The Beauty of Dance, Part Three: Erin McAfee, Joffrey Ballet, Chicago, IL

Erin McAfee joined The Joffrey Ballet as an apprentice in August 2006 and was promoted to a full company member in June 2008.

She trained with several schools and companies, including the International Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet West and the Washington Ballet. She's cited Margot Fonteyn, Sylvia Guillem, and Natalia Makarova among her biggest influences.

Ms. McAfee's roles have included the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker as well as roles in ballets such as Don Quixote, Serenade, and Le Corsaire.

The Beauty of Dance, Part Three: Maribeth Maxa, Dance Alloy Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA

Not all of the distinguished modern dance companies in America are in New York. Dance Alloy, in Pittsburgh, is a highly regarded troupe and known for creating contemporary dances that seek to break down the "fourth wall" between performers and spectators. And Maribeth Maxa is among its current dancers.

Ms. Maxa is graduate of the Juilliard School, and she has also performed with the Metropolitan Repertory Ballet and Gleich Dances Contemporary Ballet. She joined Dance Alloy in 2003.

The Beauty of Dance, Part Three: Tara Lee, Atlanta Ballet, Atlanta, GA

Tara Lee has been with the Atlanta Ballet since 1995.

The Connecticut-born dancer has also been a guest artist with New Orleans Ballet Theatre and spent a year with Vancouver’s Ballet British Columbia. Her principal dancing has included roles in James Kudelka's Cinderella and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room.

The Beauty of Dance, Part Three: Maria Kochetkova, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco, CA

It's been said that Latin America is the new Russia in the dance world, but Maria Kochetkova, principal dancer for the San Francisco Ballet, has shown that the world's geographically largest country is still a force in ballet.

The Bolshoi-trained Kochetkova, an alumna of the English National Ballet in London, has an impressive repertoire that includes includes the title role in Giselle, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, and Kitri in Don Quixote. A beloved star among Frisco ballet fans and a popular presence on American television (public and commercial), she joined the San Francisco Ballet in 2007.

The Beauty of Dance, Part Three: Yuriko Kajiya, American Ballet Theatre, New York, NY

Yuriko Kajiya became a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre in the summer of 2007.

Born in Nagoya, Japan, Yuriko Kajiya began her dance training when she was eight, and she soon went to China to study with and graduate from the Shanghai Ballet School on scholarship, one of the first non-Chinese dancers to do so. She came to North America by winning the Prix de Lausanne Scholarship in 2000, allowing her to study at the National Ballet of Canada School in Toronto.

Ms. Kajiya joined American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company (now ABT II) in 2001 and became an apprentice with the main company in 2002, joining the corps de ballet later that year. Her credits with American Ballet Theatre include Blossom in Cinderella, Gulnare in Le Corsaire, Henrietta in Raymonda, Clara in The Nutcracker, and too many more to list here.

The Beauty of Dance, Part Three: Rachel Holmes, Elisa Monte Dance, New York, NY

You know a dancer is great when you appreciate her sense of motion by looking at a still picture of her.

A lot of people don't "get" modern dance. To those folks, I say this: Look at this picture of Rachel Holmes of Elisa Monte Dance in New York City. I ask you . . .

What's to get? :-D

Originally from Kentucky, Rachel Holmes began her training in Cincinnati, and she later attended both the Dance Theater of Harlem School and the Joffrey Ballet School. She has been a member of Elisa Monte Dance since 2006.

The Beauty of Dance, Part Three: Lorena Feijoo, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco, CA

Lorena Feijoo is one of the biggest ballet stars to grace the stage in the City By the Bay.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Lorena Feijoo trained Cuba's National Ballet School of Cuba and began her carrer with the country's national ballet company. She performed with numerous ballet companies before joining the San Francisco Ballet as a principal dancer in 1999.

She has performed lead roles in Giselle and Romeo and Juliet, among other works.