She relocated to California where she completed her training at Westside Ballet School under Yvonne Mounsey and Los Angeles Ballet under Colleen Neary and Thordal Christensen. She then began her Trainee program with Joffrey Ballet Chicago and completed it at City Ballet of San Diego. At City Ballet of San Diego she performed works including the Nutcracker, Paquita, Walpurgisnacht and Balanchine Spectacular. After receiving her first Apprenticeship with California Ballet Company in San Diego, she performed in the Nutcracker, The Great Gatsby and Don Quixote. Melissa graduated Summa Cum Laude, with a BFA in Contemporary Dance Performance with an emphasis in Ballet in May 2020 from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. In addition she completed her Teaching Certification in the summer of 2019 from The Royal Academy of Dance London, and received her official certification in May 2020. Melissa Briggs, while attending the Boston Conservatory at Berklee has performed works by choreographers such as Jennifer Archibald, Gianni DiMarco, Juel D. Lane, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Daniel Pelzig, Otis Sallid and Adriana Suarez. ​In May 2022, Melissa received her Master of Arts from Lesley University in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Dance/Movement Therapy and is a practicing dance/movement therapist and associate clinician. In addition to her therapeutic work, Melissa dances with a Contemporary Ballet Company, The Realm Company, based in Santa Monica, CA.