About

Melissa Uyehara brings a wealth of professional, performing and teaching experience to the NWA. She performed principal, soloist and corps de ballet roles with Ballet Omaha and Ballet Iowa. Some of her favorite roles include: Witch in Konstantin Uralsky's Macbeth, Ensemble in George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, Uralsky's Rachmaninov Piano Concerto #1, Michael Uthoff's Tom Dula, Robin Welch's Les Patineurs, the revival of August Bournonville's Konservatoriet and Peter Anastos' Forgotten Memories. Missy has served as Ballet Mistress for Capital City Dance Theater, Iowa Dance Theatre, Ballet Theater Des Moines and other regional dance troupes. She was recently offered the ballet mistress position with the Montgomery Ballet. Her former students have gone on to dance professionally with many ballet companies, including the Stuttgart Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, Minnesota Ballet, Saint Paul City Ballet, Dayton Ballet, American Midwest Ballet among others. Missy's been teaching since she was a student assistant at her local studio in Ankeny, Iowa. She's been on the faculty or has taught at many studios including: the Capital City Dance Center, School of Ballet Iowa/Des Moines Ballet School, School of Classical Ballet and Dance, Robert Thomas DanCenter, Central Iowa Dance, Vine Street Ballet School, Westside Dance, Dance Avenue and Dance Unlimited. Her private coaching instruction is much in demand. Missy's dance training includes stints with such noted teachers as Ballet Long Island's Konstantin and Irina Uralsky, American Ballet Theater's Lupe Serrano, Ballet Hamburg Ballet Master Charles Mudry, Larry Long of Chicago's Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance, Ballet Iowa's Kennet Oberly, Ballet Metropolitan's Gerard Charles, Des Moines Ballet's Lynn Andlauer and Milwaukee Ballet/University of Iowa's Basil Thompson. She's been on scholarship with the Des Moines Ballet School and the Milwaukee Ballet's Summer Program. Besides ballet and pointe, Missy is an accomplished tap dancer and instructor. She's won or placed at a number of tap competitions, including: the Bill Riley Talent Search, Dance Masters of America and the Show Biz Dance Competition. Missy prides herself in creating a nurturing, yet challenging, environment for every student she teaches. She also strongly believes a solid foundation of impeccable technique serves as the springboard to fullfill artistic expression.

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