Faculty
School Director / Business Manager
KELLIE FOY
Kellie Foy began dancing in Cleveland Ohio at the School of Cleveland Ballet. At the age of 15 she was the youngest member of the Cleveland Civic Ballet Company. At New West Ballet Theatre in San Diego, she quickly rose from corps de ballet member to soloist. Later she joined the California Ballet Company. She was also a soloist with the State Ballet of Oregon for two seasons and accepted as a member of the State Street Ballet in Santa Barbara. She appeared as a guest artist and soloist with the Escuela Cubana de Ballet in Ensenada, Mexico for three seasons. During this time she also appeared with City Ballet in San Diego under the direction of Steven and Elizabeth Wistrich. Her many years of professional dancing have given her a strong classical background and varied repertoire. Miss Foy has choreographed and staged her own versions of "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream," "Peter & the Wolf," "The Nutcracker," "Alice in Wonderland," "Cinderella," and "Sleeping Beauty." Over the years she has created original contemporary work as well as staged classics such as “Swan Lake” and “Giselle.” Throughout her dancing career she also studied the art of teaching children and developed her skills as a ballet educator. Kellie is a CPA and holds a bachelors degree in accounting from Cal State San Marcos, in San Diego. For 10 years while building SFYBA she was the accountant for BASE Energy, Inc. in the financial district of San Francisco. She continues to cultivate her teaching skills and her goal is to make the physical and mental challenges of ballet training a rewarding experience for students of all ages and levels.
KENDRA PEARSON
Kendra grew up dancing at The Studio of Performing Arts in Grover Beach, California where she began teaching Ballet at age sixteen. She majored in Dance at Allan Hancock College studying Choreography, Ballet, Modern, Hip Hop, Jazz, and Folklorico. In 2009 Kendra was granted a full scholarship to attend the pre-professional training program at Ballet Hispanico of New York City. At BH she studied Ballet with Misha Chernov and Gelsey Kirkland, Limon technique with Kurt Douglass and Michael Blake, Dunham technique with Rodney Hamilton, Flamenco with La Meira, and Latin Ballroom with Bonnie Diaz. Kendra went on to join the Professional Studies Program at the Jose Limon Institute and studied with members of the original Limon company including Carla Maxwell, Jim May, Sue Bernhard, Risa Steinberg, and Betty Jones. She also studied extensively with Jim May's company Sokolow Theater. Kendra earned her certification in Pilates at Core Pilates NYC and began teaching in 2012. Her choreography has been shown in NYC at the EFSD Choreography Platform, Green Space Blooms Festival, Jim May's DanceLab, and in Santa Barbara at the HHII Dance Festival. Kendra holds a BA in Philosophy and Religion from SFSU and is currently working on her MA in Humanities. She continues to study and perform Flamenco in the bay area with Clara Rodriguez. Kendra began teaching Ballet at SFYBA in 2018.
VINCENT CHAVEZ
Vincent Chavez was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he grew up competing on the local Rodeo circuit. Once he chose ballet over broncos, he received his formal dance education and training from the Dance Theater Southwest (Albuquerque), Ballet Hispanico (New York), Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre (Las Vegas) and Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program (San Francisco). As a result of his strict training and creative educational experiences, Vincent was chosen to perform with leading dance companies including Robert Moses’ Kin, Oakland Ballet Company, Dance Theater of SF, Menlowe Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theatre and New Mexico Ballet Company.
His artistry has earned him the opportunity to work with several renown choreographers; Robert Moses, Graham Lustig, Michael Lowe, James Canfield, Garrett+Moulton, Gregory Dawson, Christopher Huggins, Molissa Fenley, Val Caniparoli and Amy Seiwert included. In addition to his notable dance career, Vincent works independently as a San Francisco Bay Area Dance Artist, teaching, choreographing, collaborating, and performing throughout the United States. In recent years, he has been commissioned to choreograph works highlighting his strong sense of family for Oakland Ballet Company, Silicon Valley Dance Festival and Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers. Vince has been an important faculty member at SFYBA since 2011.
JESS DEFRANCO
Jess DeFranco is a Bay Area native and began her dance training at a young age with ballet classes in her hometown of Santa Clara, under former San Francisco Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet dancer Kimberly Davey. She also trained with Western Ballet, Pacific Ballet Academy and the LINES Ballet Summer Program. Jess received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from San Francisco State University, performing with the University Dance Theater company for three consecutive years. Her choreography was also selected to represent the School of Theater and Dance at the 2018 American College Dance Association conference. Upon graduating she began working as a freelance artist and dance instructor in San Francisco. She’s performed in works by Tim Rubel’s Human Shakes, Garrett + Moulton Productions, Robert Moses Kin, Kristin Damrow, Alyssa Mitchel, Tanya Chianese, Katie Faulkner, Flight Dance Collective, and eMotion Arts Dance Co.
Jess has been an SFYBA faculty member since 2019. In 2022 she accepted the position as head of the young children's program for SFYBA.
MICHELLE LIU
Michelle Liu is a San Francisco native, who started ballet at the age of 7. She trained with San Francisco Ballet School under Pascale Leroy and Yoira Esquivel Brito before coming to San Francisco Youth Ballet. Additionally, she attended Alonzo King LINES Ballet summer intensive, where she studied contemporary ballet. After graduating UCLA with a bachelors in Psychobiology, she worked professionally in a number of industries including health, education, and business development. Unable to let go of her passion for the performing arts, she returned to dance during the pandemic, and just a year later, signed with RAE Agency. In 2023, she returned fully to ballet - her first love - most recently appearing as a soloist in SFYBT’s production of The Nutcracker, and joining as faculty. Her journey coming back to ballet as an adult inspired her to initiate the Adult Program at SFYBA. She is excited to teach ballet through a holistic approach, drawing on her diverse background, and make the art form accessible to everyone. Outside of ballet, she is a user experience designer.
ERIN ELEY
Erin Eley is originally from Houston, Texas where she trained under Caryn Stoll, Kathleen Waltz and Mary Beth Arrlington before attending Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School.
After high school, Erin attended the University of Utah where she received her BFA in Ballet, BS in Economics and minor in Modern Dance. She performed both modern and classical works while also as a guest artist with Salt Lake City Ballet.
Erin has danced professionally with Central West Ballet, Roanoke Ballet Theatre, and San Jose Dance Theatre. She has had the opportunity to work with renowned teachers like Oleg Vinogradov, Ronn Guidi, Mark Foehringer, Tiit Helimets and Rolando Sarabia.
Erin is excited to be teaching at San Francisco Youth Ballet Academy!
GUEST FACULTY
Bernadette Torres San Diego Ballet, California Ballet, Colorado Ballet
Carlo DiDio California Ballet
Evelyn Turner Sacramento Ballet
Oliver Adam Smuin Ballet, San Francisco
Tess Lane Smuin Ballet, California Ballet
Alison Ramoran Oklahoma City Ballet, Smuin Ballet, Diablo