Our Dancers
Laura Di Orio, (Principal) originally from Pennsylvania, began her training at the Mill Ballet School and Joffrey Ballet School. She received her BA in Journalism from Fordham University and is currently a freelance dance writer and Content Manager of Dance Informa. She has performed with the Staten Island Ballet, David Fernandez’s Some Dance Company, Danse En L’air, New York Theatre Ballet’s Dance on a Shoestring and currently also dances with CONTINUUM Contemporary/Ballet. She joined Lydia Johnson Dance in 2006 and has learned and originated many roles and has taught company repertory at workshops in NYC. She also serves as LJD’s Company Manager, a Rehearsal Director and teaches ballet at the LJD School.
MinSeon Kim, (Principal) originally from South Korea, received her training at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and continued her dance education at Marymount Manhattan College, where she graduated with a BFA in Dance. Ms. Kim has worked with Lauren Hale Dance, choreographers Adam Barruch, Sidra Bell, Milton Myers, Sean Gannon and Abigail Levine. Currently, she is a member of I Love Dance Crew, a dance crew that specializes in hip hop and various street styles to the tune of Korean pop music. She joined Lydia Johnson Dance in 2012 and has served as a Rehearsal Director as well as originating many major roles.
Oscar Antonio Rodriguez (Principal) holds an M.F.A. Dance degree from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Theater credits: Mummy in the Closet: Return of Evita (GALA Hispanic Theatre); Aida (Metropolitan Opera House); Evita (Swing); On Your Feet! (Swing); In the Heights x 2 (Jose/Ensemble); West Side Story x 3 (Bernardo, Pepe); Saturday Night Fever (Ensemble/Salsation Choreographer); Chicago (Fred Casely/Ensemble); New York City Center Encores! (Pre-Production The Life and Once Upon a Mattress). Oscar traveled to Saudi Arabia to be part of Mu’allaqatna, the first Saudi Arabian musical. He was featured in Steven Spielberg's remake of ‘West Side Story’, Rebecca Miller’s latest film ‘She Came to Me’, Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite; Dancing with The Stars Costa Rica, Dancing Through… produced by the TANK NYC and Theatre Dance Vietnam. Oscar has performed with Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance and more recent with Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre and Lydia Johnson Dance. He is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA.
Michael Miles (Principal) was born and raised in St. Mary’s County, MD. He was introduced to dance at the age of 9 at the Bunny Bailey Studio of Dance where he studied tap, jazz and show dance. Michael continued his dance training at the Abigail Francisco School of Classical Ballet where he studied ballet, character, jazz and tap, and went on to receive a BFA in Dance at New York University. He has had the pleasure of working with choreographers and performing in pieces choreographed by Ron K. Brown, Lar Lubovitch and Wayne McGregor, along with pieces choreographed by former colleagues. Michael joined LJD is the spring of 2022.
Cara McManus (Principal)
Catherine Gurr began her training at the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, PA, before studying at Barbara Sandonato School of Ballet for 6 years. Catherine attended the School of Philadelphia Ballet, dancing in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker with the company. She graduated from Elmhurst Ballet School in Association with Birmingham Royal Ballet in the UK, and became a trainee with Ballet West, appearing in The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and on tour at the Kennedy Center. In New York City, she regularly performs with Lydia Johnson Dance, Continuum Contemporary/Ballet, and Dances Patrelle, among others. Catherine has danced in the Amy Sherman Palladino TV show "Etoile." She holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, which she earned by studying part-time while dancing professionally.
Emily Sarkissian trained with Mihailo Djuric at Ballet New England where she performed classical and contemporary ballets. She attended the University of Utah ballet department, and after leaving the dance world for several years, she returned to pursue modern work and academic studies at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, also studying in Chicago. In 2016, she choreographed and performed in the Emmy Award-winning film, Emergence, in collaboration with Potenza Productions. In NYC, she has worked with choreographers Natalie Lomonte and Nicole Loizides, and was an apprentice with ZviDance. She joined LJD in 2018.
Gabriel Sharp is a NYC based dancer, choreographer, and photographer. He has performed alongside the Ailey company in Memoria at New York City Center and danced works by Hope Boykin, Paul Taylor, Kimberly Bartosik, and Tamisha Guy. He loves capturing movement and stories on film and in photographs. Originally from Seattle, he relishes any chance he gets to be immersed in nature!
Emma Conrad, originally from San Diego, California, is a movement artist based in New York. She has performed with Lydia Johnson Dance across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and with JRamirez & Artists at festivals including the Westfest Dance Festival (All Over 2024, Top Floor 2025), Sparks Theatre Festival, and at Rutgers University. Emma holds a dual degree in Dance and Psychology from the University of Washington, where she received the 2021 Evelyn H. Green Endowed Scholarship for artistic promise. While at UW, she performed works by Alana Isiguen, Rachael Lincoln, Gary Champi, and Alia Swersky, and appeared with the Chamber Dance Company in City of Rain by Camille A. Brown. Her choreography has been presented in New York and Seattle.
Natalia Nikitin (she/her) is a New York-based freelance choreographer and performer. She is excited to be in her second season with Lydia Johnson Dance! In addition to LJD, she has performed works by Jose Limon, Andrea Miller (GALLIM), Roni Koresh, and Felipe Escalante (Tabula Rasa Dance Theater). As director of Natalia Nikitin & Dancers, her project-based company has performed at Mark Morris Dance Center, Dixon Place, The Wild Project, Brooklyn Art Haus, and Spark Theater. Natalia holds a BFA in dance from NYU Tisch and a minor in sociology, graduating with honors (‘24),
Max O' Connell is originally from Cortland, New York, and is a graduate of UNCSA’s BFA Dance program. Max spent two years with Graham 2 after a season with the First National Tour of “Fiddler on the Roof, “ directed by Bartlett Sher and choreographed by Hofesh Schecter. He now lives full-time in New York City as a freelance dancer, teacher, and musician.
CRAIG HALL
GUEST ARTIST
2019, 2022, 2024
NY SEASONS
A former soloist with New York City Ballet, Craig Hall has danced featured roles in George Balanchine’s Agon, Apollo, Episodes, The Four Temperaments, The Nutcracker (Tea, Candy Cane), Serenade, La Sonnambula, Western Symphony; Angelin Preljocaj’s La Stravaganza; Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun, The Cage, Fanfare, Glass Pieces; and Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain, DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse, Liturgy, Polyphonia, This Bitter Earth. Featured roles were also created on him by Mario Bigonzetti, Kim Brandstrup, Jiri Bubenicek, Eliot Feld, Jorma Elo, Robert La Fosse, Douglas Lee, Peter Martins, Wayne McGregor, Benjamin Millepied, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky and Lynne Taylor-Corbett.
After retiring from NYCB in 2016, Craig became a ballet master and repetiteur to New York City Ballet Resident-Choreographer Justin Peck. He has staged works for the San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Houston Ballet, Nantucket Dance Festival, and Vail International Dance Festival.
In 2018, Craig became part of the four person Artistic Interim Team at NYCB.
Deborah Wingert, Ballet Advisor
Ms. Wingert began her training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary and became a scholarship student at the School of American Ballet in New York. At the age of 16, she was selected by George Balanchine to join New York City Ballet. During her 15 years with the company, Ms. Wingert danced over 25 principal, soloist and featured roles. She is one of a small group of artists selected by the Balanchine Trust to set his choreography. In this capacity she has traveled throughout the United States and Europe setting and staging the Balanchine repertoire for companies including the Vancouver Ballet Society, West Virginia Ballet Company, Boston Dance Company, Northeast Ballet, Ballet Center of St. Louis, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She staged The Four Temperaments for Harvard University, and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux for the New York International Ballet competition
Ms. Wingert has taught at the School of American Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Ballet Academy East, the Livingston Ballet, Boston Dance Company, and the Vancouver Ballet Society to name a few. She has been a guest lecturer and instructor for the New York City Public Library, the University of Wisconsin, and the Pennsylvania Governor’s School of the Arts, the Northeast Ballet, Princeton University and Harvard. Ms Wingert teaches company classes for major dance companies and is a faculty member at The Julliard School.
Guest Artists
MaliQ Williams, ( Ongoing Guest Artist) a native of Pennsylvania, graduated from The Juilliard School with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in May of 2017. He has worked with a plethora of choreographers including Loni Landon, Matthew Neenan, Gentian Doda, Andrea Peña, Jasmine Ellis, Shamel Pitts, Jermaine Spivey, and Caroline Finn. He has also learned works by Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, and Nacho Duato. MaliQ was a recent member of The Mark Morris Dance Group and joins LJD as a Guest Artist.
Willy Laury has worked internationally as a dancer and a performer. Willy has danced for 7 years with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, as well as other major companies such as Ballet X , Morphoses and Michael Clark. More recently, Willy was a guest artist with Incidence Choreographic of the Opéra National de Paris. He has created many solo productions for Vidal Sassoon in London, Medley Academy in Paris, The Public Theater in NYC, and Danone Nation's Cup 2018 for their opening and closing ceremonies. His passion for performance led him to discover the theater alongside Matthew Corzine in NYC with whom he did his acting training. Now film director, choreographer and performer, Willy is the artistic director of ACE Dance Concept, and choreographer and movement director for Ariana And the Rose.
Guest Artist Stephen Hanna’s illustrious career ranges from rising through the ranks of New York City Ballet to principal dancer, to appearing in many Broadway shows, including Hello, Dolly! with Bette Midler, An American in Paris, On the Town and Billy Elliot the Musical (in the featured role of the Older Billy). Mr. Hanna returned to New York City Ballet as a guest artist for the 2009-10 season, followed by appearing in the role of Sid in the national tour of Twyla Tharp's Come Fly Away. He then traveled to Spoleto, Italy, to partner Alessandra Ferri in her return to the stage in The Piano Upstairs. Several years ago, Mr. Hanna took on a new exploration of expression by studying acting, which has landed him appearances on TV in several shows, including All My Children and Boardwalk Empire, and as a lead
in the short film Fourth Position.
Peter Chursin is originally from San Francisco, California, and most recently performed with Twyla Tharp Dance. He was a recurring company dancer in the STARZ miniseries Flesh & Bone. His theater credits include: the revival of On the Town (Broadway), The Music Man - "Tommy Djilas" (TUTS), West Side Story (Broadway, Original Cast) and Wicked - "Chistery" (1stNational Tour and Los Angeles Company). He performed with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Barak Ballet and has had the opportunity to work as a freelance dancer internationally. Most recently Peter has appeared in "On the Town" and "King Kong".
Mary Beth Hansohn received her professional training at The Arlington Center for Dance and The Maryland Youth Ballet. She also studied at the ABT summer intensive in New York City, where she performed Theme and Variations by George Balanchine. She joined Ohio Ballet at the age of 18, and went on to dance in works by Heinz Poll, Donald Byrd, Laura Dean, Ann Marie DeAngelo, Alonzo King, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Stephen Mills and Septime Webre. Ms. Hansohn has performed with Twyla Tharp Dance, Dayton Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, The Cleveland Opera, Neglia Ballet, The Metropolitan Opera-Live in HD and Dances Patrelle. She has also worked with Edouard Lock at La La La Human Steps and with Karole Armitage at Armitage Gone! Dance. Most recently she performed at The Joyce Theater with Twyla Tharp in "Minimalism and Me"
Ramona Kelley is from Berkeley, CA, where she began her training at Berkeley Ballet Theater. She went on to earn a BFA in dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she performed in works by William Forsyth and Ronald K Brown. Ms. Kelley danced the principal role of "Betsy" in the touring production of Twyla Tharp’s Come Fly Away and went on to dance with the Tharp company creating new roles, in addition to performing repertory works. She is a principal guest artist with Oakland Ballet, where she has danced works by Graham Lustig, José Limón and Robert Moses. Ms. Kelley has also performed with Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance, Claudia Schreier and Co, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Post:Ballet, Sidra Bell, and Phantom of the Opera (25th Anniversary Tour), among others.
From Dallas, Brynt Beitman (Principal) earned a BFA from The Juilliard School and is a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. His performance credits include Bruce Wood Dance Project, Heidi Latsky Dance, TAKE Dance, Lydia Johnson Dance and New York Baroque Dance Company. His own works have been shown internationally at The Brinca Brunch Festival Costa Rica, Montreal’s Moyse Hall, The Juilliard Theater, Alice Tully Hall, Bryant Park, Dance New Amsterdam, Galapagos Art Space, Socrates Sculpture Park, Moyse Hall and Baruch Performing Arts Center. He is a guest faculty member at Randolph College.