Alex Ketley, is a former member of the San Francisco Ballet. In 1998 he co-created The Foundry with Christian Burns to more deeply explore his interests in choreography, improvisation, mixed media work, and collaborative process. With The Foundry, he has been an artist-in-residence at many of the nations leading art institutions, and has invested in a wide span of artistic projects investigating the creation of dance from many different creative entry points. Independent of his work with The Foundry, Alex has been a guest choreographer for many companies and universities throughout the country, and has received the national Choo-San Goh Award and the inaugural Princess Grace Award for Choreography, as well as awards from the Hubbard Street 2 National Choreography Competition and the International Choreographic Competition of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur in Quebec. In the Bay Area, he works closely with Summer Lee Rhatigan on the creation of the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, where in addition to teaching he is the resident choreographer. For 2008 Alex has been commissioned to create new pieces for companies in Arizona, Colorado, San Francisco, Seattle, Cincinnati and Chicago.