Laura Smith Mauldin, born and raised in Thousand Oaks, California began figure skating at the age of four and dancing ballet at the age of six. During a thirteen-year competitive skating career which took Laura and her brother/partner all over the U.S. and to Europe for competitions, ballet became merely a side line for cross training and was eventually abandoned. But Laura returned to ballet at age eighteen, after retiring from her ice skating career, when she began attending Moorpark College, where her love of dance was reborn. She little imagined as she began the struggle to regain her ballet strengths that six years time would see her as a graduate of UCI with her Bachelors in Dance and with an opportunity to begin a professional career. While studying in school, Laura added the genres of Modern, Classical Jazz, Tap, and Ballroom to her repertoire, and even had the opportunity to dabble in Spanish dance and Indian dance. UCI afforded her the opportunity to be taught by such names as Donald McKayle, Jodie Gates, Molly Lynch, “El” Gabriel, and Loretta Livingston. Since graduating Laura has since been a company member with California Contemporary Ballet, Anaheim Ballet, and a guest artist for Ballet Etudes of Huntington Beach and Coast City Ballet.