Industry: Health Wellness and Fitness

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Josephine “Joe” Karsner is the owner and director of Joe Karsner Ballet Studios. A native of Maryland, she began her classical ballet training at age seven with International Ballet Studios in Catonsville, Maryland. When she was 15, she began training with Cem Catbas at Baltimore Ballet Company, which stretched her dancing capabilities and allowed her to begin performing as a pre-professional dancer. At age 17, Joe Karsner began her professional career as a Baltimore Ballet Company member. Due to Catbas’ and his associates’ coaching, Joe Karsner quickly became one of the company’s principal dancers. Two years later, after glowing reviews for her performance as Princess Aurora in Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty, Joe Karsner was invited by Shelly Power, Associate Director of Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy, to become a Houston Ballet company member. Karsner spent three years under Ballet Mistress Louise Lester and Ballet Master Steven Woodgate’s instruction, performing in multiple ballets, namely Swan Lake and Cinderella. In 2007, she left Houston Ballet to form her own ballet studio in Baltimore.