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

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

Ilaria Guerra was born in Torino, Italy. At the age of five, she moved to Palos Verdes Estates, California where she trained in classical ballet at Lauridsen Ballet Center, performing with their pre-professional company, South Bay Ballet. Ilaria graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA Program at Dominican University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in Arts Management in 2013. She joined dawsondancesf under the direction of Gregory Dawson in 2013. In 2016, Ilaria received an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Ensemble Performance. Ilaria joined LINES Ballet in 2018 and has had the chance to tour all over the US, Canada, and Europe with the company. In 2022, Ilaria earned her Master’s degree in Arts Administration from Drexel University.

Learn more about Ilaria on our blog, LINESConnected:
READ INTERVIEW

Photography: Alonzo King LINES Ballet | Dancer: Ilaria Guerra | © RJ Muna

Dominique Hargrove is a powerhouse, a divine vibrant being. She is a storyteller, revisiting and reimagining all aspects of herself and allowing her experiences to shape her reality. Diving into realms of love and collaboration, she is exploring empathetic and compassionate ways of listening and learning from her ancestors, family, and friends on how to cultivate and sustain a thriving community. As a teacher, she invites her students in the process of self-reflection. Co-creating a space where her students feel called to swim in the pools of their inner truth and create/perform movement from the space of authenticity.

Dominique Hargrove has had the pleasure of training with Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Hubbard Street, Homer hans Bryant, LINES Ballet’s BFA Program at Dominican University of California, Guy Shoromi, and Sidra Bell. She has had the opportunity to choreography and perform internationally in Portugal and Vancouever and domestically throughout the Bay Area. Hargrove is currently an arts education teaching artist in the San Francisco and Oakland area. She is excited to be back in the sacred space of the studio diving into the ritual form that is movement medicine.

David Harvey is a Seattle-based dance artist and educator. He studied at Interlochen Arts Academy, The Kirov Academy of Ballet and the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program. He then danced for Alonzo King LINES Ballet from 2007-2014, and continues his relationship with LINES Ballet’s education programs as a returning faculty member and choreographer. Harvey has also worked as a dancer and collaborator with Bobbi Jene Smith, Tom Weinberger, Sarah Foster Sproull and David Raymond + Tiffany Tregarthen. He has been a member of Kate Wallich’s The YC since 2015.

Alonzo King LINES Ballet |  BFA at Dominican, Discovery Project, LINES Day, Summer Program, Training Program

Photography | © Jobel Medina

Lacey Heffernan is a dance artist and educator from Charleston, SC. In Charleston, Lacey performed with Annex Dance Company and Dance Lab’s Entertainment Company. In 2017, Lacey graduated from College of Charleston, where she earned a BA in Arts Management and Dance with a concentration in Performance and Choreography. Since moving to the Bay Area, Lacey has had the opportunity to perform with PUSH Dance Company, Visceral Roots Dance Company, and Call It Art. Lacey is a youth faculty member at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, ODC, HeART with LINES Community Program, and Ace Dance Academy.

Alonzo King LINES Ballet | Youth and School Programs

Photography | © Hillary Goidell

As a founding member of Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Nora Heiber danced for the company for twelve years after which she served as a Board Trustee for ten years. She was a part of the teaching staff for the LINES BFA Program at Dominican University of California and Training Program, offering a workshop entitled “Creating a Life of Dance,” in which she strived to bestow students with tools such as proactive problem-solving, confidence-building, and energy management for the purpose of enjoying a thriving professional career. Heiber also joined the faculty of Nevada City’s Holt Ballet Conservatory. Heiber is also one of the founding members of San Francisco GYROTONIC® where she has taught GYROTONIC® methodology since 1988. As a Master Trainer, Heiber has provided training to many GYROTONIC® trainers who currently teach all over the world.

Nora Heiber is also a Certified Mediator in Nonviolent Communication (NVC). She and her husband Cliff hold an ongoing partnership with CNVC Certified Trainer, Facilitator, and Mediator Aya Caspi that includes several collaborative online and in-person workshops. In addition to NVC, Heiber and Cliff have hosted a variety of workshops and personal retreats on their twenty acre property, including Permaculture Design, Nutrition, Dance, GYROTONIC®, and Yoga. They are dedicated to creating a peaceful environment that is in accordance with nature for the support of life-affirming trainings and activities.

For the past 35 years, Heiber has intuitively searched for a way to combine compassion and kindness with power and influence as a way of creating a non-adversarial approach to negotiating collective bargaining agreements on behalf of dancers, choristers, solo singers, and production staff of the opera and ballet in her work as the Western Executive for the American Guild of Musical Artists. In addition, Heiber integrated her growing knowledge of NVC while counseling pre-professional dancers and working with clients as a Master Trainer of the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®®. Currently, Heiber is offering her mediation services as part of a court program through the Conflict Resolution Center of Nevada County.

To learn more about Heiber’s work in Nonviolent Communication, visit reclaiminglifenvc.com.

Courtney Henry, from West Palm Beach, Florida, began her training at Palm Beach Ballet Center. As a high school senior, Henry was a finalist in Youth American Grand Prix’s “Stars of Tomorrow” program in New York City. After graduating from A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, she returned to New York to attend Fordham University/The Ailey School, where she earned a B.F.A. in dance.  Henry has worked with choreographers including Francesca Harper, Troy Powell, Robert Moses, and Elisa Monte, and joined Alonzo King LINES Ballet in 2011. In 2013 Henry was honored with the Princess Grace Foundation – USA and Chris Hellman Dance awards.

Alonzo King LINES Ballet | LINES Day Workshops, Summer Program

Photography | © RJ Muna

Ryan Huber (he/him) is a multimedia artist with over a decade of experience providing musical and visual services for Bay Area dance and theater groups. He works at UC Berkeley and is a member of the San Francisco-based band, Battlehooch. In addition to music and video editing, he is passionate about yoga and biology.

Alonzo King LINES Ballet | Dance for PD® at LINES

Dr Erica Rose Jeffrey believes in the power of movement connected to positive social change. A ‘dance activist’, she seeks to create positive ways of seeing, participating and collaboratingin, around, and through dance. Involved in multiple communities, she has worked internationally as a peacebuilder, facilitator, performer, educator, and arts leader. Erica Rose co-founded the Dance for Parkinson’s Australia program with David Leventhal in 2012.

Erica Rose is the first Dance for PD® certified teaching artist in Australia. She holds a PhD in Creative Industries, focusing on Dance and Peacebuilding from Queensland University of Technology, a M.A. in International Relations-Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Queensland, and B.S. degrees in Dance and Mediation and Conflict Resolution from Indiana University.

She is a Director of Dance for Parkinson’s Australia working in Partnership with Dance for PD®. Erica Rose has presented workshops with Queensland Ballet in Brisbane, the Sydney Opera House, The Australian Ballet, Ausdance, the Belconnen Arts Centre, and other organizations throughout Australia. Working with Dance for PD®, she is supporting the expansion of training and class opportunities in China, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Japan.

Erica Rose is also a co-Director of Peace and Conflict Studies Institute Australia, implementing and researching peacebuilding projects in the Asia and Pacific regions. Her research has included work in the Philippines, specifically in Mindanao, Fiji, Bougainville (Papua New Guinea), and the United States. As a Director of PaCSIA, she is currently engaged in community level peacebuilding projects, including many with arts and culture components in Australia, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. Her recent publication, Dancing through the dissonance: Creative movement and peacebuilding was published in 2020 in Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Alonzo King LINES Ballet | Dance for PD® at LINES