Board & Staff

Executive Officers

Anita Saenz-Carvalho - President

Jennifer Henderson - First Vice President

Annette Morgan - Second Vice President

Shay Raymond - Treasurer

Ruben Lerma - Secretary

Directors

Amy Atkinson

Julie Green

James Kirkpatrick

Katy Rahla

Pauline McClendon

Annette Morgan

Carol Rehtmeyer

Amanda Urban

Honorary Members

Ceatrice Kitchen

Larry and Bettye Roquemore

Ella Ilse Schmidt

Sue Carey

Xavier Barrera

Charles & Mabs Pate

Sustaining Members

Gloria Ragan

Deborah K. Wright

Past Presidents

1974 - 1978     Larry Roquemore

1978 - 1983     Bill Woodhouse

1983 - 1984     Andrew Sewell, D.D.S.

1984 - 1985     Philip Cole

1985 - 1986     Kay Viles

1986 - 1987     Deborah K. Wright

1987 - 1998     Mary Anne Wilkinson

1988 - 2000    Becky Mingle

2000 - 2002   Carmen I. Bonelli

2002 - 2003   Joye A. LaBarrett

2003 - 2005   Brad Condit

2005 - 2007   Karen McIntire

2007 - 2009   Kimberly Kemp

Cristina Munro

Born in England, Cristina Stirling Munro, Artistic Director of the Corpus Christi Ballet, trained in ballet at the Arts Educational Schools in London and with some of Europe's finest teachers in the Cecchetti and Royal Academy methods of dance.  She dances with Sadlers' Wells Opera at age 17 for one year, then joined the National Ballet of Holland.  Ms. Munro returned to England for a special television production of Sleeping Beauty with Margot Fonteyn.  She later joined the London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet) and was promoted to Soloist status.  Cristina toured Europe, Asia, South America, and in Soviet countries.  Then in 1968, Eliot Feld was invited to London to choreograph a ballet of the London Festival Ballet.  Soon afterwards, Mr. Feld asked her to be a founding member of his newly-formed American Ballet Company.  She danced as Principal soloist with the company in New York for two and one-half years.

Ms. Munro has also taught in various schools and as performed as a guest artist with other companies in the United States, including Edward Villella's New York Ballet Concert Company.  She served as Co-Director of the Louisville Ballet with Richard Munro from 1973 to 1977.  Cristina has taught on the faculty of the Dance Masters of America, the Southern Association of Dance Masters, and has been seminar coordinator of the Craft of Choreography Conference.  She has produced several television specials on ballet, one of which won an Emmy Award.  Ms. Munro was on the faculty of the Houston Ballet and served as the Ballet Mistress from 1980 to 1984.  She has been the Artistic Director of the Corpus Christi Ballet since 1985, and she is the Director and Owner of the Munro Ballet Studios. 

Alexandra Emory

Alexandra Emory was a former Principal Dancer and Ballet Mistress for the Corpus Christi Ballet and now serves as a Co-Artistic Director.  Alexandra received her dance training from the Houston Ballet, the Munro Ballet Studios, and Joffrey Ballet.  She has performed leading roles in many of the Corpus Christi Ballet productions.  Alexandra graduated from Carroll High School in 1994 and was invited to dance professionally with the Louisville Ballet Company.  There, she performed in many of the classics, including:  Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Dracula, Coppelia, Peter and the Wolf, The Firebird, Carmina Burana, Raymonda, Les Patineurs, Gaite Parisienne, Billy the Kid, Gala Performance and numerous other works choreographed by the company.  She returned to Corpus Christi in 1997 and joined the faculty at the Munro Ballet Studios.  She also taught dance in the public school system at Chula Vista Fine Arts Academy for a year.

As a Principal artist with the Corpus Christi Ballet for eight years, some of her favorite roles include:  "Snow Queen", and "Sugar Plum Fairy" in the Nutcracker.  "Esmerelda Pas de Deux", "Odette" in Swan Lake, and "Swanhilda" in Coppelia.  Alexandra has performed in Dallas and Abilene as a guest Artist in their Nutcracker, in the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy.  She was invited to perform in Naples, Florida, as Odette in Swan Lake and was a guest teacher with Abilene Ballet Theatre for their summer course.  In 2005, Alexandra officially retired with her performance of Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. 

She will now concentrate on her role as Co-Artistic Director of the Corpus Christi Ballet and at Munro Ballet Studios teaching and coaching the next generation of dancers.  She is thrilled to be married to Tom Emory, and they have five wonderful children between them!