Regina Willoughby began dancing at the age of 8 at Ballet Midland while growing up in West Texas. At the age of 15, she was awarded a scholarship to study at Virginia School of the Arts, where she went on to graduate. She also studied at Westside in Los Angeles and on scholarship with the Joffrey Ballet School in New York.

Regina’s professional career began at Ballet Austin, where she danced solo roles, including Stephen Mills’ “Four Mortal Men.” In 1997, she joined Columbia City Ballet, dancing such roles as the Arabian, Dew Drop Fairy, Snow Queen, and Sugar Plum Fairy in Nutcracker; Maiden and Lucy in Dracula: Ballet with a Bite; title roles in Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet; and Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty.

Director William Starrett  created many roles on her for his original ballets, including Mina in Dracula’s Revenge and the “Sand Dance” pas de trois and “Daughters of the South” from Off the Wall & Onto the Stage.  The title role of Cleopatra was created on Regina receiving rave reviews. Critics have lauded her commanding stage presence, stating “Willoughby, as one of City Ballet’s up and coming stars, was exotically arrogant as Arabian,” and “the showstopper was Regina Willoughby with her sultry stage presence.”  Free Times said that “Willoughby is the company’s most enchanting female performer, both technically and dramatically,” and “Willoughby possesses that special it quality that makes a performance so riveting.”  Regina was made a Soloist of the company in 2001, Principal dancer in 2006, Ballerina in 2010, and retired from the stage in 2018. She is married with two grown daughters. Regina has over 20 years teaching experience and is an ABT National Training Curriculum certified teacher in Primary through Level 7.