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.

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.

Logan Martin (they/them) started their professional career with Pennsylvania Ballet II. They then trained at Houston Ballet Academy before joining Ballet West II. Logan joined Ballet West’s main company in 2014, performing with the company for three seasons. In 2017 they stepped away from their ballet career to focus on their health, learn new skills, and have new experiences. In 2022 they started the rigorous training needed to step back into their ballet career. After appearing as a guest in ballet productions around Utah, Logan joined Oakland Ballet Company where they have had the honor to create roles in new works by renowned choreographers. Logan is thrilled and thankful to have had the opportunity to dance across the country for so many prestigious institutions. Throughout their career Logan has performed leading roles such as; Aladdin in Aladdin, The Land Prince in The Little Mermaid, both by Peggy Dolkas and Pamela Robinson Harris, Cavalier in Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker, the Calavera in Birthdays, as well as Phil Chan’s Amber Waves, Ballet des Porcelaines, and the duet, from Exquisite Corps. Soloist roles include Jessica Lang’s Lyric Pieces, George Balanchine’s Symphony in C, Almost Tango and Rite of Spring, by Nicolo Fonte, and Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly.

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.

Ashley Thopiah (they/she/he) holds a BFA in Dance Performance from Butler University. Their dance training began at the Christine Rich Dance Academy and was further honed through summer programs at State Street Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. At Butler, Ashley took on various roles including corps, soloist, and principal in productions such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Giselle, La Bayadere, Cinderella, and George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments. As a choreographer, Ashley has created two significant works for Butler University’s dance department: Jyoti and Ekta. These pieces intertwine modern dance with Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance form, reflecting the dual aspects of their identity. In the summer of 2018, Ekta was performed at the National Opera House in Warsaw, Poland, and traveled to Prague, Krakow, Poznan, and Bratislava. Since joining Oakland Ballet in 2019, Ashley has made notable contributions, including creating the role of Coffee in Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker and performing in works such as Caili Quan’s Layer Upon Layer, Alyah Baker’s 4 Parts Jazz, Graham Lustig’s Dialogues, and Seyong Kim’s Duet from Exquisite Corpse. They are also a contributing choreographer for OBC’s Angel Island Project, collaborating with distinguished artists Natasha Adorlee, Ye Feng, Elaine Kudo, Phil Chan, and Lawrence Chen.

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.