The Apprentice Company aims to nurture, strengthen, and support committed young dancers who are choosing dance performance as a tool for personal development. The Apprentice Company was created for students who have demonstrated artful thinking when approaching the study of movement. They perform at least 1 major concert work per year and are often invited to understudy or perform with the Concert Company in major productions. Participation is by invitation only, and you must participate in Eveoke’s Summer Intensive to be considered.
Meet the Dancers…
Jennifer Swindlehurst Chan
Jennifer Swindlehurst Chan is 14 years old and is currently a sophomore at Canyon Crest Academy. She started dancing about 10 years ago at North County Dance Arts and then moved to On the Edge Dance Company where she got to experience competing with dance teams in jazz, lyrical, and hip hop. She currently dances at Royal Dance Academy and is now a part of CCA’s dance conservatory. This is Jennifer’s first year on the Apprentice Company. She is very excited and grateful for these opportunities.
Chloe Chelf
Chloe Chelf is currently a senior at Canyon Crest Academy. She began dancing when she was three years old. Then when she was five she took a break and played soccer. In middle school she was reintroduced to her passion of dance. In Chloe’s freshman year of high school she auditioned for Stella Nova Dance Company and was part of that for two years. She is currently part of the Dance Conservatory at Canyon Crest Academy High School and loves every second of it. Dance brings Chloe so much joy and she loves sharing it with others.
Piper Dye
Piper Makenzie Dye is a 16 year old junior at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts and has been dancing at Eveoke since 2004. She most recently performed in Las Mariposas as Maria Teresa (youth), and in the past has been involved in Eveoke’s Youth Performing Group, Performing Group, and the Apprentice Company for its first 2 years. She is ecstatic to be back after her year off. Piper feels that she has learned a tremendous amount from all of the wonderful teachers at Eveoke who have consistently inspired her. She loves the emotional and physical journeys and challenges that are a true part of Eveoke’s powerful vision. Piper is thrilled and honored to continue exploring where those challenges might take her next and looks forward to building a community with the group of beautiful dancers in the Apprentice Company this year.
Diondra LaShay Eubanks
While growing up in Oceanside, Diondra began her dance training studying Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Ballet at El Camino High School. After being introduced to many forms of dance, she continued her training at local dance studios and Palomar College. After receiving her BS in Kinesiology-Physical Education from CSUSM and becoming a Club Coordinator for F19 fitness centers, Diondra is able to continue her dance training and be a part of many performance opportunities as a member of Eveoke’s Apprentice Company. Diondra is extremely excited to be a part of Eveoke’s Teacher Training Program under the direction of Erika Malone. In this program, Diondra has learned many teaching skills on how to become an effective teacher and how important it is to have intention behind dance movement.
Jennifer Gruman
Jen Gruman started dancing at age four, but took some time off to pursue cheer and gymnastics. She participated in cheer and gymnastics throughout high school and continued with cheerleading into college, being a captain of Palomar College’s cheer team in 2006. After cheer, Jen started taking dance technique classes at Palomar and quickly developed a passion and love for the art of dance. In December 2009, Jen moved to the state of Washington, where she furthered her dance training in ballet, jazz, modern, and hip-hop. During her time in the Northwest, she auditioned for and became part of a small dance company directed by Tino Nozaki called iN.GAUGE, which trains out of Portland, Oregon. Jen took charge of a few of the company’s weekly drop-in classes, teaching her own choreography to the classes’ students. She also performed many times with iN.GAUGE in Portland and the surrounding areas. Jen moved back to southern California in August 2010 and began taking choreography and technique classes at Palomar again. Since then, Jen has continued her training through Palomar College and surrounding studios. Jen has also performed several times with Axxiom Dance Company, such as Carnival Choreographer’s Ball held in Hollywood, Axxiom’s “Unleashed” show, and The Mix Match Dance Festival held in Santa Monica to name a few. She is excited to start her journey with Eveoke’s Apprentice Company and hopes to continue in dance throughout her life, whether it’s actually being on stage, choreographing pieces, or teaching and inspiring a passion for dance.
Becky Kalinowski
Becky Kalinowski is currently a senior at Canyon Crest Academy and has been dancing since the young age of five when she started taking ballet classes at Ballet Arte. She quickly became very committed to ballet and continued to train with Ballet Arte until she was 15 years old, performing in The Nutcracker each year, and various spring shows such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. Her most recent roles in The Nutcracker include Clara, the Arabian soloist, and the Snow Queen. In the summer before her junior year, Becky was accepted into the CCA Dance Conservatory giving her the opportunity to work with Rayna Stohl, Ericka Moore, and other guest artists in order to dive into different styles such as modern, jazz, and hip-hop. Becky owes much of her growth physically and artistically to the teachers and guest artists at CCA. This past summer Becky took part in the Eveoke Summer Workshop and fell in love with the focus, artistic ability, and passion of the dancers, teachers, and directors. She is very excited to now be a part of Eveoke’s Apprentice Company while still training with CCA’s Dance Conservatory in hopes of pursuing a professional dance career.
Anabel Roca
Anabel Roca started dancing in Spain until she moved to San Diego in second grade. When she came to San Diego she continued her dancing at Eveoke Dance Theatere with our founder Gina Angelique, and our current teachers Ericka Moore and Nikki Dunnan. She fell in love with Modern dance but explored jazz, hip hop, ballroom, and ballet at Dancenter when she moved to Santa Cruz in eight grade. She continued her dance in classical ballet with Gustafson dance, and during her summers in Spain. After three years at Gustafson dance in Santa Barbara, she graduated high school and moved back to San Diego. She is now 18 and an Apprentice Company dancer for Eveoke, and looking forward to all her adventures to come.
Pascalle Rodriguez
Pascalle Rodriguez was born in San Diego, CA. She is currently a senior at Canyon Crest Academy and is a member of their dance conservatory. Pascalle discovered dancing as her passion when she was ten years old and carries that passion for dance with her today. Participating in Eveoke’s Apprentice Company has opened her to new technique and expression in dance. She loves interacting and dancing with the members of the Apprentice Company. Recent roles include young Minerva in Eveoke’s production of Las Mariposas at the La Jolla Playhouse and on tour in the Dominican Republic. She played the role of Elphaba in Envision Dance Conservatory’s production of The Green One and The Red Queen in their production of Alice Lost in Wonderland. She is honored to have the opportunity to express herself through dance and plans to pursue a professional dance career.
Alisa Tang
Alisa was born and raised in San Diego. She realized her love of dance when she began performing traditional Chinese folk dance at the age of 10 and subsequently began training in the ballet studio above her ice skating rink. She then broadened her horizons when she joined Canyon Crest Academy’s Dance Conservatory program in her sophomore year of high school. Under the guidance of the guest artists and teachers (Rayna Stohl, Tracy Yates, Yvonne Hernandez, etc), she was introduced to and improved upon different styles such as jazz, modern, ballet, hip-hop, and even a little salsa. Recently, she has had the opportunity to join the Apprentice family, and is very grateful to be able to train with all of these lovely people!
Bruce Walker
Bruce is 21 years of age and was born and raised in San Diego. He started dancing at 15 with Kearny Senior High’s dance team and was introduced to Eveoke after working with Eveoke Teaching Artist, Yvonne Hernandez. Bruce was invited to train in Eveoke’s education program and once he became a member of the Outreach Performing Group, he knew he would dance for the rest of his life. Since then Bruce has danced with Eveoke for about 6 years taking part in amazingly beautiful works of art. He has participated in Celebrate Dance Festival, the Teacher Training Program, and currently with Eveoke’s wonderful Apprentice Company. In his years of dancing he has learned a lot from Eveoke. ”I know deep down in my body, mind, and soul that I will always take part in everything Eveoke Dance Theatre has to offer. I love them with all my heart.”
Bora Yoon
Born in Indianapolis and raised in San Diego, Bora Yoon was introduced to dance at the age of 12 within the dance program at Aviara Oaks Middle School. Subsequently, she recognized her passion for the arts and performance. She then entered high school with optimistic hopes of expanding her potentials as an artist and was offered the exposure to different forms of dance such as modern, jazz, and ballet. Bora Yoon is currently a junior attending Canyon Crest Academy and is a member of their Envision Dance Conservatory. There, she danced the different roles in their productions such as the Dormouse of “Alice Lost in Wonderland” and Glinda the good witch in “The Green One”. She is incredibly grateful for the opportunities and experiences given to enhance her as an artist and a person through the structure of dance. She looks forward to gain knowledge of intention through movement, and develop wonderful memories in her journey within the Eveoke Apprentice Company.
