Dancers – LA Dance Project

Hope Spears

Hope Spears(she/her) was born in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam and raised in West Palm Beach, FL where she began her dance training at a young age. She graduated from George Mason University with a BFA in Dance in 2021. While there, she performed works by Micaela Taylor, Kyle Abraham, Christopher d’Amboise, and Hope Boykin as well as attended programs including Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Program, NW Dance Project’s MOVE program, Bates Dance Festival, and Ate9. After graduation, Hope moved to LA and freelanced throughout California, working with choreographers such as Lillian Barbeito, Ihsan Rustem, Jennifer Archibald, James Gregg, Noelle Kayser, Danielle Agami, and Genna Moroni. She also started guesting with LA Dance Project in 2021 and joined as a full time company member in 2023.

Hope Spears

Audrey Sides

Audrey Sides was born in Oakland, CA and received her early dance training at the Oakland Ballet School and the Oakland School for the Arts. She went on to train at the San Francisco Ballet School and joined Ballet Austin as a trainee upon graduation. In 2019, she moved to Chicago to train with the Hubbard Street Professional Program and in 2020 was a founding member of Little Fire Artist Collective. In 2021, Audrey moved to Vancouver, BC where she worked with artists such as Daina Ashbee, Joshua Beamish, The Biting School (Aryo and Arash Khakpour), Alyssa Favero/VOLT24, and Eilish Shin-Culhane, while developing her own choreographic practice and training at Modus Operandi, a contemporary dance training program directed by Tiffany Tregarthen, David Raymond, and Kate Franklin. While in Modus, Audrey performed new works by Shay Kuebler, Nicolas Ventura, b. Solomon, Brandon Alley, Yin Yue, Spenser Theberge, and Zahra Shahab. Audrey joined LA Dance Project in 2023.

Audrey Sides

Shu Kinouchi

Shu Kinouchi is a ballet dancer and multidisciplinary artist from a suburban town near Yokohama, Japan. He began training at Mayumi Kinouchi Ballet Studio at age 2 and later studied at the Hamburg Ballet and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre. As a teen, he joined the Studio Company at ABT in New York. Shu has danced with Houston Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, and, since 2020, with Benjamin Millepied’s L.A. Dance Project.

With LADP, Shu has performed internationally in works by Millepied, Bobbi Jene Smith & Or Schraiber, Rauf “Rubberlegz” Yasit, Janie Taylor, Dimitri Chamblas, Idio Chichava, and others. His touring credits include the Sydney Opera House, Joyce Theater in NYC, Théâtre du Châtelet, La Seine Musicale, Philharmonie de Paris, Dubai Opera, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, among others.

His choreographic work blends ballet, martial arts, theater, and performance art, often drawing from the nuance and restraint of Japanese unspoken culture. Recent creations include This Could Be You, developed at LADP’s Dancer Create, and SHU LOVES CHAIRS: a piece about support, a solo dance-theater work in collaboration with LA-based studio WAKA WAKA by Shin Okuda and director Carolyn Braver.

In 2025, Shu will serve as Creative Lead for the Everybody Dance LA! Summer Intensive at LA Dance Project. As a freelance artist, dancer, and model, Shu was featured in PhotoVogue in 2024, in a portrait by Dan Chan. He also performed a lead solo in RZA’s production A Ballet Through Mud, and his performance in the experimental film SHU (周) by Mike Schwartz was selected for the LA Dance Film Festival.

Shu joined L.A. Dance Project in 2020.

Shu Kinouchi

Daphne Fernberger

Daphne Fernberger, born and raised in NYC, began her professional career with Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet before moving to Europe to join Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. As a freelance artist, she danced for the Merce Cunningham Trust in “Night Of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event,” Ersan Mondtag, Margie Gillis Legacy Project, among others, in both Europe and the United States. Daphne graduated from American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and received her BFA from The Juilliard School. During her time at Juilliard, Daphne had the honor of performing a lead role in Pina Bausch’s rarely seen work, “Wind von West,” also traveling to Germany to perform in celebration of Tanztheater Wuppertal’s 40th anniversary. Her own choreographies include “Hellerau is Female,” “WHOLE,” a short film for the fashion brand Rentrayage, the dance film “Environment as Self,” and “The River Within.” Daphne also movement directs for other projects, collaborating with visual artists, theater productions and more. Daphne Joined L.A. Dance Project in 2021.

Daphne Fernberger

Lorrin Brubaker

Lorrin Brubaker began dancing at age 10 in his hometown of Apopka, Florida, and graduated from the DPHS Dance Magnet in 2012. He was then accepted into The Juilliard School, where Lorrin performed works by Jose Limon, Lar Lubovitch, Jerome Robbins, Mark Morris, Camille A. Brown, Brian Brooks, Zvi Gotheiner, Matthew Neenan, and Peter Chu. After graduating from Juilliard in 2017, Lorrin danced full time with BODYTRAFFIC where he performed works by Matthew Neenan, Victor Quijada, Richard Siegal, Sidra Bell, James Gregg & Rauf ‘RubberLegz’ Yasit, and Micaela Taylor. Lorrin then danced for Jacob Jonas The Company where he performed works by Jacob Jonas, and Omar Roman De Jesus. Lorrin also had the honor of performing for the Merce Cunningham Trust in “Night Of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event.” Lorrin joined LADP as a full time company member in January, 2020. Since then, Lorrin has performed works by Benjamin Millepied, Bobbi Jene Smith & Or Schraiber, Bella Lewitzky, Pam Tanowitz, Jamar Roberts, Janie Taylor, Madeline Hollander, Salia Sanou, Dimitri Chamblas & Kim Gordon, Saburo Teshigawara & Rihoko Sato. Lorrin is currently in his 4th season with LA Dance Project.

Lorrin Brubaker

Courtney Conovan

Courtney (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist from Austin, Texas. Once graduating high school Courtney went on to further her education at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance where she performed works by Jie-Hung Connie Shiau, Doug Varone, Annie Rigney, Roderick George, and Rosalind Newman. During her time at Purchase she was selected to study abroad at the London Contemporary School of Dance for a semester. In 2022 Courtney graduated college while joining L.A. Dance Project. Here they have collaborated and performed the works of choreographers such as Benjamin Millepied, Bobbi Jene Smith & Or Schraiber, Pam Tanowitz, Dimitri Chamblas, Janie Taylor, Madeline Hollander, and Jamar Roberts. With interest in choreography Courtney has presented her own work at the Made By Women Festival in 2022. Letting curiosity drive her research, Courtney hopes to be able to create safe and open spaces within many art communities around the world for exploration and collaboration.