Artistic Team

Hannah Westbrook (she/her) is a queer, white, dance artist and educator, raised on the land of the Cahuilla people (Hemet, California). Her interests lie in the ever shifting web of dance, theater, improvisational practice, and site-specific dance. Hannah is a graduate of UC Berkeley, earning the Departmental Citation for excellence in dance. As a choreographer, her work for stage and film has been supported by FACT/SF, Art Farm, SAFEhouse Arts, and showcased in film festivals across the US and abroad. Dancing with AXIS Dance Company has been a lifelong dream since first being exposed to the company while studying dance as a teen at Mt. San Jacinto College, and she is honored and thrilled to take on this role as company dancer. Hannah has previously had the pleasure of working with many incredible artists including Lizz Roman + Dancers, Ciarra D’Onofrio + Dancers, Epiphany Dance Theater, Tim Rubel Human Shakes, animi motus, Tara Pilbrow Dance, and an ensemble role in Anna Halprin’s Parades and Changes. 

Company Dancer

Tebandeke is a contemporary dancer and choreographer from Kampala, Uganda. His work stretches the
idea of dance, going into contemporary art and sculptures. Tebandeke’s work involve other arts
practices but also communicates in addressing urgent social challenges, mainly dominant ideas around
ability. Tebandeke use his body to create his own dictionary of ability and he has been developing a
physical practice that encompasses different local and global dance traditions and movement practices.
Joseph is a performer in sectors and in societies that systematically marginalizes “disabled” people. His
works create a notion and a movement that will re-label “disability”. his committed to decolonize dance
as a language that all can access and that benefits from diversity, through his aesthetic expression and
developing personal self-esteem that helped him question the intersection of the world where the
concept of being able or disabled meet.

Tebandeke has worked in different locations such as; AXIS Dance company (USA), IntroDans
(Netherlands), Monkey Mind Dance Company (Belgium), ANKATA Burkina Faso, Dschungel Wien (Austria), Unusual Beings (Poland), Jomba Dance festival (South Africa, Durban) Kampnagal (Hamburg),
Mental workout 2023, Moving Margin Research 2022 (Berlin), Sibikwa Arts fest 2022 (South Africa, Johannesburg), ImPulsTanz 2022 (Vienna) Assitej children’s fest (Sweden), Eco fest 2020 (Mali West
Africa), Freiburg Contact Improv Festival (Germany, 2019), East Africa Nights of Tolerance Festival
(Rwanda 2017), Tuzinne Festival (Uganda 2017- 2018) Ubumuntu (Rwanda 2018) etc.

Apprentice Dancer

Aliya, of Uyghur descent, was born in Urumqi, China. She holds a B.A. in Dance Education from Minzu University of China, an M.A. in Teaching Dance in the Professions from NYU Steinhardt, and an M.F.A. in Dance from UC Irvine. Her research, Ecological Performance Practice, explores movement interconnectivity through empathy, imagination, and the animal body. You can learn more about her work from her personal website: www.aliyakerim.com and Instagram: @pink_y_blues

Company Dancer

Anna Gichan (she/her) is a Deaf contemporary dancer from NJ with a background in gymnastics, yoga and circus. She received her BFA in Dance from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Company Dancer

Julie Hasushi (she/her) 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 stayed there for 5 years. She was then invited to join the Bombelela Dance Company, where she danced for over 20 years. At Bombelela, she won dance championships where she was the only dancer in a wheelchair, 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. Julie has also performed in TV commercials as a protagonist for major brands including Coca-Cola, Pizza Hut, Advil, and many others.

Company Dancer

Native to Eugene, Oregon, A(laj)a Badalich (they/she) is a Black, queer, neurodivergent dance artist, choreographer, and co-founder of the Fermata Ballet Collective. They trained at the Alonzo King Lines Ballet Training Program and have studied across the United States and internationally. Laj has attended prestigious summer programs on scholarship, at Texas Ballet Theater, Ballet West, LINES, Dance Theater of Harlem, and De Dutch Don’t Dance Division.

Laj has served as a guest choreographer and faculty member at Shawl Anderson Dance Center, LINES programs, flex Studios, and within their collective, demonstrating a strong commitment to nurturing and paving the way for the next generation of movers. They have worked closely with renowned choreographers such as Alex Ketley, Alice Klock, Asun Noales, Maurya Kerr, Robin Dekkers, and Christian Burns.

Since joining AXIS Dance Company in 2022 under the direction of Nadia Adame, Laj has performed at Rowan University, Cincinnati Ballet’s “Bold Moves” festival, Jacob’s Pillow Summer Dance Festival, the 2023 Invictus Games, the 51st Festival Internacional Cervantino, and Stanford University. Laj views movement as a universal language and a form of ancestral storytelling, aiming to share and celebrate what it means to be the “other.”