Ellis Broderick (she/her) was born in New York and raised in Bennington, Vermont. She spent her early years dancing at Berkshire Dance Theatre before attending Boston Ballet School’s Pre-Professional Program. There she had the opportunity to perform in productions of Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht and Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker with Boston Ballet’s main company. She then furthered her training at Ballet Academy East in New York under Darla Hoover, performing in Bournonville’s Napoli and Balanchine’s Scherzo à la Russe.

Ellis joined Ballet Austin’s trainee program and was later promoted to apprentice with the company. While there she performed classical renditions of Swan Lake, The Firebird, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 2022, Ellis joined New Ballet in San Jose, performing principal roles in both classical and contemporary work with choreography by Dalia Rawson.

While living in the Bay Area, she has also performed with eMotion Arts under the direction of Mariana Sobral. In addition to dancing Ellis is a dance teacher, certified through the ABT® National Training Curriculum in levels Pre-Primary through Level 3.

Lawrence Chen (he/him) grew up in Southern California, studying ballet, contemporary, and hip-hop from the age of thirteen under the care of Victor and Tatiana Kasatsky and their faculty. He went on to compete in the YAGP, placing in the Top 12 Pas De Deux in the New York Finals of 2014 as well as in the Top 3 soloist divisions at regional venues for several years. At Pomona College, Lawrence obtained a BA in chemistry with mathematics, took on collegiate ballroom, and performed as a principal dancer for the Inland Pacific Ballet under the watchful eye of Victoria Koenig. In addition to dancing with the Oakland Ballet Company, Lawrence teaches ballet at Berkeley Ballet Theater, Alameda Ballet Academy, and The Hills Swim and Tennis club. He also tutors high school STEM subjects. At OBC, he has performed as the deer in Graham Lustig’s Luna Mexicana, the titular role of The Nutcracker, and several other original works by Graham Lustig. Lawrence has also been featured in new works by choreographers Caili Quan, Megan and Shannon Kurashige, and Phil Chan, a co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface. Lawrence received an Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance by an Individual for his work in OBC’s 22-23 season and is a contributing choreographer to OBC’s Angel Island Project. This is his fourth full season with the Oakland Ballet.

Karina Eimon (she/her) is from the Bay Area and trained with Ayako School of Ballet. Under the tutelage of Ayako Takahashi, she placed in the top three of YAGP SF for five consecutive years. In 2014 during her senior year of high school, she was invited to compete in the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, where she was offered a trainee contract with Ballet Memphis. From there, she joined Milwaukee Ballet II then danced with Colorado Ballet. Karina joined Oakland Ballet in 2019 and has performed the Princess in Phil Chan’s Ballet des Porcelaines, featured roles in Jangala, Luna Mexicana, and The Nutcracker, as well as works by Benjamin Briones, Seyong Kim, Alyah Baker, Sean Dorsey, and Bobby Briscoe. Passionate about sharing her love of dance and movement, Karina is a ballet teacher and certified GYROTONIC® instructor.

Alexander Griffith (he/him) welcomes his second season with Oakland Ballet. He began his training with the Charlotte Ballet in North Carolina before joining Rochester City Ballet in New York. There he danced the role of Quint in Salvatore Aiello’s Turn of the Screw as well as featured roles in their production of The Nutcracker. Since joining Oakland Ballet, Alex has been featured as Diego in Viva la Vida, Chocolate in Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker, and in the Dancing Moons Festival. He has appeared as a guest artist with San Jose Ballet, Ayako School of Ballet, and the Westlake School of Performing Arts. Alex finds teaching an enriching experience and has offered his expertise and training to adult and youth students in both private and group classes at various studios across the Bay Area.

Kyle Ikuma (he/him) is a northern New Jersey native who began dancing at age 12 with Carolyn Santonicola. He continued his training throughout high school at Ballet Academy East in New York City, studying under renowned instructors including Darla Hoover, Peter Frame, Joseph Malbrough, Maxim Beloserkovsky, Juan Carlos Peñuela, and Wendy Whelan. Kyle holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Princeton University and is currently a full-time engineer in the Bay Area. He also received a minor in dance performance through Princeton’s Program in Dance, where he studied and performed ballet, contemporary, rhythm tap, and street styles. In 2023, he was recognized by Heather Watts as a Scholar-In-Residence at the Vail Dance Festival. Kyle’s repertoire includes featured roles in George Balanchine’s Valse Fantaisie, Justin Peck’s Rodeo, and Robert Lowman’s The Headless Horseman, along with works by Jenna Lavin, Ariel Rose, Rebecca Lazier, Michael J. Love, Ronald K. Brown, Robin Dekkers, Edgar Lepe, and Alyssa Mitchel. He has performed in the Bay Area with Oceanica Ballet and Berkeley Ballet Theater and is thrilled to be returning to Oakland Ballet for another Nutcracker season!

Vinnie Jones (she/her) is from Maine and began her training at Ballet Theater Workshop in Portsmouth, NH. She attended the University of Utah School of Dance on scholarship, earning a BFA. Professionally she has danced with San Diego Ballet, LaMov Compañia de Danza (Spain), and Ballet Tucson. Since moving to the Bay Area, she has performed with Menlowe Ballet, Oceanica Ballet, Peninsula Ballet Theater, Trivial Motion, and worked with choreographer Marika Brussel. Vinnie has performed soloist and principal roles in Serenade, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Carmina Burana, The Nutcracker, Romeo & Juliet, and Firebird. While with LaMov Compañia de Danza she performed principal roles in contemporary versions of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and El Trovador as well as works by Victor Jimenea, Francisco Lorenzo, and Itak Galili. In 2019 she co-founded em(body) dance project, where she choreographs, performs, and produces digital dance works. Her choreography has been presented in Utah, Arizona, California, Chicago, St. Louis, Mexico, and Spain, as well as in the Bay Area. She creates contemporary solos and group works for elite dance competitions including Youth America Grand Prix and the California Dance Classics. Her dance films have been presented at festivals in the Bay Area, Chicago, and St. Louis.

Ben Kubie (he/him) trained on full scholarship at the Joffrey School of Ballet in New York City and The David Howard Dance Center. His professional dancing career spanned over fifteen years where he danced leading roles by George Balanchine, Choo Sah-Goh, Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, William Forsythe, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Patricia McBride, John Clifford, Kirk Peterson, Graham Lustig, Jean Grand-Maitre, Sal Aiello, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Donlin Foreman, Mark Diamond, Alonzo King and many others. In 2004, he retired from the professional stage as a principal dancer with the Charlotte Ballet and was featured in Dance Magazine’s September edition that year for professional dancers in career transition. Mr. Kubie is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Mr. Kubie was a full-time dance teacher and private coach in both North and South Carolina and a frequent guest teacher for the Charlotte Ballet before joining the full-time faculty of the BalletMet Academy in Columbus, Ohio. This is his first performance with the Oakland Ballet.

Mimi Lamar (she/her) was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and raised in Dallas Texas. She started her Dance training at the age of 9, training at various dance studios in North Texas before moving to Boca Raton Florida at the age of 15 to study at the Harid Conservatory. When the COVID pandemic was at its worst, Mimi moved back home and trained with Elite Classical Coaching. In 2021 She joined SF Ballet school as a trainee and in 2023 Mimi became an apprentice with San Francisco Ballet. She has worked with brilliant choreographers such as Aszure Barton, Val Caniparoli, Nicolas Leblanc, Victor Plotnikov, and many more.

Lucia Lorenzo (she/her) trained at Rochester City Ballet’s affiliate school and as a Trainee with Rochester City Ballet under Jamey Leverett. She has spent the past two seasons as a soloist with De La Dance Company in Cincinnati performing most notably as Swanilda in Coppelia and the Sylph in La Sylphide, in addition to soloist and principal roles in La Bayadere, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Raymonda, and Le Corsaire. At 16, she moved to study at San Francisco Ballet School under Patrick Armand, dancing works by Helgi Tomasson, Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes, as a demi-soloist in Serenade, and in student pieces as both a choreographer and dancer. In 2018 she joined Ballet Austin performing Paquita, Giselle, Mikhail Fokine’s Les Sylphides, and as one of the Four Little Swans in Swan Lake. While in Austin, Lucia also had the opportunity to work with Jennifer Archibald, Jennifer Hart, Jimmy Orrante, Erica Gionfriddo, Alexa Capareda and Performa/Dance Company.

Katya Mayer (she/her) began her training at Tulsa Ballet under the directorship of Moscelyn Larkin and continued her training throughout the country under teachers such as Linda Copp, Ruth Mayer, Rebecca Wright, and Sharon Randolph and through summer programs with American Ballet Theater, Atlanta Ballet, and Harid Conservatory. Since graduating from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Mathematics, she has performed with Joffrey Ballet and Kansas City Ballet. Locally Katya has danced with Menlowe Ballet, Bay Pointe Ballet, Western Ballet, the Oakland Ballet, and worked as a freelance dancer with numerous Bay Area choreographers.

Jazmine Quezada (she/her) is from Ventura County, California where she began her ballet training at age 11 with Ventura County Ballet and was the first to receive the Ron Noblin Full Scholarship Award. Jazmine attended American Ballet Theater’s New York summer intensive in 2011 followed by the Joffrey Chicago International summer dance intensive on full scholarship. In 2016 she moved to San Francisco to continue her training on scholarship at the San Francisco Ballet School. There she performed with the San Francisco Ballet in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and in the leading role of Grace in Helgi Tomasson’s Meisten Mozart. Since joining the Oakland Ballet in 2018, she has performed the role of Luna in Luna Mexicana, the Sugar Plum Fairy in Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker, Frida Kahlo in Viva la Vida, Elaine Kudo’s Duet and Phil Chan’s Quartet from Exquisite Corpse, created roles in works by Caili Quan, and Megan and Shannon Kurashige, and appeared in the dance films Brief Encounter, In Plain Sight, and What I See. When not dancing at Oakland Ballet, you can find Jazmine at her ballet school, Tutu School Union City, twirling with her dancers.

Lucas Sverdlen (he/him) holds a BA in Acting from Marymount Manhattan College. Growing up in New Jersey, he started his training with the New Jersey Ballet. Lucas has attended intensives with American Ballet Theatre, the Bolshoi Ballet, and the Martha Graham Dance Company. He has danced with Dances Patrelle, and sung at Brandy’s Piano Bar, The Duplex, and The Stonewall Inn. He is super excited to be returning to Oakland Ballet.

Nicole Townsend (she/her) was born in San Jose, California. She began dancing at age 2 and began formal ballet training at Ballet San Jose at age 7. Her training continued at City Ballet School in San Francisco. After a Summer Intensive on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Nicole was accepted into their Professional Division Program. While there, she had the opportunity to perform with the company in The Nutcracker. She joined the Second Company of Kansas City Ballet where she performed Devon Carney’s The Nutcracker, Michael Pink’s Dracula and Septime Webre’s Wizard of Oz. She was awarded a full scholarship to Paris Opera Ballet Summer Intensive, was a recipient of the American Friends of Paris Opera Ballet Scholarship, and studied at the Dutch National Summer Program in Amsterdam. Since joining Oakland Ballet,, Nicole has performed the principal role of Marie in Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker, Phil Chan’s Duet from Exquisite Corpse, Mixtecas by Benjamin Briones, Luna Mexicana and Uncertain Steps, by Graham Lustig, and Natasha Adorlee’s Last Chinaman on theTitanic for the Angel Island Project. In 2024, Nicole received an Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance for her work in OBC’s Rainbow Dances. She is happy to return to Oakland Ballet for her third season.

Alyssa Viray (she/her) began her training at Westlake School for the Performing Arts where she performed the Sugar Plum Fairy, Princess Flora, and the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, as well as Odile in Swan Lake. She received her BFA in Dance from the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Program at Dominican University of California. During her time there she performed works by Gregory Dawson, Dexandro Montalvo, Kara Davis, Liv Schaffer, and Jay Carlon. She furthered her training at Orsolina’28 Nunes/Flock Intensive, BalletX Winter Intensive, and Modus Operandi Summer Intensive. Most recently, Alyssa danced with DawsonDanceSF, under the direction of Gregory Dawson where she performed the world premiere of The Joy Protocol in collaboration with Richard Howell and The Middle Period for the Tannery Winter Dance Festival and Black Choreographer’s Festival. This is her first season with Oakland Ballet.

Jeffrey Ware (he/him) is a versatile and dynamic dancer with extensive training and performance experience across multiple genres. Beginning his dance education at the prestigious Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Jeffrey further honed his craft at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. His dance skills span a wide range of styles, including ballet, jazz, hip-hop, salsa, African, modern, and partnering, complemented by advanced proficiency in Pilates, boxing, and yoga. Jeffrey’s professional performance career includes work with Company C Contemporary Ballet and the San Francisco Opera, where he danced in productions such as Il Trovatore and Omar. He has also competed internationally, representing the U.S. at the Burgos Spain International Dance Competition. His stage credits include appearances in Dreams and Pepito’s Story, and he has performed in industrials such as Jaguar Tribute and Steven Spielberg’s Disabled Children’s Benefit. Jeffrey has had the honor of working with renowned choreographers and directors such as Twyla Tharp, Debbie Allen, Rodrick George, and Maurya Kerr, among others. With his athletic build, commitment to his craft, and diverse movement skills, Jeffrey continues to be a sought-after performer in the world of dance.