Artists in Residence
Director: Andrea Scheumann
Andrea Scheumann (Hinman), is a SOTA Dance alumni and took over the program from long-time Director Elvia Marta in 2016. Andrea has studied and performed all over the world and has a deep passion for teaching and working with young adults. With a BA in Social Welfare and a double minor in Education and African American Studies from UC Berkeley, and a master's degree in Education from SF State, Andrea is a National Board Certified Teacher who strives to create a body positive and inclusive environment that supports the needs of all of her students. She values the strong relationships that she cultivates over four years with each student, and welcomes them to come visit (or teach or choreograph!) at any time.
Graciela Acedo
Graciela Acedo was born, raised, and trained in Caracas Venezuela, where she earned a government scholarship to study at the Boston Ballet. She was awarded a scholarship from the Harkness Ballet youth company in New York, has a BFA, and a Methodology /Pedagogy Certificate of Cuban syllabus, and twice been a USF grant recipient. She is also a certified Progressing Ballet Technique teacher.
Acedo performed the classical repertoire in Venezuela at the Ballet Teresa Carreño, sharing the stage with Rudolf Nureyev, Fernando Bujones and Julio Boca. In 1982 she joined Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas, a contemporary ballet company and became a principal dancer, working with choreographers such as Judith Jamison, Ulises Dove, John Butler, Gustavo Mallajoli, Elisa Monte, Paulo Denubila, Dennis Nahat, Choo San Goh, and Donald Mackayle, among others. Performing in South America, US, Europe and Asia, Acedo has danced with numerous dance companies throughout the Bay Area, including Oakland Ballet.
Graciela has co-directed the summer programs for Pacific Dance Theater of San Francisco and was associated director of Western Ballet where she developed the Youth Program. She was a founding dancer and associate director for the Mark Foehringer Dance Project. Graciela has taught company class for Oakland Ballet, Napoles Ballet, DTSF, the University of Nebraska, San Francisco Dance Center, Diablo Ballet, Shawl Anderson, Pacific Ballet, Teen Dance Company, Ballet San Jose, and Marin Ballet. She has been a guest teacher at America's Ballet in Florida, and Ballet de las Americas in Venezuela. She has also judged ballet competitions.
In 2015 Graciela started a program for Latino kids at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. In 2018, Acedo was faculty member and organizer of the first summer program study abroad at Webster University Geneva, Switzerland. While in Switzerland, she also taught at the Geneva Conservatoire.
For the last 15 years Graciela has been a faculty member at, San Francisco School of the Arts, University of San Francisco, Ayako Ballet School, Berkeley ballet and Dance Attack creating their ballet curriculum. Graciela encourages students to strive for professional careers while giving them individual attention, stressing impeccable technique and nurturing the growth of their uniqueness. She's honored to have served and keep serving so many students at SOTA .
Norma Fong began her training at Pacific Ballet Academy in Mountain View, CA. She is also trained in classical Chinese folk dance and performed with the Chinese Performing Arts of America. Norma graduated from California Institute of the Arts with a BFA in dance, performance, and choreography and went on to dance with Pasadena Dance Theatre. In San Francisco, she has had the opportunity to work with Shift>>> Physical Theater, Project B, Todd Eckert, Guangdong Modern Dance Company, Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, as a guest for ODC/Dance, and Robert Moses’ Kin, where she also served as the company’s rehearsal director. In 2017, Norma was awarded an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for her ensemble performance with Crystaldawn Bell in First Stab at Closure, choreographed by Todd Eckert.
Norma is on faculty at ODC School, and has previously taught at Mills College and Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA at Dominican University.
Amy Foley
Amy Foley is a long-time, active member of the Bay Area dance community as a performer, dance-maker, teaching-artist, and founder and Artistic Director of Bellwether Dance Project. She has danced with numerous local companies and independent choreographers, among them: Robert Moses' Kin, Nol Simonse, ODC/Dance, Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, KAMBARA+DANCERS, RAWdance, and more.
In addition to her work with her own company, Amy has created commissioned works for Robert Moses KIN, the ODC Dance Jam, and the students of the Alonzo King's LINES Summer Intensive. She is a 2018 recipient of Margaret Jenkins Dance Company’s CHIME award and is a current faculty member at ODC and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts.
Lucy Hudson
Lucy Hudson was a Company Pianist for San Francisco Ballet for 11 years. She has played for numerous other dance and theater companies in America and Europe, while also performing as a solo artist, composing for electronic instruments and symphony orchestra, and teaching dance-and-music workshops.
She is now working as a pianist with Alonzo King Lines Ballet, ODC Dance Company, Berkeley Ballet Theater, and Ruth Asawa SOTA, and is also engaged in designing music theory software for the iPhone.
Hailing from Maysville, Kentucky, Calvin Thomas received foundational training at the Otto M. Budig Academy of Cincinnati Ballet. He supplemented his studies at Boston Ballet School, The School of American Ballet, Ballet Austin Academy, and The School of Oregon Ballet Theatre. Since moving to the Bay Area, he performed with Company C Contemporary Ballet, New York Theatre Ballet, Oakland Ballet
Company, Dance Theatre of San Francisco, Kiandanda Dance Theater, Mark Foehringer Dance Project, Garrett Moulton Productions and ODC Dance. Calvin enjoys time in the studio sharing knowledge, teaching the next generation, and has recently developed a passion for coaching.
Vincent Chavez was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he grew up competing on the local Rodeo circuit. Once he chose ballet over broncos, he received his formal dance education and training from the Dance Theater Southwest (Albuquerque), Ballet Hispanico (New York), Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre (Las Vegas) and Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program (San Francisco). As a result of his strict training and creative educational experiences, Vincent was chosen to perform with leading dance companies including Robert Moses’ Kin, Oakland Ballet Company, Nevada Ballet Theatre, New Mexico Ballet Company and The San Francisco Opera.
His artistry has earned him the opportunity to work with several renown choreographers; Robert Moses, Graham Lustig, Michael Lowe, James Canfield, Garrett+Moulton, Gregory Dawson, Christopher Huggins, Molissa Fenley, Val Caniparoli, Amy Seiwert and David Taylor included. In addition to his notable dance career, Vincent works independently as a San Francisco Bay Area Dance Artist, teaching, choreographing, collaborating, and performing throughout the United States. In recent years, he has been commissioned to choreograph works highlighting his strong sense of family for Oakland Ballet Company, Silicon Valley Dance Festival and Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers. Vincent is thrilled to be on faculty at Ruth Asawa SOTA
Former Artists in Residence
Kai Davis
Kai Davis trained in her hometown of Chicago Ill at the Ruth Page School of Dance under the direction of Larry Long. She also trained at Lou Conte Dance (home of Hubbard Street) along with full summer scholarships to The Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet & The Joffrey Ballet.
Her professional career began in 1996 with The Boston Ballet. Kai has also danced with San Jose Ballet and retired from the stage in 2009 after 5 seasons with Ballet British Columbia.
She currently teaches for the Lines Ballet Training Program along with company class for Oakland Ballet & Smuin SF.
Yayoi Kambara
As a third culture kid, assimilation was crucial to Yayoi Kambara’s survival. The instinct to fit in kept her quiet for many years - perhaps she started dancing to talk less.
During college, a conversation made Kambara evaluate whether she would want to be the token Asian dancer or dance with a predominantly Asian company. The reality of this was reflected in her career, where she first worked Pearl Ubungen Dancers and Musicians and STEAMROLLER Dance Company later moving to ODC/Dance. Kambara began choreographing in 2015 centering a Japanese American/POC audience creating dance experiences that cultivate a sense of belonging.
Last year, she led a Community Engagement Residency for the Bridge Project, Aesthetic Shift, an exchange between dance educators, social justice activists, and choreographers to interrogate the overlap between equity values, creative practices, and organization. Kambara was in the 4th Cohort of APAP (Association of Performing Arts Professionals) Leadership Fellows Program and is a member of the collective Dancing Around Race with Gerald Casel, David Herrera, Bhumi Patel, and Raissa Simpson .
Her current project IKKAI means once: a transplanted pilgrimage is commissioned by the Japanese American Citizens League of San Jose and awarded a Hewlett50 award from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. She is currently exploring ideas for IKKAI XR - an interactive Virtual Reality performance. For more information please visit kambaraplus.org
Marika Brussel
Marika Brussel is a contemporary ballet choreographer and teacher. Informed by her background as a fiction writer, she utilizes storytelling in her dance-making. She tells contemporary narratives through ballet, showing our inter-connectedness and equity as humans, from country to country, class to class, and generation to generation. Her full-length ballet, From Shadows: A ballet about homelessness, premiered in October 2017, to sold out audiences in San Francisco.
Her ballets have been commissioned by ARC Dance, Bay Pointe Ballet, Emote Dance Theater, Berkeley Ballet Theater, and Ballet Theater of New Mexico. She has shown work at festivals around the country, including Dancing in the Park, Oakland Dances, West Wave, Brooklyn Ballet’s First Look, PushFest, Spectordance and SJChoreoFest. Marika has held residencies at the Dresher Ensemble Residency, Moving Arts SF and SAFEhouse Arts. She has twice been part of ODC's Pilot Project, and was a choreographer in Doug Varone's Devices 5. Her other awards include a Fleishhacker Opportunity Grant and a grant from The Classical Girl. Marika was a 2019 recipient of the University of North Carolina Schools of the Arts Fellowship for Contemporary Ballet.
Marika trained on scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet School and danced with their second company. She also performed with Ballet Theater of New Mexico and Napoles Ballet Theatre. She teaches ballet at ODC, and at summer programs nationally.