The Ballet Conservatory at Fort Worth Country Day

08/26/2026

The Ballet Conservatory at FWCD is fortunate to have Li Chou Cheng teaching for our students. Mr. Cheng teaches the Advanced 1 and Advanced 2 levels.

Li-Chou Cheng started his professional training when he was 13 at the Beijing Dance Academy in China. At the age of 19, he joined the Beijing Central Ballet as a dancer and soloist and served as a Ballet Master and Rehearsal Director for the company. Since immigrating to the United States in 1980, Cheng has served as Assistant Professor at the University of Utah and Arizona State University. In 1988, Cheng was named the Principal teacher for both the Boston Ballet Company and School. Recently retired, Cheng was Professor of Professional Practice in Ballet with the School for Classical & Contemporary Dance at Texas Christian University for 28 years. As a guest teacher in demand nationwide, he has worked with many ballet companies and their summer dance programs, including Pittsburgh Ballet, Boston Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet West, Ballet Met, Ballet Austin, Indianapolis Ballet, Eugene Ballet, Ballet Oregon, North Carolina School of the Arts, and Walnut Hill School of Arts. His international teaching experience includes Beijing Dance Academy, The National Ballet School of Canada, The National Institution of Arts in Mexico, the Taipei National University of Arts, and the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre in Taiwan.

08/24/2026

The Ballet Conservatory starts Aug. 31st! We are still accepting registrations! We would love to have you join us this year! Here is a look at more of our faculty. Carrie Cheng, Director, teaches Ballet 2, Intermediate 2 and 3 and Advanced 1 and 2.
Carrie was born in Miami, Florida, and started her training with Thomas Armour of the Miami Conservatory. She continued her training under Dulce Anaya and the Jacksonville Ballet Theater. Cheng earned a BFA in ballet from the University of Utah with a full, four-year scholarship. She has danced professionally with numerous companies, including the Utah Ballet, Eugene Ballet, Ballet Theatre of Boston, North Atlantic Ballet, and Ballet Concerto. She has made guest artist appearances throughout the United States, Mexico and Taiwan. She has been a guest teacher for summer ballet programs for schools such as Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Texas Ballet Theater, Atlanta Ballet, and Ballet Theatre of Boston. Internationally, she has taught in Taiwan and China. Cheng has been adjunct ballet faculty at Texas Christian University and Tarrant County College and served on the Dance Council of North Texas Board of Directors. She was an instructor in ballet for Texas Ballet Theater School in Fort Worth from 2008-16 and is currently the Director of Ballet at Fort Worth Country Day. Cheng received a National Honor Roll’s Outstanding American Teachers Award in 2005-06 and teacher of the year for Texas Ballet Theater School for 2013-14 and 2014-15. In October 2017, she was awarded The Fine Arts Chair for Distinguished Teaching in the Arts at Fort Worth Country Day. Cheng is an “ABT” Certified Teacher who has successfully completed the ABT* Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 5 of the ABT* National Training Curriculum.

08/22/2026

The Ballet Conservatory starts Aug. 31st! We are still accepting registrations! We would love to have you join us this year! We have outstanding professional faculty.
Natalie Bracken is brings years of experience teaching all levels of ballet. She will be teaching kindergarten ballet and ballet 1. See her bio below!

Natalie Bracken graduated with a BFA in Ballet and a BA in Political Science with Departmental Honors from Texas Christian University, where she was a Fine Arts Guild Scholarship Recipient. She went on to earn an MEd in Educational leadership through the University of North Texas. Bracken received her early training in Fort Worth from Gayle Corkery, Carrie Cheng, Li-Chou Cheng, Debbi Jo Utter, Dian West, and Barbara Wood. She is currently on the dance and theatre faculty at Fort Worth Country Day and teaches at The Ballet Conservatory at FWCD and Dance Concept. Bracken performed professionally with Texas Dance Theatre and the Festival Ballet of North Texas and continues to enjoy performing in the DFW area as a freelance dancer and choreographer. Bracken is an “ABT” Certified Teacher who has successfully completed the ABT* Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 3 of the ABT* National Training Curriculum and holds additional certifications in Progressing Ballet Technique Level 3 and Alexia Flexibility Level 2. Bracken is also a Level 2 Google Certified Educator. In her free time, Bracken enjoys pursuing photography through her small business, NBrackenPhotography.

08/18/2026

The Ballet Conservatory at Fort Worth Country Day starts in two weeks! We are still accepting registrations! https://www.fwcd.org/arts/the-conservatory-at-fwcd/ballet-conservatory
We would love to have you join us! Classical ballet is the emphasis with highly professional faculty!
We have two new teachers this year! Please help us welcome Katherine Olsen and Libby Kroeger!

Libby Kroeger received classical training in Fort Worth at Gayle Corkery School of Ballet, under the direction of Gayle Corkery, Carrie and Li-Chou Cheng, and Margo McCann. She graduated with a BFA in Dance with an emphasis in Ballet from Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi, where she studied under Caleb Mitchell, Laura Morton-Zebert, and Ravenna Tucker-Wagnon and had the privilege of performing Dark Angel from George Balanchine’s Serenade. Since graduating, she has performed with Avant Chamber Ballet under Katie Cooper for two seasons and most enjoyed learning and performing George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco and Walpurgisnacht Ballet. Kroeger has also danced with Roanoke Ballet Theatre under Sandra Meythaler, Ballet Project OC under Ally Helman, where she worked with Christina Ghiardi and was a Guest Artist with Ballet Frontier under Chung Lin Tseng. She recently retired from performing in May 2025 after completing seven seasons with Ballet Hartford, two as a company artist and five as a principal dancer under Leyna Doran and since 2024 under Claire Kretzschmar. While at Ballet Hartford, she had the privilege of studying under René Olivier, Sarkis Kaltakhtchian and Hilda Morales, as well as being cast in original works by Claire Kretzschmar, Stephen Pier, Betsy McMillan, Gilbert Bolden III and Silas Farley. Alongside her career as a professional ballerina, Kroeger is a Ballet Instructor and has choreographed ensembles and coached variations for YAGP Boston and co-directed a Nutcracker production for Evjen Academy of Performing Arts. She is also a comprehensively certified Pilates instructor.

Katherine Olsen
Katherine Olsen is a graduate of Canada’s National Ballet School, where she completed the Teacher Training Program with honors and received the Sylvia McPhee Award for outstanding achievement and citizenship. Olsen holds Registered Teacher Status with the Royal Academy of Dance and an Associate qualification with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in National Dance. She has also completed Adaptive Dance Teacher Training with Boston Ballet and Parkinson’s Dance Teacher Training with the Mark Morris Dance Group.

With over a decade of professional teaching experience, Olsen has prepared dancers of all ages and abilities for Royal Academy of Dance examinations, competitions, performances and recitals. Her students have consistently achieved strong examination results, while her dancers and choreography have received recognition through numerous competitive awards. Olsen strives to cultivate a disciplined yet joyful atmosphere in her teaching, believing that community, connection and positive mentorship are essential to each student’s growth both in the studio and beyond.

05/28/2026

Summer classes for students 9 and up! Classes start June 1-26. Information and registration on our website. https://www.fwcd.org/arts/the-conservatory-at-fwcd/ballet-conservatory

05/15/2026

It’s recital time! Come see our beautiful dancers perform on Saturday May 16 at 7 pm and Sunday May 17 at 2 pm! Admission is free

01/28/2026

01/26/2026

So proud of all of our dancers who worked for months on their variations for YAGP competition in Dallas this past weekend. Due to weather only four of the eight students were able to make it to the competition.