Artists &
Collaborators
Season 7
ARTISTS
CHRIS BLOOM
Chris Bloom is from Frederick County, VA where he began dancing at the Blue Ridge Studio for the Performing Arts &the Vostrikov Academy of Ballet at the ages of 12 & 15 respectively. As a teenager, he trained at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago & the Orlando Ballet School. Chris graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Ailey/Fordham B. F. A. Program & has performed with Parsons Dance, The Dash Ensemble, The Black Iris Project, 360° Dance Theater, Lydia Johnson Dance, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, SFDanceworks & PARA.MAR Dance Theater (where he is a founding member). Chris joined Ballet Hispanico in 2013originating roles in new works by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Fernando Melo, Michelle Manzanales, Miguel Mancillas, Edgar Zendejas, Andrea Miller, Claudia Schreier, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Edwaard Liang & Eduardo Vilaro. In addition he has performed in Nacho Duato’s Jardi Tancat, William Forsythe’s New Sleep, Pedro Ruiz’s Club Havana, Tania Perez Salas’s 3. Catorce Dieciséis, Andrea Miller’s Naci, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Mad’moiselle, as Don José in Gustavo Ramirez Sansano’s CARMEN.maquia & as Juan Perón in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Doña Perón, both filmed & aired on PBS. Chris was nominated for the Clive Barnes Award & currently works as a freelance dancer & choreographer while staging the works of Stephanie Martinez & Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.
Photo Credit: Paula Lobo
ISAAC BATES-VINUEZA
Isaac Bates-Vinueza lives in Berkeley, California, where he works as a freelance artist and studies English at the University of California, Berkeley. Originally from Louisville, Colorado, he received his initial training from Boulder Ballet School, and later graduated from Pacific Northwest Ballet School. He also attended summer courses at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Arts Umbrella Dance. Isaac has danced professionally with Sacramento Ballet, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, LED Boise, Post:Ballet, and SFDanceworks. He has originated and performed leading roles in works by George Balanchine, Amy Seiwert, Penny Saunders, Bryan Arias, Moscelyne ParkeHarrison, and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, among others. He made his professional choreographic debut in 2022 at Sacramento Ballet, and that same year, was awarded the Ann and Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at Jacob’s Pillow. Isaac is also on faculty at Berkeley Ballet Theater, where he teaches advanced ballet and men’s technique.
SARAH CHOU
Sarah Chou is originally from San Diego, California and received her early training at Southern California Ballet and Danceology. She is a graduate of the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program, under the direction of Karah Abiog. Throughout her career, she has performed works by Edward Clug, Laura O'Malley, Yue Yin, Helen Pickett, Gregory Dawson, David Harvey, and Chuck Wilt, among others. This is her third season with SFDanceworks.
Sarah graduated Cum Laude from Wellesley College in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and a minor in Economics. As a student, she danced, choreographed, and produced extensively for dance groups in the Boston area. Her most recent work, “there’s a chance we may change,” commissioned by Harvard Ballet Company, premiered in November 2023. In addition to her performance career, Sarah bridges her passion for creativity, change, and equity as part of the Finance team at Intersection for the Arts.
Photo Credit: Peter Wei
EMILY HANSEL
Emily Hansel is a San Francisco-based dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, arts administrator, and artist advocate. Originally from Rochester, Minnesota, Emily received their BFA in Dance from the University of South Florida. Emily has danced with SFDanceworks, Post:ballet, Christy Funsch, Mark Foehringer Dance Project, Robert Moses’ KIN, Garrett-Moulton Productions, Rebecca Fitton Projects, David Herrera Performance Company, Jennifer Perfilio, FACT/SF, and ZiRu Dance, among others. Emily has also performed in Alexandra Pirici’s Re-collection at SFMOMA and in Cunningham repertory in “Signals from the West: Bay Area Artists In Conversation with Merce Cunningham at 100.” Emily’s choreographic work, which is centered around dismantling systems of oppression in the dance field, has been commissioned by a variety of companies and presented at numerous venues throughout the Bay Area and across the country. Emily recently received an San Francisco Artist award from the San Francisco Arts Commission, was selected to participate in MANCC’s Forward Dialogues program, received an ODC Theater RDI Award, and was named an Individual Artist Fellow by the California Arts Council. Through their choreography, writing, speaking engagements, and other creative work, Emily advocates for healthy and equitable working conditions for dancers.
Photo Credit: Robbie Sweeny
NICHOLAS KORKOS
Native San Franciscan Nicholas Korkos has performed with Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Aszure Barton & Artists, SF DanceWorks, Hubbard Street 2, Loni Landon Dance Project, Zhukov Dance Theatre, Robert Moses' KIN, project agora, tinypistol, Opera Omaha, the Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, San Francisco Opera, four times with the San Francisco Symphony, and most recently has developed new work with Sonya Tayeh, Josh Prince and Reed Luplau, respectively. In addition to performing, Korkos teaches and choreographs at various schools including the LINES Ballet School B.F.A. and Training programs, Gibney Dance and Peridance Center in NYC. In 2021 he conceived, directed, choreographed, performed in and crowdfunded for the dance film Being Alive, a Dance. As a photographer Korkos has photographed for Opera Philadelphia, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Opera Parallèle, and various dance companies, and his work has been seen in numerous publications including The New York Times.
Photo Credit: Jiyang Chen
GABRIELLE SPRAUVE
Gabrielle Sprauve was born in Queens, NY and raised in Savannah,GA. She has performed for Traverse City Dance Project and is a founding member of PARA.MAR Dance Theatre. Joining Ballet Hispanico in 2017, Gabrielle originated and performed roles in works by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Michelle Manzanales, Bennyroyce Royon, Eduardo Vilaro, Andrea Miller, Edwaard Liang, Omar Román De Jesús and Gustavo Ramirez Sansano — performing these works around the world. Gabrielle has appeared at globally recognized festivals such as Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, American Dance Festival, and Vail Dance Festival. She was also featured in the PBS special of Doña Perón by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, filmed at the Kennedy Center. In May of 2023, she was the focus of the CBS special An Inside Look at Ballet Hispánico by Adriana Diaz and Analisa Novak. Gabrielle has performed alongside Grammy winning singer Miguel, at a special event hosted by Lauryn Hill. She was featured in the New York Times for her title role in Sor Juana by Michelle Manzanales at New York City Center and for her principal appearance in Buscando a Juan by Eduardo Vilaro at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While at Ballet Hispanico, she was elected for 3 consecutive terms as the dancers’ union representative working to improve conditions and culture at BH through partnership with the American Guild of Musical Artists. She has been featured in Dance Teacher Magazine, Dance Magazine, The Wonderful World of Dance Magazine, Vingt Sept Magazine, and Movement At The Still Point: An Ode To Dance by Mark Mann. She is a proud member of Share The Movement, a non-profit organization who’s mission is to increase diversity in the professional dance community. Gabrielle is currently a freelance dance artist in New York City, represented by Lakey Wolff & Company.
LANI YAMANAKA
Lani Yamanaka is a fourth-generation Japanese American artist based in California. She began training in Judo and Dance and graduated from UC Irvine with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography. At UCI, she was honored to learn and perform works from the late Donald McKayle.
Upon graduating, Lani was an original ensemble dancer in Pearl by Daniel Ezralow, which premiered at Lincoln Center. As a freelance artist, she has performed works by Bryan Arias, Alba Castillo, Edward Clug, Yin Yue, Kate Weare, Kat Burns, Marissa Osato-Moreno, Will Johnston, Saleemah E. Knight, Shaun Boyle, Laura O'Malley, Yayoi Kambara, Mia J. Chong, and Shanda Sawyer, and as a company member with SF Danceworks, Entity Contemporary Dance, and ODC Dance. In 2018, she was Dance Captain for Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise, and worked with Akram Khan and associate choreographer Joy Alpuerto Ritter. In 2020, she was Lead Dance Artist for Father: Vision of the Floating World and is featured in MOVE, a Netflix documentary series.
Currently, Lani tours as Mowgli in Akram Khan's Jungle Book Reimagined. In her free time, she is working towards her next black belt degree in Judo.
Photo Credit: Patrick Andrada
MUSICIANS
DARRYL J. HOFFMAN
COMPOSER, SHEEP’S GOTHIC
Darryl J. Hoffman (Bronx, NY) is a composer & creative. He developed a curiosity for sound and began creating at the age of 13. Some of his early professional compositions include works for; choreographer Stephanie Martinez and Kansas City Ballet (2016), Visceral Dance Chicago’s “Synapse” (2017), three Philadanco works choreographed by Anthony Burrell & Christopher Huggins (2018-2019), “Title lX” (2018) & “Victoria” (2019) choreographed by Emmy Award winning choreographer Ebony Williams - which premiered at Jacob’s Pillow.
Other musical commissions include; Paramar Dance Theatre’s premiere work entitled ‘Kiss”, choreographed by Stephanie Martinez, which has also been performed by The Baltimore School Of The Arts, & Thang Dao’s “ Run(A)Way” - a dance film set on Kennesaw State University dance company (which won best original score at the “Frost Bite International Online Film Festival”).
Over the years, Hoffman has developed a partnership with choreographer and Princess Grace Award recipient Rena Butler. Together they have collaborated for works on; Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Ballet X (2018-2020). In 2021 they created works for The Gibney Dance company, Whim W’him Seattle Dance Company & The Juilliard School.
In 2022; Groundwork’s, Charlotte Ballet, ABT’s Second Company, along with his first international evening lengths work – entitled “CAVE” for Swedish Dance Company Norrdans. In 2023 Hoffman created “The Ride Through” for Rena’s piece on Parsons Dance, which premiered at The Joyce Theatre. 2023 also included Pony Box Dance, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Oklahoma City Ballet, & an additional work for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
Hoffman was a recipient of The “3Arts / Make A Wave” Award in Chicago, Illinois (2021).
In addition to his extensive body of work throughout the years, Darryl has served as Musical Director for Regional Dance America’s National Choreography Summer Intensive (2020 & 2023). In 2023 he directed his first music program entitled “In the Here and Now” at the Museum of Broadway in partnership with The Paige Fraser Foundation – sponsored by New York State Council on the Arts. This year (2024) he continues his collaborations with Rena Butler, creating music for Gauthier Dance in Germany, Cincinnati Ballet, And A.IM. By Kyle Abraham, and Parsons Dance. Darryl continues to live in his gift as he intends to shape the culture of music & dance with his passion for sound and in other aspects of the arts.
J TYLER JOHNSON
COMPOSER, impact III
J Tyler Johnson is a composer/producer/multi instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, CA. His work in composition has been featured in the National Norwegian Ballet, LA Dance Film Festival, and Ted Talk 2024 to name a few. The majority of his work has been accompanying JA Collective in their endeavors. J Tyler also produces and performs with his band half•alive, who are set to release their third album November 14th.
Photo Credit: Grant Spanier
MATTHEW OTTO
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, THE YOUNG WOMEN’S CHORAL PROJECTS OF SF
CONDUCTOR, SHEEP’S GOTHIC
Canadian Matthew Otto, PhD, is an award-winning, internationally recognized conductor and music educator. Now entering his second season as artistic director of the Young Women’s Choral Projects of San Francisco, Matthew led the Toronto Children’s Chorus and the Toronto Youth Choir for more than a decade, and led choirs in Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Spain, the United States, and New Zealand. He is twice-recipient of the Elmer Iseler Fellowship in Choral Conducting, and finalist in both the Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting (2014) and Sir Ernest MacMillan Foundation Fellowship Award in Orchestral Conducting (2010) and holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition, Master of Music in Conducting and PhD in Music Education from University of Toronto.
Photo Credit: Joseph Fanvu
DARA PHUNG
COLLABORATIVE PIANIST, SHEEP’S GOTHIC
Dara Phung is a pianist for the Young Women's Choral Projects, the San Francisco Bach Choir, San Mateo Union High School District, and music director at Noe Valley Ministry. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Southern California, where she studied with Kevin Fitz-Gerald. She performs occasionally with Opera Cocktales at Martuni’s in San Francisco.
Photo Credit: Joseph Fanvu
YOUNG WOMEN’S CHORAL PROJECTS OF SAN FRANCISCO
The Young Women’s Choral Projects of San Francisco, led by Artistic Director Dr. Matthew Otto, is recognized as a world-class choral organization for young women. Founded in 2012 by Dr. Susan McMane, YWCP now includes six levels of choral experience for young women ages 4-18 from across the San Francisco Bay Area. The mission of YWCP is to transform the lives of young women through exceptional artistry in choral performance, and bring the expressive power of their music to the community, the nation, and the world. Through YWCP, participants of richly diverse socio-ethnic backgrounds find their voices as singers, artists, and women in a nurturing environment that empowers them to achieve artistic and personal excellence. YWCP annually performs with prominent professional musical organizations including the San Francisco Symphony, and regularly commissions new works by leading composers. YWCP has won many competitive, national awards including the American Prize in Choral Performance, the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, the Dale Warland Singers Commission Award from Chorus America and American Composers Forum, and the ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award.
Photo Credit: Joseph Fanvu
DESIGNERS/COLLABORATORS
BRETT CONWAY
COSTUME DESIGN ADVISORY, SHEEP’S GOTHIC
Brett Conway is from Ft. Wayne, IN, where he began his dance training at Fort Wayne Ballet and graduated from Virginia School of the Arts. Brett started his professional career in San Francisco, dancing for Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet for eight years. He then moved to Europe to join Nederlands Dans Theater for five years, where he had the pleasure of working with many influential choreographers, including Jirí Kylián, Paul Lightfoot, Sol Leon, Mats Ek, Crystal Pite, Marco Goecke, and Ohad Naharin. In 2015, Brett returned to San Francisco, where he danced with LINES Ballet for one final season before transitioning into teaching, choreographing, staging, and freelance work. Brett has worked with SFDanceworks, Opera Parallel, and is currently a dancer with San Francisco Opera. Since 2017, Brett has been a faculty member of LINES Ballet’s Training Program, BFA Program, and Dance Center. From 2019-2021, Brett served as co-artistic director of SFDanceworks, during which he choreographed his first work for the company, The Bedroom, and produced Drew Jacoby’s short film, EVIDENCE OF IT ALL.
JAMIELYN DUGGAN
STAGECRAFT, ÄFFI
Jamielyn (she/they) is a multidisciplinary native San Franciscan artist rooted in contemporary performance and visual design. Spanning twenty plus years, Eimaj Design is a platform that emphasizes ‘fashion that moves’. As creative director, Jamielyn’s custom design and production work encompass avant guarde to casual garments made to be seen, costume design for live performance and film, image styling, wardrobe production and content creation. Numerous collaborations with diverse clients include: SF Dance Film Festival, ODC, LEVY dance, LINES/BFA, Flyaway Productions, AXIS, SFDanceworks, Liss Fain Dance, Bandaloop, Hope Mohr Dance, Oakland Ballet, MFDP/SF, John Sanborn, Gregory Dawson, Amy Seiwert, Sidra Bell, and Alexander Ekman.
She is actively a tenured dancer with the San Francisco Opera, performer and co-founder of Collective Attention, resident artist at SHACK15, and grateful to be expanding her artistic practices thru inspired, collaborative action.
JIM FRENCH
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR AND LIGHTING DESIGN
Jim French (he/him) designs lighting for the performing arts and live events, with work seen in twenty five countries around the globe. Highlights of Jim's work in dance include over twenty five world premieres for San Francisco Ballet, nine seasons as resident designer for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, and long running collaborations with the choreographers Val Caniparoli, Pascal Rioult, and Amy Seiwert, with vertical dance company Bandaloop, and with Ballet West. At home in the San Francisco Bay Area, he has collaborated with Alonzo King Lines Ballet, RAW Dance, Shotgun Players, Kronos Quartet, Joe Goode Performance Group, ODC Dance, Post:Ballet, Smuin Ballet, Imagery, Marin Theater Company, West Edge Opera, and has been house LD at SF Jazz. Favorite credits from further afield include Finnish National Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Nederlands Dance Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, Ballett Basel, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Carte Blanche, Royal Ballet of Flanders, and LA Dance Project. Jim designed lighting for the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit, and volunteers for Dancers Responding to AIDS and Bike East Bay.
CORRIDA GODBOLD
WARDROBE MANAGER
Corrida is pleased to be once again working with SFDanceworks! Raised in Northern California, Corrida has been sewing since the age of 12. What started as a hobby turned into a career in 2010, when she started making costumes for theater productions around the Bay Area. Corrida has worked with Starbound Children’s Theater, New Conservatory Theater, African American Shakespeare Company, Magic Theater, Altarena Playhouse, and dressed for other theaters. She currently works for San Francisco Ballet as the Head of Mens Wardrobe.
DAVID JUSTIN
STAGE MANAGER
David Justin is a freelance multidiscipline artist focusing on the collaborative performing arts of dance, opera, music, theatre and design. For over 35 years, David has worked with leaders in these fields and currently works with several schools and companies in the Bay Area who continue to make an impact with their work. David’s own critically acclaimed choreography has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, National Choreographic Institute (NYCB), Dance Gallery NYC, Ballet Builders, American College Dance Association, International Choreographer’s Showcase, National Choreographer’s Initiative, universities, and schools across the US. Presented on four continents with international acclaim, reviews of his choreography describe it as “surprising,” “poetic,” “athletic,” “inventive,” and “intelligent.” Before returning to the Bay Area, David served in academia for seventeen years between the Conservatory of Music and Dance, UMKC and as a tenured professor at University of Texas at Austin, TX where he was head of the BFA program, co-producer of the David Mark Cohen New Works Festival, and founding Artistic Director of the American Repertory Ensemble. David has also held posts as Ballet Master in Residence at Kansas City Ballet, Executive Artistic Director for NWA Ballet Theatre and Artistic Director of Ballet Wichita where he worked with the boards to build strategic plans, increase grant funding income, and grow philanthropic giving. Formerly a principal dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet, a soloist with San Francisco Ballet and beginning his career with Boston Ballet, David toured the globe extensively and has a broad repertoire that includes principal roles in the classical repertoire and works by choreographers including Ashton, Balanchine, Bintley, Caniparoli, de Mille, Forsythe, Kylian, MacMillan, Morris, Taylor, Tharp, Tudor, Robbins, Welsh, and York. David’s dancing was described as “alluring and mercurial,” “polished,” “brilliant,” and “fearless.” David holds a Master’s degree in Dance in Education and the Community from the University of Birmingham, England.
Photo Credit: Ben Aqua