Instructors

Aileen Oyama Hui

Aileen began studying classical ballet in Japan and later attended the London School of Ballet in Hong Kong where she trained under the Royal Academy of Dancing. Aileen has had the great privilege of being trained by highly acclaimed artists such as Joan Campbell, Michael Cornell, Preston Li, and So Hon Wah. Since moving to the United States, she has performed principal roles as a guest artist with various local companies in productions such as Coppelia, Swan Lake, Raymonda, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, and The Nutcracker.

She is an instructor for the Align Ballet Method and she teaches open ballet classes and choreographs both classical and contemporary pieces for the Caltech Dance Show. She is currently a company member of Pasadena Dance Theatre and has performed in their annual production of The Nutcracker.

Aileen is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Chemistry at Caltech, and conducts research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Sofia Rivera 

 

Mackenzie Anderson

 

Rachel Theios

Rachel studied classical ballet at the Napa Regional Dance Company, where she performed in their annual production of The Nutcracker. She currently trains with Preston Li and has performed in Sleeping Beauty as well as the annual Caltech Dance Show. She is the president of the Caltech Ballet Club and teaches beginner and open ballet classes. She has also received training in contemporary ballet, jazz, and tap, as well as swing and salsa dancing.

Rachel is currently a Ph.D. student in Astronomy at Caltech, where she conducts research on galaxy formation and evolution.

Preston Li

Preston is a graduate of the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy, China, where he trained in both Russian and Royal Ballet styles. He received the Gold Medal at Henna Ballet Competition, Zhengzhou, China, and was selected as one of the four best dancers to perform in the musical Cats and West Side Story in Tokyo, Japan. After a successful run, he received a full scholarship to Princeton Ballet, NJ. He later accepted a principal position to dance with Joffrey II, Los Angeles Classical Ballet, Ballet MET, and other notable dance companies. He continued performing for more than 20 years in a wide variety of classical, character and modern roles from productions such as The Nutcracker, Madame Butterfly, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Le Corsaire, and The Sleeping Beauty.

Upon retiring from the stage in 2007, Preston was invited to be the Co-Artistic Director of Dance Peninsula Ballet under the Artistic Direction of Patricia Stander. He has taught all levels of aspiring dancers in the Los Angeles area for competitions, and created dance performances, programs, and works for regional festivals. He has taught for Pasadena Dance Theatre, Shin Dance, and Kova Ballet, and several of his students are now in professional companies —Joffrey Ballet II in Chicago, Ballet West, Nevada Dance Theatre, Idaho Ballet, and America Figure Skating Winter Olympics team 2010.