Miss Sherry began studying Ballet at the age of four with Lilianne and Mario Salveneschi. She continued her training with Daphne Geard in the Royal Academy method and blossomed as a dancer with the excellent Vaganova-style teaching of Juliette Durand (former Prima Ballerina with the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires) and her husband, Carlos Sandor. She also studied with Vladimir Dokoudovsky in NYC and Carmelita Maracci in Los Angeles.

 Miss Sherry performed as a Soloist with Ballet Concerto for several years and in her college years, broadened her Dance and performing skills to include Flamenco and Spanish Dance, even auditioning for Jose Greco.

Miss Sherry found her love of teaching Ballet at the age of eleven, when she would give weekly classes to neighborhood children in her parents’ garage. She continued teaching even during her studies at Southwestern University School of Law where she received her Juris Doctor. She taught more regularly after she had become a member of the State Bar of California and was working as a Deputy Public Defender in the Juvenile Court of L.A. County.

 It was in the Public Defender’s Office that Miss Sherry met her Partner in the Dance of Life, Bob Jason, and together they founded Ballet for Topanga in 1979. The first Topanga Nutcracker Ballet was in 1981.

 Sharing a commitment to youth and the Arts, Miss Sherry and Bob founded City Hearts: Kids Say Yes to the Arts in 1984 to provide the highest quality Arts education and enrichment to the impoverished and at-greatest-risk children in southern California. City Hearts has transformed the lives of more than 34,000 children and youth over the past 39 years.