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Atlanta Professional Dance Academy
Meet the Teachers
Meet the Teachers
Meet the Teachers
Meet the Teachers
Meet the Teachers
Meet the Teachers
Wei Dongsheng
Registered in the national "Who's Who" of both the United States and China, Mr. Dongsheng Wei graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy in 1987 and was a principal dancer with the National Ballet of China until 1991. He continued his career as a principal dancer with Atlanta Ballet for 14 years. After retiring from Atlanta Ballet, Mr. Wei and his wife Ms. Jenny Jue Chen founded Atlanta Professional Dance Academy (APDA) in 1997. With his professional experience and world renowned reputation as a teacher, he has built a pre-professional ballet program with international recognition. With students receiving scholarships to some of the best ballet programs in the world and consistently placing at major ballet competitions, Mr. Wei has built one of the strongest programs in the Atlanta area. His dancers have also appeared on NBC's American's Got Talent as well as CCTV's Amazing Chinese. He has created cultural exchange programs between the United States and China for his dancers while also working as a guest teacher around the world.
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Jenny Jue Chen
Ms. Jenny Chen is a dancer and choreographer who received her professional dance training from the Beijing Dance Academy. She graduated with top honors from BDA prior to her career as a soloist with the National Ballet China. In 1991, she joined Atlanta Ballet. After founding APDA in 1997 with Mr. Wei she began focusing on working with the school's Pre-Professional Program and dancers going to ballet competitions. She is known for her detailed technique training and variations coaching.
Di Lu
Di graduated from Beijing Opera and Arts College in 2005, majoring in ballet. In the same year, she joined the Guangzhou ballet as a principal dancer and won the Wenhua award hosted by the Ministry of Culture, China. From 2011 to 2017, she joined the National Ballet of China as a soloist dancer and was ranked National level 1 Artist by the Ministry of Culture, China. In addition, she performed principal roles in many classic ballet works, including Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, La Sylphide, Giselle, and Don Quixote.
Since 2017, as a ballet teacher, she has taught more than 1000 students and taught in many regions of China. Many of her students have been successfully
admitted to well-known institutions such as Shanghai Theatre Academy, Xi'an Conservatory of Music and the Central Academy of Drama. Furthermore, many students taught by her - children and adults have won the gold medals in many competitions. From 2019 to 2021, she was invited as a guest artist in the United States to teach the young dancers. All her students have passed the RAD exam, and some of them have won gold and silver medals in the grade1-advanced1 level, and some have won awards in the Universal Ballet Competition, Showstopper, Star Bound, YAGP, etc.
Yao Zhang
Yao Zhang graduated from the Ballet Department of the Beijing Dance Academy in 1999. In school, Zhang Yao participated in the Prix De Lausanne Ballet competition and achieved excellent results. He won the excellent performance award of the youth group in the Taoli Cup, national dance competition hosted by the Ministry of Culture, China. And, he was appointed as the principal dancer in the school’s full-length ballet of the “Swan Lake” Ballet in 1998.
At the year of 1999, he joined the National Ballet of China as a principal dancer and was ranked National level 1 Artist by the Ministry of Culture, China. In 2002, he participated in the Varna International Ballet Competition in Bulgaria and won the silver medal in the senior group. In the same year, he won the special cause contribution award issued by the Ministry of Culture, China. In 2004, he was invited as a guest performer by the Organizing Committee of the Varna International Ballet Competition.
Yao Zhang joined the Hong Kong Ballet in 2004 as a premier ballet dancer. He has performed almost all the repertoire that the Hong Kong Ballet owns. He participated in collaborated performances with internationally renowned dancer Yuanyuan Tan in many ballets, including Swan Lake, Giselle, and Suite en blanc. In addition, he has been invited as a guest artist by many ballet companies around the world.
Since 2017, Zhang Yao has been a ballet teacher in many regions of China. His students have been successfully admitted to well-known colleges and universities in China, such as the University Department of Beijing Dance Academy and Xi; a Conservatory of Music. At the same time, as a registered teacher of the Royal Ballet, he has guided his students to achieve excellent results in the grade examination. In 2019, he was invited to the United States to set up his ballet works. At the school, he arranged the Chinese version of the Nutcracker in the school ballet. His dance style makes many Chinese elements integrated, which makes the artistic characteristics of Chinese traditional dance skillfully integrated into his works, and further highlights the Chinese cultural characteristics and dance aesthetics.
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Li Mi
Ms. Li Mi has devoted her entire life to performing and teaching ballet. With top honors, she graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy in 1979. She is also certified in the British RDA. For twenty years, she worked as a soloist dancer for the Central Ballet of China. Ms. Li Mi performed in four countries during her career, including 32 cities in the United States. In 1999, she was invited by the Okada Ballet School in Japan to be its Artistic Director, and she served in that capacity for two years. She returned to China to teach ballet, and in 2004 her students won first prize in the Beijing Dance Competition. Ms. Li Mi devotes herself to teaching ballet to young children, adults and professional dancers and continues to be in her current position as ballet mistress in APDA. Her specialties include classical ballet, character dance, and Chinese Folk Dance.
Sara Wang
Ms. Sara Wang was a principal Traditional Chinese dancer with Qian Feng and Zhejiang Dance Company. She is also a member of Chinese Dance Artist Association. She danced in many countries including a performance at the United Nations. Previously she worked as a dance instructor for the Canadian Royal Academy of Ballet. Ms. Wang currently serves as the dance director for the Chinese and American Performance Group. She is the lead folk dance instructor at APDA and has choreographed many award-winning pieces for APDA soloists, small groups, and ensembles.
Peng Yu Chen
Ballet Master and Contemporary dance teacher
A native of Taiwan, Peng began her training in Chinese folk dance, ballet and modern. By the age of 10, she had won two national championships in Chinese folk dance. She holds a B.F.A. from SUNY Purchase in dance and received both the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence as well as the President’s Award for Achievement. She has danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and American Repertory Ballet where she also taught at Princeton Ballet school. Named as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2007, Peng moved to Atlanta where she was offered a position at the Atlanta Ballet. For over 10 years, she has performed in several principle roles as well as taught at Atlanta Ballet’s summer program. She has been featured in works by choreographers George Balanchine, JiÅ™í Kylián, Liam Scarlett, Lauri Stallings, Christopher Hampson, James Kudelka, Ohad Naharin, Gina Patterson, Mark Godden, Helen Pickett, Tywla Tharp, John McFall, Jordan Morris, Val Caniparoli, Jorma Elo, Alexander Ekman, Christopher Wheeldon, Yuri Possokhov. Peng was award in UBC as the best choreographer in 2020.
Dana Crigler
Ballet and Jazz Teacher
Dana Crigler began her dance training at American Dance Center under the direction of Jack and Katherine Villari for ballet, tap and jazz. However, ballet noticeably became her strength and passion and continued intense training in this area. At age 14 she went to Culver Academy, a private boarding school for high school students. At Culver she danced in the Dance Vision Company, training and performing all styles of dance (Chachetti), ballet, modern (Duncan), tap, and jazz but still focus in ballet. After graduating from Culver, She moved to downtown Chicago, IL and continued her professional training with Boitsov Classical Ballet School, under the direction of Madame Elizabeth Boistov, a graduate and professional dancer with the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Under her direction, Dana honed her ballet technique with retraining in Vaganova, completed training and launched her professional ballet career. Currently, she is a principal dancer with Lamoris Namari Ballet and she thoroughly enjoys sharing her passion and experience with young talent in APDA Dance Academy.
Serena Wang
Serena Wang is a passionate dancer and educator with nearly 15 years of experience in performance and over 5 years in teaching. Specializing in ballet, contemporary, folk dance, and hip-hop, she has earned numerous accolades and trained over 100 students throughout her career. A visionary in dance education, Serena founded her own studio and dance team, fostering creativity and discipline in her students. Her journey—from dedicated student to accomplished teacher and entrepreneur—reflects her deep commitment to the art form. Through movement and mentorship, Serena continues to inspire the next generation of dancers.
tracy Red
Tracy Red is a dynamic young choreographer whose dance journey began at Atlanta’s Professional Dance Academy, where she first discovered her passion for movement. From an early age, her dedication and relentless work ethic set her apart, allowing her to excel in every discipline she pursued. Now, with years of rigorous training and artistic growth behind her, Tracy has returned to her roots as an instructor at the same academy that shaped her. Drawing from her own transformative experiences, she takes pride in mentoring the next generation of dancers—giving back to the community that inspired her own artistic path.
Shizu yasuda
Ms. Yasuda is a choreographer and dance educator currently serving as a faculty member in the Dance Department at Palm Beach Atlantic University, where she joined in 2022. Prior to relocating to Florida, she spent many years performing, choreographing, teaching, and coaching within the Houston dance community. Her professional journey includes roles as a principal dancer with Ad Deum Dance Company, artistic director of Ad Deum’s pre-professional dance company, and recipient of the Stunning Performer Award at the Dance Houston City Wide Dance Festival in 2008. Additionally, Ms. Yasuda has contributed as an educator and/or choreographer at institutions such as the Houston Ballet Academy Summer Dance Intensive, Belhaven University, Vitacca Ballet, Atlanta Professional Dance Academy, Movement in Time Dance Artistry, and Ad Deum Dance. In 2018, she received the American Ballet Theatre Affiliate Teacher Award and was selected as a Houston Choreographers x 6 choreographer in 2019. Ms. Yasuda feels honored and privileged to serve as a guest choreographer at the Atlanta Professional Dance Academy, where she has experienced immense joy in teaching and choreographing since 2021.
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