Virginia received her professional dance training at the San Francisco Ballet School, under the tutelage of American ballet pioneers, Willam and Lew Christensen. She began touring with the San Francisco Ballet Company and the San Francisco Opera Company in 1961, performing in such works as Swan Lake, Symphony in C, Connamore, Caprice, and Concerto Barocco. Eventually switching focus from performance to instruction, Virginia embarked on an extensive teaching career, instructing advanced and master classes for Jane Stamps Studio in Albany and the Petaluma Ballet, and eventually developing a dance program for the San Anselmo Recreation Center. In 1989, Virginia founded the Stapleton School of the Performing Arts with the unique mission of providing professional dance training, while incorporating a compassion for students as whole individuals. Since the inception of the Stapleton School, enrollment has more than quadrupled. In 1998, Virginia developed the Stapleton Youth Company to provide a semi-professional experience for the school's advanced students helping to bridge the prep-professional to the professional level.