Current Dancers
KELLY DEL ROSARIO (he/him)
Kelly was born and raised in Mililani, HI. He began his studies in Dance in 2001 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and received his BFA in Dance in 2005. Upon graduation, Kelly moved to San Francisco where he has worked with various artists including the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, Project Agora, Sarah Bush Dance Project, Robert Moses’ Kin, project.b, and RAWdance.
CLAIRE FISHER-MENDEZ (she/her)
Claire Fisher-Mendez was born and raised in Tracy, California. She received a majority of her training from Alonzo King LINES Ballet, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, & Northwest Dance Project. Now a dance artist in San Francisco, she has appeared in several works and collaborations with wonderful artists and companies such as Bellwether Dance Project, dazaun.dance, Fullstop Dance, Garrett + Moulton Productions, Liv Schaffer, Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, and RAWdance.
YEBEL GALLEGOS (he/him)
Yebel Gallegos is a dance artist-scholar from the borderlands of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. He played a crucial role in establishing the Cressida Contemporary Dance Company in Yucatán, Mexico, where he served as a dancer, company teacher, rehearsal director, and academic coordinator for the Conservatorio de Danza de Yucatán. While in Mexico, he also helped create and organize the Festival Yucatán Escénica, an international contemporary dance festival hosted by Cressida Danza. In 2019, Yebel concluded a six-year tenure working full-time with the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Yebel has performed works by renowned artists such as Twyla Tharp, Doug Varone, Alwin Nikolais, Ann Carlson, and Daniel Charon, among many others. He has traveled to South Korea, Mongolia, France, Austria, and Chile as an educator and performer. Yebel holds a Master’s in Fine Arts from the University of Washington in Seattle and is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor with the Bard College Dance Program.
CARLY WILLOW JOHNSON (she/her)
A California native, Carly received early training at the age of two. She continued her studies at SOTA, Alonzo King LINES Ballet and completed her BFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. Carly has had the pleasure of working and performing with various artists including Ja’Malik of Ballet Boy Productions, Carmen Rozestraten, Nelly Van Bommel of NØA Dance, Sidra Bell, Andrea Miller of Gallim Dance, Robert Moses’ KIN, Dexandro “D” Montalvo, Tanya Bello’s Project.B, Guilty Pleasures Cabaret, RAWdance and had the opportunity to perform as Baryshnikov’s silhouette in his show Letter to a Man at Zellerbach Theater. In addition, Carly is also a yoga teacher and Reiki healer.
KYLE LIMIN (they/them)
Kyle Limin is an educator, choreographer, and performing artist with a focus on contemporary and hip hop dance. They continue to contribute over fifteen years worth of art to their hometown, San Francisco, and the greater Bay Area. Kyle runs the dance program at Creative Arts Charter School and teaches at several studios in the city.
TAJH MALIK STALLWORTH (they/them)
Tajh Malik Stallworth is a Michigan native who moved to the Bay Area in 2020. They studied dance at Western Michigan University where they performed works by Gerald Arpino, Alonzo King, David Parsons, Nelly Von Bommel, and Lauren Edson and performed as a guest with Danceworks Chicago. They have worked on projects with World Wild Life Fund, HBO, The Seldoms, Mordine & Co, Miss Gay America, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Since moving to the Bay, they have been able to work with Sean Dorsey Dance, Detour Dance, Axis Dance Company, McDonald’s, Tracey Lindsay Chan, CBS network, and San Francisco Pride. Tajh is currently represented by Models Inc. Talent Agency.
NICK WAGNER (he/him)
Nick hails from the Seattle area and earned a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Kinesiology from Chapman University. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2017, he has had the opportunity to perform with several dance companies, most notably RAWdance since 2017. He is also a certified massage therapist (CMT), Responsive Body practitioner, Barnes-style myofascial release therapist, and is training to become a biodynamic craniosacral therapist (RCST). When not in the studio, Nick manages his bodywork practice based in the Castro specializing in compounding conditions, musculoskeletal and postural issues, and trauma-informed autonomic nervous system regulation. For more information, visit nwbodywork.com.
JULIANN WITT (she/her)
Juliann was born in Marin and began dancing at the age of three. As a young dancer she trained at the California Academy of Performing Arts and attended summer programs with American Ballet Theatre and Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Juliann received her BFA in Dance Performance from SUNY Purchase and performed briefly in NYC post graduation. Since returning to the Bay Area she has had the pleasure of dancing with many great artists and companies including DTSF, Nol Simonse, Bellwether Dance Project, Dexandro “D” Montalvo, Fullstop Dance, Robert Moses’ Kin, Liv Schaffer, Concept o4, and the San Francisco Symphony. She has been a member of RAWdance since 2018, and is incredibly grateful to have participated in numerous performances with these extraordinary artists!
KATERINA WONG (she/her)
Katerina (Katie) Wong is a multidisciplinary movement artist, choreographer, and filmmaker. Katie served as a Co-Artistic Director of RAWdance from 2019-2023 and as Associate Artistic Director from 2018-2019. Her work has been commissioned by Pop-Up Magazine, California Academy of Sciences, ACLU of Northern California, FACT/SF, PUSH Dance Company, and more. Katie’s choreography has been presented at Lincoln Center, YBCA, ODC Theater, Z Space, and CounterPulse, as well as in public/alternative spaces including TJPA’s Salesforce Park, Golden Gate Park, Exploratorium, Yerba Buena Gardens, and Fort Mason. As a freelance movement artist, she has performed with more than 15 Bay Area dance companies and is a guest artist with the San Francisco Symphony. Katie graduated from Princeton University and has participated in arts leadership programs by Dance/USA, Women of Color in the Arts, APAP, and Asylum Arts. Her artistic practice is rooted in meaningful collaboration, community bridge building, and physical storytelling — a reflection of her mixed heritage as a first generation, Chinese-American, Jewish artist, and new mom.
ERIN YEN (she/they)
Erin Yen is a mixed-race professional dancer and choreographer currently residing in San Mateo, CA. Since moving to the Bay Area to be closer to extended family, Erin has had the privilege of performing at events such as Margaret Jenkin’s 50th Anniversary Show and Trolley Dances SF, and at venues including Dance Mission Theater, Oakland Theater Project, CounterPulse, and the Green Room. Erin’s choreography has been featured at the FACT/SF Summer Dance Festival, ODC’s State of Play, ODC Pilot Program 73, RAWdance’s Concept Series, SAFEhouse, and Levy Salon. Erin is the founder of contemporary dance company Dragons Dance, 501c3.
STACEY YUEN (she/her)
A Bay Area native, Stacey received her BFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She went on to work with Seán Curran and the Santa Fe Opera, and to travel to Greece to perform in works by Johannes Wieland and Stella Zannou at the one small step dance festival. She spent three seasons as a dancer and rehearsal director with the Sticky Trace Company in Germany. Since returning to the Bay, Stacey has worked with Robert Moses, Katie Faulkner, Jennifer Perfilio, Lenora Lee Dance, Alyssandra Katherine Dance Project, and RAWdance.
LEESHA ZIEBER (they/them)
Leesha Zieber is a white-passing QTPOC dance artist based in San Francisco. They grew up moving and grooving in Santa Cruz before graduating summa cum laude from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in dance and mathematics. Leesha has collaborated with KAMBARA+, ayanadancearts, and Dance Brigade among others. They are excited to be working with RAWdance this season.
Designers
DEL MEDOFF Lighting Designer
Del Medoff is a lighting artist in the Bay Area. He found a passion for lighting dance work in college at Cal Poly Humboldt. In his nearly 2 decade long career in the Bay Area, he has worked with too many companies and people to list here. But some that he has recently worked with are: FACT/SF, Detour Productions, Ars Minerva, Oceanica Ballet, and Bellwether Dance Project.
CHAD OWENS Scenic Designer
Chad has created original staged designs for more than 100 productions, for companies including Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Cal Performances, Aurora Theatre, and West Edge Opera. Set Design and Art Direction for film include Blue Jasmine, Milk (Oscar and Art Director’s Guild noms for best production design), Chasing Mavericks, Haywire, The Pursuit of Happyness (sic), The Wild, Haiku Tunnel, Woman on Top, and Bunraku. Owens has also worked extensively as an Art Director for TV, and an Associate Designer on Broadway. He is based in Oakland.
SURABHI SARAF Composer
Surabhi is a media artist, composer, and performer based in Brooklyn, NY. She is the recipient of the Fleishhacker Foundation Eureka Fellowship Award and the Djerassi Resident Artist award. She is a current resident at Harvestworks NY, and was a 2019 technology resident at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. Saraf has performed at Soundwave Biennial ((8)); Thessaloniki Contemporary Art Biennial, Greece; Currents International New Media Festival, Santa Fe; San Francisco Electronic Music Festival; and Max Mueller Bhavan Goethe Institut, Mumbai and New Delhi, among others. She has had solo exhibitions at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai, and Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco. Her work has been featured in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Blouin Art Info, Art Practical, and KQED Arts. surabhisaraf.net
JOEL ST. JULIEN Composer
Joel is a San Francisco-based composer, musician, songwriter and sound artist who has written music for documentaries, short / feature films, podcasts, and dance. He is a firm believer in experimentation/fusion with acoustic and electronic elements in sound oscillating through escapism and the mysticism of the present tense. www.joelstjulien.com
Photos by Hillary Goidell