Teaching Artists & Mentors

FRANCISCO GELLA

Founding Co-Director & Core Faculty, Artistic Director of Zeitgeist Dance Theatre

Francisco Gella’s distinguished 30-year career as a compelling dancer, award-winning choreographer, and widely-recognized dance educator, began when he took his first formal dance class at the University of Washington at the age of nineteen. His innovative choreography and highly effective teaching methods are sought after by professional companies, universities, arts high schools, conservatories, and studios across North America and around the globe.

Francisco’s choreographic commissions include Repertory Dance Theatre, Ballet Pacifica, California Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet’s Shut-Up and Dance Production, PHILADANCO’s Danco on Danco program, Laguna Dance Festival, Tucson Regional Ballet, University of Utah Ballet Ensemble, University of Washington Faculty Concert, Irvine Valley College, Ballet East, DANCO/II, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing & Visual Arts, Orange County School for the Arts and Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. His commission, ‘Between the Lines,’ set on PHILADANCO (The Philadelphia Dance Company), premiered at the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts in April at the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival, and was selected by PHILADANCO’S Artistic Director Joan Myers Brown as the company’s solo performance at the opening of the Democratic National Convention in 2016.

Among the recognition he has received includes numerous choreography awards at the Youth America Grand Prix International Ballet Competition, including Outstanding Choreographer, and the Outstanding Choreography Award at the National Regional Dance America Conference in 2007. In 2013, Francisco premiered Concentric Harmonies at Celebrate Dance in Los Angeles, a work that received the Grand Prize at the McCallum Theatre Choreography Festival in 2014. In 2014 and 2015, his work Solstice, performed by the Phoenix Ballet, had its world premiere at the 60th Anniversary Gala of the Beijing Dance Academy and its European premiere at Poland’s prestigious Lodz International Ballet Festival. In May 2016, his work Souvenirs de Mouvement was selected as a featured performance at the nationally recognized Booker T. Washington High School of the Performing & Visual Arts’ annual Flying Horse Gala. In 2018, Francisco’s work Timelapse, performed by the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, was selected for the gala performance at the National High School Dance Festival. Most recently, Francisco was invited to be the resident artist at the Palm Springs Dance Festival, where he will be premiering a new work.

Francisco is the founding artistic director of NUEVO School of Contemporary Dance and COLLABO Youth Dance Collective (2008-2015). As founder and Chief Creative Officer of Francisco Gella Dance Works, he has created numerous educational programs; Ballet+ (beyond technique) workshops, the Preprofessional Dancer Institute, New Year’s Training Camp, Seattle Dance Advance, the New Century Dance Project (a youth dance festival), the College Prep program, and Dance 360 – an online educational community that provides ongoing knowledge and support for students, parents, and teachers. Additionally, Francisco is the ballet and modern faculty member for the 24 Seven Dance Convention and founding director of ARIA Ballet Intensive produced by Break The Floor. Born in Bacolod City, Philippines, Francisco is a proud immigrant to the United States, now a citizen of this country who resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

JULIE ROSE FRIEDRICH

Founding Co-Director & Core Faculty, Director of College and Career Programs for Francisco Gella Dance Works

Julie Friedrich’s distinguished career as a professional dancer, mentor, and dance educator in the areas of ballet and contemporary dance, spans more than 18 years. She joined her first professional company at the age of 17 and received her primary dance education from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and Meredith Baylis of the Joffrey Ballet School. Upon graduation from high school, Julie joined the American Repertory Ballet under the direction of Septime Webre and then went on to join Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes. Discovering her passion for contemporary dance during her time with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, she then moved to Europe, where she danced professionally for the following five years. She has danced works by George Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, Ohad Naharin, Septime Webre, Nacho Duato, Guy Weizman, Alex Ketley, and other European choreographers. Upon returning to the United States, Julie joined the acclaimed contemporary dance company BodyTraffic as one of its founding members.

Julie taught for over a decade at both the Orange County High School for the Arts and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. During her time at both schools, along with teaching ballet and contemporary, she was the lead senior seminar advisor to all graduating dance students going onto the professional and collegiate world of dance. Through her guidance, Julie has taught numerous Young Arts Foundation winners, and her students have gone on to study at the Juilliard School, USC/Kaufman, SUNY Purchase, Tisch at NYU, and the Boston Conservatory, just to name a few. Professionally, she has former students working in such companies as ATE9, Kyle Abraham, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Cirque Du Soleil, and on Broadway.

In 2012 Julie was featured in the documentary film “ Fame High” for her mentorship of Grace Song, the first Korean American female to be admitted in dance to the Juilliard School. In 2013, President Obama and the White House named Julie one of the most influential art teachers in the country for her mentorship of young dancers.

Currently, Julie teaches, choreographs, and mentors students across the country. She teaches full-time at the Windward School in Culver City under the direction of Alesia Young and tours the country with Francisco Gella as one of his principal faculty mentors. In 2017, Julie became the Associate Director of College and Career Programs and the Associate Artistic Director of the Preprofessional Dance Institute (PDI) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, under the direction of Francisco Gella. Julie has also been on the faculty at the ARIA intensive as part of Dancerpalooza for the last three years. Most recently, Julie has signed on to become one of the main contributors to Dance 360 under the umbrella of Francisco Gella Dance Works.

Zak Ryan Schlegel

Core Faculty

Zak Ryan Schlegel is a performer with Shen Wei, educator at The Joffrey Ballet School, founding curator of cross-genre salon CONGRESS, and co-artistic director of AXIOM Dance Theatre. His work has been presented from The Juilliard School in NYC to Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA and is a three-time Outstanding Choreographer of the Youth America Grand Prix. He is the official recipient of the New Century Dance Project 2022 Choreography Award Grand Prize Honor, his film “In Beauty It Is Unfinished” is an official selection of The Athens International Film Festival, and Ann Arbor Film Festival, and recently won the Knight Foundation award at the Miami Film Festival. The New York Times calls him “a star” & Wall Street Journal “eye-catching & effortless”. His extensive research of Eastern and Western movement traditions adjacent to the philosophical tenets of observation, logic, and mathematics largely inform his presence of being, technical vocabulary, arresting language, and physical study of identity. Query is his primary motivation of understanding—where mortal repetition and shifting layers define performance as a series of cascading epiphanies.

Zak can be seen in Ryan Heffington’s Emmy award-winning choreographic work for HBO series Euphoria directed by Sam Levinson starring Zendaya, the feature film Babylon, directed by Damien Chazelle starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, The Weeknd’s highly anticipated upcoming HBO series The Idol starring Lily-Rose Depp and is the featured artist in Lexus’ L5 campaign. He has worked with directors Damien Chazelle, Sam Levinson, Edgar Wright, Melina Matsoukas, Floria Sigismondi, Amy Seimetz, Sebastian Strasser, Nina McNeely, Dugan O’Neal, Kitty McNamee, Greko Sklavounos, Eliot Lee Hazel, WIFE, Lita Albuquerque and GMUNK.

On stage, Zak has performed and toured globally as company member and soloist in Shen Wei Dance Arts, Italy’s Spellbound Contemporary Ballet led by Mauro Astolfi, Yin Yue Dance Company and Backhausdance on iconic stages from BAM, Art Basel Miami and Hong Kong to The Guggenheim, Asia Society in NY and Hong Kong, Arcosanti’s FORM Festival, and LA’s Walk Disney Concert Hall in collaboration with the LA Philharmonic. He has created an evening-length, experiential sound bath “Liminal” with Jonsi and Alex Somers of Sigur Ros, and has danced the works of Jean-Guilliame Weiss, Ryan Heffington with associate Ryan Spencer, Mandy Moore with associates Jillian Meyers & Megan Lawson, Michael Rooney, Nina McNeely, Jennifer Backhaus, Denna Thomsen, JA, Lisa Eaton and Josie Walsh. He received formative training from Rafael Bonachela at Sydney Dance Company, Danielle Agami, and Lucas Crandall, has participated in Gaga research with Ohad Naharin in Tel Aviv, Israel, and holds a BFA from Chapman University.

Commercial collaborations include The Weeknd, Sigur Ros, Britney Spears, Ry X, Lawrence Rothman, Years & Years, Peaches, MIKA, Ecko, Audrey Nula, Nova Wav, Fitz and the Tantrums, Japanese Breakfast, Lawrence Rothman, The Pierces, Sam Sparro, Vogue Italia, FLAUNT and OUT magazine, Lexus, Toyota, Ford, Squarespace, Amazon Prime, Sleep Number, TEDx, The Getty, Milk, and FIDM in multiple genres and platforms from film/television, music videos, live stage performances, commercial campaigns, and print editorials.

Hayden Rivas

Core Faculty

Hailing from South Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, Hayden Rivas is a versatile artist motivated by his curiosity and unyielding determination. As a teenager, Hayden received the opportunity to work with director Kenny Ortega as a chorus performer in Disney’s Descendants 3 and the choreographic team of “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” as both a chorus performer and a part of the skeleton crew for select episodes. Hayden’s professional experiences sparked a desire to further his dance education in a collegiate setting.

While pursuing a BFA in Dance at the University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, Hayden was mentored under luminaries such as Kyle Abraham, Dawn Stoppiello, and performed choreographies by Jiří Kylián, Tiffany Bong, Dwight Rhoden, Doug Varone, and Jason Rodgers to name a few. Hayden served as Associate Choreographer for USC’s production of Sondheim on Sondheim, directed by Richard Israel.

Additionally, Hayden's cinematic projects were prominently featured at USC events and his prized film, “the construct of one,” earned numerous North American honors at festivals such as Dance Camera West, PNB Film Festival, Fuselage Film Festival, and F.O.R.M. As a multidisciplinary artist, Hayden choreographed and served as a principal in “Body of Mine VR,” which won a special jury award at SXSW 2023 and was featured at Venice Immersive at La Biennale Di Venezia.

He was a part of Zeitgeist Dance Theatre’s inaugural year, under the direction of Francisco Gella and Yusha-Marie Sorzano. He has danced with Blue13 Dance Company and was a part of the skeleton crew and development for Achinta S. McDaniel’s piece on “So You Think You Can Dance.” Outside of the US and Canada, Hayden performed at the Hero World Challenge tournament hosted in Albany, Bahamas. He was grateful to originate and be given the opportunity to perform “5 Minute Dance: You Drivin’” at the Joyce Theatre in New York City with A.I.M by Kyle Abraham.

With a vision to advocate for artists, Hayden simultaneously pursued a Master of Studies in Law (MSL) with a Media and Entertainment Law Certificate at USC’s Gould School of Law. With this, he hopes to work exclusively with artists within the entertainment industry and continue to make strides toward equity and inclusion. He serves as the coordinator at PILOT MGMT under the guidance of Garen Scribner.

Adjunct Faculty & Presenters

Allegra Lillard, Dance Educator

Elise Gent, West African and Haitian Dance Instructor

Jess Spinner, Owner of ‘The Whole Dancer’

Accompanists

Fred Simpson, Percussion

Melanie Monsour, Pianist

Kyle Moore, Pianist