Company Dancers

Zachariah Ross Bigbee was born in the mountains of New Mexico where he began training in dance at the end of his senior year of high school. He went on to study Mathematics and Russian Language at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He has trained at the Nederlands Dans Theater summer intensive, spent several months in Tel Aviv, Israel exploring the gaga movement language of Batsheva Dance Company, and trained in aerial circus apparatus in Moscow with state circus artist Viktoriya Zhukotsova.  He went on to dance professionally in Chicago, under the directorship of David Maurice Johnson, and as a guest artist with Zikr Dance Ensemble in Denver, Colorado and Convergence Ballet in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2017 he served as co-choreographer and producer for the work “Mechanical Nature”. Zachariah is excited to take part in his first engagement with Oakland Ballet.

Christopher Dunn has danced as a principal dancer with Reno Dance Company (RDC) productions in Reno, NV since 2002 – dancing classical and contemporary works. He also danced professionally on the Royal Caribbean International Cruise Line, and various productions throughout Nevada and California. He has taught jazz, tap, ballet and hip-hop at numerous schools, including the University of Nevada, Reno. In the Bay Area, Christopher has danced with Napoles Ballet and Peninsula Ballet. He joined Dance Theatre of San Francisco in 2013 as a founding member. Christopher also serves as Oakland Ballet’s Wardrobe Manager and resident Costume Designer.

Aidan O’Leary recently completed his BFA at the Alonzo King Lines Ballet BFA Program at Dominican University, where he studied and performed works by Arturo Fernandez, Gregory Dawson, and Laura O’Malley, among many others. During his time there he performed classical and contemporary works with Stapleton Ballet, SAFEhouse Arts, and Grace Cathedral’s San Francisco Movement Arts Festival. Since graduating he has been active around the SF dance scene, performing with Quirk Dance, Man Dance Company, Kathy Mata Ballet, and CRAFT Dance Series. This is his first season with Oakland Ballet.

Brandon Perez, born and raised in San Mateo, California, started his dance training at Tiffany’s Dance Academy in South San Francisco – learning many different styles of dance under Jessi Rodriguez, Claire Calalo Berry, and Hannah Varga, and tap and musicality with Loree Kenagy. As his focus shifted more towards ballet, he began training at The Academy of Ballet in San Francisco working with Zory Karah, Richard Gibson, and Connolly Strombeck. Brandon is an advocate for bullying prevention and depression awareness and shares his story freely in the hope that he can help others through any trouble and heartbreak they may be experiencing. This is Brandon’s second season with Oakland Ballet.

Jazmine Quezada 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 with Ventura County Ballet. Jazmine attended American Ballet Theater’s New York summer intensive in 2011 and was accepted to the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at ABT that same year. She then attended the Joffrey Chicago International summer dance intensive on full scholarship and in 2016 she moved to San Francisco to continue her training on scholarship at the San Francisco Ballet School. Jazmine has performed San Francisco Ballet productions such as The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and the 2018 Gala, and danced the lead role of Grace in Helgi Tomasson’s Meisten Mozart. With the Oakland Ballet, she has performed the role of Luna in Luna Mexicana, and the Monkey Queen in Jangala.  This is Jazmine’s second season with the Oakland Ballet Company.