OBT DANCERS
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.
Sergey Kheylik began his ballet training in Voronezh, Russia. At 12, he went to the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow and received a scholarship from the Rudolph Nureyev Foundation to study at the Vienna State Opera Ballet School. In 2000 he won the Hope Prize at the Prix De Lausanne in Switzerland and later studied under the legendary teacher, Peter Pestov, at the John Cranko Ballet Academy in Stuttgart, Germany. During his studies in Germany, he performed in several productions with Stuttgart Ballet and won First prize at the Vienna International Ballet Competition in 2001. In 2002, Yuri Grigorovich awarded him with a Gold Medal at the prestigious Varna International Ballet Competition in Bulgaria. His professional career started shortly thereafter when he guested with Universal Ballet in Korea. In 2003, he joined Vienna State Opera Ballet as a full time company member and was invited to dance in America with Carolina Ballet the following year. Within the past few years, he has been a Principal Dancer and Guest Artist with companies like Los Angeles Ballet, Los Angeles Opera, Cirque Du Soleil, Joburg Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Imperial Russian Ballet.
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.
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.
Company Classes
During Olympic Ballet Theatre’s performance season, approximately 20 weeks per year, OBT offers company morning classes open to professional and pre-professional dancers. Morning classes take place:
Tue-Fri 10am–11:20am
Sat 11:30am-12:50pm
Next session of classes:
October 18–29, 2022
November 15–December 3, 2022
January 17-February 17, 2023
April 11-May 6, 2023
May 16-June 2, 2023
Instructors:
TBA
Cost:
$10 per class
Accepted payment: exact cash or check payable to Olympic Ballet Theatre.
Contact dance@olympicballet.org for more information.
About Trainee Program
The program was established in 2015 to supplement OBT’s productions. The Trainee Program is a 1–2 year program for talented pre-professional dancers, and is an excellent chance to continue education while gaining performing experience.
The program is open to dancers ages 18+ or with a high school degree; trainees must be a United States citizen. Schedule involves partaking in rehearsals and classes with company dancers, and taking advanced Olympic Ballet School classes during performance offseason.
Accepted dancers receive partial and full scholarships to Olympic Ballet School. Dancers may also receive shoes based on experience and circumstance. Please visit Employment Page to learn how to apply for the program.
Trainees

Jacqueline Iwamura