Leadership Team
Nadia Adame
Artistic Director
Nadia Adame is a Spanish multidisciplinary award-winning artist with a spinal cord injury. She studied Ballet & Flamenco at the Royal Dance Conservatory of Madrid and has a BA in Theatre from the University of Colorado. She was a company member with AXIS (2001-2003) and Candoco Dance Company (2007-2008). In 2004, she co-founded and was the Co-Artistic Director of Compañía Y in Spain, a multimedia and performance collective. Nadia’s credits include dance, theatre, commercial, and independent film projects in the UK, Spain, US, and Canada.
View Team Member - Nadia AdameDanae Rees
Managing Director
Danae brings many years of experience across a variety of dance sectors. Born and raised in Brisbane, Australia, she holds a double Bachelor’s Degree in Performing Arts (Dance) & Education (Secondary) from the Queensland University of Technology. She has provided dance instruction, training and program management to public schools, studios, universities, and dance organizations in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
View Team Member - Danae ReesAdministrative Team
Christopher Ouellette
Company Manager
Christopher is a native San Franciscan who received his professional dance training on full scholarship with San Francisco Ballet School. He majored in dance at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts High School, with additional dance training at ODC/Dance, New York City Ballet’s School of American Ballet, and North Carolina Dance Theater. He joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theater in 2008 before moving to New York to further pursue his dance career, where he joined as an Inaugural Cast member of Disney Cruise Line’s ships: the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. Most recently, Chris was a ballerina with the world’s premiere drag ballet company, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo where he has spent the last five years touring around the world.
View Team Member - Christopher OuelletteOctavia Rose Hingle
Marketing & Communications Coordinator
Octavia Rose Hingle is a dance maker, performing arts administrator and visual storyteller born & raised in the East Bay Area. Through multi-media design and in-person/digital programming, they work to build arts audiences across generations that reflect the breadth and diversity of disability and queer communities.
View Team Member - Octavia Rose Hingle
Katherine Nauman
Engagement Project Manager
Katherine Nauman (she/her) is a Horton technique instructor, performer, and arts administrator. Katherine rejoined AXIS Dance Company in 2021 after serving as its Rehearsal and Engagement Director in 2018. She lives in New York City where she is on faculty at The Ailey School and STEPS on Broadway. While living in San Francisco, Katherine was the Director of the Alonzo King LINES Dance Center, Assistant Professor for LINES Ballet/BFA at Dominican University, faculty for the LINES Ballet Training and Summer Programs, and guest teacher for the El Cerrito HS Dance Program. In the Bay Area she performed with Ray Tadio, SOULSKIN Dance and Mary Carbonara Dances.
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Tashi Sweikosz
Development Associate
Tashi Swierkosz (she/they) is a nonprofit development specialist, fusion belly dancer and instructor, and an advocate of all forms of artistic expression based in the East Bay Area. She possesses a double Bachelor’s of Arts from the University of New Mexico majoring in International Studies with a focus in Culture & Art and Women and Gender & Sexuality Studies with a focus in Sociology and Communication. During her time living in NM, Tashi served as the Development and Communications Manager for PB&J Family Services, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to child abuse prevention and improving family well-being. She believes that radical and inclusive creative expression has the power to foster a world in which our differences and unique experiences are utilized as fuel for transformative artistic innovation.
View Team Member - Tashi SweikoszArtistic Team
JanpiStar
Company Dancer
JanpiStar (they/them/Janpi) was born and raised in Puerto Rico. They got involved with art for the first time through the music at the Fine Art School Anita Toro Hernández as a 12-year-old playing the clarinet. In 2012 Janpi began their Bachelor Degree in Drama at the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras and had the opportunity to work with Viveca Vazquez, Carola Garcia and Petra Bravo.
View Team Member - JanpiStarAlaja Badalich
Company Dancer
Native to Eugene, Oregon, A(laj) Badalich (she/they) trained at Oregon Ballet Academy and University of North Carolina School of the Art’s modern high school program. In 2018, she began her dance studies in San Francisco at the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program under the direction of Karah Abiog.
View Team Member - Alaja BadalichZara Anwar
Company Dancer
Zara Anwar (she/her) was born and raised in Columbia, MD. She started dancing at a small studio under the direction of former Joffrey Ballet company member Renee Meyer and former Kansas City Ballet dancer Angela Walker. She graduated from the Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA Program at Dominican University of California summa cum laude with Honors in May of 2020. Throughout her college career, Ms. Anwar has trained with Post:Ballet, the Cambrians intensive with Benjamin Holliday Wardell, Hubbard Street Dance intensive at the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance at USC, Vim Vigor, Colorado Conservatory of Dance, and Oklahoma City Ballet on scholarship.
View Team Member - Zara AnwarLouisa Marie
Company Dancer
Louisa Mann was born and raised in Brattleboro, VT. She began her dance training at the age of 3 at the Brattleboro School of Dance, under the direction of Kathleen Keller. She has a BFA in dance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a Masters in Dance / Movement Therapy from The Pratt Institute.
View Team Member - Louisa MarieDavid Calhoun
Company Dancer
David Calhoun (they/them) was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. They spent their summers training at LINES Ballet, Ballet West, Kansas City Ballet, Hubbard Street, Martha Graham and Bates Dance Festival. David obtained their BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography, Emphasis in Ballet and Modern, from the Conservatory at University of Missouri – Kansas City in 2017 on full scholarship. After graduation, David moved to San Francisco to join dawsondancesf under Gregory Dawson. Since residing in SF they have danced professionally with ODC/Dance, SFDanceworks, Ballet22, Wylliams/Henry, Concept o4 and other Bay Area choreographers. David teaches yoga and dance to all ages with the intention to help others connect to the joy and gift of movement.
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Julie Hasushi
Company Dancer
Julie Hasushi is dancer, actress and publicist from São Paulo, Brazil. She started dancing at the age of 9 with the dance company Arte Sem Barreiras, and then danced with Bombelela Dance Company for over 20 years. At Bombelela, she received an award for Revelation Artist, and participated in major events including: A Tour of the Paralympic Torch at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, and representing Brazil at SIDF (Sibu International Dance Festival) in Malaysia.
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Anna Gichan
Apprentice Dancer
Anna Gichan (she/her) is a deaf/hard of hearing contemporary dancer who grew up on the farmlands of NJ. She graduated with a BFA in Dance from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts where she completed a study abroad program at Hebrew University in conjunction with the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Upon graduation, Anna has been freelancing for various artists throughout the tri-state area, performing and choreographing extensively her own work with many thanks from grants provided by Brooklyn Arts Exchange and CUNY Dance Initiative. She has completed workshops in Berlin, Greece, Israel and regularly travels to Europe to continue broadening her understanding of contemporary dance. Anna also freelances with Omnium Circus and is actively improving her circus skills, gymnastics, floorwork, flexibility and ASL. Anna is very grateful to be joining AXIS Dance company as an apprentice.
View Team Member - Anna Gichan
Joseph Hernandez
Rehearsal Director
Joseph A. Hernandez (he/him), from Chicago, Illinois, began his movement training with Shotokan Karate. He received formal dance training from Western Michigan University, where he graduated magna cum laude with a BFA in Dance. Joseph’s professional credits include Broadway’s West Side Story, The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, LA Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, ODC/Dance, Kate Weare Company, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, LED Boise, and River North Dance Chicago among others. Joseph is also a choreographer, having had his work formally presented at festivals, companies, and universities nationwide.
View Team Member - Joseph Hernandez