Founder
Jie Zhou National First Class Actress and World Acclaimed Dancer; J&H Dance School Honorary Principal; Shanghai Zhoujie Dance School Principal; Shanghai Opera and Dance Drama Ensemble Arts Director; Shanghai Dancers Association Deputy President; CCTV Dance Competition Judge. Since age 15, Zhou Jie has played leading roles in numerous dance performances and theatrical productions. Her elegant and exquisite artistic performances have captured the hearts and soul of millions while touring around the world. As a professional dancer and an actress, Zhou Jie has starred in many television shows and movies in China; receiving the prominent “Hundred Flower Award,” “Golden Eagle Award,” and “Flying Sky Award.” She is inarguably one of the very few in the circles of dance in China having achieved so outstandingly both as a dancer and as an actress. In 1997, Zhou Jie founded a dance school in Houston, receiving honor from U. S. former president George Bush and former Secretary of State, Dr. Kissinger. In 2002, she returned to her hometown Shanghai and started the Shanghai Zhoujie Dance School, a non-profit organization helping students and teachers dedicated to dance. Zhou Jie and Beijing Olympic Games deputy director co-directed and choreographed the well known dance drama “Zhouxuan,” which was presented at the 2010 World Expo. The China Dancers Association honored Zhou Jie with the highest award, recognizing her outstanding contributions in developing and furthering the dance profession in China.
Principal
Jing Fu National First Class Dancer in China ; Choreographer, Dance Teacher. Jing Fu is a national first class actress and young professional dancer in China. She was the leading dancer in the HangZhou Song and Dance Ensemble as well as the choreographer and rehearsal director. She has more than 18 years of performance experience and had won many awards in various dance competitions. Her personal dance exhibition was successfully held in 1996, and critics honored her to be “the Artist of the 21 Century.” Her solo dance “Paper Cutting Lady” won 2nd place in Chinese National Dance Contest in 1998, and she was invited by the Department of Culture to perform the dance for two consecutive years in 1998 & 1999 at Chinese New Year Celebration Gala in China.
Faculty
Megumi Nishimori
Megumi started her ballet training in Thailand before relocating to the Philippines. In 2012, she won the Silver Medal at the Asian Grand Prix which led to an invitation from Ballet Manila to be featured as Kitri in their production of Don Quixote. In 2013, she trained at the Acri Horimoto Ballet Academy, and won numerous awards including second place in the All Japan Ballet Competition. She then began a scholarship under Patrick Armand at the San Francisco Ballet School where she had the great fortune to dance with the company in AD Tomasson’s Swan Lake and Nutcracker. Also included in her training are: Bolshoi Ballet Academy, American Ballet Theatre, and the Royal Ballet School.
After training at SFBS, she joined Cincinnati Ballet’s second company dancing in Balanchine’s Serenade and Rubies from Jewels. After one year at Cincinnati Ballet, she joined BalletMet 2 dancing in Balanchine’s Square Dance, Liang’s Wunderland, Symphonic Dances, and as Fairy Godmother in his Cinderella.
At Ballet Idaho, Megumi has performed roles such as the Loss pas de deluxe from Ricardo Amarante’s Love Fear Loss, Russian Girl in Balanchine’s Serenade, and the Dew Drop Fairy from The Nutcracker.
Megumi is coached by Arleen Sugano who is the creator of “suganosystemballet.”
Faculty
Song Teng
Houston Ballet
New Zealand School of Dance. A semi-finalist in the AHA Awards Supreme in 2017, he went on to earn a gold medal at the World Ballet Competition in Florida. He is currently dancing with the Houston Ballet Company in Texas.
Faculty
Yu Wang Master of Arts in Dance & Bachelor of Arts in Choreography from Beijing Dance Academy. Dance Teacher in Beijing Contemporary Music Academy
Awards: Gold Champion of Solo Dance Choreography (Highest Award) in Hong Kong International Dance Competition 2012 ;Outstanding Instructor (Highest Award) in China 1st College Dance National Competition 2004 ;First Place in Eastern China Dance National Competition 2005 ;
Member of Director group for: 29th Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony Dance Performance (2008) ；Shanghai World Expo Closing Ceremony (2009) ；CCTV and China National Theatre “Dance World – Chinese Folk Dance Session” (2010)；Member of Dancers Association of China 2007；Judge of Chinese Folk Dance National Grade Test 2008；Judge of China National College Entrance Art Examination 2011；Judge of Dance Competition of Hangzhou Normal University 2012.
Guest Choreographer
Dylan Croy is from Kingwood Texas. He is a dancer, choreographer, and singer-songwriter. He graduated from HSPVA in 2016 and then went on to get his BFA in Dance at The Juilliard School in 2020. Dylan is also a YoungArts Alum, receiving recognition in Modern Dance as well as Choreography. He is continuing to fuse his artistic crafts together to create work that crosses many genres.
Faculty
Christian Delery was trained by principal dancers from American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet and Joffrey Ballet among others. He has danced with the Dayton Ballet, Atlantic City Ballet, He continues to perform, teach and choreograph across the country.
Faculty
Sara Guo began her dance training at the age of three at J&H Dance School, training in Classical Chinese dance, Ballet, and Contemporary. At the age of 13, she was chosen to participate in Oklahoma, a collaboration between TUTS and Houston Ballet to celebrate the 50th season. In 2019, Sara was awarded the Houston Ballet Academy Award for the 2018 - 2019 year, highlighting students who exemplify their talent, discipline, and potential. Later in the year, Sara was promoted from the pre-professional program to train in the Houston Ballet professional program. In 2022, Sara was chosen as one of forty students to study in 2022 Julliard Summer Intensive as well as the Arts Umbrella Summer Intensive in Vancouver, Canada. After graduating from the Houston Ballet Academy, she was accepted into The Juilliard School and is currently pursuing her studies there.
Guest Choreographer
Deontay Gray was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. At 19 he began his dance career, receiving his B.F.A in dance from Shenandoah Conservatory. In 2015 he presented his choreography at The Royal Theatre in Winchester, England. He's taught master classes at the Sydney Dance Company Studio as well as University of Winchester in England. He was featured in works at the New York Jazz Choreography Dance Project at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre. He's been a dancer with CKM&A since 2016 and Deep Vision in 2019. He's worked with Project C studios serving as Teacher, Choreographer, and Artistic Director.
Principal
Xiaohui Gao Young Professional Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher; Member of China Dancers Association; Houston Ballet Ensemble Visiting Teacher; Shanghai Opera and Dance Drama Ensemble Visiting Choreographer; Beijing Dance Academy Certification Senior Judge; China Oriental Song & Dance Ensemble Leading Actress. Raised in a family with artistic traditions, Xiaohui Gao's dance career began at a very early age. She earned the highest degree in dance with excellence from the Central University of Nationalities and Beijing Dance Academy, and upon graduation, joined the famous Oriental Song & Dance Ensemble in Beijing. She was invited as a representative for China to visit Japan, Eastern Europe, and the United States. In both 1997 and 1998, she was invited to the Alabama International Arts Festival and was awarded with honorary citizenship of Mobile, Alabama. Xiaohui was recipient of the excellent performance award at the World Women Congress in 1994 and the North China Dance Competition in 1986, as well as the Golden Award in 1982 at the Inner Mongolian Dance Contest. Xiaohui has danced with the famous “Dominic Walsh Dance Theatre” and was invited to choreograph for the Shanghai Opera Ensemble along with many other top dance ensembles in China. Beginning in 1999, Xiaohui has devoted her time to dance teaching in Houston. Her deep passion for dance, her artistic energy, and her perseverance in dance teaching have distinguished her as one of the most well known and respected dance teachers in Houston. Many of her students have won first places at various national and international dance contests and competitions.
Director
Molly Chen began her ballet and folkloric dance training at the Shanghai Dance School. After graduating from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, she joined the Shanghai Opera House as a principal dancer. She is also a certified instructor in the Beijing Dance Academy grading system.
Since childhood, Molly has earned numerous First Place awards in China and has participated in international cultural exchange programs in the United States, Japan, Korea, and beyond, along with many stage performances.
During college, she developed a strong interest in choreography and has specialized in it ever since. In recent years, she has contributed to the choreography and production of many notable works in both China and the United States.
Faculty
Aoi Fujiwara
Houston Ballet Soloist
DANCE TRAINING
1998-2011 Miwa Horikawa Ballet Studio; 2011-2012 Houston Ballet Academy ; 2012-2014 Houston Ballet II.
PERFORMANCE
Clara from “The Nutcracker”; Hungarian Princess, Pas de trios, Little Swans from “Swan Lake” ; Peasant Pas de deux from “Giselle”; Princess Florine, Pas de quatre, Fairy Charm from “The Sleeping Beauty”; “Spring Waters”; “Cacti” by Alexander Ekman; “Reflection” by Justin Peck; “One/End/One” by Jorma Elo.
AWARDS
2009 ABT Summer program Scholarship ; 2010 Hamburg Ballet School Scholarship ; 2010 3rd place Japan Grand Prix; 2011 1st place in the All Japan Ballet Union ; 2011 Houston Ballet Academy Full Scholarship ; 2013 Jacobs Pillow Summer program Scholarship.
Faculty
Wen Wang Dance bachelor degree, graduated from Yunnan Arts University in 2010 China. She participated in the rehearsal and choreography of a large-scale dance poem "Wash Mountain with Heavy Colors" which won the 10th "New Repertoire" Exhibition of Yunnan Province, and won the Comprehensive Gold Award, Choreography and Dance Gold Award. The 5th Yunnan Provincial Cultural Quality Project won the Outstanding Work Award. The 7th National "Lotus Award" Dance Drama Poetry Competition won the bronze award for works and performances. After graduation, she taught at Pingchuan Art Training School in Changsha City and Hunan Urban Vocational College. she is good at Chinese folk dance and Chinese classical dance. Many of her students won the special prize and the first prize of the "Three Independent Competitions" held by the Education Bureau of Changsha City and gold medals in overseas competitions.
Guest Choreographer
Robbie Moore was born in 1991 in Los Angeles, California. He grew up dancing from age six in Houston, Texas, where he attended the High School for the Performing but and Visual Arts. In
2010, he was named Presidential Scholar in the Arts. Robbie graduated from the Juilliard School in 2014. He studied closely with dynamic anatomist Irene Dowd to learn, model and archive her body of work. Robbie toured internationally with L.A. Dance Project, under the direction of Benjamin Millepied, from 2015-2017. In 2019, Robbie moved to Belgium to work for Eastman - Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. In Antwerp, he trained under Anna Rubau to become a certified True- Pilates instructor. Robbie joined Opera Ballet Vlaanderen as a demi-soloist in 2019. While there he worked with Damien Jalet, Marina Abramović, Johan Inger, Alexander Ekman, Alan Lucien Øyen and Trisha Brown Dance Company. He currently resides in Houston working as a freelance dancer, Pilates instructor, movement coach and choreographer. Robbie works as Resident Choreographer and Guest Artist with Houston Contemporary Dance Company. He continues to work with Eastman on various projects as a performer, rehearsal director and choreographic assistant.
Faculty
Masanori Takiguchi
Hosuton Ballet
Masanori Takiguchi joins Houston Ballet as a Demi Soloist from The Washington Ballet. Originally from Tokyo, Japan, Takiguchi began training at Studio Les Bijou. He had Summer Training on Full Scholarship to the American Ballet Theatre in New York, The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and Houston Ballet Academy. Takiguchi won first place in the National Society of Arts and Letters Classical Ballet Competition and third in the Japan Grand Prix in 2017. In 2018, he placed first in the Youth America Grand Prix Chicago Regional Semifinals, becoming a Finalist at the David H. Koch Theater in New York City. In 2019 he was awarded the Grand Prix in the Washington DC Grand Prix.
Guest Ballet Instructor
Elissa Fonseca
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
SALT Contemporary Dance
Salt Lake City, UT | 2014-2018 Pioneer High School for the Performing Arts
American Fork, UT | 2014-2017 Jazz N'Place
Lehi , UT | 2012-2013, 2018 Aspire Dance Academy
Lindon , UT | 2014-2018
Vitacca Ballet & School For Dance Houston, TX | 2022-Present Institute for Contemporary Dance Houston, TX | 2022-Present
Texas Academy of Dance Arts Spring, TX | 2022-Present Minnesota Dance Theatre Minneapolis, MN | 2018-2022
OTHER ACTIVITIES AND HONORS
Choreographer for multiple top 25 dancers for YAGP contemporary solos, 2022-2023, Junior age divison Choreographer for 2nd place YAGP contemporary solo, Chicago 2021 Semi-Finals, Junior age division
Faculty
Dawn Major began dancing at age 2 and started her professional career at 18. Trained at Cynde Lomonte’s Dance Dimensions, she competed nationally and earned multiple top awards under renowned mentors.
She was Captain of the Elkins High School Elite Dance Team and later joined MA Dance’s traveling staff, choreographing across the U.S. Dawn studied pre-med and music while continuing to teach and perform.
At 21, she became a principal dancer with The Frisco Ballet and later served as Competitive Company Director and Pointe Program Director in Houston, leading dancers to regional and national success. She currently teaches a wide range of styles to students of all ages and brings strong passion to her work.