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. 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 choreographers including Caili Quan, Megan and Shannon Kurashige, and Phil Chan. In addition to dancing with the Oakland Ballet Company, Lawrence teaches ballet at Berkeley Ballet Theater and Alameda Ballet Academy in addition to tutoring high school STEM subjects. Lawrence received an Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance by an Individual for his work in OBC’s 22-23 season and was a contributing choreographer to OBC’s Angel Island Project. This is his fifth full season with the Oakland Ballet.

Katie Choi (she/her) raised in San Francisco, is a recent graduate of UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts. Prior to college, she received her training at the San Francisco Ballet School under the direction of Patrick Armand. There, she had the opportunity to showcase her talents performing in renowned works such as Helgi Tomasson’s The Nutcracker and Coppelia as well as Liam Scarlett’s Frankenstein. She holds a B.F.A. in Dance Performance with a minor in Urban Studies. While at UC Irvine, she participated in numerous faculty and student works. Among the most notable were Giselle staged by Tong Wang, and George Balanchine’s Serenade, staged by Diane Diefenderfer and Zippora Karz. She was the recipient of the William Gillespie scholarship three years in a row. Outside of UCI, she had the opportunity to perform Tchaikovsky: The Love Letter and The White Feather alongside Tara Ghassemieh and Vitor Luiz.

Alexander Griffith (he/him) welcomes his third 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.

Taiyo Makimura (he/they) is a transmasculine dancer from New Jersey, where he began his high school career at the UCVTS Academy for Performing Arts, and completed it at the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Taiyo has performed as a trainee with BalletMet, where he could be seen as a swan in Edwaard Liang’s Swan Lake, in various roles in The Nutcracker, and in trainee productions. He later joined Louisville Ballet’s Studio Company, before moving to San Francisco in 2024 to become a member of the concluding class of the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program. Taiyo now lives in Oakland, spending time playing with his cat and exploring visual arts. This is his first season with Oakland Ballet.

Pakela Newalu-Gomes (they/them) was born in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, and moved to Los Angeles at thirteen, where they began their dance training in hip-hop. They later earned a BFA in Dance from Dominican University of California under the direction of Marina Hotchkiss. While there, Pakela had the opportunity to work with Gregory Dawson’s dawsondancesf and James Graham’s Dance Theatre. After graduation, Pakela danced with Contemporary West Dance Theater in Las Vegas under the direction of Bernard Gaddis, and joined Post:ballet in the 2024-25 season led by Robin Dekkers. This is their first season with the Oakland Ballet.

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.

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. Since joining the Oakland Ballet Company in 2024, she has performed in Luna Mexicana, Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker, and the Dancing Moons Festival: Angel Island Project. This is her second season with Oakland Ballet.

Phoenix Wilkins (he/him) was born into a dance family, with both of his parents being professional dancers. He began training with his father’s school, DASSdance in Seattle, at the age of 7, studying ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, and acro. In his final year, he was invited to join the DASSdance professional company appearing in 19 Stories at the Erickson Theatre. Recently he toured to NYC with the company performing Tough Roots at University Settlement. Phoenix spent two summers on scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet School NYC, worked with Donald Byrd and Alonzo King during summer intensives, and trained privately with Stephanie Saland, former Balanchine ballerina. Upon graduating from high school, Phoenix joined the professional training program at State Street Ballet in Santa Barbara. He later joined Peninsula Ballet Theatre. In his two seasons there he danced many roles including Mozart in Requiem. He is excited to join Oakland Ballet this season.

Danielle Archuleta (she/her) is a dancer and choreographer originally from Littleton, Colorado. She received her early training at Belliston Academy of Ballet and attended summer intensives with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Miami City Ballet. She continued her pre-professional training at Miami City Ballet under Lourdes Lopez and Arantxa Ochoa, performing works such as Balanchine’s Western Symphony, Valse Fantaisie, and a principal role in Ballabile (from Napoli). After graduating, Danielle joined City Ballet of San Diego, performing Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Serenade, and the role of Clara in Elizabeth Wistrich’s The Nutcracker. In 2019, she joined Ballet Austin II, dancing in Stephen Mills’ The Nutcracker and Joshua Manculich’s Menagerie. In 2021, she became a member of Zikr Dance Ensemble, performing soloist and principal roles in works by David Taylor and Tomm Ruud’s Mobile. In addition to her role as a dancer, she served as the company’s rehearsal assistant and ballet mistress. Now based in Denver, Danielle is a freelance artist and founder of Dance for Climate, an initiative that merges art with environmental activism. She has performed as a guest artist with Central Oklahoma Ballet, Yellowstone Ballet, and AVID Dance Company, where she danced Gerald Arpino’s Confetti and an excerpt of Italian Suite. Danielle is currently an artist with The Rosin Box Project, under the direction of Carly Topazio, performing works by Emily Adams, Natasha Adorlee, Ching Ching Wong, Garrett Smith, and FLOCK. 

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, where 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 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, performing in classical renditions of Swan Lake, The Firebird, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While living in the Bay Area, Ellis has danced with New Ballet in San Jose and eMotion Arts. This is her second Nutcracker season with Oakland Ballet!

Ian Debono (he/him) originally from San Francisco, graduated from The Juilliard School in 2023 with a BFA in Dance under the direction of Alicia Graf Mack. While at Juilliard, he performed works by Ohad Naharin, Medhi Walerski, Paul Singh, Amy Hall Garner, Norbert De La Cruz III, Spenser Theberge, and Jermaine Spivey, among others. In 2019, he graduated from the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts High School, where he trained with Gregory Dawson and Arturo Fernandez. He also trained at the San Francisco Academy of Ballet under the direction of Richard Gibson and Zory Karah. Currently, Ian is a company member with the Limón Dance Company and has danced with The Metropolitan Opera, A Point 5, Obremski Works, Chamber Dance Project, West Edge Opera, and Les Arts Florissants. He looks forward to joining Oakland Ballet Company again for their production of The Nutcracker.

Eden Magana (she/her) a Chicago native, began her dance training at the Chicago Multi Dance Center under the guidance of Homer Bryant. She spent two years at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, honing her craft with esteemed instructors Randy Duncan and Patrick Samello. Eden continued her artistic growth, spending her final two years of high school as a Conservatory student at the Joffrey Ballet, where she trained with Karin Elis-Wentz and Raul Casasoula. During her time at the Joffrey Ballet, she originated the role of the Fountain in the original production of Rita Finds Home choreographed by Amy Hall-Garner. A recent graduate of Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program, she was a company member of Robert Mosses Kin’s 60th Anniversary season during her second semester. Eden has had the privilege of collaborating with notable choreographers, including Nol Simonse, Aleks Perez, Christopher Marney and Erin Barnett. She has attended summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre, Ballet West, and Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Kyla Marcus (she/her) a San Francisco native, developed her love for movement and dance at an early age. After dabbling in multiple styles, she began her ballet training at Oakland Ballet School at age nine, before being invited to join San Francisco Ballet School at 13 under the leadership of Patrick Armand. During her four years there, she had the privilege of performing with the San Francisco Ballet company in Frankenstein, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker. During her senior year of high school, Kyla completed her pre-professional training at The Ballet School of San Francisco (fka Dance Training Center SF) where she received private mentorship from acclaimed instructors Julianne Spratlin, Kristin Long, and Samantha Clark. Kyla joined Ballet Idaho in 2022 as a trainee and spent two seasons performing corps de ballet roles in Divertimento No. 15, The Nutcracker, and Swan Lake, as well as original works by Penny Saunders, Joseph Hernandez, Quinn Wharton, Laura O’Malley, and others. Currently, Kyla is dancing with Diablo Ballet as a trainee and is thrilled to be performing with Oakland Ballet in their 2025 production of The Nutcracker!

*Appearing courtesy of Diablo Ballet

Bio Coming Soon!

Bio Coming Soon!

Brooke Wertwijn (she/her) is a freelance dancer, teacher, and choreographer in the Bay Area. Originally from Minnesota, Brooke trained at Ashley Ballet Arts Academy directed by Ashley Burkland. She graduated from the University of Utah School of Dance with a B.F.A. in Ballet, Ballet Studio Teaching Certificate, and Business Minor. Brooke was a member of SALT Contemporary Dance’s Pre-Professional Training Company directed by Courtney Mazeika and a Trainee at Ballet Idaho. She was a Company Artist with San Jose Dance Theatre for the 2022- 2024 seasons and was the Academy Director in 2024. She choreographed and directed a brand-new, full-length production of The Little Mermaid and co-directed the 59th Annual San Jose Nutcracker. She has performed internationally in the Czech Republic, South Korea, and Italy. Brooke is currently dancing with Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble and recently performed with eMotion Arts Dance. She successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive and is certified in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Brooke has taught at schools in Minnesota, Utah, Idaho, and California. Her choreography has been presented at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Cathedral Dance Festival, American College Dance Association’s Northwest Conference, SHAPE Choreography Festival, University of Utah Ballet Showcase, The Ballet Alliance Festival, and Zohar Performance Series. Brooke loves to share the joy of dance through teaching, performing, and choreographing. When not dancing, she enjoys spending time gardening, reading, and crocheting.

Katie Wolfe (she/her) grew up in San Carlos, CA and trained with Academy of American Ballet and Professional Ballet School. She acquired her BFA in Ballet Performance from the University of Oklahoma before beginning her professional career. Katie joined Kansas City Ballet for two seasons, performing with the second and main company in productions such as Devon Carney’s The Nutcracker, Michael Pink’s Dracula, Septime Webre’s Wizard of Oz, and George Balanchine’s Serenade. Katie then joined Madison Ballet under the direction of Ja’ Malik and after two seasons was promoted to company artist. There, Katie was featured in a number of classical and contemporary works such as Petipa’s Paquita, Ja’ Malik’s Fragments of Hope, and Richard Walter’s Before We Begin. Katie is currently based out of the Bay Area where she performs as a freelance artist.