Ballet Pacifica taps ABT dancer

Christina Lyon, a former American Ballet Theatre dancer, has been appointed artistic director of the Irvine-based Ballet Pacifica. A 28-year-old native of Newport Beach, Lyon succeeds Molly Lynch, who resigned last month for “artistic and professional reasons” from the troupe she had led since 1988.

Lyon received her early dance training from Yvonne Mounsey, founder of the Westside Ballet in Santa Monica, and danced in the ABT corps from 1993 to 1996 (she was known by her maiden name, Gibbs). Since then, she has taught and coached privately and, since 2000, has run an event and party planning company.

Her immediate plans, she said Thursday, are to spearhead a fundraising campaign to double Ballet Pacifica’s current $1.6-million budget.

“I’m also looking to expand the current repertory,” she said. “Right now, we’re seen solely as a contemporary ballet company. I want to do audience-friendly productions that will fill the house.”

-- Chris Pasles