Alexander Patrick
L. Alexander Patrick, PhD., a Louisiana native and educator in the Social Sciences, is happily in his 7th year with the Convergence Ballet. Throughout his artistic timeline, he has continued to enjoy indulging in theater and dance performing, along with his visual artistry. Dr. Patrick began his dance training with the Baton Rouge Ballet and has since danced locally and nationally for a number of companies, such as Magnolia Dance Theatre, the Cangelosi Dance Project, the Atlanta Dance Connection, Scorpius Dance Theatre, Desert Dance Theatre, and CaZo Dance Company, just to name a few. He appreciates the arts in every way and continues to work towards a shared value for the experiences of every being and uses the arts to raise awareness of various issues impacting the human experience. He enjoys a large variety of dance styles and is very thankful for all of the amazing and inspirational teachers, dancers, choreographers, family, and friends that have supported and nurtured his talents over the years.
Emilie Tran
Originally from the island of Mauritius, Emilie started her ballet training at the age of 5 at the David Academy of Dancing under the direction of Teresa David and completed the Royal Academy of Dance examinations up to the Advanced 2 level. Over the years, she has performed in many school and commercial productions in her home country including in The Phantom of the Opera. In 2018, she was accepted into The Ailey School’s Scholarship Program in New York where she spent two years training in Horton, Graham, Taylor, contemporary jazz, and ballet and performed in The Global Harmony at the Ailey Citigroup Theater. As a RAD teacher, she has taught and coached students of various ages in multiple studios in Mauritius and was a faculty member at Ballet Theatre of Phoenix from 2020-2022.
Jay Markov
Jay began his ballet training at age 7 with Master Ballet Academy in Phoenix, under Slawomir and Irena Wozniak. He earned scholarships to prestigious schools including The Royal Ballet School, ABT’s JKO School, John Cranko Schule, School of American Ballet, Harid Conservatory, and San Francisco Ballet School. At 16, he joined Ballet Arizona, later performing with Los Angeles Ballet, Ballet Rhode Island, Ballet Palm Beach, Ballet San Antonio, and as a principal guest artist nationwide.
He has danced Principal and Soloist roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, La Bayadère, Romeo and Juliet, Coppélia, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and the first full-length U.S. production of Napoli, as well as numerous Balanchine works. His career highlights include Oberon in The Dream, Basilio in Don Quixote, Waltz Boy in Serenade, and Prince Désiré in Sleeping Beauty.
In addition to performing, Jay is a dedicated teacher and choreographer who prides himself on inspiring dancers of all ages. He is also a composer, most recently creating a full-length ballet score for the Arizona Grand Gala of the Stars.
Jessica Markov
Jessica began dancing at age 3 in Scottsdale, AZ, training in multiple styles before focusing exclusively on ballet at Master Ballet Academy under Slawomir and Irena Wozniak. As a student, she earned national titles, the Arizona Young Artist Award, and scholarships to prestigious programs including Ballet Arizona and American Ballet Theatre.
Her professional career includes work as a commercial dancer in Los Angeles, represented by Bloc LA and The Movement Talent Agency, with credits in national ads, Paramount TV, and Apple TV.
Jessica has performed with Festival Ballet Providence; now Ballet RI, Ballet Palm Beach, and Ballet San Antonio, with soloist roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, Firebird, Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, Don Quixote, and Balanchine’s Serenade and Tarantella.
A dedicated teacher and choreographer versed in Vaganova, RAD, and French training methods, Jessica also judges for national dance competitions, including Impact Dance Adjudicators. She is passionate about inspiring the next generation through her attention to detail, artistry, and love of the art form.
Minghong Xu
Minghong Xu is a professional dancer and ABT Certified Teacher with a strong background in both classical and contemporary ballet.
Minghong danced professionally with Virginia National Ballet (2019 - 2024) and Columbia Classical Ballet (2018 - 2019), performing lead and soloist roles in productions such as Cinderella, The Nutcracker, Aladdin, and Boléro. She received her foundational training and Liaoning Ballet School, a Prix de de Lausanne partner school, and later trained on scholarships at Joffrey Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre NYC Summer Intensive, and the Washington School of Ballet.
As an experienced instructor, Minghong has taught at Virginia National Ballet Company School and Hong Dance Studio, coaching youth beginners to pre-professional dancers. Her students have achieved top rankings in competitions such as Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) adn WBAC Grand Prix.
Emrie Pace
Emrie Pace, born and raised in Arizona, received her training with Studio R Ballet, where she danced leading roles in classics such as Giselle, Coppélia, Don Quixote, and The Nutcracker. From ages 14 to 17, she earned prestigious awards at the Youth America Grand Prix, receiving scholarships from ballet schools around the world.
Emrie continued her ballet education with Ballet West before beginning her professional career with Utah Metropolitan Ballet and later performing as a soloist with Montana Ballet.
This past year, she was honored to share the stage with some of the world’s most renowned dancers at the Arizona Grand Gala of Stars and the Stars of American Ballet Connections Gala. She is now thrilled to bring her artistry to Convergence Ballet.
Lois May Bullough
Lois May Bullough is originally from the UK, where she trained at professional ballet schools gaining a Bachelor's of Art degree in Ballet Performance.
Since then she has toured across the UK and US with companies such as Northern Ballet, Moscow Ballet, Virginia National Ballet, and more. Career highlights include dancing iconic Ballets such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and other classical and neoclassical works.
Natasha Rader
Originally from Coos Bay, Oregon, Natasha trained under her mother, Christine Rader along with Angela Steidl. She continued her training at Marin Dance Theatre with Lynn Cox and Margaret Swarthout for two years before training at Orlando Ballet School, then moving on to Alberta Ballet School in their Post Graduate Program. During her time in the Studio Training Company at Texas Ballet Theater, she was able to perform in many of Ben Stevenson's ballets including The Nutcracker, a soloist in Glazunov Variations, various roles in Alice in Wonderland as well as working with Mr. Stevenson directly to originate a role in his new ballet: Requiem.
Most recently, Natasha worked with Golden State Ballet. She's been able to perform in Raul Salamanca's Nutcracker and Cinderella, Norbert de la Cruz III's Semblance, and Gabrielle Lamb's Hemidemisemiquaver. She was also able to choreograph for their annual Crafted fundraiser in 2025.
Natasha also holds a comprehensive Pilates Certification and is teaching Pilates and dancing in her current home of San Diego.