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Sherene Melania
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed Sherene Melania to the San Francisco Arts Commission in January 2007. As Commissioner, Sherene Melania advocates for the children of San Francisco and hopes to use her passion for dance to encourage not only an appreciation for the arts and artistic excellence, but also the value of developing “complete artists” who utilize academic and dance education, as a tool for promoting cultural awareness and understanding, leading to a deep compassion for humanity.
Sherene Melania has had an extraordinary dance education. She has been fortunate to study under teachers who were students of the direct pupils of Agrippina Vaganova (Ballet) and Igor Moiseyev (Character/Folk). She began her professional training at the age of eight with San Francisco Ballet School, (Helgi Tomasson, Artistic Director). At age 12, Ms. Melania continued her classical training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. (Oleg Vinogradov, Artistic Director). She achieved the distinction to perform principal youth roles with both the San Francisco Ballet and Kirov Ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre and be a participant in the Prix de Lausanne junior international ballet competition, representing the USA.
Ms. Melania accepted the invitation to study Ballet at the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, the only American with this honor. Concurrently, she completed a two-year ballet apprenticeship, studying under Kirov Ballet Mistress Gabriella Komleva. She received a Certificate for Ballet Direction Specialty and Choreography from the prestigious Conservatory.She has performed in Russia, France, Switzerland, Brazil, and the United States and has been featured on international television. Currently, Sherene Melania performs as a Principal Artist with the internationally acclaimed, Ballet Afsaneh.
Ms. Melania earned a B.A. Summa Cum Laude from the University of San Francisco majoring in Performing Arts and Social Justice. She performed as a member of the University of San Francisco Dance Ensemble for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Upon graduation, Ms. Melania was awarded the Dean's Medal for Excellence in the Arts University of San Francisco’s most prestigious academic award. She is a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit National Honor Society, National Collegiate Scholar, Who’s Who in American Universities, and Who’s Who in International Dance. She holds an International Baccalaureate Diploma with Honors in English, French, and Russian. Ms. Melania’s master teachers have instilled an appreciation for the purest form of classical ballet and the richly diverse world of folk dance traditions, from which she draws on to create a highly innovative approach to bridging eastern and western traditions of classicism and folklore.