Faculty Bios
Inspiring students in all Divisions to explore their passion for dance
Teachers
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Emma Andre is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher based in Oakland, California. Emma is originally from the North Shore of Massachusetts, where they started dancing at the age of 3. They studied contemporary dance with an emphasis in ballet at The Boston Conservatory, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2021. After graduating she moved to New York to work as a freelance performer and teacher. There, she had the pleasure of teaching children within the New York Public School system. Emma moved to Oakland in June of 2023, and has really enjoyed dancing and connecting with students in the Bay Area.
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Charmaine Butcher is a dance artist based out of San Francisco. After graduating high school with an Associate’s Degree, they continued their training at Alonzo King LINES Ballet’s Training Program in San Francisco. Charmaine has worked professionally for various choreographers, including Amy J Lambert, Chuck Wilt, Beth Terwilleger, Cameo Lethem, Dwight Rhoden, Petra Zanki, Robert Moses, and performed with Ballet22, Coriolis Dance, the Seattle Opera, SF Jazz, and Verlaine & McCann’s Burlesque Nutcracker. Charmaine currently works with Post:ballet, Sharp & Fine, and BODYSONNET. Charmaine frequently collaborates with their partner, Babatunji, showing work independently at San Francisco Trolley Dance, RAWdance’s CONCEPT Series, Dance Lovers (SF), and with Inner Child Foundation. In 2019, Charmaine completed their bachelor’s degree in Marketing & Entrepreneurship. In addition to dancing and teaching movement, Charmaine is a visual artist working in the mediums of floral, paint, and clay.
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Alysia Chang was born in Berkeley, CA and grew up in there Bay Area studying ballet at the Contra Costa Ballet and attending summer programs at SFB, Boston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. Alysia holds a BFA in Dance and a Minor in Arts Management from SUNY Purchase. Over the years, she's danced with the Sacramento Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, the Metropolitan Opera, SF Opera, Dawson Dance, Smuin Ballet, SFDanceworks, Radiocity and more. Choreographing for Sacramento Ballet and Ziru Dance, as well as teaching at ODC, West Coast Dance, Pacific Ballet, TruDance, Celebrity Dance and Dance Masters of America. Most recently, she received her MFA in Fashion Design as a Presidential Scholar at Academy of Art University. As a designer she has created costumes for Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, Ziru Dance, Lady Camden, as well as choreographing and creating the designs for her MFA thesis collection “V”.
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Robert Greer, a native of California, danced throughout the U.S. for over twenty years. He performed in a number of ballet companies such as Augusta Ballet, Charleston Ballet Theatre and Ballet Idaho. He spent his summers with Ballet Montana, performing with people from all over the world. He has enjoyed dancing in many ballets; some of his favorites are Lar Lubovitch’s My Funny Valentine, Jill Bahr’s The Rite of Spring and Roy Gan’s Requiem. Greer began his training at the age of twenty and set out on a journey to learn as much as possible about his newfound passion. He moved back to the Bay Area in 2007 where he began teaching for Berkeley Ballet Theater and other schools. While at Berkeley Ballet Theater Greer created a number of classes including Pas de deux, Beginning 2 and Intro 2 to help build the Adult Open Division. He also added summer and winter workshops to give adults more learning opportunities and extra performance experience. Greer continues to teach many classes at Berkeley Ballet Theater and looks forward to sharing his passion with anyone wanting to learn.
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Rena Marie Guidry has been an actor and dancer for over 30 years, in both Los Angeles and the Bay Area. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, modern, salsa, liturgical, and Samba. She has done commercials, films, has performed in self-produced dance theater productions, and been a guest performer for several Latin dance companies. Rena Marie has led high-energy, packed classes with Rhythm & Motion since 2011, and teaches Hip Hop Jazz technique classes. She also brings her love of dance to people outside of the studio, leading retreats both locally and globally. Rena Marie is a trained Drama Therapist, with a Masters degree in counseling psychology, and she has mindfulness leadership training. Rena Marie believes the arts are inherently therapeutic and can be used to bring about healing and wellness.
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Leigh Marz adores teaching for Rhythm & Motion. She sees it as critical to her master plan for joyfully transforming the world. As a teacher, Leigh is interested in helping students to find space for dance in their lives—whether they are returning to dance after a hiatus or finding their way to dance for the very first time. Leigh loves how in Rhythm & Motion classes we can lose ourselves and find ourselves again—all in one hour! Leigh took her first dance class at age 5—a free-form African dance class for kids in New Brunswick, New Jersey. This class set a high bar—one that she still holds—for a class that feels warm and welcoming, spirited, and unapologetically fun. Leigh is deeply inspired by Rhythm & Motion’s mission and diverse choreography. Leigh is honored to be joining her fellow instructors—Rena Marie Guidry, Eyla Moore, Tamika Banks, and Liz Muller—and the Berkeley Ballet Theater faculty.
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Deborah Moss, a New York native, has made the Bay Area her home. A passionate dance educator, Moss firmly believes that the arts inform and enrich our lives and must be accessible to everyone. She has taught dance in public and private schools throughout the East Bay. Moss joined Berkeley Ballet Theater in 1989 serving on both Artistic Staff and Faculty, as School Principal, Director of Pre-Ballet and Outreach Coordinator. Moss is devoted to BBT’s commitment to be a place Where All Can Dance and is honored to be a part of the school’s mission. She currently teaches and choreographs in BBT’s Adult Open Division. Moss has studied with Marina Eglevsky, Nicholas Polajenko, Soili Arvola, Fred Strobel and Catherine Graves. Her studies in ballet pedagogy include: Vaganova, Legat) and Cecchetti. Moss is an ABT certified teacher for Levels Pre-Primary-3. Moss expanded her studies with modern dance, training with Dawn Horowitz (Cunningham) and Camille Hill-Long (Jack Cole and Lester Horton). Moss’ performance experience includes Berkeley Ballet Theater, Dancer’s Circle, Halifax Civic Ballet, Atlantic Dance Company and Concept 1. Moss holds Associate degrees in Arts in Humanities and Technical Illustration from Daytona State College. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a BFA in History of Art; receiving the Maybelle M.Toombs Award.
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Olivia Powell is a native of the Boston area and received her ballet training from the Boston Ballet School. She attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts’ dance department and received her BFA with first class honors at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Ms. Powell then joined The Alabama Ballet where she performed in works such as George Balanchine’s "The Nutcracker", as the dew drop fairy, and Tarantella. She also performed in Jiri Kylian’s "Sechs Tanze", as the Cowgirl in Agnes De Mille’s "Rodeo", and Roger Van Fleteren’s Romeo and Juliet and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In 2014, she joined Ballet Memphis where she worked with many choreographers including Mark Godden, Steven McMahon, Uri Sands, Joshua L. Peugh, Gabrielle Lamb, Julia Adam and Julie Marie Niekrasz. She has also choreographed several works for Ballet Memphis’ “Pairings” and The Alabama Ballet’s “Choreographic Showcase”. Since joining Diablo Ballet in 2019, Ms. Powell has performed in ballets by Julia Adam, Val Caniparoli, Sean Kelly, Bruno Roche, Penny Saunders, Sally Streets, Stanton Welch, and Michael Wells. She has danced the female variation in Esmeralda, The Black Swan Pas de Deux in "Swan Lake", Swanhilda in "Coppélia" and in George Balanchine’s "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux" and "Who Cares?". As a teacher, she has been teaching young and adult dancers since 2010 in dance schools and programs all over the country and bay area. Ms. Powell is excited to continue working with Berkeley Ballet Theater's Youth Division and Adult Open Division dancers.
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Benjamin Warner is thrilled to be continuing to teach at Berkeley Ballet Theater this year. A dance teacher, coach and arts administrator, Benjamin serves as the Community Engagement Manager and Rehearsal Assistant at Smuin Contemporary Ballet in San Francisco. He has been teaching ballet for over fifteen years to all ages and levels. His teaching philosophies are rooted in educating dancers so they feel confident enough to take ownership of their own technique, leading to quicker technical progression. Benjamin's classes are informed by ballet history, kinesiology and physics with a large emphasis on musicality..
Accompanists
Daniel Berkman is a San Francisco-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, and accompanist specializing in the Kora (a 21-stringed West African Harp). Daniel has composed many scores for dance and has worked with Bay Area companies and choreographers such as Sara Shelton Mann, Lizz Roman, Dexandro Montalvo, Janice Garrett and Dancers, ODC/Dance, Robin Dekkers and Post:ballet, RAWdance, Diablo Ballet, Dance Theatre San Francisco, and many others. Daniel has produced many acclaimed musical releases, created a soundtrack for the planetarium show “Earth Portal” in collaboration with the Whidbey Geodome Project, and composed the evening length score for Robin Dekkers’ “Alice in Wonderland.”
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Lucy Hudson has been a company pianist for Alonzo King Lines Ballet and a staff accompanist at Berkeley Ballet Theater for over 15 years. Previously she played for dance and theater companies in America and Europe, including San Francisco Ballet and Stadttheater Bern. In addition, she has many years of experience performing as a solo artist, composing for electronic instruments and symphony orchestra, and teaching dance-and-music workshops. Lucy is also the lead author and programmer for Lean And Mean Productions (LAMP), with three music theory apps now in the App Store and a fourth in progress.
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Judith Rosenberg received a B.M. and M.M. in Piano Performance from The Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester. She was on the Mills College faculty as Artis/Lecturer, Music Director in the Dance Department, for 37 years. As of 2001, she has been the principle composer/pianist for silent film at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive. She has performed for silent film at Telluride Film Festival, SF Silent Film Festival, Pordenone Film Festival among others and has recorded for silent film on the Flicker Alley label.
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Sky Tan is a classically trained pianist and watercolor artist who lives and works in Berkeley, California. She is currently a pianist for San Francisco Ballet and Berkeley Ballet Theater. Sky has worked with dance companies since 2004 and continues to write her own compositions and improvisations. She is also a singing pianist working with vocal artists in the Bay Area.
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Isaac Bates-Vinueza lives in Berkeley, California, where he works as a freelance dancer 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, and SFDanceworks, and is a current company artist with Post:Ballet. He was named an Ann and Weston Hicks Choreography Fellow at Jacob’s Pillow in 2022. At BBT, Isaac teaches advanced ballet and men’s technique (batterie).
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Lawrence Chen grew up in Southern California, studying ballet, contemporary, and hip-hop from the age of thirteen under the guidance 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 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. In addition to teaching at BBT, Lawrence dances for Oakland Ballet Company and tutors high school STEM subjects. Lawrence received an Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance by an individual for his work in Oakland Ballet Company’s 22-23 season and is a contributing choreographer to their Angel Island Project.
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Cora Cliburn is originally from Santa Fe, NM, and trained at Moving People Dance, the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program. In 2016, she was recognized as one of DANCE Magazine’s “25 to Watch.” Cora has worked as a company dancer with ODC/Dance, PARA.MAR Dance Theatre, Robert Moses’ KIN, Post:ballet, and EIGHT/MOVES, and has performed with Lil Buck and Jon Boogz, GERALDCASELDANCE, ARCOS Dance, and Ana Teresa Fernández, among others. As an educator, Cora has taught classes and workshops for Stanford TAPS, the LINES Ballet Training Program, ODC, Boston Conservatory, UNCSA, and other schools. Cora is also the Outreach Director for Artists Climate Collective. A 2019 graduate of Stanford University with a B.A. in Environmental Anthropology, she is now a graduate student in Energy & Resources at UC Berkeley. Cora is excited to join BBT’s faculty as a ballet and contemporary dance instructor.
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Colin Frederick (they/he), born and raised in Warrensburg, Missouri began their dance training at Center Stage Academy of the Performing Arts. Colin attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where they obtained a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography. While attending university, they had the privilege to perform in many faculty, undergraduate, and professional companies work - including Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company and MTH Theatre. After graduation, Colin moved to San Francisco, California where they have freelanced with several choreographers and companies including Marika Brussels, Garrett + Moulton Productions, work by Ihsan Rustem and most notably Post:ballet, under the direction of Robin Dekkers. Along with being a company dancer with Post:ballet, Colin is the Assistant to the Directors for Post:ballet and Berkeley Ballet Theater. While freelancing, Colin also produced, choreographed, and performed in a mixed bill performance called neverover : an evening celebrating queer joy and chaos. During this time Colin became a 200-hour certified yoga instructor through the Yoga Alliance. Colin is excited to continue teaching Modern at Berkeley Ballet Theater this season.
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Born in Evanston, Illinois, Isabelle Glavin began dancing at age three and spent twelve years at Dance Center Evanston before joining the Joffrey Ballet Academy in 2014. Isabelle spent summers at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, the Harid Conservatory, Houston Ballet, Canada’s National Ballet School, and the Royal Danish Ballet on full scholarship. Isabelle joined the graduating class of Canada’s National Ballet School and spent two years in the Post-Secondary Program where she performed corps de ballet, soloist, and principal roles. In 2018, Isabelle started her professional career and has worked with Columbia Classical Ballet, Charleston Ballet, San Diego Opera, San Diego Ballet, Peninsula Ballet Theatre, Marika Brussel, and Oakland Ballet Company. Notable roles include Dark Angel in Serenade, Six Swans from James Kudelka’s Swan Lake, La Cigarette in Suite En Blanc, and Surge by Robert Binet at the National Ballet of Canada’s Gala in 2017. Isabelle is excited to continue teaching the Pre-Ballet and Youth Division dancers at BBT this year!
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Xiao Liu-Moore was born in China and began her professional training at 11. She received her B.A. in Ballet Pedagogy from the Beijing Dance Academy and has won prizes in national and provincial dance competitions. She has taught ballet at Berkeley Ballet Theater, Marin Ballet, and Smuin Ballet.
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Coral Rose Martin is a Berkeley native. She trained at Berkeley City Ballet with Grace Doty and Contra Costa Ballet Centre with Richard Cammack and Zola Dishong. After graduating from Harvard University with a degree in social anthropology, Coral went on to produce her own work with her sister, Jetta Martin and perform with Oakland Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, City Ballet of Boston, Robert Moses’ KIN, Capacitor, PUSH Dance, and Alexandra Pirici among others. Coral has had the privilege of teaching for Berkeley Ballet Theater since 2018, serving as School Director for the 2022-23 school year. She has also taught for Boston Ballet School, Shawl Anderson Dance Center, ODC School, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts and many other local and national schools.
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Jackie McConnell, from Salem, Oregon, trained with Pacific Northwest Ballet School and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She danced with Nevada Ballet Theatre, and toured with the Portland-based company, Bodyvox before settling in the Bay Area. She has danced with Company C Contemporary Ballet, Post: Ballet, Oakland Ballet, the San Francisco Opera and is currently a principal dancer with Diablo Ballet, based in Walnut creek. Since joining Diablo Ballet in 2015, Ms. McConnell has performed in works by George Balanchine, Val Caniparoli, Christopher Wheeldon, Julia Adam, Trey McIntyre, Penny Saunders and many other local choreographers. McConnell teaches at several ballet schools in the area and has been a member of the Berkeley Ballet faculty since 2018.
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Moscelyne ParkeHarrison is a choreographer and director from the Berkshires, Massachusetts. She is based in San Francisco where she is the Associate Artistic Director, Resident Choreographer, and company dancer with Post:ballet and a faculty member at Berkeley Ballet Theater. She is also an instructor at LINES Training Program, Equinox, and ODC. She has taught workshops at UC Davis, Berkeley, and Yale University. Moscelyne is a graduate of The Juilliard School (with the Artist as Citizen Award). She has received commissions from Post:ballet, LINES Training Program, Berkeley Ballet Theater, The Juilliard School and Metropolis Ensemble. She is currently in process for an evening length immersive theater show with Post:ballet entitled 'Magma,' as artist in residence at the Midway. Moscelyne’s film ‘say i am you’ was recently selected for the San Francisco Dance Film Festival and Dance Camera West. Moscelyne teaches contemporary dance for the Youth Division, and Adult Open Division dancers of BBT. She loves working with this incredible community of movers and looks forward to the coming season!
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Nicole Townsend was born in San Jose, California. She began formal ballet training at Ballet San Jose at age 7 under the direction of Lise la Cour. At age 15, she went on to extend her training for the next three and a half years at City Ballet School in San Francisco. In 2019 Nicole was then awarded a scholarship to the Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) summer intensive and was subsequently accepted into their Professional Division Program. After Nicole’s first year as a Professional Division student she was awarded a full scholarship to Paris Opera Ballet 2020 summer intensive through PNB and then was later a recipient of the American Friends of Paris Opera Ballet Scholarship Award in 2020. During the Covid quarantine, Nicole completed her second year with PNB over Zoom and then was accepted into Kansas City Ballet Second Company (KCBII) where she performed in Devon Carney’s “The Nutcracker,” Michael Pink’s “Dracula” and Septime Webre’s “Wizard of Oz.” Currently, Nicole is continuing her ballet career as a member of Oakland Ballet Company and recently performed as Marie in Graham Lustig's production of The Nutcracker. Nicole is very excited to join Berkeley Ballet Theater this season and hopes to share her love of dance with her students.
Irina Friedland
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Stephen Mello began accompanying ballet classes at Berkeley Ballet Theater and has since gone on to work at studios across the San Francisco Bay area, among them the SF Ballet School, UC Berkeley, and Marin Ballet. Having trained classically, he has broadened his repertoire from Baroque and Romantic era compositions to music from the great Ballets, Royal Academy of Dance syllabus, jazz standards, pop tunes, and improvised music, to best suit the varying needs of the teachers and classes he accompanies. Having played for classes of all levels of skill, from introductory to professional, and all ages, he strives to provide music that both supports the technical and rhythmic needs of given combinations as well as the artistic and emotional expression of the dancers.
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Federico Strand Ramirez is a Bay Area cellist and San Francisco native. He performs regularly as a member of the Sixth Station Piano Trio, performing mostly at San Francisco’s historic Grace Cathedral. He has also performed with the Sacramento Philharmonic in collaboration with the Sacramento Ballet, Dawson Dance at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Mannes Orchestra at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and has worked as a recording artist for Lisa Bielawa’s piece “Broadcast From Home”, featured at the Guggenheim Museum’s “Works and Processes” series and is now included in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress. He also teaches cello through the San Francisco Symphony’s Mentor in Music program. Federico obtained a Bachelor of Music and Advanced Certificate degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Mannes School of Music in New York City.