This is the third in a series of profiles of our 15th Annual Orange County Arts Awards honorees.

For 31 years, as artistic director and founder of Southland Ballet Academy (SBA) in 1983 and Festival Ballet Theatre (FBT), a non-profit dance company, Salwa Rizkalla has profoundly influenced and benefited Orange County at the most fundamental levels locally with outstanding classical and contemporary ballet training for thousands of children, education outreach for over 260,000 children and adults, and 66 quality productions with over 280 performances of full-length classical and contemporary ballets, reaching an audience of over 148,000.

In 2011, Pointe Magazine named SBA as one of seven local studios nationwide that are cultivating top talent.   A steady stream of these dancers go on to win international competitions, to study or work with leading regional, national and international ballet and dance schools and companies, and to perform in music videos, television and film.

Under Salwa's direction, FBT has become one of Southern California's most vibrant and accomplished ballet companies. Annually, FBT reaches an audience of 25,000 -- 13,000 for its four full-length productions at its home base, the Irvine Barclay Theatre, and 12,000 for its education outreach programs.  FBT presents a varied repertoire of full-length classical ballets annually -- Coppélia, Don Quixote, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and the Nutcracker. It has sponsored internationally acclaimed guest artists from prestigious companies -- American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Scottish Ballet, and Washington Ballet. It has also presented new works and the restaging of classic ones by many outstanding choreographers.

FBT's educational programs build awareness by enabling artistically underserved children and adults the opportunity to experience and appreciate the performing art of dance by bringing children to the theatre for abridged, narrated performances, bringing FBT'S "Ballet to Schools" program to school assemblies, and collaborating with other organizations to reach children and adults by performing for the Orange County Pacific Symphony's Family Musical Mornings, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts ArtsTeach Program, the Festival of Children, the Annual Motel Kids Christmas Celebration at St. Joseph's Hospital, Arts Orange County's Imagination Celebration, Fountain Valley's Tree Lighting Ceremony, and the Discovery Science Center.