IDIOMA
Noun. (plural idiomi) - language, tongue, idiom, expression, region, dialect, of a people : all the things a body can say that words cannot.
Ballet Collective San Diego is proud to present IDIOMA, an evening of dynamic, witty, and diverse contemporary ballet works by local choreographers Paulette Andalon, Tylor Bradshaw, Holly Meacham, Whitney Edwards, and Emily Miller with Guest Choreographer Holly Curran (Metropolitan Opera NYC) & Angela Rebelo with Maxime Guenen (Ballet Théâtre de Grand Genève / Joffrey) .
IDIOMA invites audiences into a tender conversation without words - where dancers and choreographers can share, unencumbered and articulately, their essence through the language of dance. Experience with us what is real and honest between two people sharing space, the rapture in hearing music that is close to us, and the power of many bodies breathing together as one.
Photo by Samantha Zauscher
We’re thrilled to present works for the first time by choreographers from our annual Choreographic Lab which gives time and space without the pressure of a formal performance to dancemakers honing their ideas.
September 27th at 5:00pm & 7:30pm
The Conrad Prebys Center for the Performing Arts, La Jolla, CA
Dancers:
Born in San Diego California and raised in Tijuana BC, Mexico. Paulette began dancing at the age of 4, starting her training at the Escuela de Danza Gloria Campobello, under the direction of Margarita Robles, continuing her training at Marycarmen Profesionales en Danza under the direction of Maria del Carmen Padron. At age 14, she was given the opportunity to live in California to continue her professional career as a full-time dancer at North County Academy of Dance and Lynch Dance Institute. Her training is developed by styles of classical training including Cuban technique, Balanchine and Vaganova.
In 2019 she continued with her training at Golden State Ballet Academy, in the Pre-Professional program for three years under the direction of Raul and Cindy Salamanca where she had the opportunity to participate as a Trainee in Golden State Ballet Company in its inaugural season performing in the Nutcracker and later participating in Valse Fantasie set by John Clifford. After one year under the Trainee program at Golden State Academy, she was promoted to Apprentice at Golden State Ballet by director Raul Salamanca. Her training experience includes Summer and Winter intensives at Cuban National Ballet for three consecutive years, American Ballet Theatre, Paris Marais dance School, Ballet West, and Dutch National Ballet.
Sophia has lived and trained in San Diego all her life. She began dancing at the age of 4 with California Ballet School, and became a California Ballet Company Trainee in 2019. She joined the Golden State Ballet Academy in 2020, where she continued to train until graduation in 2022. She has spent summers with Boston Ballet School and the School of Ballet Arizona, and has had the pleasure of competing at YAGP, California Dance Classics, and various other ballet competitions over the years. As a student, she was given many opportunities to perform in professional ballet productions in San Diego, including The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Cinderella. Sophia joined Golden State Ballet Company as an Apprentice in the 22/23 season, and is very excited to be a member of the Corps de Ballet this year. Sophia is currently enrolled in Cuyamaca College, and in her free time enjoys playing the harp and spending time with her dog Benny.
Whitney Edwards has been a professional ballet dancer, performing for audiences all over the United States. Ms. Edwards began her professional career at the world-renowned Dance Theatre of Harlem, under the direction of Arthur Mitchell. During her 4 years at DTH she had the pleasure of studying under Prima Ballerina Assoluta Eva Evdokimova and Raymond Lukens and also performing a The Kennedy Center Protégé Project. After her time at DTH, Whitney joined Nashville Ballet II, became a company member at Nevada Ballet Theater, The Georgia Ballet, City Ballet of San Diego and California Ballet. Ms. Edwards also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Kennesaw State University. Ms. Edwards hopes to continue sharing her love for the art form of ballet with students and dance enthusiasts all over San Diego County. This is Whitney’s first year choreographing for Ballet Collective.
Sona Jaeger is a native of Japan. She began her ballet training at Hikarigaoka Dance Academy and The Tokyo Ballet School. In 2007, she continued her training at the Princess Grace Academy in Monaco under Marika Besobrasove and Roland Vogel. After Monaco, she went on to train at Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and graduated in 2010.
Sona has danced professionally with Royal Winnipeg Ballet, City Ballet of San Diego, Columbia Classical Ballet, California Ballet, and is currently with Golden State Ballet and SD Collective. She has performed many featured roles such as Pas de Trois in Agon, The Man I Love, Embraceable You in Who Cares?, Walking Pas De Deux in Emeralds, demi solo girl in Walpurgisnacht, Kitri’s friends in Don Quixote, and Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop in The Nutcracker. She was honored to be a part of Jared Nelson’s premieres of Bolero, Cinderella and The Nutcracker.
Sona found her passion for studying the physical form from her professional ballet experience. She trained Pilates with BASI™ (Body Arts and Science International), certified with Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT), and also attended the Russian Ballet Teachers Seminar by Ms. Victoria Schneider who is ballet faculty of The Harid Conservatory. She also teaches at local ballet schools.
Victoria Jenkins is a San Diego native and has been dancing since she was 5 years old after watching a performance of the Nutcracker at the Civic theater in downtown San Diego. She knew she found her passion at a young age and received a scholarship for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School when she was 15. She lived in Canada and graduated from the school with distinction and later joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company who she danced and toured the United States and Canada with until 2018. She moved back to sunny San Diego and continued to dance with California Ballet and later Golden State Ballet. She is also a certified Yoga teacher and enjoys baking and painting.
Ms. Matsuura was born in Irvine, California, and began her dance training with Ms. Hanna Karacic at the age of six. She spent her formative years training in the Vaganova method at Southland Ballet Academy, and furthered her training at summer intensives with American Ballet Theater, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Kirov Academy of Washington, DC, the Rock School for Dance Education, and Oklahoma City Ballet. She completed her BFA in dance performance and choreography with a minor in Spanish at the University of California, Irvine, graduating with honors that included Excellence in Dance Performance (2015); Latin and Campuswide Honors; Phi Beta Kappa; the William J. Gillespie Scholarship in Ballet Studies (2013-15); and the Medici Circle Award (2014). She danced with Orange County’s Festival Ballet Theatre for six seasons, performing principal and soloist roles that included Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote; Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop, and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker; Diamond and White Fairy in Sleeping Beauty; and Monya in Giselle. Her choreography has been performed at UC Irvine, Azusa Pacific University, and Youth America Grand Prix. Ms. Matsuura served as the Director of Corps de Ballet and Youth Division at Azusa Pacific University from 2015-2016 and was on faculty at Southland Ballet Academy for six years before joining Oklahoma City Ballet’s Studio Company in 2017. Ms. Matsuura was promoted to apprentice in 2018 and corps de ballet in 2019. Her teaching certifications include Progressing Ballet Technique and the distinction of ABT® Affiliate Teacher, having completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum and successfully presented students for examination.
Born in Sheffield, England, Holly moved to Southern California with her family when she was 3. She began studying dance at the age of 5 at San Elijo Dance Academy and studied with former Pacific Northwest Ballet Principals Laurie-Michelle and Ben Houk as well as Former Dancer with American Ballet Theater Amanda Cobb. Holly was accepted to and attended numerous elite Summer Intensives including Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Miami City Ballet.
Holly has performed as a Corps De Ballet dancer with Los Angeles Ballet, California Ballet and most recently Golden State Ballet.
Holly has performed in Swan Lake, Balanchine’s Who Cares, Jared Nelson’s Cinderella, Jared Nelson’s Bolero, and The Nutcracker with roles including Clara, Dew Drop, Arabian, Merliton, Spanish, Flowers, and Snow Flakes. She has also performed in original works from local San Diegan choreographers including Ryan Beck, Reka Gyulai, and Amanda Cobb. Holly has enjoyed teaching for many years at studios in San Diego County.
Natasha grew up in Coos Bay, Oregon, where she trained under her mother, Christine Rader along with Angela Steidl. She continued on to train at Marin Dance Theatre with Lynn Cox and Margaret Swarthout for two years before training at Orlando Ballet School, and then moving on to Alberta Ballet School in their Post Graduate Program. Next, she was in the Studio Training Company at Texas Ballet Theater. There she was able to perform in many of Ben Stevenson's ballets including as a Snowflake in The Nutcracker, a soloist in Glazunov Variations, various roles in Alice in Wonderland as well as working with Mr. Stevenson directly to originate a role in his new ballet: Requiem.
Most recently, Natasha joined Golden State Ballet as an apprentice in the 23/24 season. She's been able to perform in Raul Salamanca's Nutcracker and Cinderella, Norbert de la Cruz III's Semblance, and Gabrielle Lamb's Hemidemisemiquaver. She was also able to choreograph for their annual Crafted fundraiser in 2025. Natasha also holds a comprehensive Pilates Certification and is teaching Pilates and freelancing around Southern California.
Emma is a professional ballet dancer and singer originally from Orange County, CA. She trained at the Long Beach Ballet Academy from the age of 6 until she graduated into the corps de ballet of California Ballet in San Diego at the age of 20. She has performed soloist and principal roles such as the Autumn Fairy in Cinderella, Cygnets in Swan Lake, and the Dewdrop and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker at San Diego's Civic Theatre. She exhibited an affinity for music from a young age and honed her skills through the years as a songwriter and singer primarily through self-instruction. She has released original music under the moniker Emma Levant and plans to release another EP in the coming year.
Celyna graduated from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, also known as the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, Russia. She obtained a four-year diploma with qualifications as an artist of ballet and teaching. During her years at the academy, she was blessed to perform in many ballets, including The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Paquita, and Don Quixote. She was also given many opportunities to perform in concerts, in roles such as Esmeralda from Esmeralda, 3rd shade from Bayadere, Carmen from Carmen, and Queen of Dryad from Don Quixote. In addition to classical roles, she performed many character roles. She is very fortunate to have trained with many excellent teachers, including Anna Leonova (first soloist of the Bolshoi Theater), Anna Antonicheva (prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater), Valeriy Anisimov, Tatyana Pashkova, and more. Currently, Celyna dances with Golden State Ballet.
Leah McCall is a professional dancer based in Los Angeles, CA. Leah has danced with Los Angeles Ballet, Boston Ballet, Ballet Project OC, The Realm CO, and a variety of other project based dance companies. Leah's repertoire includes: George Balanchine's ‘Agon’, 'The Four Temperaments’, ‘Concerto Barocco’, 'Divertmento No. 15', 'Who Cares?', 'Western Symphony', 'Serenade', Aszure Barton's ‘Untouched’, and ‘Les Chambres de Jacques’, Alejandro Cerrudo's ‘Lickety Split’, Menghan Lou's 'This is You', and Christopher Wheeldon’s ‘Ghost’, amongst others. Additionally, Leah is signed commercially with Bloc Talent Agency and has made appearances in commercial projects including Jennifer Lopez's Vax Live Global Concert, FIDM’s Virtual Fashion Show, The Masked Singer Season 6, and Kevin Hart's 'What The Fit’ online video series featuring Los Angeles Ballet. She recently had the opportunity to perform live at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, CA, during The Driver Era's 2023 concert tour. Leah has also appeared as a dancer for Sting's opening performance for the International Food and Wine Festival 2023 in the Bahamas. Over 2020 Leah seized the opportunity of the co-founded LA Grooves, a dance company that expanded her artistic involvement through choreographing for productions incorporating dance on film. This experience sparked the initial interest in cinematography and creative production that helped cultivate future LA Grooves and personal projects. Leah’s first commissioned piece was for Hollywood Ballet’s Inaugural Gala, a contemporary ballet piece with a live orchestra that premiered in August of 2023. Leah's educational background includes a degree in Interdisciplinary Professional Studies with an Emphasis in Business Administration from Colorado State University.
Originally from San Diego CA, Patrick received his dance training from The Joffrey Ballet School NYC, and The Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet. He danced with The Sarasota Ballet for six seasons, performing various leading roles by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, Kenneth MacMillan, Agnes Demille, Rudolf Nureyev, and Paul Taylor. He premiered in Fame the Musical en Español and English at the GALA Hispanic theatre in Washington D.C. Recipient of the Helen Hays Awards for Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical. Holds a Guinness World Record for the most ballet dancers en pointe simultaneously. He was featured in ‘Finding Avi’ as part of the La Jolla Playhouse WOW festival. He is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists. Aside from ballet he enjoys dancing electro, popping, krump, and voguing. Currently competing in street style dance battles, and the ballroom scene.
Originally from Conifer, Colorado, Katelyn Cecil is currently a Dancer with the City Ballet of San Diego. Her repertoire with the company includes Divertimento No. 15, Four Little Swans in Swan Lake, Emeralds, Serenade, The Four Temperaments, and other notable works.
Katelyn began her ballet training at the age of four at Belliston Academy of Ballet. She went on to study at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School under the direction of Marjorie Grundvig and Dennis Marshall.
In 2020, Katelyn joined the Trainee Program at Charlotte Ballet, directed by Laszlo Berdo and Kati Hanlon Mayo. During her time there, she had the honor of working with Master Teacher Patricia McBride and performed excerpts from Le Corsaire, Who Cares?, and Raymonda Variations. She later joined Milwaukee Ballet as a second company member, performing in Michael Pink’s Swan Lake as well as contemporary works by Calvin Hilpert and Kristopher Estes-Brown.
Katelyn has also trained at several esteemed summer programs, including those at Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Charlotte Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Northwest Dance Project, and the City Ballet of San Diego.
Works By:
Paulette Andalon || Tylor Bradshaw || Holly Curran || Whitney Edwards || Holly Meacham || Emily Miller
Born in San Diego California and raised in Tijuana BC, Mexico. Paulette began dancing at the age of 4, starting her training at the Escuela de Danza Gloria Campobello, under the direction of Margarita Robles, continuing her training at Marycarmen Profesionales en Danza under the direction of Maria del Carmen Padron. At age 14, she was given the opportunity to live in California to continue her professional career as a full-time dancer at North County Academy of Dance and Lynch Dance Institute. Her training is developed by styles of classical training including Cuban technique, Balanchine and Vaganova.
In 2019 she continued with her training at Golden State Ballet Academy, in the Pre-Professional program for three years under the direction of Raul and Cindy Salamanca where she had the opportunity to participate as a Trainee in Golden State Ballet Company in its inaugural season performing in the Nutcracker and later participating in Valse Fantasie set by John Clifford. After one year under the Trainee program at Golden State Academy, she was promoted to Apprentice at Golden State Ballet by director Raul Salamanca. Her training experience includes Summer and Winter intensives at Cuban National Ballet for three consecutive years, American Ballet Theatre, Paris Marais dance School, Ballet West, and Dutch National Ballet.
Tylor started his ballet career at Lauridsen Ballet Centre under the direction of Diane Lauridsen. There he performed productions of The Nutcracker, Coppelia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter Pan, and numerous new works with South Bay Ballet (now Ballet California). From there he attended Milwaukee Ballet Summer Intensive and Oklahoma City Ballet where he was offered a second company position. With Oklahoma City Ballet’s second company, Tylor performed Swan Lake, The Little Mermaid, La Sylphide, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Firebird, and more. From there he was offered a corps de ballet position with California Ballet in 2019 under the direction of Jared Nelson. He was able to perform in Jared Nelson’s new Nutcracker, works by Andrea Schermoly, Reka Gyulai, Emily Miller, Thom Dancy, and Amanda Daly. Bradshaw retired from professionally dancing in 2022 from Golden State Ballet.
Holly is a choreographer, performer, and artist living bi-coastally between New York City and Southern Oregon. A native of New Jersey she trained and graduated from the Rock School of Dance education, before continuing her professional performance career. Holly is a member of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet at Lincoln Center, and has previously performed with Ballet Austin, Claudia Schreier and Co., New Chamber Ballet, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago amongst others. The time away from the stage during the 2020 Pandemic allowed Holly the opportunity to cultivate her choreographic voice. Holly’s work bridges classical ballet, contemporary dance, and improvisation; and investigates how specific physicality's can result in narrative and emotion. Holly was resident choreographer for the Columbia Ballet Collaborative at Columbia University, NYC in the Spring of 2022. In 2023 Holly received the first joint-commission for music and choreography from the Lake Tahoe Dance Festival, with which she created “Half-Light” in collaboration with composer Doori Na. Additionally her has been presented at the Dancer’s Responding to Aids- Hudson Valley Dance Festival, YAGP, Youth IBC, and in local productions in Southern Oregon where Holly is an guest teacher and choreographer. Holly is thrilled to be working with Ballet Collective SD in their inaugural Choreographic Lab.
Whitney Edwards has been a professional ballet dancer, performing for audiences all over the United States. Ms. Edwards began her professional career at the world-renowned Dance Theatre of Harlem, under the direction of Arthur Mitchell. During her 4 years at DTH she had the pleasure of studying under Prima Ballerina Assoluta Eva Evdokimova and Raymond Lukens and also performing a The Kennedy Center Protégé Project. After her time at DTH, Whitney joined Nashville Ballet II, became a company member at Nevada Ballet Theater, The Georgia Ballet, City Ballet of San Diego and California Ballet. Ms. Edwards also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Kennesaw State University. Ms. Edwards hopes to continue sharing her love for the art form of ballet with students and dance enthusiasts all over San Diego County. This is Whitney’s first year choreographing for Ballet Collective.
Born in Sheffield, England, Holly moved to Southern California with her family when she was 3. She began studying dance at the age of 5 at San Elijo Dance Academy and studied with former Pacific Northwest Ballet Principals Laurie-Michelle and Ben Houk as well as Former Dancer with American Ballet Theater Amanda Cobb. Holly was accepted to and attended numerous elite Summer Intensives including Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Miami City Ballet.
Holly has performed as a Corps De Ballet dancer with Los Angeles Ballet, California Ballet and most recently Golden State Ballet.
Holly has performed in Swan Lake, Balanchine’s Who Cares, Jared Nelson’s Cinderella, Jared Nelson’s Bolero, and The Nutcracker with roles including Clara, Dew Drop, Arabian, Merliton, Spanish, Flowers, and Snow Flakes. She has also performed in original works from local San Diegan choreographers including Ryan Beck, Reka Gyulai, and Amanda Cobb. Holly has enjoyed teaching for many years at studios in San Diego County.
Emily has been turning in circles ever since she learned to walk. After falling in love with classical ballet as a young child, she turned those circles into pirouettes at Performing Arts Workshop in Encinitas. Emily was lucky enough to attend Columbia College Chicago where she earned her BFA in Dancemaking and was supported, shaped, and radically challenged in her training and ideas about what dance was and could be. She has had the immense pleasure and honor of studying under Darrell Jones, Laura Wade, Bonnie Brooks, Carrie Hansen, Peter Carpenter, Dardi McGinley Gallivan, David Dorfman, Larry Rosenberg, Lisa Gonzales, Richard Woodbury, and Kate Corby among others. Emily has since come back to takeover and run Performing Arts Workshop armed with a love for community, a fascination with form/function, and a fervent desire to make as much room for and access to the work as possible. Emily is also the Director of Ballet Collective San Diego.
FOUNDER : Jenny Asseff
A lifelong student of dance, Jenny started as a talented gymnast, but fell in love with dance training at age twelve. She joined the California Ballet Company in 2001 as an apprentice and danced until 2010 as Corps de Ballet. During her tenure with the Company, she performed in a wide array of roles, and was honored with the “Dancer of the Year” for the 2005-2006 Season. She teaches as part of the California Ballet Company and at local studios around Southern California. Her choreography Devil’s Trill, and Surreality were premiered in Tokyo, Japan and Before the Dawn at California Ballet’s popular ‘Beer and Ballet’ program.
She recently founded Ballet Collective SD with her mission devoted to providing a platform for artistic expression and exploration for local artists in these challenging times. Her pride in every member of BCSD matched only by her passion for the art and discipline of ballet.
Jenny holds a B.A. in Dance from Catholic University of Daegu, South Korea, and is certified in the American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum for Primary through level 7, and in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT).
Previous Performances :
3/16/25
The Museum in partnership with Ballet Collective San Diego presents Dances in Light and Space, a set of dances inspired by Foster + Partners: Architecture of Light and Space. See Ballet Collective members perform dancers inspired by the exhibition and choreographed to highlight the Museum’s architecture, as well as the themes seen in Foster’s work, through space, time, sound, and movement.
9/28/25
Ballet Collective’s fourth live performance - RESONANCE at The Conrad Prebys Center for the Performing Arts in La Jolla September 27th at 5:00pm & 7:30pm. “RESONANCE” vibrates with vitality, singing to audiences about what is important to each choreographer and dancer - the rapture in hearing live music, what is real and honest between two people sharing space, and the power of many bodies breathing together as one.
This performance featured works by local choreographers Tylor Bradshaw, Reka Gyulai, Whitney Edwards, Holly Meacham, Emily Miller, and guest choreographer Holly Curran (NYC/OR) as well as the thrilling sounds of special musical guests - The Hausmann Quartet
9/16/2023
Ballet Collective’s third live performance - HEARTBEATS : at the Conrad Prebys Center for the Performing Arts in La Jolla September 2nd at 5:30pm and 8:00pm. “Heartbeats” touches the pulse of what is important to each choreographer and dancer - the rapture in hearing beautiful music, what is real and honest between two people sharing space, and the power of many bodies breathing together as one.
This performance featured full length works by local choreographers Tylor Bradhshaw Reka Gyulai, Silken Kelly, and Emily Miller
7/27/22 & 7/28/22
Ballet Collective’s second live performance - SUMMERSPACE : at Carlsbad Performing Arts Academy Saturday August 27th at 7pm and Sunday August 28th at 4pm.
This performance featured new dance works by local choreographers Tylor Bradshaw, Reka Gyulai, Laurence Gonzalez, Silken Kelly, and Emily Miller.
9/2/2021
Premiere live performance - RECONNECT : an evening at the Conrad - at the Conrad Prebys Center for the Performing Arts in La Jolla September 2nd at 5:30pm and 8:00pm featuring guest choreographer Josie Walsh of Ballet Red and performances by LITVAKdance, and venerated violinist Yale Strom.
This performance also featured works made by local choreographers Tylor Bradshaw, Ana Da Costa & Laurence Gonzalez, Reka Gyulai, and Emily Miller.
2/20/2021
OPEN NOTES is a set of dances composed in the heart of the pandemic - Dec - Feb. 2021 - by dancers and dance makers who had not created or performed in over a year. Click the button to see these dances for $3 a piece.
Special thanks to Josie Walsh of Ballet Red, Reka Gyulai, Jenny Asseff, and Sarah Morgan for sharing their beautiful work with us.