| 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 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. |
Artistic Team
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.
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. Louisa lived and danced in NYC for 10 years and started working with physically integrated dance companies on the East Coast in 2015. She has worked with Heidi Latsky Dance, Abilities Dance Boston and Marked Dance Project, as a teaching artist, company dancer, choreographer and administrator. She is a teaching artist at Dance Project of Washington Heights. She teaches creative movement and ballet virtually for children and adults of all abilities. Louisa is passionate about making dance accessible to all people. She is looking forward to continuing her dance journey on the West Coast with AXIS!
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. Ms. Anwar began her professional training at the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) under the direction of Norma Pera. During her time at BSA, she was a scholarship recipient and performed lead roles such as Dew Drop Fairy, Snow Queen, and Rat Queen in The Nutcracker staged by Barry Hughson; the Pioneer Woman in Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring; and a corps member in Serenade staged by former NYCB dancer Deborah Wingert. In addition, Ms. Anwar trained at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on scholarship during her time at BSA.
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. During her summers, she toured Latin America doing community outreach, performances, and teaching workshops with Juntos Collective. She has worked with distinguished choreographers and performed works by Robert Dekkers, Gregory Dawson, Carmen Rozestraten, Christian Burns, Maurya Kerr, Robert Moses, Kara Davis, Nicholas Korkos, Dominic Walsh, and Alonzo King.
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. In their two years at the program, the youngest in their class, they worked in intimate choreographic processes with Carmen Rozesstraten, Kara Davis, Christian Burns, Alex Ketley, Eric Wagner, Roderick George, Robert Moses Kin, and FlOCK ( Alice Klock and Florian Lochner). She is a two time national medalist for the NAACP ‘s ACT-SO, and has attended summer programs, such as: Texas Ballet Theater, Ballet West, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem, De Dutch Don’t Dance, and AXIS dance on full scholarship.
In the past two years, Laj has resided in her hometown as a choreographer for flex Studios, XCAPE dance academy, Eugene Ballet Academy, and the youngest co-founder of seven to form Fermata Ballet Collective. The Collective is a place for dance artists in the Pacific Northwest who have found their careers and projects on hold due to pandemic. Fermata aims to offer opportunities for dance artists in a respectful and safe environment. Laj has choreographed for competitive soloists, training program works, public school programs, and Coalesce virtual dance collective in Chicago. She placed in the top three with two of her works in SALT”s 2020 Choreography Festival “SHAPE”, attended the HAVEN choreographic mentorship under the direction of Alex Ketley and David Maurice, was a selected choreographer for Alluvion’s 2021 Dance Chicago Virtual Choreographic Festival “emergence”. Most recently, they have attended Ballare Carmel workshop under Lillan Barbeito and Ihasan Rustem, and danced for FLOCK’s last digital film “Interrelated Reflections”. After leaving suddenly due to the pandemic, Laj is excited to return home to the Bay Area and begin her journey with AXIS.
Yuko Monden Juma graduated from the Japan Women’s College of Physical Education in Tokyo, Japan. Since 2000, she performed Yosakoi dance. She received many awards as a K-one 動流夢 (Dream) member and performed in various Japanese TV shows. She also choreographed the song “F Marinos” for a performance starring over 500 people in the Yosakoi Festival, at the NISSAN Stadium. She began her career in New York City in 2011. She performed with groups Nimbus Dance Works, LEVYdance and more. In 2013 she moved to San Francisco, and has worked with The Anata Project, Copious Dance Theater, and CALI & CO dance and performed at TedxStanford and Bay Area Discovery Museum. She taught Dance Master of California as a guest teacher and also she taught at Sonoma State University. She is certified in both Simonson Method Technique and 200 hours Yoga Teacher.
“I have been working with AXIS for over 4 years as a dancer. I have matured both as a dancer and in my personal life through various wonderful experiences with AXIS. Now I am excited that my role will shift from dancer to rehearsal director. Also, on the personal side, my husband and I are excited to welcome our first baby boy in Spring 2022. Looking forward, I hope that I can use all of my experiences as a dancer to support other dancers and the AXIS team to continue to grow together.”