Malea began her ballet training at the age of ten with Margo McCann and Gayle Corkery in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to joining Carolina Ballet, she studied on full scholarship at Vienna State Opera Ballet School where Malea was invited to perform and understudy roles with the company's corps de ballet during the 2007 season. Ms. Grubb also trained at Miami City Ballet School on full scholarship under Edward Villella where she performed with Miami City Ballet in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. She also participated in several summer ballet intensive programs on scholarship including: Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Kennedy Center's Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell, School of American Ballet, and Carolina Ballet's inaugural summer intensive ballet training program in Wilmington. In July 2007 Ms. Grubb performed with Carolina Ballet in Robert Weiss's Waltzes of Old Vienna during Carolina Ballet's Artistic Residency program in Wilmington, North Carolina. Since becoming a company apprentice with Carolina Ballet in October 2007, Ms. Grubb has also performed in Robert Weiss's Petit Ballet Romantique.