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Ballet School Staff |
 Yen-Li
Chen's dancing has
been praised by critics and audiences from Asia to
South America and through out the United States. She
has been an invited guest artist at the Festival
International de Caracas - Venezuela, The Santiago
international Festival - Chile, in Taipei, Taiwan and
at several dance companies across North America. A
remarkable mastery of technique and artistry in both
classical and contemporary repertory has earned Ms.
Chen accolades of audiences through out the world.
Her repertory includes title roles in Giselle, Coppelia, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, the Nutcracker
and numerous others. Yen-Li has thrilled Arizona
audiences since 1992.Ms. Chen brings the same passion and artistry of her dancing into the classroom as a master teacher. She has guest taught at numerous ballet schools in Taiwan, Texas, Oregon, Arizona and California. In Taiwan, her early training in Vaganova and other ballet techniques has served her very well as a dancer and a teacher. Yen-Li currently resides in Chandler, Arizona with her husband and former Ballet Arizona principal dancer, Qisheng Zhang, and their two children. |
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 Victoria Coxon
began her training with Joseph Carow and Cindy Mancini and
continued her training with Mr. Carow at East Carolina University where
she graduated with a Bachelor of Social Work and and Minor in Ballet
Performance. She has received scholarships from Charleston Ballet Theatre
and the Joffrey Ballet. Upon graduation, she continued her training with
Melissa Hale-Coyle, Mel Tomlinson and Claudia Folts at Charlotte City
Ballet while apprenticing with the Moving Poets Theatre of Dance. She has
also studied with Martha Goodman and Carol Skzutek of Atlanta Ballet
Centre for Dance Education and Maniya Barredo at Metropolitan Ballet
Theatre. She was invited to join Festival Ballet Atlanta under the direction of Nicolas Pacana and Gregory Aaron in 1999, where she performed soloist roles in Swan Lake, Paquita, as well as the title role in Mr. Pacana's original production of Peter Pan. While at Festival Ballet, Victoria assisted Mr. Pacana and Mr. Aaron as a Ballet Mistress with the staging and rehearsal of Coppelia, Swan Lake, Peter Pan, and several Nutcracker productions. After the birth of her son, Victoria transitioned to teaching and especially enjoys working with the Primary Levels to share her love for ballet.
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| Administrative Staff ~ Christine Vargas |
Miguel Garcia began his
training at the Ballet Academy of Rego Park, New
York. A scholarship to study at the School of the
American Ballet Theatre, resulted in membership with
the junior touring Company of American Ballet
Theatre. He then joined the National Ballet of Canada
as a corps de ballet member and was later promoted to
the rank of soloist dancer. During his tenure with
the National Ballet he worked with Rudolph Nuryev,
and then performing with "Nureyev and Friends" in
Paris, France, and in the presence of Princess
Margaret in London, England and was featured on the
cover of Dance Magazine in July 1985. Mr. Garcia has danced
with Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah. Performing
at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in
Washington, D.C. In 1991 he joined Ballet Arizona as
a soloist dancer and was moved to the ranks of
principal dancer the following season. Mr. Garcia has
also performed with the Milwaukee Ballet and the
Colorado Ballet.
Gail
Passey Reed began her training in California with Contra
Costa Ballet and San Francisco Ballet School before
joining the Marine Ballet. She then danced for
two years with Baltimore Ballet, where her leading
roles included the title role in Alice in
Wonderland, Bluebird Pas de Deux from The
Sleeping Beauty and Flower Festival in Genzano.
Ms. Reed joined Ballet Arizona in 1985, its inaugural
year. She received critical acclaim for her
portrayal of Swanhilda in Michael Uthoff's Coppelia.
Other principal roles include the title role in Ben
Stevenson's Cinderella, Sugar Plum Fairly in
The Nutcracker, George Balanchine's Valse
Fantasie, Grand pas Classique, and John
Cranko's Opus1. She retired from the
stage in 1997 and began teaching and administrating
for The School of Ballet Arizona. Ms. Reed is
married to former Ballet Arizona dancer Michael Reed
and they have one little girl Liliana. Gail is
very happy to join the faculty of Yen-Li Chen Ballet
School.