andrea dawn shelley, ballet mistress and rehearsal assistant(She/Her)

Andrea Dawn Shelley, a native of Miami, Florida, received her classical ballet training predominantly under the guidance of Magdalena Maury and Magda G. Auñon. She pursued her higher education in dance at the University of South Florida under Gretchen Ward Warren and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance Education from Florida International University. Shelley began her professional performing career in the corps de ballet with Southern Ballet Theatre (now Orlando Ballet). She has since danced as a principal artist with Maximum Dance Company, Miami Contemporary Dance Company, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, State Street Ballet, and iMEE—an organization she co-founded in 2009.

As a choreographer, Shelley’s works have been commissioned by numerous professional dance companies and festivals. Her roster of choreographies include original creations for iMEE, Ballet Florida, Miami Contemporary Dance Company, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, State Street Ballet, O Dance, Ad Deum Dance Company, and METdance. She has also choreographed for Island Moving Co. (now Newport Contemporary Ballet), Festival Ballet Providence (now Ballet RI), Bellingham Repertory Dance, Vitacca Ballet, Group Acorde, KODA Contemporary Ballet, and Houston Contemporary Dance Company. Beyond company commissions, her choreography has been presented on global platforms, including feature performances at The Dance Gallery Festival / Level UP in New York City, Palcoscenico Danza in Italy, the Black Box International Festival Theatre & Dance in Bulgaria, and the International Contemporary Dance Festival of Mexico City (FIDCDMX).

Shelley's artistic reach extends deeply into academia, where she has participated in creative residencies and set original works for institutions such as Sam Houston State University, Salve Regina University, Providence College, Western Kentucky University, Moorpark College, St. John's School, and Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA). As a dance educator and administrator, Shelley was selected as an annual preliminary panelist for the National YoungArts Foundation’s choreography, ballet, and modern programs for five consecutive years. Her collegiate teaching experience includes serving as Adjunct Ballet Faculty at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI, where she also stepped into leadership roles as Resident Choreographer and Company Director for the university's junior dance company.

In the administrative and rehearsal space, Ms. Shelley worked as an annual Guest Choreographer for twelve seasons while simultaneously serving as Professional Program Principal, Resident Artist Program Director, and Senior Faculty at Vitacca Vocational School for Dance in Houston, TX. She also spent four seasons as Rehearsal Director and Artistic Manager with Vitacca Ballet. She currently teaches on the faculty at the Institute of Contemporary Dance while marking her seventh season with Houston Contemporary Dance Company as Ballet Mistress and Rehearsal Assistant.