Olympic Ballet Theatre

OBT Dancers and Trainees

Airi Miyata is from Osaka, Japan and she began her dance training at the age of 3 at Tamaki Ballet School and the Soda Ballet School. At the age of sixteen she moved to Canada to further her training at the Victoria Academy of Ballet, continuing on to graduate from the Post Secondary Bridge Program in 2017. Airi was ranked top 12 in the Senior Level Contemporary category at the 2015 YAGP Seattle regionals, and in 2016 she received top 12 ranking in both the Senior Level Classical and Contemporary categories. She also participated in the Ensemble category at YAGP, her group taking first place at the Seattle YAGP competition in both 2016 and 2017.

Joshua D. Deininger is from Helena, MT where he first began his ballet training. Later he spent his summers training at Ballet Chicago under former NYCB dancer Daniel Duell and in fall of 2007 Deininger went to Southern Methodist University to pursue a B.F.A. in Dance Performance. Deininger has a varied repertoire, including concert pieces such as Balanchine’s Serenade, Paul Taylor’s Cloven Kingdom, and Ben Stevenson’s End of Time and he has danced lead roles in many classical ballets, including The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dracula, and Cinderella. Deininger has appeared with many companies throughout the Pacific Northwest, however, this is his first season dancing with Olympic Ballet Theatre and he is pleased to be here.

Rowan Catel is a native of Bremerton, Washington. She began her dance training at Liberty Bay Danceworks in Poulsbo Washington at the age of five studying ballet, modern, contemporary, hip-hop and jazz. She has continued her training most recently at Northwest School of Dance in Bremerton. Rowan has attended summer intensives with Milwaukee Ballet, Summer Dance Lab where she apprenticed with the Oberlin Dance Collective, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Colorado Ballet. Rowan has completed Olympic Ballet Theatre’s Trainee Program, and is now a company dancer with Olympic Ballet Theatre.

Elianna Langley began dancing at Sky Valley Dance at age three. She has trained in various dance styles over the years including ballet, tap, musical theater, contemporary, African, lyrical, and modern. At age eleven she was invited to dance as a student guest in the Katy Hagelin Dance Project’s modern production of George McDonald’s Phantasties in the role of a woodland fairy. Most recently, Elianna has been dancing at Duvall Performing Arts in their Performance Division, and has enjoyed performing in various roles in their productions and teaching the younger dancers. Elianna participated in Olympic Ballet School’s summer intensive in 2017, completed Olympic Ballet Theatre’s Trainee Program, and is now a company dancer with Olympic Ballet Theatre.

Carlos Narvaez began his ballet training at age eighteen, at The Academy of Ballet San Francisco under Richard Gibson and Zory Karah. There, he danced with the school’s nonprofit company, Chamberdance SF, performing works by Richard Gibson, Joshua Trader, Elizabeth Gravelle, and Mary Ellen Hunt, including excerpts from The Nutcracker, Por Vos Muero, Raymonda, Les Patineurs, and Etudes. In addition, Carlos has also participated in ProDanza’s summer intensives in Cuba, under Laura Alonso. He has danced professionally with Peninsula Ballet Theatre, Bay Pointe Ballet, and guests with San Francisco Bay Area ballet schools. This is Carlos’s second season with Olympic Ballet Theatre.

Alberto Gaspar is from Mexico City, and he received his training at Escuela Nacional de Danza Clásica and Miami City Ballet School. He started his career as an apprentice with Miami City Ballet in 2008, then joined the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in 2009. Gaspar spent three years in Japan with Horiuchi Ballet while also dancing as a soloist with Saint Louis Ballet. In 2013, he became a member of Ballet Memphis, dancing there until last season. His repertoire includes many classical ballets, Balanchine ballets, and works by renowned contemporary choreographers.

Victoria Gutierrez received her professional training at Academia de la Danza Mexicana del INBA, where she graduated with a BFA in Classical and Contemporary Dance. In 2007 she moved to Seattle where she has performed for numerous dance companies including International Ballet Theater, Evergreen City Ballet, ARC Dance, City Opera Ballet and Katy Hagelin Dance Project. Victoria also has been invited to choreograph for shows in Seattle such as “Le Faux,” “Bohemia,” “Exposure 2017,” and “Restart”.

Christine Humbach grew up in Wilmette, IL studying ballet at Chicago Ballet Arts and Center of Creative Dance. She graduated with a BFA in Dance from University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. During her studies she had the privilege of training in Glasgow at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Christine has danced professionally with Ballet Theatre of Maryland under the direction of Dianna Cuatto, as well as with Chicago Repertory Ballet, under Wade Schaaf. Christine’s repertoire includes a variety of classical and contemporary works, the most memorable include Dark Angel in Balanchine’s “Serenade” and as a featured couple in Hubert Essakov’s “Monad.” She is very excited to be joining Olympic Ballet Theatre this season.

Tony Lee is a California native who started his dance training at age 18 at Anaheim Ballet, and later trained with Runqiao Du and Susan Mann at Towson University. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University with degrees in Computer Science and Film & Media Studies, Tony became a trainee, and later a second company member, with American Repertory Ballet (ARB) in Princeton, New Jersey. Through his career, Tony has performed with VT Dance, Goucher College, SLAM Hip Hop Dance Group, Centenary Stage Company, Connecticut Ballet, and Connecticut Theater Dance. Tony is very excited for his first season as a company member with Olympic Ballet Theatre.