Elisa Alexander was born in West Virginia and started dancing at the age of three. She trained at Inwood Performing Arts and the Frederick School of Classical Ballet before leaving home to attend high school at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy on scholarship. She spent two summers at North Carolina Dance Theatre and one at Boston Ballet’s summer program. Elisa recently earned her BFA in ballet at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. While there, she enjoyed dancing roles in Paquita, La Bayadere, Swan Lake, and Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht and Pas de Dix, as well as original works created by CCM faculty. She also choreographed two pieces that were chosen to be performed in the Choreographer’s Showcase at CCM. Additionally, Elisa performed as a guest artist in Dayton Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker. Elisa danced for the Charlottesville Ballet for two seasons. While there, Elisa choreographed and set her original piece En Masse on the company. Elisa is both a dancer and a choreographer for concorDance contemporary.
Ryan “Orion” Beck, of San Diego, California, began his training under the instruction of Teresa Wells before attending the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle. He holds a degree in Ballet from the North Carolina School of the Arts where he studied under the instruction of Melissa Hayden, Warren Conover, Susan McCullough, and Duncan Noble. He has choreographed works seen nationwide in New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Washington DC, North Carolina, and now Virginia. Ryan has been a featured guest artist with San Diego Ballet, Harbor Ballet, Spindle City Ballet, Island Moving Company, and Ballet Rox. He has had works created for him by many contemporary choreographers including Steve Rooks, Lina Puodziukaite, and Lynn Taylor Corrbett. He has partnered members of ABT, Boston Ballet, and New York City Ballet. His roles include Jose Limons Unsung, and Balanchine works including Stars and Stripes, Allegro Brilliante, and Scottish Symphony. In New York, he is a founding Director of FARMdance. Recently he co-founded The Garage in San Diego.
Nicky Coelho began dancing at age five with her mother Sally Hart in Afton, VA. She also studied with the Virginia School of the Arts, Dance Theater of Lynchburg, Maryland Youth Ballet, and the Joffrey Ballet’s summer intensive in New York for five years. She was an apprentice with Charleston Ballet Theatre. While there she performed in the Piccolo Spoleto Festival and in Jill Eathorne Bahr’s Carmen, Cinderella, the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and original solo Honeysuckle Rose. She has studied Capoeira and Afro-Cuban dance and toured with Mikerline Haitian Folkloric Dance Company in New York. She also performed with the Robert Ivey Ballet, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and appeared on Apollo Night. Nicky was an instructor at the Albemarle Ballet Theatre for several years and has choreographed several full length ballets and original contemporary works. Currently she is dancing for James Sewell Ballet in Minneapolis, MN and teaches in the Twin Cities.