Program Company is a full training program and competition ensemble. WESTSIDE Dance Project is apart of Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet. DKCBA is the studio Directed by Dmitri Kulev and WESTSIDE is the elite contemporary company Directed and taught by Jessie Riley.
Dancers can take part in 2 ways. 1. Dancers can be apart of "Full Academy" which will give them optimal ballet training, contemporary twice a week with Jessie Riley, and contemporary and improv with Megan Guise. Program company is layered on top of this, with one 3 hour rehearsals on Tuesdays. In addition dancers can do Performance company with Megan Guise on Sundays if they are at least 13 years of age.
DKCBA also offers "Open Academy" to dancers 14+ who attend OCSA and cannot make the requirements of Full Academy. This program offers 3/4 ballet a week and 1 contemporary with Jessie Riley.
Choreography for Program which is rehearsed on Tuesdays is set my Jessie Riley and guest choreographers. Choreographers set to create works for 2019-2020 season include Spenser Theberge, Bret Easterling, Micaela Taylor, and Corey John Snide.
Westside Program Company attends 4 conventions a year and performs at the WESTSIDE Winter Concert every year.
To be apart of Program Company dancers must be between 11-18 with some prior training in ballet and contemporary. Jessie prefers training dancers at DKCBA before they join WDP. Dancers must be able to commit to whichever schedule they choose, Full Academy or Open Academy. Dancers are required to take private lessons and perform solos. Dancers may not train at any other school.
Full Academy, Program company and Performance company are encouraged together for optimal training. For more information on DKCBA visit www.dkcba.com.
"As a dancer growing up in Los Angeles, I wanted to be a concert dancer. Getting lost in the Los Angeles scene it was hard to navigate myself as a teen to learn more about concert dance. As an adult I became more educated on how to train for concert dance. I wanted to create a program for the dancers whom I had taken under my wing to learn the process growing up, so that they could have a head start in the field. I have a passion for the art form and how dance can reach the soul in a way no other form of art can. If I can share that with these young dancers I will feel accomplished"
Jessie Riley, Founder, Director
Dancers:
Sophia Frilot
Will Okajima
Miriya Lee
Aarilyn Lee
Robert Cornejo
Keely Meyers
Irene Kim
Valerie Chen
Addison Leitch
Kameron Couch
Mackenzie Couch
Katie Couch
Erin Park
Justin Padilla
Kailyn Yi
Mackenzie Auger
Emily Okamoto
Lilly Lorber
Adam Takahashi
Dawson Walker
Ella Horan
Program dancers are trained under the Direction of Jessie Riley and Dmitri Kulev at Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy. Dancers perform in annual WDP concert as well as many convention competitions through the year. In addition to Jessie Riley's choreography, members also train with and perform works by outside choreographers such as Barak Marshall, Alex Ketley, Jermaine Spivey, Bryan Arias, Cory Snide, and many more.
"My desire is to train these young dancers into passionate artists with technique, creativty, focus, and an undying love for their craft. To be willing to take on any task head on with a confidence in themselves yet a humble perspective. More than anything I do I love to train, so I look for dancers who are willing to work from the ground up and be willing to take themselves out of their comfort zones."
Jessie Riley, Founder and Director