Ballet East Dance Theatre

Melissa Villarreal, Assistant Artistic Director

Works for Ballet East

2008 Spiral Mirabilis

2007 Spiritual, Sideways, Elemental Tempest - (collaboration)

2006 The Morning After, We All Fall Down, Into You and Out Again

2005 Courage Strength Heart and Soul, A Thousand Flowers, Waves of Recovery

2004 Outside the Box, Ring of Destiny, Pieces, Ode to the Dancer

2003 Seven Spirits for the Gemini Soul

2002  Insatiable Moments, Motherless Child

2001 Cleo's Back, The  Insomniac, The Quest

2000 Disconnect, Axiom, El Sol y La Luna

1999 Liquid Diamonds, Mariposas

1998 Moments in Love, Ojas de Otonio

1997 And God Created Woman

MELISSA VILLARREAL, began dancing under the direction of Rodolfo Mendez at the age of fourteen. Throughout her 20 years with the company, Ms. Villarreal has had the opportunity to work with various talented and notable local, national, and international choreographers such as Fred Benjamin, Max Luna III, Regina Larkin, Carmen de Lavallade, Bruce Wood, Hope Boykin, Sabrina Madison-Cannon, Eugene Slavin, Steven Mills, Johanna Lundquist, Deena Chavoya, Jason Brooks, Shannon Leyhrer, Andrea Ariel, Toni Bravo, Andrea Beckham, Lyn Wiltshire, Gina Patterson, Eric Midgley, Ananda Moss, Dixon Mena, Zenobia Taylor, and Amberlee Cantrell.  In June 1997, July 1998, and July 2000, she attended master classes at Adelphi University, in New York City, through scholarships awarded by Regina Larkin, Artistic Director of the Joyce Trisler Danscompany.  This year, Ms. Villarreal celebrates her 10th year anniversary, as the Assistant Artistic Director of Ballet East Dance Theatre, where she is also the resident choreographer and teacher.  She has set over 25 original works on the dance company.  Her first choreographed work;  “And God Created Woman” debuted in December 1997.  In June 2006, she expanded her artistic planes by working with a side project, a newly artistic group, UpRise! Productions, as a teacher and choreographer. She co-choreographed a collaborative work, “Collective Conscious” with Ananda Moss, Leona Dixon, and Jeanie Elliott, which was featured at the Annual National SpitFest, held at the Palmer Auditorium in Austin, and at The Hot September Flurries showcase in September 2006. Her 1999 work,  “Liquid Diamonds” was re-staged by Susan Linville and presented in Hollywood, California by The Muse Project in July 2006.  “We All Fall Down” was performed at the Frontera Fest in 2007, as a collaborative project with UpRise! Productions, and Ballet East Dance Theatre.  February 2008, she presented "Sideways" alongside a new work to Prince's Erotic City at the UpRise! 2008 Valentine's Ball Fundraiser.  Ms. Villarreal is also the Artistic Coordinator of the “Annual Festival Celebrating Youth”, an umbrella project through Ballet East, which she will host in May 2008.

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