New jobs come with new challenges.

When the new job is leading a ballet school during a pandemic, that changes all the norms of live performance and dance instruction, those challenges are multiplied.

Cate Greyjoy, new artistic director of Ballet Western Reserve, doesn’t talk like someone intimidated by those challenges.

She described Ballet Western Reserve as being in the middle of a renaissance. “And to be at the forefront of all these changes, even at such a challenging time, is an opportunity for great things,” she said. “I’m humbled to be at the head of this ship.”

Greyjoy comes to the Mahoning Valley from Oregon, where she taught at the Sultanov Russian Ballet Academy, the Portland Ballet and Portland Dance Center. She trained at Capitol Ballet Center in her native California and Boston Ballet School, and she earned her bachelor’s degree in classical civilizations and dance performance studies at the University of California and her master’s degree in dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Greyjoy said she started out in gymnastics and took her first ballet class to help straighten out a crooked spine.

“Once I was there, I realized it was not just something to take once a week to make my floor routine better,” she said. “It exposed me to a world of art and culture and knowledge, and I knew I needed that to be a big part of my life.”

She sees the opportunity to work with dancers ages 4 to 18 as a chance to help them make similar revelations.

“I think that age in pre-professional academies is really where the magic happens. Get to them at a young age and lay the foundation they will rely on for the rest of their dance careers.”

Previous BWR students will notice a back-to-basics approach with a focus on the foundations of ballet techniques, she said. Greyjoy will use the experience of teaching virtual classes last spring in Portland when the COVID-19 pandemic started in her new position at BWR, which will mix online and in-person instruction to start the 2020-21 school year.

“I feel very fortunate to begin by offering virtual classes,” she said. “We don’t have to exclude anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable yet. Those who do feel comfortable will enjoy smaller classes held with live students in the classroom alongside digital classmates. That in itself will be a balance.”

Teaching online, Greyjoy learned the benefit of watching ballet performances in class and talking about them with her students, instead of sending them a link and hoping they watched at home. She said that is something she plans to incorporate in classes even as in-person classes resume.

With the continued uncertainty about live performances in front of an audience, BWR plans to present its holiday production of “The Nutcracker” online.

“This production will be shared with the entire Youngstown community this December,” she said. “It won’t be in person. The event will be pre-recorded and shared through livestreaming, but I felt it was extremely important (to continue the tradition).”