FACULTY

Victoria Bearden headshot

Victoria Bearden

Born and raised in Houston, Texas Victoria began her ballet training at the age of seven with the Houston Ballet Academy. Other than a summer intensive with San Francisco Ballet, she spent most of her training at Houston Ballet Academy. She was offered an apprenticeship position at Houston Ballet under the leadership of Ben Stevenson. Soon thereafter, she joined Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1999. She rose to the rank of Demi- Soloist and had a 11 year career before retiring to start a family.

Victoria had the opportunity to dance in works choreographed by many of the world’s most well-known choreographers, Balanchine, Fredrick Ashton, Hans Van Manen, Twyla Tharp, and Anthony Tutor just to name a few. A few of her favorite featured roles included Cinderella in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Cio Cio San in Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Sugar Plum in William Christiansen’s Nutcracker and Tie Girl in Christopher Bruce’s Ghost Dances.

Upon retiring in 2011, Victoria started teaching in the Ballet West Academy. She began teaching at the University of Utah School of Dance as an adjunct instructor and would guest teach at other schools and universities around the United States. She and her husband, Michael Bearden, are now currently living in Norman, Oklahoma with their two children. She started teaching Oklahoma City Ballet company class in 2016 and teaches the trainees and the day program students. Most recently, Victoria has been certified in Progressing Ballet Technique.