Valerie Amiss began her training at age eight under Sue Millington at the Regency Ballet. She continued her instruction with Victor Moreno and Alexei Yudenich, and at age 12 joined the Pennsylvania Ballet School under the direction of Bojan and Stephanie Spassoff. At age 15, Ms. Amiss spent a summer studying in Saratoga Springs, NY with members of New York City Ballet. She was nominated for the prestigious Princess Grace Award in 1994, and in 1995 performed at the Algur H. Meadows Award Ceremony to honor choreographer Paul Taylor. In the summer of that same year, she also performed with the Chautauqua Ballet Company, directed by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride, and,in 1997, she was asked by Gloria Govrin and Sandra Jennings to performed at the St. Bart’s Music Festival on the island of St Bart’s. Ms. Amiss joined Pennsylvania Ballet as an apprentice in 1992 under the direction of Christopher d’Amboise.. She became a member of the corps de ballet in 1993 and was promoted to soloist in 1999 with director Roy Kaiser. . In the summer of that year, she also represented the company at the Sintra Festival in Portugal. And in 2005, Ms. Amiss not only performed at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, where she danced featured roles in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake, but also performed Matthew Neenan’s 11:11 and Carmina Burana at New York City Center. Additionally, she had the honor of performing twice at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. as well as with Susan Jaffe and Nicole Hlinka for a Rock School benefit. In 2018,Ms. Amiss was asked by Pennsylvania Ballet outreach program director Sarah Cooper to teach classes for children with Down syndrome. She has taught several ballet classes for children with special needs at St. Katherine Day School in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.She produced her first Nutcracker for St Katherine Day School where the entire cast were dancers of different abilities. Valerie also helped create Audrey’s class for children of all abilities at the Princeton Ballet School under the direction of Aydmara Cabrera. She enjoys teaching children of all ages and abilities, pre ballet through pre professional levels. Ms. Amiss retired from The Pennsylvania Ballet Company in June 2007. She resides Ocean City, NJ with her husband, former Pennsylvania Ballet Soloist Edward Cieslak, and their son Adam and daughter Lily. “Ballet has the word “all” in the middle of it. I truly believe everyone no matter age should have the chance to experience the magic of a dance education. It changes lives ! “