Melanie Ríos Glaser became Saint Joseph Ballet’s Artistic Director in July 2005. Born and raised in Guatemala, Melanie received her BFA from the Juilliard School in 1994, and was named a Kennedy Center Fellow in 1998.  Based in Paris as a Fulbright Scholar during 2003-2004, she worked in the genre of dance improvisation and then completed another year in Dusseldorf, Germany before moving to Orange County.  

Melanie has created more than thirty pieces for professional companies and dance schools such as the Group Motion Dance Company in Philadelphia, the Ballet Moderno y Folkorico de Guatemala, the Ballet de Cali, Colombia, her own Mosquito Dance Company, and Saint Joseph Ballet.  Her work has been performed in México, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, France, Colombia, Brazil, Philadelphia and New York.

As a dance educator for over ten years, Melanie has taught professional dancers, actors, pre-professional dance students and youth:  Dance technique, composition, contact improvisation and dance history.  Melanie was certified in 2003 as a somatic educator at Moving on Center, a school for participatory arts and somatic research in Oakland, California.  She has been a guest teacher at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and most recently at UCI.

As a solo improvisational artist, Melanie has been invited to perform her series of site-specific improvisations in Europe and Central America in commissions by several prestigious arts festivals.  Melanie is known for her interest in experimental dance projects and enjoys the processes involved in working as part of a group.

Melanie is married to Brian Glaser, who has collaborated as a dramaturg for Unearthing (1998) and By Being Who I Am (1997).  In fall 2004, they welcomed the arrival of their daughter Andoe.