SEA LEGS DANCE

Tikiri Shapiro hails from Knoxville, TN, and earned a BFA in dance from George Mason University. After graduating, she performed in Seattle with projects at Velocity Dance Center. Next, she headed to the East Coast to pursue her love for teaching as she opened Lighthouse Dance & Yoga, a studio in Selbyville, DE. During that time, choreography took flight and she founded Sea Legs Dance, a contemporary dance ensemble. She led the group on an international tour to Sri Lanka as well as performed closer to home in Delaware, Maryland, and NYC. She then landed in Austin, TX finding a home in the vibrant and welcoming dance community. Today, Tikiri contributes to Austin's dance scene by teaching and choreographing through Sea Legs Dance, managing the dance resource instagram @austindancehub and performing with Ventana Ballet and Red Nightfall Dance Theatre.

Rachel Cox Culver holds a BFA in Dance Performance from Sam Houston State University (SHSU). She currently performs with NobleMotion Dance, Ventana Ballet, and as a freelance dancer in Austin, TX. Before moving to Austin, Rachel danced with Nicolay Dance Works and as an apprentice with Bruce Wood Dance. While studying at SHSU, Rachel had the pleasure of working with many guest choreographers including Maurice Causey, and performing in many SHSU faculty creations. Hailing from Elida, NM, she studied classical and contemporary ballet and spent her summers studying with the Kirov Academy of Ballet, among others.

Kanami, originally from Tokyo, Japan, started dancing ballet at the age of three in Portland, Oregon. Upon returning back to Japan, she went to Noriko Kobayashi Ballet Academy and The Tokyo Ballet School to further her classical ballet training. In high school, she enrolled in professional program at the Quinte Ballet School of Canada, where she studied various dance styles including classical ballet, contemporary ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz, hip hop, and character dance. After graduating with the Quinte Ballet School of Canada Award, she went to The University of Texas at Austin, Theater and Dance Department. Majoring in Dance, she worked with various American choreographers including Charles O. Anderson, Alex Ketley, Abby Zbikowski, Kate Watson-Wallace and Sidra Bell. Upon graduation, she returned back to Japan and has performed in many projects by choreographers including Pichet Klunchun, Kota Yamazaki, Kazuyuki Futami, and Naoya Aoki and also choreographed her own work. Currently, she is dancing at Galveston Ballet as a Guest Artist. Her solo work, "Optimize Obligation" was selected for Barnstorm Dance Festival Digital Edition 2020.

Aidan DeWitt moved to Austin three years ago after finishing his degree in Dance and Musical Theatre. He is so grateful to have found a home with Ventana Ballet where dance brings the community together in an intimate, meaningful celebration of artistry. Enjoy the show, tap into something larger than yourself.

Erin Ellis, an emerging dance artist from Austin, TX, blends inventive movement and theatrical storytelling with a process-based approach. She has performed works by renowned choreographers like Brian Brooks, Chelsea Ainsworth, and Jessica Smith of Duel Rivet, as well as toured with Francisco Graciano's solo piece "The Spinner" at various festivals. With an MFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University, Erin is deeply engaged in performing, choreographing, and teaching within the vibrant dance scene of Austin, TX.

Internationally trained in ballet, modern, and contemporary, Lillie Amdahl has found a temporary home in Austin. She would miss sleep for a bowl of pasta and when not training she can be found country dancing. 

Ty Graynor received his BFA in Dance from The Hartt School of the University of Hartford, where he worked closely with Nina Watt, Miki Orihara, Stephen Pier, and Doug Varone.  In 2019, he joined the Limón Dance Company as a performing and teaching artist. Currently, he resides in Austin, Texas, and holds regular classes in the Limón technique, contemporary dance forms, and improvisation. He is a performing artist for Ventana Ballet, Red Nightfall Productions, Sea Legs Dance, and Peter Stathas Dance.

Connor Timpe graduated from UT Austin with a BFA in dance, after which he performed with various companies in Texas including Arcos, NunaMaana and Galveston Ballet. This is his first show back since COVID, and he is excited to be performing with Ventana for the first time.