Yang Yang Lyon
Executive Artistic Director
Yang Yang channels the creative forces at IPAA into a unified artistic vision. At the age of twelve, she was granted a scholarship to the Beijing Dance Academy. What followed was over two decades of Gold Medal championship wins and leading roles. Yang Yang worked in China and internationally, including at the Chinese National Opera and Ballet, CPAA, and on film with director Zhang Yi Mou.
In 2018, Yang Yang assumed responsibility for IPAA’s artistic and operational direction. She has led the dance troupe successfully through the COVID crisis, enabling artists to connect with the community through online classes, benefit performances, and community virtual work-outs.
Yan Liu
Artistic director, Choreographer and Principal Dancer
Yan was born into a dance family where both parents were nationally recognized dancers.
After completing her Chinese Folk Dance degree at Shenyang Art School (major in Chinese Dance), Yan took the role of Principal Artist of the Tibet Military Region Art Troupe. Among many other productions, she participated in the national tour of the large-scale song and dance drama “The Wild Goose” and won the National Wenhua New Drama Award and the Everest Literature and Art Award. Yan received individual third-class merit and collective second-class merit awards. She was also featured by the magazine “Military culture world” and has served on the UNESCO Dance Committee a special guest.
Lucy Lu
Associate Artistic Director and Soloist
In addition to being an office manager at an energy investment company, Lucy has been learning Chinese dance for 7 years, participating in many Bay Area performing art shows. In 2018, she was a solo dancer in ENCOUNTER, a large dance show directed by Ye Feng, a former director of Oriental Dancing and Singing Co., and joined by the famous dancer Aoyue Zhang. Lucy also performed in 2019 at the 41st Ethnic Dance Festival in San Francisco.
Jun Yan
Associate Artistic Director and Principal Dancer
Jun Yan graduated from Beijing Dance Academy in 2002. She has her bachelor’s degree in Chinese Dance and her graduate degree in Musical Theater. Jun performed in multiple movies and as well as a teacher at a Beijing Dance Academy affiliated High School. In addition to her work supporting IPAA, Jun teaches ballet
throughout the Bay Area.
Jun is also the proud mother of two amazing teenage sons.