Instructors
All Photography By: Eric Foss
Jane Vann-Bryan, Director -
Member of The Royal Academy of Dancing, London, England and an affiliate of the American Academy of Ballet. Jane, the founding director of Merced Academy of Dance since its inception in 1986, is also the artistic director of Merced Civic Ballet Company. Jane trained locally with Children’s Dance Theater, San Francisco Ballet School, and Carmel Ballet Academy. Jane also studied at the Royal Academy of Dancing in London, England, Joffrey Ballet School and Harkness House for Ballet Arts in New York City. In 1974 Jane joined the company: Ballet Classique, and in 1976 joined their teaching staff. Jane was thrilled to fulfill her dream of moving home and opened the studio in 1986. Jane is married to retired neurologist Dr. Thomas Bryan and has seven children.
Zoey Yang, Instructor -
Zoey was vocationally trained at Shanghai Ballet Professional Dance School in China, where she majored in ballet. She was awarded with the Gold Award at the Hong Kong International Youth Dance Competition, and her professional stage experience includes prestigious events such as the Shanghai Arts Festival and Singapore Dance Theater. Zoey is also certified for Beijing Dance Academic Teaching for Ballet.
Wishing to further her dance education and broaden her knowledge in teaching, she majored in Ballet at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Her studies at NAFA provided her with exposure to different elements of dance, and allowed her to gain proficiency in teaching within an English-speaking environment.
Since her graduation from NAFA, Zoey has been teaching ballet in Singapore, preparing students for the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) examinations. Her experience in teaching kids includes children as young as 3 years old, as well as those in their teens. Zoey's vocational training in Shanghai, supplemented with her NAFA dance education, has given different perspectives and depth to her understanding of ballet, equipping her with a unique approach to teaching.
Audra Edwards, Instructor -
Audra Edwards is from Eagle, Idaho, where she studied and performed with the Idaho Regional Ballet under the direction of Jeff and Cathy Giese. She continued her dance education at Butler University, where she received her BFA in dance performance with a minor in vocal music. After graduating, Audra moved to New York City to perform with Lydia Johnson Dance, in addition to various free-lance dance projects. She then relocated to Denver, Colorado, where she was a company dancer with Hannah Kahn Dance Company for 6 years. While in Denver, Audra taught ballet, modern, and contemporary dance at Rocky Mountain Ballet Academy and Dance Arts Studio. In 2022, Audra moved to England, where she was a dancer with Northern Dance and a guest faculty member at Marron Arts Theatre. Audra is excited to continue sharing her love of movement with the next generation of dancers at Merced Academy of Dance.
Aidan Perry, Instructor -
Aidan began dancing when she was three and quickly fell in love. She danced at Denisa's School of Dance(DSD) for nine years, and began competing at age 8, before joining The Dance Studio of Fresno(TDS) and their Elite Team to further her professional training. While at TDS Fresno, she competed all over California, trained with professionals, and won "Studio of the Year 2015" in Las Vegas, Nevada! Her repertoire extends from ballet to jazz, lyrical, modern, and hip-hop, but contemporary has always been her first love. Unfortunately, an injury shortened her time with TDS Fresno, but a teaching opportunity soon opened for her with Denisa's School of Dance. Since joining at 16, Aidan has discovered a new love for teaching and has become a vital part of the DSD Family, working as a dance teacher, competition team coach, and choreographer. Over the years, she has received many choreography excellence awards, including two new awards for her works shown at Spotlight Dance Cup Nationals this last season! Aidan strives to always be original with her movement, put in 100% effort, and challenge her students. She enjoys presenting movement that feels gritty and out of students' comfort zones in a studio setting that remains safe to explore and push dancers' boundaries. Aidan is a teacher who appreciates hard work and challenges her dancers' limits because it will ultimately help them grow as artists and human beings. She is excited to return and continue sharing her love and enthusiasm for the art of contemporary dance with Merced Academy of Dance!
Colby Hanning, Instructor -
Colby has been a part of the Merced Academy of Dance family since they were 4. After years of training, they began working as a teacher's assistant and then teaching at the studio. Within the community, Colby also danced competitively with STEPS dance studio and performed in many mainstage shows at Playhouse Merced. They are well versed in a variety of dance forms including ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz, tap, and musical theater. Their love of dance and teaching took them to CSU Fullerton where they recently graduated with their bachelor's in Dance and minor in Child and Adolescent Development. Traveling to New York, Colby attended the DOVA winter intensive with the Doug Varone and Dancers Company and performed in the DUMBO Dance festival as part of Leiphia Dance Company. Colby's teaching pedagogy is founded on creating a safe and accepting environment where each student feels respected and empowered. They find joy in the process of working with kids: helping them through challenging moments, getting them to understand the work at a deeper level, ultimately being able to see their students grow and accomplish their goals. A good teacher is always a student. Colby is continually seeking to expand their knowledge and decenter power in the classroom by learning from their students, staying humble, and being open to change.
Carson Downs, Instructor -
Carson has been dancing with Merced Academy of Dance since he was eight years old and has enjoyed the successes of his hard work and dedication ever since. He has danced under the tutelage of Miss Jane for his entire dance journey and has had several years of training by instructors David Arce and Akira Takahashi of Juline Regional Youth Ballet, where he has had the opportunity to perform several lead roles in their numerous productions. He has also volunteered at Merced Academy of Dance as a teacher's assistant and has studied multiple different forms of dance, such as modern, contemporary, jazz, musical theatre, and hip-hop. He is currently studying at Merced College to earn an Associate's Degree in Business and is pursuing the field of psychology as well. Carson is looking forward to teaching this year and is very optimistic about his future with Merced Academy of Dance.
Alex Perez, Instructor -
Alex has been studying dance at Merced Academy of Dance for over 25 years. He is a principal member of Merced Civic Ballet where he has performed numerous leading roles including the Rat King, lead Spanish dancer and Rose Cavalier in the “The Nutcracker”, and most recently dancing Pas de Six in Coppelia. Alex has been teaching dance for over 20 years and is thrilled to be joining the staff of Merced Academy of Dance again this year.
Joe Downs, Instructor & Office Manager -
Growing up in the Central Valley, Joe has had a life dedicated to dance. Joe has been a part of Merced Academy of Dance for 17 years, and has been a company dancer for 8 years. Their teaching experience with MAD goes back 9 years, starting as an assistant teacher in 2014. Joe's goal as an instructor is to help young dancers to find a love for dance and be able to express themselves through it. They have had years of experience with children of all ages, teaching students as young as three years old.
While Joe has been in ballet since the age of three, they are experienced in other forms of dance such as contemporary and modern. Outside of Merced Academy of Dance, they have danced with Juline School of Dance in Modesto and were accepted into the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive Program. As a student at Merced College, Joe is pursuing an associates in Elementary Education, and is planning on getting their BA in Global Arts at UC Merced. They hope to use their growing knowledge to continuously improve and find new ways to both teach and understand young minds. Joe looks forward to their future of teaching with Merced Academy of Dance, inspiring young dancers to work hard, have fun, and understand themselves through dance.
Kristen Brown, Assist. Office Manager & Social Media Manager -
Kristen Brown has been studying ballet since she was three years old and joined the Merced Civic Ballet as a company dancer in 2019. Previously, she performed with the Fresno Ballet Theatre and studied at Northwest Studio for Ballet; most recently, she spent the summer studying at Joffrey Ballet School in their New York City Ballet Summer Intensive. Throughout her academic career, Kristen has held various leadership roles, including an internship at the Office of Technology, Innovation, and Industry Relations at the University of California, Merced. Each position has increased her experience in project planning, sales operations, marketing, and advertising; currently, she is working towards her Business Management degree through Merced College. Kristen looks forward to continuing with Merced Academy of Dance’s faculty and everything this new season will bring!
Jenny Downs, Costumer -
As the proud parent of two MAD dancers, Jenny has been in our ballet family for 17 years. She began as a backstage mom, assisted in costuming for the past seven years, and has led the costume crew for the past three years. When she isn't donating her time to sewing seams, constructing crowns, and tailoring tutus for our dancers, she works as a Charge Nurse & ECLS Specialist in the ICUs at Valley Children's Hospital. One of her favorite activities has been playing the part of Mother Ginger in our Nutcracker Production.
Charlene Wootten, Costumer -
Charlene Wootten has been a part of the MAD family since January 2014. She has been a Backstage Mom and helped with Nutcracker gift baskets, but that wasn’t enough! So Charlene joined the group of moms who helped with costumes and props and quickly caught on to the talent. She loves watching her daughter, Ember, dance, and assistant teach dance, and her son, Kaden, as he also found joy in ballet. When not living at the studio, she enjoys leading worship and high school youth at her church. As well as crocheting and hanging out with her husband and kids.