Dancers Archives

Anna Joy was born and raised in Rochester, NY, where she began her training at Draper Center for Dance Education. She traveled to Trujillo, Peru, to perform in the Festival Internacional De Ballet Trujillo and attended competitions throughout the U.S. She spent summers at American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, The Royal Ballet School, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet.

In 2019, Anna competed in Dance Prix De New York where she was offered a full scholarship by Cynthia Harvey to the Upper School at American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. She moved to New York, NY, to attend the school where she also participated in projects, including performing in New York Fashion Week. She graduated in 2023 and joined the Washington Ballet School as a Trainee from 2023–2024. Anna joined LINES Ballet in 2025.

Photography: Anna Joy

Mikal Gilbert raised in Virginia Beach, VA, Mikal Gilbert developed a love for dance at the age of 19 while studying music performance at the University of the Arts. It was there that his passion grew upon encouragement from several dance faculty members. He then went on to formally train at Norfolk Academy under the tutelage of Elbert Watson, where he studied ballet and modern. In 2017, Gilbert was an inaugural member of Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s Pre-Professional Program. In 2018, he continued his studies at The Ailey School as a full scholarship recipient.

Mikal has attended intensives and workshops at Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Complexions, and BalletX. Mikal is a “Dancer of Philadelphia” and has been a member of Koresh Dance Company (2019–2022), Dance Iquail (2022), and PHILADANCO! (2022–2024), where he performed works by Bernard Gaddis, Milton Myers, Christopher Rudd, and Tommie Wheed. Mikal joined LINES Ballet in 2024.

Photography: Alonzo King LINES Ballet | Dancer: Mikal Gilbert | © RJ Muna

Amanda Smith grew up in Orange County, CA and trained at California Dance Academy, Pointe of Grace, and Anaheim Ballet. In 2008, she was crowned Miss Dance Drill Team California and USA. She moved to New York to study at SUNY Purchase where she received her BFA in 2012. She also studied abroad and performed at the Dance New York International Dance Festival in Madrid, Spain.

After graduating, Smith joined Charlotte Ballet and worked with Patricia McBride. In 2015, she moved back to New York, where she joined New York Theatre Ballet. Smith also taught and participated in outside projects including The Black Iris Project and Kymera Dance, and she was featured in a national campaign for GAP. She then joined the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2017 and was featured on the cover of Dance Magazine’s 2019 April issue. While at DTH, Smith performed many roles in ballets such as Allegro Brilliante and Blake Works IV. She also guested for Debbie Allen’s Hot Chocolate Nutcracker. Furthermore, Smith has taught classes, performed as a guest artist all over, and worked with many prolific artists such as Arthur Mitchell, Carmen De Lavalade, and William Forsythe.

Photography: Alonzo King LINES Ballet | Dancer: Amanda Smith | © RJ Muna

Maël Amatoul is native to the French Riviera. He embarked on a journey at the PNSD Rosella Hightower in Cannes, where he trained in ballet and contemporary. Amatoul has worked on pieces by choreographers including Jean Christophe Maillot, Christophe Garcia, Hervé Koubi, and Francesco Curci. In 2022, he was awarded a Scholarship of Excellence in Art and Culture from the Côte d’Azur University. After seven years in Cannes, Amatoul decided to open his dance experience to new techniques and joined The Ailey School. There, he had the opportunity to learn and perform works by Alvin Ailey and renowned choreographers such as Ray Mercer, Branndi Lewis, Renee Robinson, and Clifton Brown. After attending the LINES’ Summer Intensive in June 2023, Amatoul joined Alonzo King LINES Ballet as a company dancer.

Photography: Alonzo King LINES Ballet | Dancer: Maël Amatoul | © RJ Muna

Theo Duff-Grant was born in Vancouver, Canada. He studied at Goh Ballet Academy for ten years before completing his training at the Dutch National Ballet Academy. In 2015, he joined the Dutch National Ballet. In 2017, he moved to Saint Petersburg, Russia to join the Mikhailovsky Theatre. Duff-Grant joined LINES Ballet in 2022.

Photography: Alonzo King LINES Ballet | Dancer: Theo Duff-Grant | © RJ Muna

Josh Francique was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He began his dance training with Deeply Rooted Dance Theater back in 2015. Joshua continued his training at the Northern Illinois University BFA dance program and, soon after, at The Ailey School on a full scholarship. Francique has performed works by Nicole Clark-Springer, Gary Abbott, and Kevin Iega Jeff, to name a few. In 2020, Francique attended LINES Ballet Training program for a year. Joshua joined LINES Ballet in 2022.

Photography: Alonzo King LINES Ballet | Dancer: Josh Francique | © RJ Muna

Tatum Quiñónez began her training at Master Ballet Academy in Phoenix, Arizona. She then continued her training at Ballet West Academy and the BWA trainee program. She spent her summers at Ballet Arizona, Ballet Austin, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet West, and Oregon Ballet Theatre. Quiñónez then joined Oregon Ballet Theatre’s second company, OBT2, in 2019. She has performed works by George Balanchine, August Bournonville, Willam Christensen, Gerald Arpino, Christopher Stowell, James Canfield, and LeeWei Chao. Quiñónez joined LINES Ballet in 2021.

Learn more about Tatum on our blog, LINESConnected:
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Originally from New York, NY, Marusya Madubuko began her pre-professional training at age 15 with Premiere Division Ballet under the tutelage of Nadege Hottier. In 2019, Madubuko competed at the Royal Grand Prix in Italy, winning second place for her contemporary and classical solo. She has trained with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, the Royal Ballet School, and at San Francisco Ballet School where she had the opportunity to dance repertoire including Helgi Tomasson’s Nutcracker and Cinderella, as well as George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 2021, she participated in BalletUnleashed’s first creative project “Switchback”, working with choreographer Cathy Marston to create a solo. Madubuko joined LINES Ballet in 2021.

Babatunji was born in Portland, Oregon but raised on the Big Island of Hawaii. He received his formal dance training from Center Stage Dance Studio and the University of Hawaii in Hilo before moving to San Francisco to train at the LINES Ballet Training Program on full scholarship. Babatunji has performed works by diverse choreographers such as Sidra Bell, Amanda Miller, Gregory Dawson, and Maurya Kerr. He has performed overseas in Japan and China and danced with Philein/ZiRu productions, Maurya Kerr’s tinypistol, and Dawson|Wallace Dance Project. Babatunji joined LINES Ballet in 2013 and danced with the company for six years. Currently, he is a dancer with Post:Ballet and SFDanceworks in San Francisco. He rejoined LINES Ballet in 2021.

Lorris Eichinger started training in Grenoble at the National Conservatory and continued at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Danse de Marseille. After training at The School of American Ballet in New York from 2010 to 2013, Eichinger joined the Professional Division program of the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. He then moved back to France to dance with the Jeune Ballet de Lyon. Eichinger danced with De Dutch Don’t Dance in the Netherlands in 2015, and then moved to Israel to join Kamea Dance Company in 2016. He joined LINES Ballet in 2019.

Learn more about Lorris on our blog, LINESConnected:
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