Shirley Fang

Staff Info

Position: Dance Instructor, Choreographer, Dancer

ADP Classes: Jazz, Contemporary

Training: Contemporary, Jazz, Lyrical, Ballet, Chinese Classical & Folk Dance

Profile

A Bay Area native, Shirley grew up in San Jose and began ballet and Chinese dance at the age of four. She discovered her love for lyrical, contemporary, and jazz on her high school dance team, the Lynbrook Valkyries. As a junior and senior, she became a Captain of the team, leading the Valkyries to two National championships and winning several solo awards.

At Dartmouth College, Shirley went on to join Sugarplum, a ballet & contemporary dance group. There, she choreographed, taught, and cleaned routines, performing in 2-3 shows per quarter and ultimately becoming a Director of the group. It was with Sugarplum that she found her love of artistic expression through choreography.

After graduation, she moved to New York and performed with the DanceWorks NYC company before ultimately returning to the Bay Area, where she taught ballet and directed the Elite Lyrical Team at Montage Dance Productions. Ever since her very first class at Ariel, she was hooked, and she continues to take classes and perform whenever possible. Shirley is so grateful for the amazingly supportive community and many performance opportunities she's found here at Ariel and excited to be teaching contemporary and jazz!