# Staff & Teaching Artists ## expand\_more ## Dance Program Staff [### Elizabeth Epsen ](/people/elizabeth-epsen) Manager of College Dance, OFA Dance Program Elizabeth Epsen (she/her) is the Manager of College Dance for the OFA Dance Program where she oversees all co-curricular dance in the OFA including artistic and pedagogic curation of programming; administration; communications; undergraduate student... ![Elizabeth Epsen headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/makeart/files/elizabeth_epsen_headshot.jpg?itok=XMc40XLD) ## Teaching Artists, Accompanists, & Production Supervisor & Advisor [### Aaron Jensen ](/people/aaron-jensen)Ballet Accompanist Aaron Jensen is a pianist and principal accompanist for the dance division of Boston Conservatory at Berklee. He has played for institutions such as Boston Ballet, Harvard Radcliffe, Emerson College, Ballet Theater of Boston, and accompanied pre... ![Close headshot of Aaron Jensen, a White man with a gray short beard wearing a white collared shirt. Behind him is a blue sky and palm tree.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/makeart/files/aaron_jensen_headshot_lowres.jpg?itok=GutEfYCk) [### Akili Jamal Haynes ](/people/akili-jamal-haynes)Contemporary and West African Accompanist Akili Jamal Haynes is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who began his career at age 15 as a trombonist under the mentorship of Wynton Marsalis. Haynes currently performs with several ensembles and has participated on several recordings as a trombonist... ![A Black man with long dreadlocks and mustache and wearing a white garment is looking downwards in concentration.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/makeart/files/akili_jamal_haynes_2_credit_jill_goldman_photography_cropped_01.jpg?itok=qRqiFgLx) [### Andrea Sala ](/people/andrea-sala)Production Supervisor & Advisor for Student-Led Dance Group Residency Andrea Sofia Sala (she/her) was born in San Antonio, Texas, but grew up in Northern Mexico. During her high school years, she was heavily involved with dance companies and programs around San Antonio, including San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet. Andrea... ![Close-up head shot of Andrea Sala looking into the camera and smiling.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/makeart/files/andrea_sala.jpg?itok=Oqr3U6-5) [### Anjali Nath ](/people/anjali-nath)Kathak Teaching Artist Anjali Nath is an established Kathak dance performer and teacher, trained by the renowned, late Kathak master, Pandit Chitresh Das. Known for her swift chakkars (spins), crisp footwork and grace, Nath’s solo performances are rooted deeply in the Kathak... ![A close up of Anjali Nath dancing; she wears an orange tunic; her arms framing her face.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/makeart/files/unknown-1_01.jpeg?itok=4fLCA_VP) [### Ashton Lites, aka Stiggity Stackz ](/people/ashton-lites-aka-stiggity-stackz)Hip-Hop Teaching Artist/Spring '26 Artist-in-Residence Ashton Lites, aka Stiggity Stackz, or just Stackz, is regarded as one of Boston's most renowned veteran freestyle dance specialists with over 15 years of intensive training in many different cultural and concert dance forms including Krump, Popping... ![Black and white close up of Ashton Lites looking to the side and laughing.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/makeart/files/stefanie_belvnavis_the_diahann_project.jpg?itok=ROB1n_1W) [### Dean Vollick ](/people/dean-vollick)Ballet Teaching Artist Dean Vollick began dancing at 18 with Canadiana, a folk dance company in St. Catharines, Ontario. He began his ballet training at Brock University and then continued at The George Brown College/Lois Smith School of Dance and Canada’s National Ballet... ![White middle-aged man in a pink collared shirt looks directly into the camera.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/makeart/files/dean_vollick.jpeg?itok=N2rU3XRP) [### Ella Wechsler-Matthaei ](/people/ella-wechsler-matthaei)Soca Fusion Teaching Artist Ella Wechsler-Matthaei began dancing Hip Hop at the age of six with Jam’nastics Inc., a Cambridge-based nonprofit dedicated to teaching dance and gymnastics to youth through afterschool and summer camp programing, where she danced and choreographed... ![Light skinned Black woman with shoulder length brown wavy hair. She wears a red halter tank top and tilts her head over her shoulder smiling warmly at camera.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/makeart/files/ella_melvern_isaac_mip_7498_cropped.jpg?itok=O-7Q_CPK) [### Emi Okumura ](/people/emi-okumura-0)Ballet Accompanist Hailed as a “magician of the piano” by the world-renowned pianist and judge Hiroko Nakamura, Dr. Okumura is an active recitalist and chamber musician who has performed live and on broadcasts throughout the US, Europe and Asia. She routinely performs... ![Young Japanese American woman smiles softly and looks at the camera.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/makeart/files/emi_okumura.jpeg?itok=zsPlJWFI) [### Grisha Coleman ](/people/grisha-coleman)Embodiment Practices Teaching Artist Grisha Coleman is a certified Awareness Through Movement/ The Feldenkrais Method™ practitioner studying with David Zemach-Bersin, Denis Leri, Carole Kress and Elizabeth Berringer among many others. She has also trained in Body-Mind Centering ™ and the... ![Close-up of Grisha Coleman, a a light skinned Black woman with short hair. She looks up at an angle with a soft smile.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/makeart/files/coleman_1_maurice_gunning.jpg?itok=NUALkYO1) [### Joh Camara ](/people/joh-camara)West African Dance Teaching Artist Sidi Mohamed Camara, popularly known as “Joh,” was born in Bamako, Mali in West Africa, and from the age of 5, trained in music and dance from his mother Fanta Kamissoko, a well-known Jali (Jalis,also known as Griots,are highly venerated in their... ![Black and white close-up of a Black man with bare muscular shoulders. His gaze is downward and he is smiling.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/makeart/files/joh_camara_profile_pic.jpg?itok=yTXM1qMr) [### John Lam ](/people/John-Lam)Ballet Teaching Artist John Lam began dancing at the age of four at the Marin Ballet in San Rafael, CA. He rose quickly through the ranks and was awarded a scholarship to attend Canada's prestigious National Ballet School before being invited to join the Boston Ballet in 2003... ![A close-up headshot of an Asian American man looking intensely at the camera. He has short black hair that falls over his forehead. Black backround.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/makeart/files/john_lam.jpg?itok=mVV3Ar0y) [### Kelvin Vu ](/people/kelvin-vu)Gaga Teaching Artist Kelvin Vu is a designer and dancer interested in the intersection of the performing arts, public space, and public knowledge. After graduating from Yale, he trained at the SF Conservatory of Dance before moving to Tel Aviv to join Batsheva Dance Company’s... ![Kelvin Vu looking straight at the camera with his arms crossed in front of him and wearing a marigold colored longsleeve shirt.](/sites/g/files/omnuum4081/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2026-01/KVu_Headshot_CR_Kait_Privitera_web.jpg?h=139a076f&itok=nG5gQL1c) - Previous page chevron\_left - [1](?page=0 "Current page") - [2](?page=1 "Go to page 2") - [3](?page=2 "Go to page 3") - [ Next page chevron\_right ](?page=1 "Go to next page")