Ana Luisa Johnson was born in Mexico in 1974, in the city of Matamoros in the State of Tamaulipas. She began her study of dance at the age of five in Mexico and continued in the United States and Spain. In Mexico she studied dance and piano at the Instituto Regional de Bellas Artes de Matamoros (IRBAM, Regional Institute of Fine Arts in Matamoros) under the artistic direction of Jaime Garza Salinas. At the age of eighteen she moved to California and continued her studies at the Imperial Russian Ballet School with Maria Taggart, the Cypress College Dance and Photography Departments, the Boston Ballet School and at Nouveau Chamber Ballet with Ms. Lois Ellyn. Currently she trains in ballet with Master Stefan Wenta in Los Angeles California and travels to Spain twice a year to study Flamenco with the Masters. She is grateful to all of her teachers (the list is long) who have shared their knowledge and passion with her.
Ana Luisa began choreographing and performing her solo works at the age of thirteen, and became a professional dancer at the age of 19. She has studied Ballet, Modern and Contemporary Dance, Jazz, Flamenco, Belly Dance and Mexican Folkloric Dance, and has developed her own style of Belly Dance with Egyptian influence. She has been a dancer for the Taggart Ballet Theater Company, a soloist for Nouveau Chamber Ballet, and Ballet Turning Circle Company, and has been a Bailaora with various Flamenco groups. Her choreographic work "Ghost of El Toro" was published in the book "The Edge of Air" by The Legacy Project group. As a dance teacher her experience includes teaching ballet at the Imperial Russian Ballet School in the City of Tustin and the Imperial Dance Studio in the City of Brea. She also taught for The Latino Literacy Project and the Annual Dance Workshop at Raymond Elementary School in the City of Fullerton.
As a photographer, her work has been published in Photography in Focus, The Basic Darkroom Book textbooks, and Punto de Encuentro magazine. She directed and performed in the video "Ghost of El Toro" presented at the Irvine Fine Arts Center in Irvine, California. She was the choreographer and performer for "The Sacrifice" video presented at a number of venues around the world, including the California Museum of Photography in Riverside, the Vancouver Film Festival, and the Rooftop Film Festival in New York among others.
In 1994, she became the recipient of both photography and dance scholarships from Cypress College Photography Department and the City of Cypress in California. In 2008, she had the honor to be a guest artist for the Choi Seung-hee Dance Festival in Hongcheon, South Korea under the artistic direction of Chil Han. Ana Luisa considers performing her solo "Mi Dios" (My Lord) dedicated to the memories of Sylvia B. Aarnio and Jonathan J. Williams at Dance a Celebration Of Life in Florida in 2011 (by invitation only) her highest honor as a dancer. Her dream of dancing in Spain as a solo artist became a reality the same year.
Last Updated: May 31, 2021
