Biography

Isa Garcia-Rose

Senior Lecturer in Dance

Isa was a principal dancer with Dance Alive National Ballet, a professional ballet company located in Gainesville, Florida, since 1990. As principal she danced a variety of classical, contemporary, and character roles including: Clara and the Dew Drop Fairy in Nutcracker, Stella in A Street Car Named Desire, Ophelia in Hamlet, the lead role in Lady Bug: Action Hero, as well as featured roles throughout the company’s repertoire and Balanchine’s works. Cuban born, Isa studied and performed with Ballet Concerto in Miami, Florida. She was also a member of the Demetrius Klein Dance Company. She received her BFA in Theatre and Dance Performance from the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Florida with whom she is currently a Senior Lecturer in Dance, teaching courses in the upper-level Ballet sequence, Pointe, Pilates, and choreographs for the school. She has performed extensively throughout the southeast and various international venues as in a tour of Russia as a guest artist with a UF production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with choreography by Alberto Alonso. Isa has been seen on the stage of the Hippodrome State Theatre in their production of the Just So Stories in one of her memorable roles as the Dingo Dog, as well as the premiere of their children’s show for dance, The Canta Danca Dancer. Other performances with the Hippodrome include Dracula, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Isa spent many years as the Associate Director of The Shadow Dance Theatre, an experimental company of actors and dancers at UF directed and conceived by her beloved Ric Rose. Isa received her MFA in Dance from FSU. She has taught master classes and intensives throughout the Southeast, including a full-time ballet position for a semester at Florida State University. Isa is also certified in mat and reformer with STOTT PILATES®. She has been a part of the London Dance intensive with James Madison University with Shane O’Hara and Ric Rose since 2008.