Dr. Mark Wheeler founded the UGA Ballroom Performance Group company in 1991.

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Mark Wheeler was a professor in UGA's Department of Dance, and the founder of the Ballroom Performance Group. Wheeler received masters degrees in dance and in literature from Indiana University and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University. Wheeler also studied ballroom at Brigham Young University. Outside the academic setting, he studied modern dance at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, jazz with Phil Black, Gus Giordano and Luigi in Chicago and New York, and tap with Michael Fredrics and Henry LeTang in Chicago and Las Vegas. In addition, he has acted, sung, and danced with Equity and non-Equity theater companies in and out of New York City.

At UGA from 1981 to 2014, he was published widely on dance history and on current trends in dance education. Pieces choreographed by Wheeler have been performed by university dance companies in California, Kentucky, New York, and Texas. Wheeler taught dance history, rhythmic analysis, methods for teaching social dance, and ballroom, jazz and tap technique. He guest taught in numerous dance programs including Columbia University, Vassar College, and the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil, among others.

Notable BPG Past Performances

  • Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Black and White Ball

  • Children's Museum of Atlanta 's Fairy Tale Ball

  • Cloister Hotel on Sea Island

  • UGA Concert Dance Company productions

  • With the Glenn Miller Orchestra, "In the Mood," October 1998

  • UGA School of Music's Second Thursday Concert Series, November 2001

  • Olympic Games in Atlanta , July 1996

  • Georgia World Congress Center

  • Consider the Circle - A Tribute to the Olympic Games at Georgia Tech and at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta

  • Hosted THE OLYMPIC BALLROOM, an internationally recognized dance party which included a showcase by Canadian and U.S. amateur and professional champions.

  • "Consider the Circle" and six other pieces at the Snowball Classic in Vancouver , British Columbia , February 1998

  • Dance festival in Curacao , Netherlands Antilles , Summer 2000

  • The High Museum in Atlanta