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Atlanta Professional Dance Academy
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.
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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.
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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