The Terpsicorps Dancers 2026

Check out the incredible artists who are slated to bring AscenDANCE to life. This is only the beginning! Check in regularly as both new and returning cast members are confirmed.

Handpicked from companies across the US and abroad, our remarkable company dancers never disappoint. Check out the dancers from last season’s Appalachian Phoenix!

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Alexandra Zakharchenko

Alexandra “Sasha” Zakharchenko (Second Season) is not a stranger to the Terpsicorps stage. Before her remarkable interpretations of featured roles in The Date and AYT last season, she was a stand out apprentice with the company in 2022 for Vampyre and in 2023 for Cleopatra, and we are thrilled to be bringing her back for a second year as a company member. Alexandra is currently a company member with Alabama Ballet, under the direction of former Terpsicorps dancers Christopher Stuart (Artistic Dir) and Jon Upleger (Rehearsal Dir). Some of her favorite repertoire at Alabama Ballet includes Wendy in Christopher Stuart’s Peter Pan, Dew Drop in George Balanchine’s Nutcracker, The Artist in Imitations by Garrett Smith, Winter Fairy in Cinderella, Dawn in Coppelia and Not Fade Away Girl in Christopher Bruce’s Rooster. Prior to Alabama Ballet, she danced with with Mareck Dance (Formerly Missouri Contemporary Ballet). Alexandra began her pre-professional training at New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble. In addition to studying more traditional styles of dance, she also studied character dance with Riverdance Soloist Andrij Cybyk and rhythmic gymnastics under Russian Master of Sport, Natalia Ejova. In 2019 she was awarded the New Jersey Governor’s Award in Arts Education for Artistic Excellence and Leadership in Dance.

Terpsicorps audiences will remember Sasha from her 2025 roles in The Date, AYT and Appalachian Phoenix.

Azusa Okamoto

Azusa Okamoto (Second Season) was born in Kyoto, Japan and began her training at the age of three with the Fukutani Yoko Ballet Studio. At the age of 16, she was offered a full scholarship to attend the Victoria Academy of Ballet where she graduated from the Post-Secondary Bridge Program earning a diploma in Classical Ballet.

Since coming to the U.S. in 2017, Azusa has danced numerous principal roles such as Sugar Plum, Snow Queen, and Dew Drop in the Nutcracker, Snow White in Snow White, Cinderella and Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, and Michaela in Carmen. She has danced professionally for Roxey Ballet, Utah Metropolitan Ballet, and currently for Syracuse City Ballet. 

Her awards include: First Prize at the 23rd Kobe Dance Competition, First Prize at the NAMUE Grand Final Ballet Competition, and Top 12 in both Classical and Contemporary at the Seattle YAGP. 

Terpsicorps audiences will remember Azusa from her 2024 roles in Satto, Before the Scream and Second Line.

Garret McNally

Garret McNally (Third Season)  began his classical training in 2008 at the Robert Ivey Ballet in Charleston, SC. In 2014, he attended the UNC School of the Arts. High School Program training under Susan Jaffe, Jared Redick, Misha Tchoupakov, Frank Smith, and others. There his passion for dancing grew, performing many works including August Bournonville’s Napoli Pas de Six, Frederick Ashton’s Birthday Offering, George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Donizetti Variations, and Serenade, Helen Pickett’s Petal, Natalia Makarova’s La Bayadere, and Michel Folkine’s Les Sylphides. 

Afterwards, he joined the New Orleans Ballet Theatre amid studying History at the University of New Orleans. After graduating in 2021, he joined the Richmond Ballet as a Second Company dancer being promoted into the main company the following season. There he worked and performed in Malcolm Burn’s Romeo & Juliet, Stoner Winslett’s Echoing Past, and The Nutcracker, Ma Cong’s Thrive, Firebird, and Ershter Vals, Jerome Robbins’ In the Night, George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, and Serenade, as well as works by Jennifer Archibald, Val Caniparoli, Yury Yanowsky, Nicolo Fonte, and Katarzyna Skarpetowska. Garret is currently with Ballet Rhode Island where he is featured in principal roles.

Terpsicorps audiences will remember Garret from his 2025 roles in The Date and Appalachian Phoenix, and in Before the Scream and Second Line in 2024.

Jeff Ewing

Jeff Ewing (Twelfth Season) is from Torrance, California where he began his classical ballet training at the age of six. His family moved to Asheville while he was in high school, where he continued his studies locally at Center Stage with Heather Maloy as his ballet instructor. Jeff has danced in Chicago with Lucky Plush Productions and Cocodaco Dance Project and currently dances with Stewart/Owen Dance.  He earned a BFA in Dance Performance at the Boston Conservatory, studied at the Juilliard Summer intensive, the apprentice program at The Chautauqua Institution, and assisted Cathy Young at Bates Dance Festival.  He spent a year dancing with Charlotte Ballet’s second company where he performed the works of Mark Diamond, Dwight Rhoden, and David Ingram.

Terpsicorps audiences will remember Jeff as the Phoenix in 2025’s Appalachian Phoenix, the B-Boy in Before the Scream in 2024, Pothinus in Cleopatra, as well as his roles in HUNGER, Second Line, Transform, Together We Soar, Coach Potatoes, Zelda’s Dance, Le Suil Go, AYT and many more.

Lelo Ima Rosado González

Lelo Ima Rosado González (Second Season) Currently a fifth year company member with Ballet Idaho, Lelo was born and raised in Puerto Rico. They began training in gymnastics in their early years and, at the age of 9, started ballet with Bellas Artes de Arecibo (Arts School) where, during their first year, Lelo was awarded a scholarship to train at Ballet de San Juan. At age 13, they became the only person in Puerto Rico to earn a scholarship, titled Futuro Danzante (Future Dancer), which created an opportunity for them to train under Waldo Gonzalez at the School for the Performing Arts. There Lelo developed their ballet skills and expanded their dance vocabulary in modern, musical theater, and hip-hop. During that time, Lelo began high school and enrolled in “Julian E. Blanco Escuela Especializada en Ballet” (Specialized School in Ballet) where they remained for three years. At 16 Lelo was awarded a two-year scholarship with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) where they gained the opportunity to dance in ballets by George Balanchine and Alan Hineline. As a professional dancer determined to be able to express their true self onstage, Lelo began doing supplemental hours of training on top of their rehearsal load, studying pointe work with the Ballet Idaho Academy and CPYB and continued their pointe training at Mauro Ballet Company.  At Ballet Idaho, Lelo has enjoyed featured roles in The Nutcracker, Lar Lubovitch’s Concerto 622, and as “Bird” in Anne Mueller’s Peter and the Wolf. Lelo also spent a year as a Semi-soloist with Mauro Ballet in Puerto Rico.

Terpsicorps audiences will remember Lelo from the solo work Stayed on Freedom created for them is 2024, as well as their roles in Before the Scream and Second Line.

LUCIA LORENZO

Lucia Lorenzo (Second Season) trained at Rochester City Ballet’s affiliate school and as a Trainee with Rochester City Ballet under Jamey Leverett. At 16, she moved to study at San Francisco Ballet School under Patrick Armand, dancing works by Helgi Tomasson, Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes, as a demi-soloist in Serenade, and in student pieces as both a choreographer and dancer. In 2018 she joined Ballet Austin performing Paquita, Giselle, Les Sylphides, and as one of the Four Cygnets in Swan Lake. While in Austin, Lucia also had the opportunity to work with Jennifer Archibald, Jennifer Hart, Jimmy Orrante, Erica Gionfriddo, Alexa Capareda and Performa/Dance Company. She spent the next two seasons as a soloist with De La Dance Company in Cincinnati performing most notably as Swanilda in Coppelia and the Sylph in La Sylphide, in addition to soloist and principal works in La Bayadere, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Raymonda, and Le Corsaire and contemporary works by local choreographers. She moved to the Bay Area in 2024, and joined Oakland Ballet Company performing works by Phil Chan, Wei Wang, and Elaine Kudo as well as Graham Lustig's The Nutcracker. She is now greatly enjoying her first season with Boulder Ballet.

Terpsicorps audiences will remember Lucia from her 2025 roles in Le Suil Go, AYT and Appalachian Phoenix.

Phoebe Magna

Phoebe Magna (Second Season) was born in Hartford, Connecticut. She has been a company dancer with Ballet Memphis since 2022, and was previously with Boulder Ballet, Richmond Ballet as a guest artist, City Ballet of San Diego, and Colorado Ballet Studio Company. She has danced the title role in Giselle and Cinderella, as well as the Black Swan in Swan Lake, Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker and Puck in Mark Godden’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She has additionally been featured in works by Paul Taylor, Christopher Wheeldon, Gerald Arpino, Matthew Neenan, Amy Seiwert and Sidra Bell. She trained at The Hartt School Community Division and The Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts and has performed at Vail Dance Festival and at Jacob’s Pillow as a member of the Contemporary Ballet Ensemble. Besides dancing, Phoebe has taught on faculty at the Boulder Ballet School, The Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts, and Dance Dimensions in Longmont, Colorado.

the terpsicorps apprentices

Excellent artists in their own right, we are extremely lucky to have talented young dancers, many already established in their professional careers, apprentice with us each summer. Check back soon to see who will be joining this season!

Terpsicorps has been showcasing remarkable artists for almost 23 years!

Take a trip down memory lane and see some of the artists from past performances.