About Us
Founded in 2004, Morning Star Dance Academy of Atlanta (MSDA) offers high quality training in classical ballet, pointe, contemporary dance, jazz, character dance, and Chinese traditional folk dance. The school's teaching methods offer students an age appropriate, challenging, and enjoyable program that combines personal enrichment with technical preparation for professional work.
The founder and artistic director of MSDA is Mr. Chen Xiao, a former professional dancer with almost thirty years of experience and a recipient of a top award at the International Ballet Competition in Osaka, Japan. He worked with other faculty members of MSDA to teach the discipline and technique necessary in dance education and to create a joyful and passionate learning environment. By identifying and focusing on a student's individual capabilities, he is able to bring out the best in each dancer. In 2013, Mr. Chen Xiao received the "Outstanding Teacher" recognition from the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) regional semi-final, one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world, for his passion and special contribution to ballet education.
Students of MSDA are offered many performance opportunities throughout the year. They participate frequently in local community activities such as multi-cultural festivals and celebrations, and are also provided many opportunities to perform whole act ballets such as Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, etc. This allows them to gain valuable stage experiences as well as confidence to perform in the future.
In 2014, Morning Star Dance Academy received the "Most Outstanding School" award at the YAGP regional semi-final competition for its consistent performance and dedication to dance education. Over the years, students from MSDA received several first places in the classical ballet, contemporary and ensemble categories in YAGP semi-finals and also qualified many times for the international finals in New York. Students also won many high awards at other national and international dance competitions such as Showstopper, International Dance Challenge (IDC), American Dance Championships (ADC), World Ballet Competition (WBC), and American Ballet Competition (ABC). Due to their achievements, several students were awarded full scholarships to top professional ballet schools such as Joffrey Ballet School, The Rock School of Dance Education, Princess Grace Academy of Classical Dance, etc. Furthermore, a graduate of MSDA was accepted with a scholarship this year to study in dance at the renowned Tisch School of the Arts of New York University. Most recently, a current student was the prizewinner of a distinguished professional ballet competition, Beijing International Ballet and Choreography competition (IBCC) on July 2015.
In February 7, 2016, our forty-nine young and delicate students were invited by China Central Television (CCTV) to join the live performance “Jasmine” (China's traditional fan-dance with ballet) in the 2016 Spring Gala to celebrate the Chinese New Year with the world. This is a Chinese New Year special program produced by CCTV and shown on the eve of Chinese New Year. The CCTV New Year's Gala has 30 years of history and the program has received extremely large audiences, it draws over 800 million people and broadcasts in more than 180 countries. Morning Star Dance Academy of Atlanta was the first school from oversea was invited to perform at CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 30 year history.
Instructors
Xiao Chen
Artistic director and choreographer, graduated from Beijing Dance Academy, China. For more than twenty years, he has played various roles in well over a hundred ballet performances.Through his career, he has toured more than 50 countries and was invited repeatedly as a guest dancer by international ballet troupes. In 1991, he received the Special Award for Best Individual Performance at the World Ballet Competition (WBC). As a leading dancer, he served two of the most renowned Chinese ballet companies: National Ballet of China and Shanghai Ballet. From 1992 to 2003, he was a principal dancer with the Atlanta Ballet (Atlanta, Georgia). He was invited to dance at the World Ballet Top Performers Event in Seoul, South Korea in 2002. In 2004, he founded MorningStar Dance Academy of Atlanta (MSDA). With his unique qualifications, effective training methods, and a vision for ballet education, he guides MSDA to a successful and rapid growth path. Students of MSDA have successfully performed in numerous local events and have been awarded with many national and regional championships and world finalists from different dance competitions including ShowStopper, American Dance Championships (ADC), International Dance Challenge (IDC), American Ballet Competition (ABC), and Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) - the world prestigious ballet competition for youth. In 2013, Xiao Chen received the "Outstanding Teacher" recognition from YAGP for his passion and special contribution to ballet education.