Melody Xie, the founder and director of the Melody Institute, has been
teaching Chinese Mandarin language and dance in Washington state for
over 13 years. She co-founded and started up the Chinese program at Lakeside School where she taught Chinese Mandarin from 2001
and 2005.In 2006, Melody won the Ethnic Heritage Council's Gorden Ekvall Tracie Award; the first Chinese to do so in 25 years. A familiar figure to Chinese newspapers' readers, Melody is frequently featured in Chinese language newspapers around the world.
Outside of the Institute, Melody also teaches Beginning and Advanced Chinese at Bellevue Community College and Shoreline Community College. She has also taught at Cascadia Community College. In addition, Melody has been a guest speaker at many conventions and seminars around the Pacific Northwest including the International Education Washington's Early Language Learning Symposium and other events at the University of Washington.
As a professional dancer, Melody has been active for more than 30 years as a dancer, choreographer, and instructor. Furthermore, she created and developed the "Rapid Acquisition Method" and the "Graded Choreography Approach." She has taught over a thousand students in the United States and has choreographed over a hundred dances in China and the United States.
Melody hold a Bachelor's degree in international business management and a Masters in Business Administration from Xiamen University in China. In addition to teaching, Melody is also a freelance writer and was a former newspaper editor and journalist in China.
Below: Melody at age 18.
Helen Wang Frenter is the Melody Institute's art instructor
. Highly skilled in both Western and Eastern styles, she teaches traditional Chinese water-color painting and calligraphy classes here on Saturdays and Sundays. Having taught in the United States for nearly a decade, Helen enjoys sharing her culture with children and contributing to America's understanding of Asian art.
Also a graphic designer, Helen has a degree from China's Capitol Teacher's University in fine art.
Yan Fan helped found the Melody Institute and acts as a teaching assistant and secretary as well as the principal dancer for the Melody Dance Group.
Fluent in Chinese Mandarin, Yan received the "Building Bridges" scholarship for high performance on the intermediate HSK (Chinese Fluency) Examination in 2005 as well as third place in a national Chinese essay writing competition in 2006. She has also studied Chinese language abroad at the Beijing Language and Culture University.
Outside of Chinese dance classes, Yan has also received several years of training in classical ballet from the prestigious Pacific Northwest Ballet School.
She currently attends Dartmouth College as an Arabic language and economics major.
. Highly skilled in both Western and Eastern styles, she teaches traditional Chinese water-color painting and calligraphy classes here on Saturdays and Sundays. Having taught in the United States for nearly a decade, Helen enjoys sharing her culture with children and contributing to America's understanding of Asian art.Also a graphic designer, Helen has a degree from China's Capitol Teacher's University in fine art.
Yan Fan helped found the Melody Institute and acts as a teaching assistant and secretary as well as the principal dancer for the Melody Dance Group.
Fluent in Chinese Mandarin, Yan received the "Building Bridges" scholarship for high performance on the intermediate HSK (Chinese Fluency) Examination in 2005 as well as third place in a national Chinese essay writing competition in 2006. She has also studied Chinese language abroad at the Beijing Language and Culture University.
Outside of Chinese dance classes, Yan has also received several years of training in classical ballet from the prestigious Pacific Northwest Ballet School.
She currently attends Dartmouth College as an Arabic language and economics major.