Faculty
Ramon Moreno
Founder and Artistic Director
Professor of Dance Pedagogy
Ramon Moreno danced with Ballet San Jose as a Principal Dancer from 1999 until his retirement in 2014. He received his ballet training at the famed Escuela Nacional de Artes (National Art School), in Havana, Cuba, and was awarded the title of Professional Dancer and Professor of Dance Pedagogy. Ramon is also a graduate of the American Ballet Theater National Training Curriculum (for teachers) from Primary to Level 5.
Following his training in Cuba, he participated extensively in competitions worldwide, winning seven medals, four of which were gold. He was a member of the National Ballet of Cuba under the direction of Alicia Alonso. Ramon later joined the Classical Ballet of Havana under Laura Alonso, Alicia Alonso's daughter, and toured internationally. Through his participation in the 1998 IBC in Jackson, Mississippi he was awarded a contract with Cleveland-San Jose Ballet under the direction of Dennis Nahat. In 2000, he followed the company to San Jose until his retirement in 2014. His repertoire includes Apollo, Carmen, Who Cares?, The Four Temperaments, Flower Festival at Genzano, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Coppélia, Don Quixote, Swan Lake and Involucion. He won an Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Performances for the Ballet San Jose 2008-2009 season. Mr. Ramon was on the faculty of Ballet San Jose School's Summer Intensive Program, as well as a number of Bay Area ballet schools including Santa Clara Ballet and Bayer Ballet Academy.
Mr. Ramon is currently teaching the Youth Program as well as Open classes. He is a gifted, inspiring instructor who is highly sought after for coaching and training for competitions and performances by aspiring professional
Alex Kramer
Ballet Master & Pilates Instructor
Formerly- Washington Ballet, Soloist at Ballet San Jose, ABT Studio Company
Born in Grand Junction, Colorado, at the age of 7 Alex Kramer began his training at The Institute of Dancing Arts. He has also trained with Jean-Philippe Malaty, Executive Director of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. He participated in the Denver Ballet Guild Young Dancer's Competition from 2004 through 2009, and in 2009 was awarded the Florence Ruston Award for Overall Excellence. In 2009, he began training at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre in New York City, and in 2010, he became the first recipient of the David Hallberg Scholarship there.
Mr. Alex was a member of American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company for the 2011/2012 season and performed with ABT II on its 2011 European tour, where he danced Jerome Robbins's “Interplay,” George Balanchine's “Allegro Brillante,” and Antony Tudor's “Continuo.” Mr. Alex joined the former Ballet San Jose in 2012 and was promoted to soloist in 2015. He danced many leading roles, notably Sir Frederick Ashton’s “Les Renezdevous,” George Balanchine’s “Theme and Variations,” and Jorma Elo’s “Glow-Stop.” Mr. Alex joined the Washington Ballet in Washington DC in 2017. There he danced the role of Paris in John Cranko’s “Romeo and Juliet,” the Hoofer in George Balanchine’s “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue,” the lead in George Balanchine’s “Allegro Brillante,” and George Balanchine’s “Tarantella” Pas de Deux, among others.
Mr. Alex has practiced Pilates throughout his ballet career. He initially started Pilates as a way to cross-train and improve his performance as a dancer. Pilates improved his practice as a dancer but as he dove deeper into the work he learned the benefits of Pilates for everyday function and well-being. He trained to be a Pilates teacher through the Pure Body Teacher Training certification program.
Sharon Kung
Professional Dancer & Choreographer
KAMBARA+
Formerly - Oakland Ballet Company, Dance Theater at San Francisco, Thodos Dance Chicago
Ms. Sharon Kung was born in New York and currently resides in San Francisco. She received her early training in the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus at the Jean M. Wong School of Ballet in Hong Kong. She completed the Royal Academy of Dance grade and vocational exams with distinction marks.
She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of California, Irvine with a BFA in Dance Performance and BA in Economics. She attended summer intensives at the American Ballet Theater, Kirov Academy, The Juilliard School, American Dance Festival, Art of in Madrid, and Orsolina28 in Italy.
Ms. Sharon is currently a dancer & a freelance dance artist with KAMBARA + DANCERS. Her previous companies include Oakland Ballet Company, Thodos Dance Chicago, Dance Theatre of San Francisco, and freelance projects in Amsterdam, and Morocco. Her repertory includes works by George Balanchine, Lucas Crandall, William Forsythe, Bob Fosse, José Limon, Dexandro “D” Montalvo, Robert Moses, Donald McKayle, Crystal Pite and Amy Seiwert. In 2019, Sharon made her dance on film choreography debut in which the film “Dreamer” was selected for 2020 film festivals internationally including San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Rio de Jairo, and Lisbon.
Alongside dancing professionally and teaching, Ms. Sharon also choreographs and coaches students for prestigious competitions including Youth America Grand Prix, Genée Awards, California Dance Classics, and Dance Open America. Her former students attended college dance programs at Fordham University, University of California Irvine, University of Southern California, and Butler University. She is also a guest teacher and choreographer for intensives in the San Francisco bay area and Hong Kong.
Kiko Funaki
Pre-Ballet and Level 2/3 Instructor
Born in the Bay Area, Kiko began dancing at the age of 4. She began training in the Cuban-Vaganova technique under Mr. Ramon in 2016 and Mr. Ramon has been a guiding light in her ballet life ever since.
Under the instruction of Mr. Ramon, Kiko has been awarded multiple competition awards throughout the years including 1st place at YAGP SF Semi-Final 2018, Best Female Technique Overall at Dance Open America 2020, 1st place the Classical and Neoclassical Categories at CDC 2021. With extensive competition participation, Kiko has also participated in international final rounds with YAGP and WBC and also has received scholarships to prestigious summer and year-round programs with schools such as the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, École de danse de l'Opéra national de Paris, the Orlando Ballet School, the San Francisco Ballet School and more. Kiko has also attended known summer programs on scholarship with the Paris Opera Ballet School in 2018 and the San Francisco Ballet School in 2019, 2020, and 2022.
Apart from dancing at competitions and abroad programs, Kiko has also been lucky to be able to perform countless principal and soloist roles at RMSB. Kiko danced “Clara” in the Nutcracker in 2016, 2017, and 2018 and “Sugarplum Fairy” in the Nutcracker in 2019 and 2022. She has also danced as “Kitri’s Friends” in Don Quixote, 2018 as well as Don Quixote’s “Grand Pas de Deux” in 2021. In spring, 2023, Kiko danced her first full-length 3-act ballet as “Swanhilda” in RMSB’s Coppélia.
Outside of ballet, Kiko fosters her love for learning and teaching through her nonprofit organization, Hello Languages, which she founded in August, 2021. She is also a full-time academic student and enjoys connecting with other students through language and culture.
Katie Luong
Pre-Ballet Instructor
Katie Luong was born in Mountain View, California, and has been dancing since she was six years old.
She started competing when she was eight years old in various styles including ballet, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, hip-hop, musical theater, and tap. In 2020, Katie discovered a stronger passion for ballet and contemporary and has since emphasized her training predominantly in these styles. Every year, she participates in The Nutcracker, having taken on the role of "Clara" in two of its 2019 productions. Furthermore, she has showcased her artistry through numerous soloist roles in various ballet productions, including Cinderella, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Paquita, and Coppélia.
Katie has won numerous competition awards from Youth America Grand Prix, California Dance Classics, ICON, New York City Dance Alliance, Radix, NUVO, Hollywood Vibe, Spotlight, and Kids Artistic Revue. Beyond these achievements, Katie has also attended the Joffrey Ballet School Summer Intensive on scholarship and competed for Outstanding Dancer of the Year at New York City Dance Alliance Nationals.
Expanding upon her ballet training, Katie has developed a strong dedication and commitment to ballet education, demonstrated by her role as an instructor for Dance Developpe, a nonprofit organization. Apart from her ballet education, Katie has a passion for music and recently achieved distinction by obtaining the ABRSM Grade 8 Piano Exam Certificate with the highest level of adjudication. Katie is excited to share her passion for dance with students at RMSB.
Dalirys Valladares
Guest Teacher
From Matanzas, Cuba, Dalirys graduated in 1991 from the National Ballet School in Havana. She joined Ballet de Camagüey under the artistic guidance of Mr. Fernando Alonso, where she quickly reached the Soloist category. In 1994 she was invited to join the Ballet de Monterrey, where she became a Principal Dancer not much later. She has shared the stage with famous ballet dancers such as José Manuel Carreño, Jesús Corrales, Jaime Vargas, Carlos Quenedit, Fernando Bujones among others. With the latter, she danced the principal role of “Paquita” in 1997.
She has participated in several International Dance Festivals, to mention a few: Vail Dance Festival, Kirguistan Dance Festival, Festival Cervantino, Gala Career Transition For Dancer in NY, and many others.
Her repertoire includes the leading roles of the romantic-classical tradition, among them: “Paquita”, “Raymonda”, “Le Corsaire”, “Don Quixote”, “La Bayadere”, “Swan Lake”, “Giselle”, “The Nutcracker”, “Romeo, and Juliet”, among others; as well as works by several foreign creators’ contemporary choreographies.
She had the opportunity to work with several international teachers and choreographers such as: Fernando Alonso, Fernando Bujones, Ramona de Saá, Rosa Elena Alvarez, Lila Martínez, Lázaro Carreño, Kouloubek Ishenaliev, Georgina Parkinson, Robert Hill, Ann Marie De Angelo, Jorge Amarante among others. She has been recognized for her versatility and histrionic capacity on stage and for developing a successful dance career.
She started teaching in 1994 in Monterrey-Mexico. In 1998 she received an invitation to teach in the Taller Coreográfico of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, México.
She retired from the stage in October 2009 after 17 long years of a professional career and decided to dedicate herself to being a ballet teacher. Since then, she has been a teacher at the “Escuela Superior de Música y Danza de Monterrey” ESMDM and in her own Ballet Studio, which she kept running for over 15 years. Some of her students, past and present, join the cast of several International Ballet companies.
In March 2011, Conaculta and Canal 22 invited her to participate in “Opera Prima en Movimiento”, a reality show in support of Mexican talent in ballet. She was an active member of the committee of experts of the show, where she helped select applicants and as an instructor during the development of the competition.
During 2011 she directed "Compañía de Danza Clásica y Neoclásica de Jalisco" where she got to stage and choreograph productions such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Carmen.
In 2020 she created and founded “Dance Open America” International Dance Competition. She was the competition’s Artistic Director until 2021.
Today she lives in Miami and works in several studios as a guest teacher all around the US.
