Yukari Thiesen, at age five living in Japan, dreamed of being a ballerina. She pursued this dream from being a young ballerina at the Matsuyama Ballet School in Tokyo, Japan, to California’s Central Valley. Years later, she founded the Valley Performing Arts Council in Fresno. She works with the Sacramento Ballet each year for the Nutcracker and the Santa Barbara Ballet for its spring performance, showcasing professional dancers, as well as maximizing the number of local dancer participation as well. She currently teaches dance through the prestigious Kennedy Center sponsored Any Given Child program across Fresno County schools. From Sleeping Beauty to the Nutcracker, over 155,000 grade school students have attended her ballet programs since 1997.