Monika Peltz is a native of Des Moines, IA who has been dancing since the age of 4. She grew up in a school that valued fun in dance, and gave her the love of teaching and the desire to share that with others. As she got older, she was very focused on ballet and convinced her parents to take her to the only professional ballet school in the state of Iowa, Des Moines Ballet, at the age of 11. They agreed mostly because Monika had been diagnosed with scoliosis and this was a path forward to recovery, and also satisfied her drive to be a professional ballerina. She had the honor of studying with Lynn Andlauer, Kennet Oberly, Stephan Laurant, Konstantin and Irina Uralsky, Laura Zambrano, and Linda Sabo. Her first several years at Ballet Des Moines focused in on Bournonville technique, and then changed focus to Vaganova when it became Ballet Iowa. Linda Sabo was a highly influential teacher who focused on Broadway tap and jazz, which Monika also teaches and loves very much.
Monika danced professionally at Ballet Iowa, Iowa Dance Theatre, The Neuman Project (Contemporary Works), and Vine Street Ballet. She has had the distinct honor of teaching at Ballet Iowa, Vine Street Ballet, School of Classical Ballet and Dance (West Des Moines, IA), Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy (Laguna Hills, CA), and Studio R Ballet (Mesa, AZ). She is also the co-founder and President Emeritus of Dance Without Limits, a non-profit dance program in West Des Moines, IA that provides ballet and tap classes for individuals experiencing disabilities. Monika is certified in Level 1 of the Bolshoi Ballet Teacher Certification Program and looks forward to continuing her education within that program.