Teachers

Adrianna Audoma is a Portland based dance artist with 20 years of dance experience, ranging from classical ballet training to highly athletic contemporary modern work to various improvisational studies. Adrianna has been a collaborative member of Tongue Dance Project since 2016 and is currently co-producing...

Natalia Bar was born in Odessa, Ukraine. She graduated Odessa Ballet Academy where she studied with Alla Ryndina, a former pupil of Vaganova. Ms. Bar was invited to join Odessa National Theater of Opera and Ballet, where she danced classical and contemporary repertoire by choreographers...

Quincie Bean was raised in Utah and began dancing at the age of three. She completed her pre-professional training at Provo Civic Ballet before moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico. There, she joined Modas Dance’s year-round program in Santa Fe. Her next move took her to Chicago where she danced for Cocodaco Dance Project, NOW Dance Project, and Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre.

Armando Gómez Brydson was born in Camagüey, Cuba, and studied at the Vicentina de la Torre Academy of Arts. He began his career as a dancer with Endedans Contemporary Ballet and later joined Malpaso Dance Company.

James Canfield was born in Corning, New York and received his early dance training at the acclaimed Washington School of Ballet. After joining the Washington Ballet in Washington, D.C., he joined the Joffrey Ballet. He was appointed Oregon Ballet Theatre’s (OBT) Founding Artistic Director and served in that role from 1989 to 2003. Mr. Canfield choreographed
over 30 ballets for the year-round company and established the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre.

Christopher Carvalho, originally from St Louis, Missouri, began dancing early in his life at Renee Johnson’s Dance Studio in Ellisville, Missouri. Growing up, Christopher was a competition dancer studying jazz, ballet, hip hop, tap, modern, partnering, and ballroom while playing soccer and running short-distance track...

Born in Taipei, Taiwan. LeeWei Chao started his ballet training at age 15. In 1996, LeeWei joined Joffrey Ballet Concert Group in New York City, followed by dancing with Joffrey Ballet Chicago, and Milwaukee Ballet. He started his choreography work while he was dancing with Milwaukee Ballet Company. LeeWei was featured in the August 2018 issue of Dance Teacher Magazine.

In addition to teaching ballet classes for youth and adults at NW Dance Project, Casey Davenport is the Director of Ballet + Pointe at Innovative Dance, DOTY Performance/Dance, and is senior ballet faculty at Chehalem Valley Dance Academy (CVDA) encompassing over 15 years at the front of the studio. Casey has taught on faculty at Stites Dance Center and Da Vinci Arts Middle School. Casey’s joy in ballet is impacting as many students as possible with quality, conceptual training, and humor.

One of Portland’s most popular hip hop dance teachers, Mariecella Devine, has taught hip hop in the Portland Metro area for over 20 years. Mariecella has performed and collaborated with Michael Curry in his production of Spirits, and with James Canfield, founding Oregon Ballet Theatre Artistic Director, in his world premiere of CQ (Charmed Quark) at the American Choreographers Showcase and the Joyce Theater in New York City.

Beatriz García Díaz was born in Havana, Cuba, and began her dance education at the National Ballet School and the University of Arts of Cuba. She started her professional career as a dancer with Danza Teatro Retazos Company, where she spent three years working with...

Kylie Dimick, from Soldotna, Alaska, began dancing at age three and trained under notable teachers such as Diana Brooks, Aram Manukyan, Clayton Cunningham, and others. In 2018, Kylie graduated from Boise State University with a Bachelor of Science and Minor in Dance, joining Idaho Dance Theatre while earning her degrees. Kylie also serves as NW Dance Project’s Education Coordinator.

Bee Fadden was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. They started dancing when they were only two years old and quickly fell in love with the art. They started with ballet then branched out to study contemporary, jazz, tap, and hip hop as well. Throughout...

Ingrid Ferdinand, a Chicago native, began dancing at the age of three at the Academy of Movement and Music. She later trained at The Chicago Academy for the Arts and Marymount Manhattan College, before joining Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s “HSPro” in 2018.

From Madison, Wisconsin, Madeline Gambino began training at the School of Madison Ballet under artistic director W. Earle Smith, later joining the pre-professional company for two seasons. After three years of studying dance and arts administration at Butler University’s nationally recognized dance program on an academic scholarship, she studied at University of Oregon and joined Ballet Fantastique in Eugene as a company artist for two seasons.

Makino Hayashi is a choreographer, dancer, and filmmaker based in Portland, OR. She was born in Kumamoto, Japan where she began ballet at Kumamoto Ballet Studio at the age of nine. She moved to the U.S. when she was nineteen years old and danced professionally...