Our Team


The Children’s Ballet of San Antonio (CBSA), directed by Vanessa Bessler, seeks to inspire the pursuit of excellence and prepare children for productive and creative lives through dance by offering extensive training and performance opportunities for talented children from all backgrounds. CBSA will target a children’s audience to inspire, motivate and nurture the love and appreciation for ballet and the performing arts that children and their families will carry with them as future patrons of the arts.


Kelly Leary, Choir Director

Kelly Leary is a choir director, theatre producer, and organist based in San Antonio, TX. She most recently taught at a K-12 school, teaching elementary music and conducting elementary, middle, and high school choral ensembles. She is also a member of the internationally-competitive barbershop quartet, Saving Grace.

Kelly is the founder, producer, and music director of the St. Mary’s University Musical Theatre Camp, a summer program where students learn and rehearse a full-length Broadway show in the span of one week. Some of her favorite directing credits include Bye Bye Birdie, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Mary Poppins, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Sound of Music, and Fiddler on the Roof. 

ISABELLA GROSSO, CHRIS MILLER - Assistant Choreographers, Mean Girls Jr The Musical

MATT VAN GORKOM - Production Manager

Administrative Team: Lisa Dunne, Andrea Valdez, Hannah Bennett, Isabella Grosso