Ria Adachi is from the South Bay area in Southern California. She has trained in many styles, such as ballroom dancing, hula, contemporary, jazz, and tap from a young age.  She worked with DDO Agency, where she was cast in the video game Just Dance 2 Kids, as well as a dancer in Mattel commercials. She started ballet at the age of 11 at Anaheim Ballet and Nouveau Chamber Ballet. She performed in ABT’s The Sleeping Beauty in 2014 and at the LA Fashion Show in 2018. In 2016, she was the Grand Prize Winner at SPOTLIGHT.  Ria attended the Bolshoi Ballet Summer Intensive in New York in 2018, where she got invited to study at Moscow State Academy of Choreography in Russia, and graduated in 2022 (Class of A. Antonicheva).  Her repertoire includes Clara, Doll, Snow Queen, and Sugarplum from The Nutcracker as well as contemporary works. She joined OBT in 2022.

Rowan Catel is a Bremerton, Washington native. She began her dance training at the age of five with Liberty Bay Danceworks in Poulsbo, Washington. While there, she trained in many styles of dance, including contemporary and ballet, was invited to join their pre-professional ballet company, Dance Ensemble Northwest, and competitive dance team. Additionally, she has trained with Cornish College of the Arts, DASSdance, and Northwest School of Dance. Rowan has attended summer intensives with Milwaukee Ballet, Summer Dance Lab, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Colorado Ballet, and Burklyn Ballet Theatre. Her repertoire includes works by Oberlin Dance Collective, Trey McIntyre, and several classical ballets. Rowan completed Olympic Ballet Theatre’s Trainee Program in 2018 and is now a member of the company.

Alberto Gaspar is from Mexico City. He received his training at Escuela Nacional de Danza Clásica and Miami City Ballet School and started his career with Miami City Ballet and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Alberto danced with Saint Louis Ballet as a soloist while touring with Gen Horiuchi’s ballet company in Japan. Afterward, he became a member of Ballet Memphis. His repertoire includes many classical ballets, Balanchine ballets, and works by renowned contemporary choreographers. Alberto joined Olympic Ballet Theatre in 2018 and has created several choreographic works for the company.

Borys Iastrub was born in Krivoy Rog, Ukraine. At the age of 10 he was accepted into Kiev State Ballet School. Upon graduating, he accepted a position with the Kyiv National Opera where he danced for 17 years. He was then a ballet master of the Grand Kyiv Ballet, and staged and rehearsed many classical ballets. In 2020 Borys earned a degree as a ballet master and choreographer from the National Academy of Creative Arts and Culture in Kyiev. Additionally, he trained as a partnering teacher at the choreographic school and continues his creative and pedagogical path in the United States after moving here in 2021.

Jacqueline Iwamura began dancing at Queen Emma Ballet in Hawaii at the age of 6. She then returned to her home country of Japan and starting at age 12 received further training from Yuliya Kozlova, former soloist with Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre. From 2013–2015 Jacqueline attended Ballet Hawaii summer intensives and had the opportunity to perform with members of The Washington Ballet in Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland choreographed by The Washington Ballet Artistic Director, Septime Webre. In 2017 Jacqueline performed as Gazmatti in La Bayadereat Kozlova Ballet School alongside principals from Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre. From 2019–2022 she danced at Prima Stella Ballet in Japan under the artistic direction of Takashi Setoguchi. Jacqueline joined Olympic Ballet Theatre’s Trainee Program for the 2022–2023 performance season, and was promoted to company dancer for the 2023–2024 performance season.

Elianna Langley began dancing at Sky Valley Dance at age three. Over the years, she has trained in various dance styles, including ballet, tap, musical theater, contemporary, African, lyrical, and modern. At age eleven, she was invited to dance as a guest in Katy Hagelin Dance Project’s modern production of George McDonald’s Phantastes. She spent several years training under Katy before joining Duvall Performing Arts in their Performance Division, where she performed various leading roles in productions and taught young dancers. In 2017, Elianna participated in the Olympic Ballet School’s Summer Intensive. She completed Olympic Ballet Theatre’s Trainee Program and is now a company dancer with Olympic Ballet Theatre.

Hadley Kaufmann was born and raised in Oakland, California, and received her training from Oakland Ballet School and Contra Costa Ballet. She has spent summers dancing in New York, Philadelphia and Prague. While attending UC Santa Barbara and receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Communication, she trained under Nilas Martins and Monique Meunier and performed works by Balanchine such as Concerto Barocco and Who Cares?. She spent her last semester of University living in Copenhagen where she continued her training at Tivoli Ballet. In 2022, she performed with Peninsula Ballet Theatre in their production of The Nutcracker. Hadley is very excited to be performing with Olympic Ballet Theatre.

Taylor Lim is from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. She began dancing at age four at the Conservatory of Classical Ballet. At 16, she went on to train full-time at the Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program in New York City. Upon graduation, she accepted a position at Sibiu Ballet Theater in Romania, where she performed with the corps de ballet in productions such as La Bayadère, Swan Lake, and Harlequinade. She also danced soloist roles, including Medora in Jardin Anime, the Diamond Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, the 2nd Odalisque in Le Corsaire, and the 2nd Shade in La Bayadère. Taylor toured with Sibiu Ballet Theater throughout Romania and Luxembourg to perform Swan Lake. She joined Olympic Ballet Theatre in the summer of 2021 and is excited to perform with the company.

Mario Manansala has loved moving to the beat of the music from a young age. He has trained in various styles, including ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, modern, tap, Bollywood, lyrical, and musical theater dance. Mario has danced with Moscow Ballet and has attended summer courses with Joffrey Ballet School, ECB, MDA, and International Ballet Theater. He was accepted into Oregon Ballet Theatre School’s and Joffrey Ballet School’s year-round programs on scholarships. He joined Continuum Dance Company in 2019 and Syncopation Dance Company in 2020. Mario had the pleasure of working with Deborah Hadley, Eva Stone, Julie Tobiason, Nastya Gnatyshyn (from Moscow Ballet), Nicole Ciapponi (from Joffery Ballet), Josie Welsh (ballet red), Angela Rebelo (State Street Ballet), Karl Watson (Whim W’him), Gillmer Duran (Ballet Arizona), Valery Lantratov (former principal ballet dancer with the Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet and Kremlin Ballet and general director of the Russian National Ballet Foundation), and other notable individuals. He has participated in dance events such as CHOP SHOP: Bodies of Work, BoostMeUP, Dance to Make a Difference, and has performed in professional music videos and commercials.

Carlos Narvaez began his ballet training at age 18 at the Academy of Ballet San Francisco under Richard Gibson and Zory Karah. There, he danced with the school’s nonprofit company, Chamberdance SF. In addition, Carlos has had the opportunity to participate in ProDanza’s summer intensives in Cuba under Laura Alonso while performing with their company, as well as Burklyn Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive in Vermont. He has danced professionally with Peninsula Ballet Theatre, Bay Pointe Ballet, and Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre. Carlos joined Olympic Ballet Theatre in 2017.

Liliia Yastrub was born in Donetsk, Ukraine, Liliia began studying ballet at the Vadim Pisarev Choreographic School. At 16, she began her career with the National Opera and Ballet Theater in the city of Donetsk and later moved to Kyiev to work with the Kyiv Ballet Company. Liliia has participated in numerous international festivals and tours. She holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in dance from The University of Luhansk. In 2021 she moved to the United States, where she continues her journey as a ballet dancer and educator.