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MEET THE FACULTY

The Center employs over 60 outstanding and committed teaching artists throughout its programs.

They provide the students with state of the art training and are mentors in every sense of the word.

Many of East Bay Center’s faculty are also performing artists, who rely on performances and gigs for their livelihood, and have been hit hard by COVID-19. We asked our faculty to share what it means to them to be an artist during this time. Watch some of their responses below.

AKWASI ABREFAH
Steel pan, Director of Bloco Steel Pan Ensemble

AKWASI ABREFAH

Akwasi Abrefah is a steelpan player who performs and teaches in the Bay, as well as around the world.

Akwasi Abrefah is a steelpan player who performs and teaches in the Bay, as well as around the world. He was born in Oakland, CA, and raised in Richland, WA where, at the age of 9, he started playing steelpan. Through middle school and high school, he traveled around the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. playing with bands OK 2 Botay and Bram Bratá before continuing with Cardinal Calypso in college at Stanford University where he also graduated with a B.S. in Earth Systems. Akwasi currently wears many hats lecturing at Stanford University, teaching elementary school music in Richmond, coordinating college application preparation at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, holding private lessons, and apprenticing as a steelpan builder.

PHILIP AMO AGYAPONG
African Music and Dance

PHILIP AMO AGYAPONG

Philip enthusiastically shares his wide range of gifts- as educator, dancer and choreographer.

Philip enthusiastically shares his wide range of gifts as an educator, dancer, and choreographer. Currently teaching music and dance at Stege and Verde Elementary Schools, Philip brings his dual passion for arts and education into each of his classes. Before coming to the Bay Area, Philip worked in his native Ghana where he studied and taught Dance and Choreography. A recent highlight was his contribution to “Amazing Child,” a popular Ghanaian reality television show. In addition to teaching, Philip continues to practice his craft as a performing dancer and choreographer.

FRANCIS KOFI AKOTUAH
West African Drumming

FRANCIS KOFI AKOTUAH

As a drumming instructor, Francis has mentored many of Ghana’s up-and-coming performers and introduced countless students from around the world to Ghanaian traditions.

Born and raised in the melting pot neighborhood of New Town, Accra, Francis grew up surrounded by the sights and sounds of all of Ghana’s many ethnic groups. As a drumming instructor at the University of Ghana for almost two decades, he has mentored many of Ghana’s up-and-coming performers and introduced countless students from around the world to Ghanaian traditions. He regularly performs with many of Ghana’s leading traditional and neo-traditional ensembles and Afropop bands in North America, and he has performed, taught master classes, and conducted workshops at universities throughout the US and Canada, including McGill, Tufts, Wesleyan, SUNY Stony Brook, Mount Holyoke, Brandeis, UC Irvine, and CalArts. A newcomer to the Bay Area, he is also teaching at the University of San Francisco and Mills College.

 

Bryan Alvarez
Trombone (Brass)

BRYAN ALVAREZ

Bryan Alvarez is an educator, entrepreneur, researcher, and professional musician.

Akwasi Abrefah is a steelpan player who performs and teaches in the Bay, as well as around the world. He was born in Oakland, CA, and raised in Richland, WA where, at the age of 9, he started playing steelpan. Through middle school and high school, he traveled around the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. playing with bands OK 2 Botay and Bram Bratá before continuing with Cardinal Calypso in college at Stanford University where he also graduated with a B.S. in Earth Systems. Akwasi currently wears many hats lecturing at Stanford University, teaching elementary school music in Richmond, coordinating college application preparation at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, holding private lessons, and apprenticing as a steelpan builder.

 

Kwesi Anku
West African Music and Dance

KWESI ANKU

Kwesi Anku is the Center’s Director of Student Development and Training in addition to maintaining classes as a West African drumming and dance instructor.

Kwesi Anku received his training in West African music, dancing and drumming at the University of Legon, Ghana. After obtaining his BFA in Dance in 2004, he became a teaching assistant for the School of Performing Arts, working with local students and study abroad participants, namely from: UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford and San Francisco State University. He is also an accomplished performer, having performed with the Ghana Dance Ensemble and the Performing Arts Workshop, two of Ghana’s most prestigious dance ensembles. Since moving to the East Bay, he worked for World Arts West and the SF Ethnic Dance Festival.  Kwesi was promoted to become the Center’s  Director of Student Development and Training –in addition to maintaining classes as a West African drumming dance instructor. Kwesi is also a principal dancer in CK Ladzekpo’s West African Music and Dance Ensemble.

tiffany austin
Voice

TIFFANY AUSTIN

Tiffany Austin had sung on three continents- around her native Los Angeles, then for a year in London, and for five and a half years in Tokyo- before setting music aside upon being accepted in 2009 to Law School.

Tiffany Austin had sung on three continents- around her native Los Angeles while attending college, then for a year in London, and eventually for five and a half years in Tokyo- before setting music aside upon being accepted in 2009 at the University of California’s Boalt School of Law in Berkeley. Yet the itch by the music bug never went away, and a year into her law studies, she enrolled on a full scholarship in a local music school, where her refreshingly original singing style attracted the attention of such innovative young San Francisco Bay Area bandleaders as bassist Marcus Shelby, and tenor saxophonist Howard Wiley. Although she did earn a Juris Doctorate in 2012, while her peers were taking the bar exam, Austin decided instead to devote her life to her first love: Music.

Leslie Carter
West African Dance

LESLIE CARTER

Ms. Carter has been teaching at East Bay Center for many years, mainly as part of our School and Neighborhood Partnerships program, where she teaches West African dance to K-5 children at WCCUSD schools in Richmond.

Ms. Carter‘s passion for dance started as a child, when her mother bet her $20 that she would take ballet classes for a year without quitting. She won the bet and from there she continued to pursue dance in college, with several dance groups at San Francisco State, exploring other styles such as Jazz and Modern. It was there she was introduced to the work of two of her inspirations, acclaimed choreographers and anthropologists, Katherine Dunham, whose specialty was Haitian Dance, and Pearl Primus, who studied Afro-Caribbean and other African American Dance styles. While at San Francisco State, she started to learn from renown Congolese dancer Malonga Casquelourd, and that is when she knew that Pan-African dance was her calling. Since then Ms. Carter has performed with a number of dance companies including Wajumbe Cultural Dance Ensemble, Diamano Coura Dance Company, and Harambee Dance Company, among others. She has also performed both locally and internationally and has had the opportunity to go as far as Lagos, Nigeria to teach and dance.
Ms. Carter has been teaching for 43 years and has taught at numerous schools around the Bay Area. In 1989, Ms. Carter founded her own dance company for young women called African Queens Dance Company, which has performed around the Bay Area at San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Oakland’s Festival by the Lake, and many other events. They were also invited by the Chinese government to perform in Beijing for the International Tourism festival. In 1999, Ms. Carter received an official commendation from the City of Oakland for her work in the Community. Ms. Carter is dedicated to making sure the young women in her dance company have the tools to go on to attend college or have gainful employment. The philosophy of African Queens is the “beyond the discipline engendered by the dance form, the girls have developed greater self-esteem, self-confidence, appreciation and respect for themselves and for others.”
Jason Chiu
Piano

JASON CHIU

Jason Chiu has been a Piano Instructor with EBCPA since 2006. He has a B.A. of music degree from UC Berkeley and a M.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Jason Chiu has been a Piano Instructor with EBCPA since 2006. He has a B.A. of music degree from UC Berkeley and a M.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Jason has received numerous prizes in local competitions and has performed with the University Symphony Orchestra at UC Berkeley. He was a recipient of the Eisner Award for achievement in the creative arts while attending Berkeley. Jason earned his M.M. in 2004 studying with Dr. Sharon Mann, and has been teaching piano ever since. He has performed at the Aspen Music Festival and the Bowdoin Festival in Maine, and internationally in China and Taiwan.

Ruthie Dineen
Piano

RUTHIE DINEEN

Ruthie Dineen, MSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, pianist, composer, parent and Executive Director at East Bay Center.

Ruthie Dineen, MSW,  is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, pianist, composer, parent and Executive Director at East Bay Center. Ruthie grew up in the Bay Area; her mother’s family is Salvadoran and her father’s Irish-American. Bilingual in Spanish and English, Ruthie is now learning Hebrew with her daughter, Amaya!  Ruthie has a BA in music and history from UC Berkeley, her master’s degree in social work from Cal State East Bay, and her BFA in piano and jazz studies from the California Jazz Conservatory. Ruthie is also a founding member and co-leader of two original music ensembles, Negative Press Project and RDL+, with whom she performs, tours, arranges, and composes regularly. Dineen performs, arranges and composes for a wide range of jazz, Latin, salsa, and classical musicians and groups in the Bay Area, including vocalist/percussionist Christelle Durandy, members of the Amaranth String Quartet, and Bululú. Ruthie has worked at the Center since 2009 and believes strongly in the Center’s mission, vision, and values, including the transformative power of the arts. Ruthie has been involved in several community-driven initiatives, including serving on the Executive, Sustainability, and Steering Committees of Healthy Richmond, as well as a member of the Invest in Youth Coalition in Richmond, and the planning group for the Blueprint to Prevent Interpersonal Violence in Contra Costa County.

Mestre Calango
Capoeira, Samba

SEBASTIAO FELIX

Sebastiao Felix, known in the Capoeira world as Mestre Calango, began training Capoeira music and movements at 7 years old.

Sebastiao Felix, known in the Capoeira world as Mestre Calango, began training Capoeira music and movements at 7 years old in his native town in the state of Piaui in the Northeast of Brazil.. He received his formatura in the US under Mestre Acordeon in the late ‘90s and title of Mestre in the early 2000’s, but has been teaching since he was 18 years old. He was featured in signature productions of Mestre Acordeons’ in partnership with CK Ladzekpo – Warriors at the Edge of the Rain Forest (1991) and Konyifafa- produced by East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, as well as workshops, shows, and films throughout the world. Mestre Calango has taught in Chicago, Colorado, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Brazil and has been teaching at East Bay Center on and off since 2002.

MARA FOX
Trombone

MARA FOX

Mara is an established freelance trombonist and educator in the Bay Area. For more than 25 years she has amazed audiences all over the world.

Mara is an established freelance trombonist and educator in the Bay Area. For more than 25 years she has amazed audiences all over the world, working in Jazz, R&B, Latin and Classical genres. Mara recorded and toured internationally with Conjunto Cespedes, and with the Klezmorim. Locally, she plays with a wide variety of well-known groups including the 2013 Grammy Award Winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra, the Montclair Women’s Big Band, and The Purple Ones. She has also played with groups like the Berkeley Symphony, the San Francisco Sinfonietta, the Mike Vax Big Band, and the Bay Area Salsa all-Stars. Mara has a private trombone studio, and also teaches at St. Theresa School and Head Royce School in Oakland. She has been a faculty member at the Stanford Jazz Workshop, and for Jazz Girls Days at Berkeley High School and SFJazz Center.

Dance

JENELLE GAERLAN

Jenelle Gaerlan (she/they) is a multi-disciplined creative, dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist from Portland, Oregon. Jenelle’s dancing comes from a place of coexistence and interconnectivity between movement languages.

Jenelle Gaerlan (she/they) is a multi-disciplined creative, dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist from Portland, Oregon. Having trained in contemporary, jazz, modern, ballet, hip hop, house, waacking and movement improvisation/freestyle, Jenelle has done work for Nike Inc., DarVejon Jones Dance Ensemble, BodyVox Dance Company (under Emmy Award-winning choreographers Jamey Hampton and Ashley Roland), Soulskin Dance, Fray Show by CandyBomber Productions (2022 premiere at Stanford Live), and Robert Moses’ KIN Dance Company.

Jenelle’s dancing comes from a place of coexistence and interconnectivity between movement languages. The way she reveals her experience through movement and storytelling bleeds into their teaching practices in the classroom. How can we tell our stories, while applying new information in class to deepen the quality of our narratives outside of that space? Using house dance philosophies (a club dance style centered around the music, footwork, grooves and the cypher/circle) as a focal point for her curriculum, Jenelle looks forward to facilitating a creative approach towards music and dance in her classes at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts.

Jenelle currently teaches Hip Hop & House Dance Fundamentals for Teens at LINES at the Alonzo King LINES Dance Center (SF Dance Center) as well as the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, CA. She has taught workshops at the late MVMNT Arts Academia in Albany, CA, at Mark Sanchez (aka Hippie’s) Soul Movement Retreat, Rae Studios SF, and also at the University of San Francisco. As a professional dancer, she currently dances for Robert Moses’ KIN and is fascinated by the intersection of music, visual media and movement. With expertise in dance, choreography, video production, design and creative direction, she is based in the Bay Area to build and connect with other multifaceted artists.

DOLORES "LOLIS" GARCÍA
Son de la Tierra, Co-Director

DOLORES "LOLIS" GARCÍA

A talented musician and dancer, Lolis has mastered multiple string and percussion instruments associated with the son of Mexico.

A native of the Bay Area, Lolis García received her BA in Psychology from the University of San Francisco. A talented musician and dancer, Lolis has mastered multiple string and percussion instruments associated with the son of Mexico. She has been with the Center for 21 years, studying and teaching Mexican music and dance, hip-hop, modern dance and West African dance, both at the main site and after-school programs. In 2009, she participated in EBCPA’s joint production, Yanga, with the Oakland Museum of Art. The program was an exploration of the crossroads of Mexican and African traditional music. In 2004, she received an Alliance of California Traditional Arts grant for an intensive master-apprentice program where she studied with Artemio Posadas. She is currently part of Tarimba a musical project that focuses on Son Jarocho.

Theater

NORMAN GEE

Norman Gee has worked in Bay Area Theater for over twenty years. As Artistic Director of the Oakland Public Theater, Gee brought “a different kind of Black theater” to the Bay

Norman Gee has worked in Bay Area Theater for over twenty years. As Artistic Director of the Oakland Public Theater, Gee brought “a different kind of Black theater” to the Bay through contemporary playwrights like Jeannie Barroga, Wendy Belden, Rickerby Hinds, Thandiwe deShazor and Richard Talavera, as well as fresh takes on August Strindberg, Eugene O’Neill and Thornton Wilder. Gee has also developed and directed original pieces with the Bay Area Playwrights Foundation, CentralWorks, Berkeley’s Hillside Club, Peralta Historical House, Oakland Museum, City of Oakland, SF PlayGround, StageBridge, and Play Cafe. He has performed with local companies including the Lorraine Hansberry Theater, Shotgun Players, CalShakes, SF Shakes, TheatreWorks, Thick Description and Word for Word. In recent years he has been onstage in as Michael in GOD OF CARNAGE @ the Shelton Theater in SF, EMMITT & AVA @ the Beverly Hills Playhouse-SF, appeared with Ubuntu Theater in DEATH OF A SALESMAN, and as Touchstone in AS YOU LIKE IT with Free Shakespeare in the Park. Back in the day Gee played dabbled in all things theater, such as Bay Area TheatreSports (BATS Improv), the AfroSolo Performing Arts Festival, Japanese theater at the Noh Space in SF, even the Lighthouse for the Blind. More recently it’s been sketch comedy with Shotz-SF and other shows @PianoFight, webisodes and strange international art-film projects. Norman continues to collaborate as an actor and director with SF PlayGround, and with the Stagebridge Company. Working as a Teaching Artist, Norman enjoys offering his insights into Acting, Shakespeare & Playwrighting. He has proudly taught Playmaking to incarcerated teens through Each One Reach One (eoro.org) for many years, and runs a summer theater intensive for young writers and actors through the Eugene O’Neill National Foundation. In addition to being on the faculty of the East Bay Center for Performing Arts, Gee teaches at Nueva School, and has recently joined the theater faculty of the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts.

Dance, School Partnerships

EMILY HANSEN

Emily is a dancer and instructor trained primarily in ballet and modern dance who believes that the arts provide needed avenues for engaging in healing journeys, sharing stories, and building community.

 Emily is a dancer and dance instructor based in the Bay Area. She believes that dance and the arts provide much needed avenues for engaging in healing journeys, sharing stories, and building community. She holds a BA in Dance and Performance Studies from UC Berkeley, and an MS in Dance/Movement Therapy from Sarah Lawrence College. Her dance experience included being a youth company member with the Merced Civic Ballet, and training in a variety of modern dance forms under many artists at UC Berkeley. Emily currently teaches modern dance and ballet with the East Bay Center and works as a dancer with Joe Landini Dance and eMotion Arts.

Joe Kelly
Steel Pans, Richmond Bloco Steel Band Director

JOE KELLY

Joe Kelly moved to the Bay Area in October 2003 after spending seven years post baccalaureate studying the physics and mechanics behind the steel drum.

Joe Kelly moved to the Bay Area in October 2003 after spending seven years post baccalaureate studying the physics and mechanics behind the steel drum. Combining the latest technology and innovations, with a meticulous eye for detail, Joe produces some of the finest steel drums available today. Joe speaks regularly at schools and universities, giving clinics and workshops pertaining to tuning, performance, history, and culture. Joe has performed internationally with artists and ensembles like Pan Harmony, Panyard All-Stars, Island Grooves, Greg Pare’ Quartet, Mariachi Libre, Wynnona Judd, Burt Bacharach, Pink Martini and locally with the Napa Valley, California, and San Francisco Symphonies. This past year Joe performed a concerto for pan, accompanied by the 60 member chorus, Viva la Musica. Joe enjoys teaching music at Bahia Vista Elementary School and has been Director of the East Bay Center’s Steel Band program since 2010.

Dance

Shahrzad Khorsandi

Shahrzad Khorsandi, an Iranian dance artist, is the artistic director of Shahrzad Dance Company, co-founder of the online teaching platform, Iranian Dance Academy, the author of the book, The Art of Persian Dance, and a member of an international research team, studying the effects of dance on the brain.

Shahrzad Khorsandi is an Iranian-born dancer and choreographer residing in California. She studied Modern Dance and Performance Art at CalArts, and holds a BA in Dance, and an MA in Creative Arts from SFSU. Shahrzad has been faculty at several colleges in the Bay Area and teaches and performs Iranian dance globally. She has drawn upon her experience in Iranian culture, and her formal dance training, to create a dance vocabulary and pedagogy for Iranian dance as a means of emotional expression. She is the artistic director of Shahrzad Dance Company, co-founder of the online teaching platform, Iranian Dance Academy, and a Teaching Artist for Youth in Arts and East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. Shahrzad is the author of the book, The Art of Persian Dance, and a member of an international research team, studying the effects of dance on the brain.

EMILY RYAN KUSNADI
Voice/General Music

EMILY RYAN KUSNADI

Emily began singing as a child with the San Francisco Girls Chorus and has continued to sing professionally with many local ensembles. She is proud to bring music to elementary schools in Richmond.

Emily is proud to be working with the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, bringing music education into elementary schools in Richmond. Emily began singing as a child with the San Francisco Girls Chorus and has continued to sing professionally with many local ensembles, including the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Volti, and the Schola Cantorum at The Cathedral of Christ the Light. In addition to teaching classes for the East Bay Center, she is also a Prep Chorus Director at the San Francisco Girls Chorus and is on faculty at the Pacific Boychoir Academy, where she teaches musicianship at the day school and directs after-school choirs. Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from San Francisco State University and a Masters in Music Education from Holy Names University.

Betty Ladzekpo
West African Music and Dance Ensemble Co-Director

BETTY LADZEKPO

Betty has been with East Bay Center since 1985. Ms. Ladzekpo is a Core Faculty Member of the Center, and has a long history as a teacher and performer.

Betty has been with East Bay Center since 1985. Ms. Ladzekpo is a Core Faculty Member of the Center, and has a long history as a teacher and performer. She is a principal dancer with the Ladzekpo Brothers African Music and Dance ensemble. Ms. Ladzekpo has performed at major venues throughout the U.S. including the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, and the African Cultural Festival (“The Afrikans Are Coming”). Ms. Ladzekpo is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley in African Dance.

C.K. LADZEKPO
West African Music and Dance Ensemble Co-Director

C.K. LADZEKPO

C.K. Ladzekpo is a Professor of African Music and Dance at UC Berkeley. He has directed and taught African dance and polyrhythmic percussion at many international venues.

C.K. Ladzekpo is a Professor of African Music and Dance at UC Berkeley. Over the years, he has worked to include the effective representation of the African perspective in the modern arenas of major colleges, concert stages, theaters and television. Dr. Ladzekpo has held positions as lead drummer and instructor with the National Dance Company of Ghana, the University of Ghana, and Ghana Arts Council. He has directed and taught African dance forms and polyrhythmic percussion ensemble music at many international venues.

Landin Andrea
Cello

ANDREA SHIGEKO LANDÍN

Andrea Shigeko Landin is a musician and educator from Los Angeles, CA. She has performed throughout the U.S. and Latin America, including playing with ensembles at Carnegie Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Andrea Shigeko Landin is a musician and educator from Los Angeles, CA. She has performed throughout the U.S. and Latin America, including playing with ensembles at Carnegie Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Before moving to the Bay Area, she was the Director of New West Symphony Harmony Project, a youth development program whose mission is to enact social change through music by providing low income youth in Ventura with tuition free, high quality ensemble based music instruction. In 2015 she was granted the City of Ventura Mayor’s Arts Educator Award, as well as recognized by the California Legislature Assembly for her contribution to the empowerment of the Latino community. Andrea has also been one of fifty international musicians selected over a period of 5 years for the Sistema Fellowship at New England Conservatory. She holds a B.M. in Cello Performance and a B.A. in Anthropology from Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music, and an MA in Education Policy and Leadership from Stanford. In addition to teaching cello, she is also the Director of School Partnerships at East Bay Center.

Kwaku Manu
West African Music and Dance

KWAKU MANU

Kwaku received his education and training in West African Music and Dance at the University of Ghana. He has traveled the world performing and teaching African Music and Dance.

Kwaku received his education and training in West African Music and Dance at the University of Ghana. After obtaining his BFA degree in Dance in 2004, he was employed by the University of Ghana as a Senior Production Assistant and worked in the capacity of Dance and Drumming Instructor from 2004-2010. He received the Curtain Call Costumes Rising Star award from the Dance Council of North Texas to attend American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina in 2010. He was selected on numerous occasions to travel abroad to perform and teach African Music and Dance. He is currently working with East Bay Center teaching African Music and Dance to teenagers, is involved in a variety of Out of School Time (OST) programs for children from kindergarten to 6th grade, as well as an in-school professional development program at Title One Schools called Learning Without Borders.

TANYA MARIE
Theater

TANYA MARIE

Tanya Marie has worked internationally in film, television, radio, theater and is excited to be back on the American stage, as well as in the classroom with aspiring artists!

Tanya Marie is a Boston native and recent transplant to the Bay Area after 7 years living in Paris, France. She has worked internationally in film, television, radio, theater and is excited to be back on the American stage, as well as in the classroom with aspiring artists! Some of Tanya’s favorite credits include: Oskar (TheatreWorks, d/ Lisa Giglio), Oslo (Los Altos Stage Company, d/Gary Landis); Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (San Jose Stage Company, d/Lee Sankowich); Ballerina (animated feature, Paris, d/ Eric Summer); A Collection of Stories (Word for Word/French Tour, d/Susan Harloe); Dr. Junod (animated feature, Paris, d/ Matthew Géczy); Café Winnipesaukee (Whitebridge Farm Productions d/ Oscar-winner Ernest Thompson); L’Amour(orless…) (tv pilot, Paris); Company Member with DramaTies (Paris); and many more! In this new era of ‘covid theater’, Tanya has recently had the privilege of filming Jane Austen’s « Persuasion » (San Jose Stage Company) and has signed on for the upcoming zoom reading of « Henry V » (African American Shakespeare Company). In addition to acting, Tanya has been a teaching artist and public speaking coach since 2010 in both France and America.

Dance

RAY MORA

Ray Mora is world class dancer teaching confidence/respect through hip hop dance.

B-Boy NastyRay, hailing from San Jose, is a world-class dancer and a well-known member of many crews with rich dance history such as The SquadronOakland OriginalzTurf Inc..(& more). He started dancing in the late 90’s after being inspired by local b-boys.  NastyRay’s dance journey has taken him worldwide for competitions, teaching, and commercial projects. He’s also the co founder of Future Arts Now inspiring creative expression & working with at-risk youth. In addition, he offers an all-ages as well as beginner breaking class at CityDance in San Francisco + inspires with East Bay Center for the Performing Arts.

eliza omalley
Voice, Musical Theater

ELIZA O'MALLEY

Eliza O’Malley, soprano, trained at AIMS in Graz, Austria, Aspen School of Music, the Wesley Balk Institute, BASOTI, Oberlin College, and earned an M.M. in Voice Performance at Texas Tech University School of Music.

Eliza O’Malley, soprano, trained at AIMS in Graz, Austria, Aspen School of Music, the Wesley Balk Institute, BASOTI, Oberlin College, and earned an M.M. in Voice Performance at Texas Tech University School of Music. She produces a series of monthly Works in Progress concerts at the Chamber Arts House in Berkeley, which she helped to found. A great lover of new music, she has premiered works by Lisa Scola Prosek, Stephen Clark, Mark Alburger, Sheli Nan, Allan Crossman and more while working with Goat Hall Productions/San Francisco Cabaret Opera over the past couple of years. She has also premiered music by Peter Josheff, Mary Watkins and Alexis Alrich and sung opera roles with The Santa Cruz Chamber Orchestra, Oakland Opera Theater, Berkeley Opera, Solo Opera, BASOTI, and Capitol Opera Sacramento. She also produces and sings in the “Dazzling Divas” nights of opera arias at the Bateau Ivre.

Joe Orrach
Theater, Tap

JOE ORRACH

Joe is an actor, singer, dancer and story-teller who has worked in theatres across Europe, Asia and North America, television and on screen.

Joe is an actor, singer, dancer and story-teller who has worked in theatres across Europe, Asia and North America, television and on screen. He started his dance career as a tap dancer on the streets of NYC where Gregory Hines discovered him. On stage, Joe has performed with Joan Baez, Bob Hope, the Smothers Brothers, Michael Davis, Liliane Montevechi, Bill Irwin, David Shiner, Melissa Manchester, and the Cookie Monster, among others. He has tap danced with such greats as Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde and Savion Glover, and old masters including the Nicholas Brothers, Honi Coles, Charles “Cookie” Cook, Chuck Green and Lon Cheney. He has been directed by Woody Allen (Everyone Says I Love You), James Mangold (Copland), Tim Boxell (Valley of the Heart’s Delight), Stefan Haves (Punch Drunk) and David Shiner (Nacht Mund). CNN International profiled Joe on “People in the Arts.” Joe received his MFA from University of Southern California’s School of Dramatic Arts in Acting.

PIERR PADILLA
Zapateo/ Afro Peruvian Music and Dance

PIERR PADILLA

Pierr is a member of the artistic genealogy of the Vasquez family who have transmitted Afro-Peruvian cultural traditions through generations beginning in the late XIX century.

Pierr is a member of the artistic genealogy of the Vasquez family who have transmitted Afro-Peruvian cultural traditions through generations beginning in the late XIX century. He began his artistic career as a dancer, becoming a member of important ensembles such as Conjunto Nacional de Folklore del Perú and Teatro del Milenio among others. He has participated in shows by renowned Peruvian artists, among them master Victoria Santa Cruz and singer Eva Ayllon. He obtained the title of “Champion of National Champions of Peru of Marinera Limeña.” He created Colectivo Palenke, a Afro-Peruvian musical group as well as led the musical group Mandinga Project and Cambalache La fiesta Afroperuana. Pierr participated as Zapateador in a recording of a song “El Surco” from the album “A Chabuca,” which was nominated for Record of the Year at the Latin Grammy Awards (2017). Throughout Pierr’s career, he has toured America, Asia and Europe as an artist and speaker on Afro-Peruvian music. He is one of the authors of the book “Personajes Afrodescendientes del Perú y América (African descendent characters of Peru and America).” Pierre was teacher and artistic director of the Puckllay Cultural Association and teacher and director of the Centro de Acción Cultural Afroperuano, as well as teaching at many other dance schools. He currently leads the musical group “Huarango”, directs the festival “Afro-Peruvian Fest” and has recently created the international educational platform, “Seminario de Música Afroperuana,” which promotes and disseminates Afro-Peruvian cultural traditions.

Songwriting, Circus Arts

PABLO PUENTE

Pablo Puente is a performer, teaching-artist, creator, and alum of the Young Artist Diploma Program.

Pablo Puente is a performer, teaching-artist, creator, and alum of the Young Artist Diploma Program.  He recently received his Bachelor of Arts in music and dance from Wesleyan University.  While there, Pablo created and directed fight choreography for student run plays, regularly performed with Prometheus: Fire Arts and Performance, and helped teach the Circophony Teen Circus at Oddfellows Playhouse.  Working with collaborators at Red Feather Studios, Pablo wrote, performed, recorded, and produced numerous original music compositions for personal and professional projects.  Since graduation, he has continued learning how to play various new instruments, is always working on a new song, and is slowly perfecting his recipe for vegetarian fried rice.

DANA SALZMAN
Voice, Piano, Voices of Reason Co-Director

DANA SALZMAN

Pianist, singer, composer, producer, and musical director Dana Salzman creates funky, flavorful tunes that re-imagine jazz, funk, hip-hop, soul, Latin, and R&B music.

Pianist, singer, composer, producer, and musical director Dana Salzman creates funky, flavorful tunes that re-imagine jazz, funk, hip-hop, soul, Latin, and R&B music, and illuminate her sultry voice, fine-tuned piano technique and talent for composition and arrangement. Salzman began to study piano at age four with her mother, an accomplished Russian pianist, and went on to study jazz formally – eventually earning a degree from the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Salzman has had the opportunity to work closely with many celebrated musicians and songwriters during her career, including Mike Marshall (Timex Social Club), Tony Flores (Marvin Gaye, Bobby Womack), Pete Escovedo, Rappin Forte, Samuelle Prater (Club Neaveau), Heartafiya and more. She has also played at notable east and west coast U.S. venues, and overseas at Duc De Lombard in Paris, the Reduta in Prague, L’Archduc in Brussels, and the Hotel Ellington in Berlin. Now based in Oakland, CA, Salzman does all her own production, writing, and arranging and is also an in-demand piano and voice teacher. She has released four acclaimed solo albums that are available on all platforms – It’s Out of Your Hands (2007), Rising (2010), Deep Down (2014), and Unfold (2020) – and has music on rotation at several radio stations across the country.

CANDACE SANDERSON
Violin, Chamber music

CANDACE SANDERSON

Candace was a member of the San Diego Symphony for 5 years, and moved to the Bay Area in 1981 as a member of the Oakland Symphony.

Candace was a member of the San Diego Symphony for 5 years, and moved to the Bay Area in 1981 as a member of the Oakland Symphony. She is presently still a member of the Oakland East Bay Symphony along with the Berkeley Symphony and the Fremont Symphony. Candace has taught in the Oakland Schools through the Oakland East Bay Symphony’s Muse program for the last 10 years and at the Center for 8 years. She is a member of the Luna Nova quartet, and Mt Tamalpais string quartet. She studied trumpet at San Diego State University and continues to enjoy playing and teaching the trumpet.

Theater

JORDAN SIMMONS

Richmond native and proud graduate of JFK High, Jordan served as Artistic Director at the Center (1984 - 2021) and has been a faculty member since 1974.

Jordan Simmons, Theater

Richmond native and proud graduate of JFK High, Jordan served as Artistic Director at the Center (1984 – 2021) and has been a faculty member since 1974. A graduate of Reed College, active Mestre of Capoeira, licensed Shakuhachi (Japanese flute) teacher, and theater director, Mr. Simmons’ portfolio includes more than 50 productions for theater and film – many of which have focused on the lives and concerns of youth and young adults from Richmond’s Iron Triangle and surrounding neighborhoods. Recognition for Mr. Simmons’ work has ranged from the Governor of California’s Award for “Outstanding Individual in the Arts” to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences “Outstanding Contribution to the Bay Area Arts,” an inaugural City of Richmond Human Rights Award, and San Francisco Foundation’s Helen Crocker Russell Award: presented to an “under-recognized, mature artist who has made a significant and ongoing contribution in the SF Bay Area.”

RICHARD SQUERI
Stage Combat

RICHARD SQUERI

Richard Squeri is an award-winning Fight and Intimacy Director and Choreographer, as well as Executive Producer and Assistant Director of Birdbath Theatre.

Richard Squeri (Stage Combat/Intimacy Coach) is an award-winning Fight and Intimacy Director and Choreographer, as well as Executive Producer and Assistant Director of Birdbath Theatre. As a Stunt and Stage Combat Instructor, he has 40 years of experience and a record of safety. His work has appeared in every media genre. He is an adjunct faculty member at the College of Marin and East Bay Center with fight directing credits for over 350 stage productions, including Romeo and Juliet, Uncle Vanya, Richard II, Othello, Hamlet, Arabian Nights, Macbeth, Taming of the Shrew, I Hate Hamlet, and King Lear. Film credits include Craig Hamann and Roger Avery’s Boogie Boy and Quentin Tarantino’s first film, My Best Friend’s Birthday. He also worked on television shows including the original Battlestar Galactica and Cagney & Lacey.

Linda Steele
Dance Faculty, Modern Ballet

LINDA STEELE II

Linda Steele II is an improvisational dance artist, movement creator, and storyteller, trained in various movement technique languages including Western Classical Dance, Jazz, Tap, Flamenco, and Modern.

Linda Steele II is an improvisational dance artist, movement creator and storyteller, formally trained in various movement technique languages including Western Classical Dance, Jazz, Tap, Flamenco, and Modern at Marin Ballet and Marin School of the Arts before receiving her BFA from Dominican University of CA where she also studied Art History. She has been honored to have performed original works by Alonzo King, Drew Jacoby, Maurya Kerr’s tinypistol, Sidra Bell, Katie Faulkner, LEVYdance and recently with Capacitor Performance SF, Mathis Reed Dance, dazaun.dance, Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble, among others. Linda II has presented her movement in various festivals and art events including Ebony Magazine’s renowned Ebony Fashion Fair. As a movement creator, she has created numerous dance works/offerings, studied and choreographed Dance for Film and performed internationally with Urban Jazz Dance Company, Quimera Tribe, Corina Kinnear and others. She is deeply grateful to have met and collaborated with such amazing artists and humbly continues to serve and guide youth artists through artistic enrichment. Her journey continues…

W. ALLEN TAYLOR
Theater

W. ALLEN TAYLOR

W. Allen Taylor began his career in theatre in 1979, and has performed around the country, with such critically acclaimed theaters as the Negro Ensemble Company and La Mama E.T.C.

W. Allen Taylor began his career in theatre in 1979, and includes performances in many regional theaters around the country, as well as in NYC, with such critically acclaimed off-Broadway theaters as the Negro Ensemble Company and La Mama E.T.C. He has also been seen on Broadway in August Wilson’s “Seven Guitars”, and has appeared on network television and in feature films. His solo show, “In Search of My Father…Walkin’ Talkin’ Bill Hawkins,” which he wrote and performed, was originally commissioned and work-shopped at East Bay Center. The play made its professional debut at the Marsh Theatre in Berkeley, CA in 2006 and won the Best Solo-Performance Award from the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Allen received his MFA from the American Conservatory Theatre, and has served on the theater faculties of Laney College and the College of Marin, where he served for 16 years, and 5 years as the department chair. He actually began his teaching career at East Bay Center in 1989, and maintained his connection to the theater faculty throughout the years. He now returns as an acting teacher, audition coach and production director.

Javier Trujillo
Guitar

JAVIER TRUJILLO

Javier Trujillo was born in Lima, Peru where he studied Classical Guitar at the Conservatorio de Musica de Lima, later on he continued at UC Berkeley where he studied Musicology.

Javier Trujillo was born in Lima, Peru where he studied Classical Guitar at the Conservatorio de Musica de Lima, later on he continued at UC Berkeley where he studied Musicology as well. He has participated in various festivals in USA and Peru as a performer and educator, always sharing the importance of the guitar in Latin America. Living in the East Bay Javier has had the opportunity to have master classes with different classical guitar masters related to the Omni Foundation of the Performing Arts. While playing with different bands and ensembles in the Bay Area, Javier explored both classical and popular music with Vibo Simfani, Proyecto Lando, Ajayu, just to name a few. He felt the need to further investigate the Afro-Peruvian guitar and became engaged with the style, exploring the different rhythms and possibilities in the music of his country.

Son de la Tierra, co-director

CLAUDIO NARANJOS VEGA

Claudio Naranjos Vega has participated in “Los Vega” for 25 years to date. His main activities as a musician are mainly playing the requinto instrument or guitarra de son.

Claudio Naranjos Vega has participated in “Los Vega” for 25 years to date. His main activities as a musician are mainly playing the requinto instrument or guitarra de son.  As of 2020, he is the director of the group; throughout this time, Mr. Claudio has contributed as a composer and arranger on different songs from the group’s latest albums. Likewise, in the trajectory as a group, they have performed in a large number of cultural and artistic festivals in the country and abroad; in countries such as China, the United States and Canada. Has participated in different film recordings, one of them with the theme “La Bruja” for the movie “Frida”, which was nominated for an Oscar in 2002, we participated as guests in the show “De Sirenas y Peteneras e Infortunados Marinos”, which was nominated for the Lunas del Auditorio in 2015, in the same way in 2018 we put on a show bringing together more than 20 renowned artists in the son jarocho genre on the occasion of our 20 anniversary, which was nominated in 2019 by the Lunas del Auditorio. This same year we were invited to participate in the benefit concert for Tibet at Carnegie Hall in New York, under the direction of renowned composer Philip Glass. Our discography consists of five albums, the last two “Vientos del mar” and “En tonos muy diferentes” under the production of Leo Heiblum with the Audiflot label.

Carolyn Walter
Woodwinds

CAROLYN WALTER

Carolyn Walter is a freelance music educator and artist, specializing in multiple woodwind performance - she holds a bachelor of music degree in clarinet performance from SFSU.

Carolyn Walter is a freelance music educator and artist, specializing in multiple woodwind performance – she holds a bachelor of music degree in clarinet performance from SFSU. In addition to teaching privately, coaching in schools and leading group classes at EBCPA, Carolyn has played clarinet, bass clarinet, all saxophones, flutes and bassoon in venues all around the bay area, along with touring nationally and internationally. Carolyn is a member of long-standing projects including the Awesöme Orchestra Collective, Makeunder, miRthkon, Jean Fineburg’s Jazzphoria, and the Montclair Women’s Big Band.

Dance, School Partnerships

Lataycha Washington

Lataycha, East Bay Center's school partnerships program associate, is an Oakland native whose passion for dance blossomed at the age of 4.

Lataycha, East Bay Center’s school partnerships program associate, is an Oakland native whose passion for dance blossomed at the age of 4. She first learned Hip hop, West African, and Praise dance which rooted her cultural connection to the arts. Her lineage is from the south, mother from Arkansas and father from Louisiana; New Orleans to be exact. With Creole heritage and soul running through her blood she later explored the Jazz dance genre deepening her love for cultural dance movement. She later learned classical and technical styles of dance including ballet, modern, contemporary, lyrical, swing, and Latin social dancing. Lataycha is a multi genre professional dancer who has performed with numerous music artists including Living legend Janet Jackson, Beyonce, Snoop Dogg, Bruno Mars, and Coldplay. While pursuing an industry career in Los Angeles, she worked as a certified dance therapist for seniors at an Adult day healthcare center. She also danced in a global makeup campaign commercial for Wet n’ wild, in addition to music videos and live performances. After returning to the Bay Area, she shifted her focus to pouring her knowledge and experience into the next generation of youth. In 2023, she also began cultivating dance activism with Greenpeace; creative resistance movement through peaceful protest. She is newly certified in Agroecology by the USDA, and hopes to inspire artists through creative movement and farm to table living.

Howard Wiley
Saxophone, Richmond Jazz Collective Co-Director

HOWARD WILEY

Howard began playing saxophone at age 11 as a student at the Center. He performs with groups around the Bay Area as well as working on his own projects as composer and bandleader.

Howard Wiley began playing saxophone at age 11 (he was a student at the Center). He received the Thelonious Monk Scholarship, Downbeat Blues/Pop/Rock Instrumentalist Award for Best Soloist & MVP Award for the Grammy All-American Jazz Band. He performs with Marcus Shelby Orchestra and Lavay Smith’s Red Hot Skillet Lickers, as well as working on his own projects as composer and bandleader.