Margaret trained at the San Francisco Ballet School under the tutelage of Anatole Vilzak and Mme. Ludmilla Schollar. She received her training as a teacher from pedagogue Nolan Dingman in Hawaii.

 

During her performing career Margaret danced with San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Hawaii Ballet Theatre, and Ballet Hawaii, the latter to which she served as Ballet Mistress until returning to the mainland in 1989.

 

Margaret shared the stage with such celebrated dancers as Cynthia Gregory, Ivan Nagy, Cynthia Harvey, Soili Arvola, and Yoko Morishta.  She has worked with renowned choreographers Todd Bolender, Dennis Nahat, Leo Ahonen, John McFall, Lew Christensen, and Tom Pazik.

 

Margaret’s students have been accepted into ballet schools, programs and companies across North America including American Ballet Theatre, Kirov Academy,  North Carolina School of the Arts, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, and Joffrey Ballet. Regionally, her students have been accepted to Tulsa Ballet, Ballet Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain, University of Oklahoma Dance Department and Modern Repertory Dance Theatre.

 

Margaret pioneered Lawton’s 1991 production of the Nutcracker serving as both ballet mistress and project director.  She has taught master classes for Ballet Hawaii, Wichita Falls Ballet Theatre, and the annual Mid-America Dance Network conferences.

 

Margaret was Founding Artistic Director of Lawton City Ballet.  During the period 1992 – 2011 she presented more than 60 main stage performances with a total outreach Impact of more than 75,000 people.  Performing venues included the Simmons Center Theatre in Duncan, McMahon Memorial Auditorium in Lawton, and as far west as the historic Ramona Theatre in Frederick, Oklahoma.  She was also responsible for inviting dozens of international guest artists from around the globe to share the stage with LCB, with many provided by San Francisco Ballet.

 

Regarding continuing dance education, from 2002 - 2012 Margaret has enjoyed a long-standing professional relationship with Tulsa Ballet, a company continuously ranked as one of the top ten professional ballet companies in the U.S.  This association has allowed Margaret to observe and interact with many world renowned ballet teachers, domestic and international, who guest teach for Tulsa Ballet’s Center for Dance Education’s annual “Pointe to the Future” Summer Intensive Workshop.