About Triangle Youth Ballet

​A North Carolina native, began her training in Fayetteville with Josephine von Strasnicsak. She studied ballet with Constance Hardinge at Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, VA and North Carolina School of the Arts. An anthropology graduate of UNC, she received her MA in dance from UNC-Greensboro with recognized credits from American Dance Festival. Ms. Lorentz de Haas has been teaching ballet for over 35 years. She founded the Triangle Youth Ballet to serve the needs of young aspiring dancers and has served as director since 1995.

Is a graduate from the Walnut Hill School of Performing Arts with a major in Dance. Kate studied at Fordham University in the Fordham/Alvin Ailey B.F.A. dance program.  She continued her dance training at Steps on Broadway and graduated from Fordham University summa cum laude with a B.A. in Religious Studies in 2007.  Kate toured with the world-renowned acrobatic dance company Galumpha. Kate’s choreography has been performed at the Regional Dance America/Southeast festival on several occasions.  She has been on faculty at TYB since 2007.

Has been office manager at TYB since 2014. She has a Master's Degree from Boston University and homeschooled both of her now-adult children all the way through high school. Her daughter danced for many years (some of them at TYB!) and Edie is thrilled to be helping other parents and their children navigate the world of dance training. 

Began dancing at the age of three studying the basics of ballet, tap, and jazz. At age eight she began her formal training with the Louisville Ballet where she trained in many different styles including ballet, jazz, modern, salsa, tap, character, pointe, and more. She also studied with the school, Ballet Espagnol, where she trained in the beautiful art of flamenco dancing. She furthered her dance education by attending numerous summer intensives, including the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C., and taking classes with the renowned teacher Finis Jhung.  In high school, she trained at the Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville, KY, where she was exposed to choreography classes and some musical theatre on top of a rigorous ballet and modern program. In college, she continued her dance studies as a ballet major at both the University of South Florida and Butler University. She continued her passion for dance professionally as a soloist with the De la Dance Company in Cincinnati. Abbie graduated summa cum laude with her BS in Exercise Science with a minor in Dance. Abbie has been on the faculty of the Triangle Youth Ballet since 2015. 

Katie Moorehead grew up in Southeastern Connecticut where she started dancing at 3 years old. When she later became a member of the Dance Ensemble of Maggie Dennis' Dance Extension, she traveled throughout the region performing and studying with dancers from all over the world including Frank Hatchet, Pilobolus Dance Company, Joe Tremaine and Laurie Johnson. Along with dancing Katie has a love for theatre and has recently enjoyed performing with Seed Art Share and Paperhand Puppet Intervention.  She earned a communication degree from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. 

Hannah Porterfield has been dancing since the age of four. She has trained at The Raleigh School of Ballet, Ninth Street Dance, TYB and Carolina Friends School. During her senior year at Carolina Friends School Hannah found her passion for choreography and teaching when she was invited to be an assistant teacher for the middle school dance classes. Since graduating in 2019, Hannah has been teaching improvisational dance, modern and ballet. Hannah loves to share her passion for dance with her students and strives to create a fun and welcoming space where dancers can learn and express their creativity.

Ellin Porterfield is passionate about creating theatre experiences with children, youth, and adults.

She believes that theatre is one of the best ways to connect people and explore creatively while having fun in the process.

Over the past 30 years, Ellin has taught a wide variety of classes in Theatre and the Arts to both children and adults. She holds
an M.F.A. in Children's Theater from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a B.A. in Theater from Appalachian State University,and is a certified Montessori teacher.