Our Team

Our story begins with Maryse Gobel, a passionate dancer from Toulouse, France. Trained under Russian ballerina Gallia Kouskoff, she began teaching at just 15 years old while studying at the Toulouse Ballet. She later performed professionally with ballet masters Josef Lazzini, Willie Cerullo, and Christian Foye, but ultimately chose a different path, pursuing a career in nursing.

In the 1960s, Maryse moved to Denver, CO, where she worked with Dr. Thomas Starzl, the first surgeon in America to perform a liver transplant. Eventually, she and her husband made their home in Nacogdoches, TX, where her love for ballet led her back to teaching. Over the years, she built the Maryse Gobel Ballet Academy, shaping dancers with the same discipline and artistry that defined her own career.

After 35 years of teaching, Maryse entrusted the school to her former student, Katie Parr, ensuring that her legacy of excellence and passion for dance would continue for generations to come. Though she is no longer with us, her influence lives on in every dancer who takes the stage.