passions for many years. Nancy is a partner of Buttoned Up, Inc., a company that produces a line of products for getting all parts of your life organized. She lives in Laguna Beach with her husband Michael, where they raised their four children.

A Laguna Beach native and the daughter of renowned architect Chris Abel and Sandy Abel, a passionate interior designer, Julia Abel Schwier has innate creative spirit. It’s no doubt part genetics and also a reflection of having been surrounded by renowned artists and craftspeople all her life.

Born into a family of artists and designers, Julia has a natural appreciation for unique and beautiful architecture and design. Julia received her BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts), majoring in dance, from San Francisco State University. After graduation, she lived and worked in the Bay Area for over ten years. Her dance major was “absolutely one of the best highlights of my post-secondary education,” she says. “The joy of self-expression, movement, innovation and working with others to draw out that inner spirit was something I’ll never forget. I believe dance helped shaped the woman I grew up to be.”

Julia embraced a career in real estate as a way to share her love for design and architecture with others, and is now nearly a decade in the industry. Having made Laguna Niguel her home since 2019, she specializes in Coastal Orange County. Beyond the real estate, Julia loves to explore neighborhoods and attend local events in Orange County. She frequents farmers’ markets, community events and concerts, and volunteers at her daughter’s school.

Married to a musician, Julia finds herself steeped in music creation and performance. While she didn’t pursue a professional dance career, she relishes stepping out on the floor from time to time, and revels in her daughters’ enjoyment of gymnastics, sports and dance, knowing they will be richly rewarded by making those things a part of a creative, curious life.

Niko Christou was born and raised in Cyprus, where his family farmed olives. After finishing service in the Cypriot army, Niko moved to New York City, where he studied photography at the Fashion Institute of Technology and then worked in commercial photography.

Niko and his husband lived for nearly 40 years in New York City, and also restored and lived on an eighteenth century farm in Bucks County Pennsylvania where, inspired by the lavender fields of southern France, Niko cultivated and farmed lavender commercially.

Niko has been involved with the dance world for the past 40 years, and in particular has deep ties to the New York City Ballet. He studies art and music, and dances for his own pleasure.

Niko and his husband have now both retired, and they and their dog Sophia recently moved to Laguna Beach after completing the restoration of one of the few properties in Laguna Beach listed on the National Register of Historic Places.