Alysia Chang

Contemporary Ballet

ALYSIA CHANG, a Bay area native, spent her early years training at the Contra Costa Ballet. She went on to graduate magna cum laude from SUNY Purchase with a BFA and a Minor in Arts Management, receiving the ballet faculty award. Chang has danced with Sacramento Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, San Francisco Opera, DawsonDance SF, Concept 04, and Red Brick Company.  Abroad she has toured China with Ziru Dance and was invited to study in Taiwan with the national company “Cloudgate” studying tai-chi, martial arts and modern dance. Most recently, she has been a member of the San Francisco Opera Ballet and Amy Seiwert’s Imagery bringing Amy’s ballet “Wandering” to the Joyce Theatre /Jacob’s Pillow and working with noted choreographer’s Gabrielle Lamb and Jennifer Archibald. This season Alysia appeared with SF Danceworks and Smuin Contemporary Ballet for the 2018 Fall Season. Alysia’s repertoire includes new works by Helen Pickett,Yannis Adoniou, Melissa Barak, Graham Lustig, Nick Korkos, Janice Garrett/Charles Moulton and classics by George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Lila York, and Mark Morris, Alysia was lucky study composition under the late Kazuko Hirabayashi at SUNY Purchase. Using this strong foundation, she has choreographed for the Sacramento Ballet’s annual “Beer and Ballet” performances and has been commissioned twice by local Ziru Dance. Alysia enjoys teaching the next generation and has taught at numerous schools around the Bay Area and been invited to teach at Celebrity Conventions and Dance Masters USA.

Erica Felsch

Beginning & Advanced Pointe, Pilates for Dancers

At the age of fourteen Erica received a scholarship to attend North Carolina School of the Arts.  After two years of training with NCSA she was offered a full scholarship with San Francisco Ballet’s Pre Professional Program. Ericaperformed in many company productions with SFB, and toured with the company in their production of “Don Quixote”. Erica went on to perform with Colorado Ballet and was featured in “Cinderella”, “Camargo”, “Who Cares”, and “The Nutcracker”. Erica joined Ballet Arizona in 2009 and performed both soloist and principal roles. She was featured in Balanchine’s “La Valse”, ” Four Temperaments”, and “Theme and Variations”. She was also featured in “Sleeping Beauty”, “Cinderella”, and Ib Andersen’s “Symphony Classique”, “Mosaic”, and “Play”. Erica also had the opportunity to work with Hubbard Street choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo in “Off Screen”. After three seasons with Ballet Arizona, she joined Smuin Ballet in 2012. She has performed featured roles in works by Michael Smuin, Helen Pickett, Garrett Ammon, Dawn Fay, Darrel Montreal, Adam Hougland, Amy Seiwart, Val Caniparoli, and Jiri Kylian. One of the highlights of her career was performing Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake” with Sierra Nevada Ballet. She has also had the pleasure of performing two seasons with National Choreographers Initiative.   

Felicia Flores

Musical Theater Jazz

With over 20 years of experience in dance education and choreography, Felicia Fry has leveraged 30 years of personal training, from Cecchetti to UC Irvine, to help hundreds of students excel in the art of dance. Felicia began her training under long time Cecchetti Society board member, Jean Fulton at Sierra Dance Academy in Roseville, California where she studied and tested under the Cecchetti method for 15 years.

In 2003, Felicia moved to southern California to attend the leading dance program at UC Irvine, where she would receive her B.F.A. in Dance with an Emphasis in Performing. While attending UCI she was a member of the Donald McKayle’s Etude Ensemble and the founder of the Community Outreach Program for Bare Bones Dance Theatre, which educated local High School students on the process of producing a dance show and encouraged them to pursue a college education. While dancing with Dave Massey, she placed first at the 2004 Gus Giordano’s Jazz Dance World Congress in Costa Rica.  She has also spent summers training with Cecchetti USA, Lines Ballet in San Francisco and Summer Lee Rhatigan at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance.

In 2007, Felicia returned to Northern California and opened Anti-Gravity School of Dance in Roseville, where she received high praise for offering scholarships to underprivileged children.  In addition to volunteering at several local charter and public schools, Felicia has been a member and supporter of the Sacramento Area Dance Alliance. She is one of the newest Committee members of Cecchetti USA and was a coach in the Cecchetti International Classical Ballet Competition in 2014 in Richmond, Virginia. She holds an Associate Teaching Certificate from Cecchetti USA and has held a Personal Training certificate from the National Academy of Sports Medicine.  After nine years of living her dream owning and operating a successful dance school, Felicia now focuses on providing quality dance instruction to children of all ages in Northern California.

Valerie Harmon

Beginning & Advanced Pointe, Pilates for Dancers

Valerie Harmon was born in Lompoc, California, where she trained with Denise Donlon at the Lompoc School of Dance. She spent summers training with Long Beach Ballet Arts Center, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet. She began her professional career with State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara under Rodney Gustafson. In 2006, she was privileged to join Milwaukee Ballet for its production of Swan Lake. After completing The Nancy Einhorn Milwaukee Ballet II Program, Ms. Harmon accepted a position with Milwaukee Ballet for its 2008-2009 season. During her time with the Company, she performed as Candide Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, the Spirit of the Glass Slippers in Cinderella, Prayer in Coppélia, Marie in Michael Pink’s The Nutcracker, Wendy in Michael Pink’s Peter Pan, Mina in Michael Pink’s Dracula and Odette in Michael Pink’s Swan Lake. She has also danced in new works by Cameron McMillan, Mark Godden, Timothy O’Donnell, Mauro de Candia, Petr Zahradnícek, Darrell Grand Moultrie and Val Caniparoli. In 2011, Ms. Harmon was privileged to dance with Dance Grand Moultrie at Summerstage in New York City. In addition, she was featured as Giselle and Odette in the inaugural season of DManagement’s Performing Arts in Chicago.  She joined Smuin in 2016 and looks forward to the range of new work she will experience there!

Dr. Meghann Rust

Anatomy for Dancers & Injury Prevention

Meghann (Oakes) Rust has over 30 years of dance experience, particularly in ballet. She grew up in the Walnut Creek area, dancing under the Artistic Direction of Richard Cammack and Zola Dishong Cammack. She was a member of the Contra Costa Ballet’s pre-professional Company for 5 years. During her dancing career, she performed in Balanchine’s Serenade and Stars and Stripes, as well as prominent roles in The Story of the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Paquita, Etudes, as well as works by Charles Anderson. Meghann also trained with a variety of instructors, including Suki Schorer of SAB, Michael Smuin, and Pascale Leroy.

Meghann graduated from the University of California, Irvine, where she earned a BA in Dance and a minor in Education. During her final year at Irvine, she trained under Diane Diefenderfer and received her Pilates Certification from Studio du Corps, Pilates Center of Orange County. She then graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine where she earned her Doctorate of Physical Therapy. Meghann now works as a dancemedicine physical therapist in Walnut Creek, CA and specializes in combining the principles of movement system impairment syndromes (MSI) with Pilates-based physical therapy to treat young athletes, particularly dancers, to aid in their return to sport. She lives in Pleasant Hill with her husband and 2 dogs.

Meghann joined the Vacaville Ballet Company Board of Directors in 2013 and assumed the role of President in 2016.