SANTA BARBARA DANCE THEATER
PROFESSIONAL COMPANY IN RESIDENCE AT UCSB
DANCERS
PAIGE AMICON is a dance artist and teacher originally from Glenmoore, Pennsylvania. She graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts under Susan Jaffe with a BFA in Contemporary Dance. She also holds a high school degree from UNCSA with a concentration in ballet.
Since moving to Los Angeles, she has had a wonderfully adventurous freelance career. Performance experience includes work by Danielle Agami/Ate9, Merce Cunningham, Yuval Sharon, Santa Barbara Dance Theater, Megan Pulfer, Sophia Stoller, and Mallory Fabian. Additionally, Paige is very excited to be in Santa Barbara dancing with the company!
DERION LOMAN is a Multimedia Artist/Dancer based in Los Angeles. He holds a B.A. and B.F.A. In Psychology and Dance, respectively, from the University of California Santa Barbara. He began his career in Ballet Hispanico’s Second Company, where he performed at a variety of different events. Most notably the 2013 Presidential Inauguration. He then went on to tour internationally and domestically with Pilobolus Dance Theatre from 2013-2017. Derion joined the cast of Diavolo Architecture in motion in 2017 for America’s Got Talent, and then toured with the company full time. He was also Divisional Finalist on NBC’s World of Dance Season 3. Currently he works as a freelance choreographer with an array of organizations including Google, Portland Opera, and The Los Angeles Dance Film Festival. He most recently set works on Dallas Black Dance Theatre II and UC Santa Barbara Senior Dance Company.
DALYA MODLIN is a recent graduate of UCSB with a B.F.A Dance and B.A. Psychology. Originally from Southern California, Dalya trained at Orange County School of the Arts in the commercial dance conservatory. Dalya has attended intensives and workshops such as Abraham In Motion, The Joffery Ballet, Chuthis, and Hubbard Street. Last year Dalya performed with the UCSB Student Dance company under the direction of Delila Moseley, and she joined SBDT as a company member in August 2023.
NICOLE POWELL began her dance training in Carpinteria, CA. She then studied at Idyllwild Arts Academy where she graduated as Senior Class Scholar and was the recipient of the Bella Lewitzky Dance Award. She also trained at San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Martha Graham School, Czech Republic Ballet, NW Dance Project, and Ate9 summer programs. In 2013 she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Southern Methodist University with a BFA in Dance and a BA in Philosophy. There she performed in works by numerous choreographers including Martha Graham, Shen Wei, and Danny Buraczeski. After graduation she relocated to Melbourne, Australia where she danced in the company Ausdance Victoria and taught outreach workshops for Scotland based Curious Seed Dance Company. In 2015, Nicole returned to California where she danced for LA based Donna Sternberg and Dancers, Weslie Ching Dance and many other freelance projects. She is currently in her 4th season with Santa Barbara Dance Theater. Nicole has also choreographed and performed solo work for Doni Silver Simons Performance Art. She has taught extensively in the US and abroad.
CALDER WHITE is a freelance dance artist, choreographer, and floorwork teacher based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Watuth First Nations (so-called Vancouver, BC). He is an alumnus of Toronto’s Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre and holds a BFA in Dance from the Ohio State University (2018). He has originated roles in work by Shay Kuebler (Shay Kuebler/Radical System Art), Wen Wei Wang (Wen Wei Dance), Sylvie Bouchard (BouchardDanse), Colin Connor (José Limón Dance Foundation), Santee Smith (Kaha:wi Dance Theatre), and Alexander Whitley (Alexander Whitley Dance Company). Calder’s choreographic interests lay in oversharing, memory recall, and the effects of video documentation on self-image. His work has been shared with audiences across Canada and the US, his most recent commission being for The School Of Dance (Ottawa) in September 2021. Calder is currently a company member with Shay Kuebler/Radical System Art, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, and Joshua Beamish/MOVEthecompany.
APPRENTICES
RILEY HALEY (Apprentice-Understudy) is a fourth-year Dance BFA student at UCSB and a third-year Santa Barbara Dance Theater apprentice. She began training in ballet and modern at the Beck Center for the Arts in Cleveland, Ohio. After moving to San Diego, California, her training continued at Del Mar Ballet, where she worked with choreographers and teachers Beverly Bagg, Jennifer Golonka, Dianne Moroney, Stéphano Candreva, and more. She has attended workshops led by Juliano Nunes, Flockworks, Ohad Naharin, and former Batsheva dancers. Some performing role highlights include Brandon Whited's Her (abridged) with SBDT, Meredith Ventura's Sound and Smoke, Juliano Nunes's Elements, and Flockworks' Winged Victory. Riley is incredibly excited to share her work with Santa Barbara Dance Theater as an apprentice.
GABI SMITH (apprentice-understudy) is a Senior at UCSB getting her Bachelor Of Fine Arts in dance. Gabi has been dancing since the age of 3, starting at the Deane Dance Center in Sacramento, CA. Gabi's training includes The School Of American Ballet, The Royal Ballet School, The Boston Ballet, and The Joffrey Ballet Academy, where she trained year-round. Gabi is spending her senior year performing with the UCSB Dance Company for the 2023-2024 season.