School Directors & Staff

Danielle Fu was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and started dancing at the age of three. Her family relocated to Northern California where she continued her training at Lamorinda Ballet Center with Lynn Homeres of San Francisco Ballet, Deborah Pitts of Oakland Ballet, and Pat Keene of the Royal Ballet. She went on to train for six years at the San Francisco Ballet School while also attending summer programs at The Briansky Saratoga Ballet Center, The Jillana School, American Ballet Theatre, and International Dance School in Jackson, Mississippi. While training at the San Francisco Ballet School , Ms. Fu had the privilege of performing many works by George Balanchine, Helgi Tomasson, Lew Christensen, and August Bournonville. She also had the opportunity to perform with the San Francisco Ballet Company in Helgi Tommason’s The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Romeo & Juliet.

Ms. Fu joined Cincinnati Ballet in 2006 and danced with the company for eight seasons. Over the course of her career with Cincinnati Ballet, she performed featured roles such as Tinkerbell in Septime Webre’s Peter Pan, Myrtha in Devon Carney’s Giselle, The Rose in Victoria Morgan’s and Val Caniparoli’s The Nutcracker, The Lead Woman in James Kudleka’s The Man in Black, Pas de Trios and Big Swan in Swan Lake, and 3rd Movement Principal in George Balanchine’s Symphony in C. She also had the privilege of touring with the company in May 2014, performing at The Joyce Theater in New York City. Ms. Fu taught at the Otto M. Budig Academy, the official school of the Cincinnati Ballet, for 5 years during her time as a dancer with the company.

She then went on to join Kansas City Ballet in 2014. Over the next eight years of her career with KCB, she performed numerous featured roles including The Queen of Hearts in Septime Webre’s Alice (in Wonderland), Sanguinic in Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Milady de Winter in The Three Musketeers, Snow Queen, Rose and The Sugar Plum Fairy in Devon Carney’s The Nutcracker, Helena in Bruce Wells’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carabosse in Devon Carney’s The Sleeping Beauty, The Wicked Witch in Septime Webre’s Wizard of Oz, Olympe in Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias, Russian Girl in George Balanchine’s Serenade and Mina Harker in Michael Pink’s Dracula. She has also been featured in many contemporary works including Klein Persepectives by Andi Schermoly, Petite Mort by Jiri Kylian, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated by William Forsythe, In the Upper Room by Twyla Tharp, and Petal by Helen Pickett. She had the opportunity to perform Opening Night Snow Queen, representing Kansas City Ballet at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in November 2017.

Ms. Fu has served as an instructor for the Kansas City Ballet School’s Summer Intensive and has coached several young aspiring dancers for their YAGP competitions. She had the privilege of staging and rehearsing a group piece, that won YAGP regionals and was to be a finalist in NYC in March of 2020 before the pandemic shutdowns.

Ms. Fu joined Ballet Tucson in 2022 as a Principal Dancer and as a Co-School Director of The School of Ballet Tucson along side her husband Liang Fu. Her repertoire with Ballet Tucson includes leading roles in Raymonda Variations by Chieko Imada, In Creases by Justin Peck, The Nutcracker, Allegro Brillante and Walpurgisnacht Ballet by George Balanchine, Romeo and Juliet Pas de deux by Margaret Mullin, Himiko by Chieko Imada and First Light by Price Suddarth.

Sharing her passion for dance by teaching the next generation has always been something Ms. Fu has aspired to do. She is grateful for the opportunity to lead an organization who’s students have such promise. She is looking forward to the years to come.

Other teaching experiences also includes several summer intensives such as Georgia Academy of Dance, Ballet North in North Kansas City, and The School of Ballet Tucson; previously known as Ballet Arts. Additionally, she has taught masterclasses at the Center Stage Academy of the Performing Arts in Sedalia, MO.