Local girl quits the Bolshoi. Womack was first American admitted to the Moscow powerhouse of Ballet

The first American woman to break into the renowned Bolshoi Ballet, a former Lighthouse student from Santa Monica, has quit after making accusations that internal corruption excluded her from any leading role.

Joy Womack, 19, who studied at the Lighthouse Church School until 2004, complained to a Russian news agency, Izvestia, that an unnamed Bolshoi director demanded $10,000 payment to be granted a principal dance role – in addition to tampering with her income since being hired as a soloist. Upon leaving, she was reported to join the Kremlyovsky Ballet Company in Moscow.

Womack found international fame as the first American graduate from the Bolshoi, which has been the gold standard of ballet for two centuries. Touted as “dancer of Jesus” on her Twitter account, Womack demonstrates Lighthouse's knack for encouraging big dreams in its students, even though the schools have no dance program.

That a Santa Monica girl achieved the highest level of notoriety in Russian ballet was intriguing, but the revelations last week on her Facebook page turned an intriguing story into a story of intrigue. Ah, Russia.

Womack has fully embraced her life in Moscow. She married fellow dancer Nikita Pavolovich Ivanoff in May 2012 and tours world-wide. She hasn't been assigned principal roles since her entry into the Bolshoi, hence the allegations and subsequent transfer.

Womack grew up in Santa Monica, fourth of nine kids. Her father, Clay Womack, was a businessman who eventually moved the family to Texas. Her mother, Dr. Eleanor Womack was an attending oncology physician at Duarte's City of Hope. The family attended Santa Monica's Lighthouse Church, where all the kids attended school.

Since age nine, Womack has trained in earnest, starting with the famed Yuri Grigoriev in Venice, California.

Her ascent to fame was not without setbacks. The Washington D.C. Kirov Academy of Ballet rejected her for her lack of flexibility at age 13. Undeterred, she pressed on to overcome these predictions of failure until she attained the pinnacle for a ballerina. The lack of leading roles was yet another setback.

Womack's last visit to Santa Monica included a performance in the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the “Nutcracker” in 2012 at the Westside's annual producation.

Comments of support fill her Facebook account.

“This is the institution that I love and I really dreamed about,” Womack was quoted in the New York Times. I really, really hoped I could have broken (through the) barriers. Instead, I am being seen as the whistle-blower.”