Isaac Lee, Guest Instructor
Lee first started dance at age 5 under Kim Burson at Dance Arts and performed in CU Ballet’s The Nutcracker since age 7. At age 12 he transitioned to Champaign Ballet Academy, the official school of CU Ballet, and under the director of Deanna Doty Warfel, performed in their productions of Coppélia, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty as Blue Bird, Swan Lake as Pas de Trois, and The Nutcracker as Cavalier. He attended Summer Intensive programs at Indiana Ballet Conservatory and Ellison Ballet in New York. Lee also regularly taught academy classes as well as staged choreography, and was the 2020 recipient of the Bonnie Ziegler Award for Leadership. After graduating in 2020, Lee joined the Nashville Ballet under Nick Mullikin and Paul Vasterling as a Trainee for two seasons, and was promoted to Second Company for a third season. While there he performed in Vasterling’s The Nutcracker, Firebird, Peter Pan, and Cinderella, and worked with esteemed choreographers and stagers Maria Konrad, Anaïs Chalendard, Charlotte Boyd-Christensen, and Lucy McCauley. This will be Lee’s first season with Grand Rapids Ballet as an Apprentice.