American Dance and Music, Inc.
Board of Directors

Carrie Diamond, President, Artistic/Executive Director

Carrie Diamond, President, Artistic/Executive Director

Carrie Diamond, President, AD&M and Executive and Artistic Director of The Dance Hub; Artistic Director, AD&M Performance Group, is a 2019 Recipient of the Apogee Award for Excellence in Education. Her lifelong interest in dance developed early on by the mentorship of three individuals: Don Hewitt (ballet), Marilyn Allen Suleiman (choreography), and Virginia Storie-Crawford (modern dance). She later trained with Cecchetti master teacher, Margaret Craske, and such luminaries as Lawrence Rhodes, David Howard, and Benjamin Harkarvy. She danced professionally in New York City for over fifteen years and holds an M.F.A from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. After graduating, she founded New American Ballet Ensemble, a New York City company that promoted new music and choreography. She was an instructor for the Alvin Ailey School, the 92nd Street YM/YWHA, Peridance, and Marymount Manhattan College. In Santa Barbara, Ms. Diamond co-founded American Dance and Music in 2006 with Eric Valinsky, where she directed the AD&M Studio, AD&M Performance Group, and Moving To Learn, a curricular dance program for elementary school children. In 2017, the AD&M board of directors opened The Dance Hub, a thriving community dance space where Ms. Diamond serves as the executive and artistic director and principal ballet teacher for adults of all levels and ages. She is dedicated to bringing as many people as possible into and back to dance at The Dance Hub, whether they are 18 months or 84 years old.

Anne Ovadia, Vice President

Anne Ovadia, Vice President

Anne Ovadia graduated from UCLA School of Medicine in 1980 and completed her psychiatric training at Oregon Health Sciences University in 1985. That same year she moved to Santa Barbara where she worked at UCSB Student Health caring for students for 25 years. Her interest in ballet began after reading an article in Newsweek magazine about Suzanne Farrell, Balanchine’s muse, while serving in the Peace Corps in Bolivia between 1968-1970. When she returned home to Tucson, AZ, she started taking ballet classes and has continued ever since, including the past 10 years with American Dance and Music. She joined the board after classes became virtual due to the pandemic, and is committed to supporting their mission during this challenging time.

Janet Spargur, Treasurer

After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Economics from UC Santa Barbara, Janet has worked as an accountant in public accounting, and as a Controller/Corporate Accountant in the construction and property management fields. For the last 24 years she has found her home in the software industry, working in client services and as quality assurance product lead for an international, Santa Barbara-based property management/asset management software company, especially enjoying accounting compliance and design. She has also worked as a doula and is a founding member of the Santa Barbara Birth Center and serves as Board Treasurer for that organization as well. Janet is honored to express her life-long love of ballet in a service position for the Board of Directors for AD&M/The Dance Hub.

Eric Valinsky, Secretary

Eric Valinsky, Secretary

A native Manhattanite, Eric Valinsky has, for more years than he would like to admit, maintained dual careers in computer systems architecture and music. He was educated at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the University of Illinois, finally achieving his DMA in music composition from Columbia University. He studied composition with Walter Aschaffenburg, Salvatore Martirano, Jack Beeson, and Darius Milhaud; piano with Sara Crawford Drogheo and Emil Danenberg; and conducting with Harold Farberman. While living in Los Angeles, he became music director and composer-in-residence or The Storie-Crawford Dance Theatre Ensemble. Returning to New York, he served in a similar capacity for Danny Buraczeski’s Jazzdance, Uris Bahr and Dancers, and The New American Ballet Ensemble as well as composer-in-residence for The Rachel Harms Dance Company, Opera Uptown, and the Dance Department at City College of New York. He currently moonlights as founder and partner of Inlineos LLC, a strategic Internet consulting company. He is also President of the Santa Barbara Music Club.

Terry Kleid, Director

Terry Kleid, Director

Dance and music have always been a big part of Terry’s life. Starting out in modern and ballet, Terry then discovered flamenco and Spanish classical dance. She taught flamenco at the University of San Francisco and performed regularly in the Bay Area. Once a dancer always a dancer, and Terry is thrilled to find a like-minded dance community here in Santa Barbara. Now is her time to give back, and she is honored to be on the Board of American Dance & Music.

Hylla Fischer, Director, Former Treasurer

Hylla Fischer, Director, Former Treasurer

Hylla Fischer was a founding member of AD&M board of directors. She was born and lived in Denver, Colorado until moving to Santa Barbara in 2001. She has always been a strong supporter of and participant in the arts. A former art educator, she knows first hand how the creative process acts as a positive force in all aspects of life. Before moving to Santa Barbara, Hylla was founder and president of Zephyr International, Inc. an office products and space planning business. She was active as an actor in community theater. After moving to Santa Barbara, she worked as a product developer at Magellan’s Travel Catalog. She also served as President, Vice President, and Treasurer of the Santa Barbara Dance Alliance. She currently spends many hours at AD&M’s The Dance Hub taking classes and helping to make The Hub a success. Hylla has performed with AD&M Performance Group; DramaDogs, a Theater Company; and ArtBark.

Ralph Dee Corners, Director

Ralph Corners, born in Los Angeles, 1942, works primarily on paper using watercolor, acrylics and pencil. He received his B.A. and M.A. from California State University at Long Beach. He has shown extensively in California, throughout the United States as well as internationally. His work is in the permanent collections of museums and universities and is held by many collectors. He currently makes his home in Santa Barbara, CA.