About Xuan

As a ballerina, teacher, director, and dance world visionary, Xuan Cheng shares the immense joy and beauty of dance, instilling peoples’ lives with a transportive sense of magic and grace. With performances that are full of “musicality, technical skill, attention to detail, intelligence and heart,” (Dance International Magazine) Cheng “embraces a theatrical sensuality and attack, with a crisp, technical precision,” (The Dance Current) and has an “innate ability to make simple theatrical devices heartbreaking.” (Dance International Magazine) Mesmerizing onstage, Cheng celebrates twenty years as a professional dancer, closing out her decade-long tenure as Principal Dancer for the Oregon Ballet Theatre with a final performance in February 2023, and joining the Hong Kong Ballet as Ballet Mistress and Principal Dancer.

From Chenzhou, China, Cheng’s early and intensely rigorous training shaped her as an artist, facilitating an extraordinary level of physical and mental discipline, but also fluidity and freedom in her dancing that is nothing less than exquisite. Bringing audiences into the experience of dance, Cheng elicits emotions, connections and abstract thinking that enhance personal stories through greater awareness and perspective. Celebrated for her passion in starring roles with the Oregon Ballet Theatre including Cinderella, Juliet, Giselle, Alice, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Scheherazade, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, and Odette/Odile in both Christopher Stowell’s and Kevin Irving’s Swan Lake, Cheng was the first Chinese dancer to ever dance the full-length role of Teresina in August Bournonville’s ​Napoli​ in 2018. Additional honors include the Gold Medal in China’s Tao Li Bei World Dance Competition (2006); placing as a finalist in the 8th New York International Ballet Competition (2005); and the Silver Medal in the 3rd Shanghai International Ballet Competition (2004). Upon Édouard Lock’s invitation, Cheng joined La La La Human Steps as a Principal Dancer in 2006 and gave challenging, intimate and modern performances in 20 countries across Europe, Asia, and North America at venues including Sadler's Wells (London), Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), Festival ImPulsTanz (Vienna), National Arts Centre (Ottawa), LG Arts Centre (Seoul), and Saitama Theatre (Japan). She also performed as Principal Dancer with Guangzhou Ballet of China, as Soloist with Les Grands Ballet Canadiens, and as a guest with Barak Ballet (performances in New York City and Los Angeles), The International Ballet Gala IX (Dortmund), and the Hong Kong Ballet before joining the Oregon Ballet Theatre in 2011. Cheng studied at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music and Dance and the GuangZhou Arts School, having been selected and mentored by prima ballerina Dan Dan Zhang.

Cheng’s directorial work and artistry integrates a high level of flexibility, range and vision. She thrives in collaboration with all kinds of artists, incorporating multi-media, and making connections beyond the dance world to expand audiences and advocates. With her diverse background having worked with more than a dozen different artistic directors in both large repertoire companies and smaller, focused organizations, Cheng has a broad understanding of how different models work within the dance industry. Alongside her husband, award-winning choreographer Ye Li, Cheng co-founded the Oregon International Ballet Academy (OIBA) for which she is now the Artistic Director. In this role, she leads training programs and full-length, original productions (including World Premieres) that instill beauty, confidence, health, love and responsibility, inspiring students to fulfill their dreams and become stewards of wellness in their communities. Her unique approach to formalized dance instruction draws on cultures from around the world in a format especially designed for the modern day. In addition to her work with OIBA, Cheng has also taught as a guest instructor with the School of The Oregon Ballet Theatre since 2013.

An integral part of the cultural communities in both Hong Kong and the Pacific Northwest, she contributes to the evolution and unique roles these regions play within the global network of dance. As one of only a handful of Chinese dancers that have held principal positions with major US companies, Cheng is proud to share the positive values of her homeland, acting as a bridge between cultures, and helping to generate understanding and appreciation for the ways in which we can all learn from one another.

Biography by Aligned Artistry