ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP
Get to know us
ABOUT YU XIN
Director and Principal Choreographer
Born in Shanghai, China, Yu Xin began his classical ballet training at age 10 at the Beijing Dance Academy. At age 17, he joined Shanghai Ballet and danced as a Principal Dancer for 5 years. In 1991, he was invited to join the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, Washington and danced as a soloist until he joined the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in New York.
Yu Xin won 5th place at the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson Mississippi in 1994.
Over the 16 years in the professional companies, he performed major classical ballet productions such as "Swan Lake", "Don Quixote", "Coppelia", "Nutcracker", "La Bayadere" as well as George Balanchine's "Agon", "Theme and Variations", "Who Cares" and "Rubies".
After 6 years at ABT, Yu Xin left the stage and became a ballet master at the Ballet San Jose School and served as a guest teacher at Ballet San Jose Company and taught company classes to professional dancers for 2 years.
In 2005, Yu Xin opened own his ballet school "Yu Xin Ballet School" and became one of the first ballet instructors to be certified in the ABT National Training Curriculum. In 2009, Yu Xin appointed to a ballet instructor at Stanford University.
Yu Xin describes his love for teaching, "When you dance ballet, you imagine beauty and create it with your body to share, no matter who they are. It feels like what I am meant to do. And not just with professional dancers, but with everyone who wants to feel that beauty."
"FLAMES OF PARIS" by YU XIN, 1994
Yu Xin competed in the USA International Ballet Competition, held in Jackson, Miss., against 150 dancers from 20 different countries. He won 5th prize and the Jury Award of Encouragement.
ABOUT MIKO FOGARTY
Principal Guest Instructor
Born in London, Miko Fogarty is a former award-winning professional ballet dancer and a current podiatric medical student. At the age of 12, she was one of six ballet dancers featured in the critically acclaimed documentary "First Position: A Ballet Documentary", directed and produced by Bess Kargman. After training at the Indiana Ballet Conservatory in the U.S. and Jinushi Kaoru Ecole du Ballet in Japan, Miko joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet as the youngest artist in 2015 and toured around the United Kingdom dancing in performances such as Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer’s Night Dream, and the Nutcracker.
Miko has received worldwide recognition for her performances. She was awarded the Gold Medal at the Moscow International Ballet Competition and was also selected as a finalist and Prize Winner at the Prix de Lausanne. Other accolades include the Silver Medal and Bronze Medal from Varna International Ballet Competition, a Bronze Medal from YAGP New York Finals, and two Gold Medals from the World Ballet Competition. Miko has been invited to perform in performances around the world including in countries such as Peru, Bulgaria, Russia, Switzerland, Mexico, Japan, Canada, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, China, Australia, Indonesia, Scotland, Northern Ireland, England, and all across the United States.
Although Miko’s dance career was flourishing, she could not ignore her goal of pursuing a college education and discovering more about the intricacies of medicine and healthcare. She started at Feather River College and Contra Costa College, where she earned her Chemistry and Biology Associate’s Degrees before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley. Miko graduated with honors in Integrative Biology in 2020 while also researching brain cancer therapies at the University of California, San Francisco. Currently, Miko is a podiatric medical student studying to become a foot and ankle surgeon in California.
Miko found her passion for teaching classical ballet in Thailand when she gave her first ballet class in 2016. Since then, Miko has continued teaching and has coached hundreds of students of all levels from around the world. She has taught masterclasses New Zealand, Panama, Mexico, Australia, and through Zoom lessons. Miko is also active on social media with over 240,000 followers on Instagram and 27 million views on Youtube and was listed as one of “The Most Influential People of 2011” in Dance Spirit Magazine. Miko was given the honor of sharing her inspiring journey on the National Public Radio in 2018 which led to a TEDxBerkeley talk in 2019 and Imagine Talks speech in 2020. She hopes to give her students and patients the inspiration they need to pursue their goals while also prioritizing their physical and mental health.
"ESMERALDA" by MIKO FOGARTY, 2013
Miko competed in the Moscow International Ballet Competition in 2013 and won a Gold Medal.