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.

*Genevieve Boyle (she/her) was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. She began her training at Salt Lake Dance Center before joining the Ballet West Academy. She attended high school at Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts focusing on ballet and contemporary dance. After graduation, she moved to Chicago training at Ballet Chicago under the guidance of Patricia Blaire and Dan Duell. After a year, Genevieve was accepted into the Ballet Program at the University of Utah. There she performed Carmina Terra by Susan Jaffe, Sur le Fil by Penny Saunders, Carmen by Chun-Lin Tseng and Jay Kim, and Becoming by Sayoko Knode. She was chosen to perform in the Choreographic Institute at the University of Utah. During this time Genevieve worked with select choreographers from around the country on premiere pieces, including Christina Ghiardi, James Kopecky, and Jenelle Figgins. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2023 and joined Diablo Ballet where she has had the opportunity to perform in Coppélia, Romeo and Juliet by Penny Saunders, and Reflections by Gerald Arpino. An apprentice with Diablo Ballet since 2024, she has been promoted and will be a company member for the 2026-2027 season. This is her first Nutcracker with the Oakland Ballet.

*Appearing courtesy of Diablo Ballet

Liev Ewart (he/him) Liev Ewart grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He trained at Contra Costa Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, and Ellison Ballet. At age seventeen, he joined Sacramento Ballet’s Second Company for the 22/23 season. He performed in artistic director Anthony Krutzkamp’s The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Pink Martini. He also performed in Colby Damon’s ballet film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s After the Ball.

The following year of 23/24, he attended the School of Philadelphia Ballet as a trainee. As a trainee, he performed in Angel Corella’s and Russel Decker’s On Cloud 9, the Pas de Deux from Satanella, and the Pas de Quatre from Raymonda. For the 24/25 season, he was promoted to Philadelphia Ballet’s Second Company under second company director Davit Karapetyan. During his time as a second company dancer, Liev had the opportunity to dance in works such as artistic director Angel Corella’s Le Corsaire and his Swan Lake ,and Balanchine’s Allegro Brilliante and The Nutcracker. Additionally, he performed in Helgi Tómasson’s Concerto Grosso and Kin Sun Chan’s Scraag. In 2025, he joined Ballet Arkansas as a full company member. During his time there, he performed ballets by artistic director Michael Fothergill, including his Sleepy Hollow, the Nutcracker, Cinderella, and his Giselle. Summer intensives Liev has attended include the Royal Ballet School and English National Ballet School, and the American Ballet Theatre and Ellison Ballet in New York City. Liev is thrilled to join Oakland Ballet for the 26/27 season.

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.

Devon Martirez y McFarland (he/him) was born in San Francisco and raised in the East Bay, where he began his dance training at the age of 12. He studied at Berkeley Ballet Theatre and Idyllwild Arts Academy, developing a solid technical foundation and a broad artistic sensibility. In July 2025, Devon graduated with a BA in Modern Ballet from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. During his studies, he trained extensively in classical and contemporary techniques and worked with a range of distinguished artists. In his final year, he toured with Scottish Ballet as part of the 2024/25 production of The Nutcracker, gaining valuable professional performance experience. Devon has performed works by established choreographers including Krzysztof Pastor, Christopher Bruce, Christopher Hampson, and others. His work reflects a strong commitment to versatility and he continues to pursue opportunities that challenge him artistically and professionally.

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. They joined the Oakland Ballet in the spring of 2025.

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.

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 San Diego, 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, Christian Denice, Jennifer Archibald, Adriana Pierce, and FLOCK.

Xochitl Atienza (she/her) originally from Rockville, Maryland, Xochi began dancing at the age of three, and studied all genres of dance at her home studios, American Dance Institute and Berrend Dance Centre under the guidance of teachers from The Washington Ballet, ABT, New York City Ballet, and Bolshoi Ballet. After graduating, Xochi was awarded a scholarship to train at Orlando Ballet School’s Academy in 2021 before moving to Chicago to dance as a Trainee with The Joffrey Ballet from 2022-2024. While with The Joffrey Ballet she performed corps de ballet roles with the main company, as well as featured roles in Academy productions such as Winning Works. Xochi was an inaugural member of Dayton Ballet’s Studio Company, where she performed corps and soloist roles with the company and originated the role of Older Clara in Dayton Ballet’s new production of The Nutcracker. Additionally, Xochi has taken part in the New York City Emerging Artists Project as an artist in 2025 and 2026. Featured repertoire includes roles in Christopher Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker, Gerald Arpino’s Kettentanz, George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Cupid in Yuri Posshokov’s Don Quixote, and more. Xochi originated the roles of Older Clara in Dayton Ballet’s The Nutcracker, and Rita’s

friend in Amy Hall Garner’s Rita Finds Home. Xochi is proud to represent her Filipina-American community on the stage, and looks forward to her first season with Oakland Ballet Company.

Bio Coming Soon!

Bio Coming Soon!

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 Smuin Ballet, Menlowe Ballet, Oceanica Ballet, Peninsula Ballet Theater, and worked with choreographer Marika Brussel. Vinnie has performed soloist and principal roles in Serenade, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Carmina Burana, Giselle, 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 Jimenez, Francisco Lorenzo, and Itzak Galili. In 2019 she co-founded em(body) dance project, where she choreographs, performs, and produces digital dance works. She creates contemporary solos and group works for elite dance competitions  Her dance films have been presented at festivals in the Bay Area, Chicago, and St. Louis. Vinnie is excited to be working with Oakland Ballet once again this year.

*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

Jacob Seltzer-Rios (he/him) is a professional Guest Artist both nationally and internationally. Trained in ballet since the age of 6, he was educated on full scholarship at The Washington Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Paris Opera Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet. Upon graduating from the Trainee program at San Francisco Ballet under Patrick Armand he joined the Company, dancing Corps and Soloist roles in works ranging from classical, contemporary, and new creations. In 2025 he departed San Francisco Ballet to pursue a freelance career in multiple dance styles. He is now based in Hawaii where he performs multiple Polynesian styles, educates on the native cultures, teaches ballet, and travels around the world as a guest artist.

Connolly Strombeck (he/him) an Oakland native, trained at Academy of Ballet in SF and danced leading roles with Oakland Ballet, Company C Contemporary Ballet, and many others in the Bay and elsewhere. He currently teaches full time at the Academy as well as directing his own project-based contemporary dance company, Trivial Motion.

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.