Athlete Voices

Devin Mallory is a UCLA Alum, graduating in 2021 with a BA in Worlds Arts and Cultures, Dance and a Minor in Food Studies. During his years in College, Mallory also was the first male on UCLA’s Dance Team and was a co-captain his Senior Year. He is now currently in a full time position with the Las Vegas Raiders as a Coordinator/Lead Instructor for Raiderettes The Studio. Connect with Devin: @devi...

Born and raised in New Zealand, Sarah Nolan competed on the small but competitive Ballroom and Latin scene throughout New Zealand and Australia. After receiving many national titles throughout all age divisions, she also made appearances on morning children’s shows and  the 2nd season of New Zealand’s Got Talent. Sarah then moved to London at age 19 to continue to work with the top dance teachers...

Opal Kale is a pole dancer and spin pole enthusiast who draws inspiration from ethereal music and fluid movement. Her pole journey began over a decade ago when she stumbled into a pole studio in Berkeley with zero experience in movement and never looked back. She believes pole dance can be an incredible outlet for creativity, combining flexibility, strength, dance, and artistic expression. In addi...

Eryn Bartz grew up dancing and performing in musical theatre. She moved to New York in 2022 to continue her musical theatre career and attended the Institute for American Musical Theater! After graduating, she continued her dance training at Broadway Dance Center and Steps On Broadway. You can currently find her on Jimmy Fallons Tonightmares as a swing. Eryn also participates in modeling campaigns...

Kristine Cannon is an aerialist and aerial coach located in San Francisco, balancing this passion and practice while being the Quality Improvement Director of 2 children’s hospitals. Kristine grew up dancing, but didn’t find aerial arts until the age of 30. Over a decade later, she is still thriving in her aerial practice and enjoys teaching aerial to adults and seeing them unlock new skills that...

Dave Lease is the host and co-creator of The Skating Lesson. Launched in 2013, TSL provides figure skating news, analysis, technique and interviews with many of the world’s top figure skaters, choreographers, coaches and journalists. Dave is a leading critic of subjectively-judged sports and has studied under several of the sport’s leading experts. The platform has achieved more than 35 million vi...

Yarden Sharon is an Israeli dancer and choreographer currently based in New York. Her dance journey began with a strong love of Irish dance, and she spent 8 years working as an ensemble member and as the lead female dancer in a professional Irish Dance company, while simultaneously diving into the worlds of contemporary, popping, hip hop, musical theater, jazz, ballet and more.   Yarden has choreo...

Hailing from the SF Bay Area, Ann is an actor, singer, and dancer with a specialty in musical theatre. From the age of 7, she’s trained in a variety of dance styles including (but not limited to): jazz, ballet, contemporary, hip hop, and tap. She’s also trained in musical theatre, classic, and contemporary vocal styles. Select musical theatre credits include: Vanessa in In the Heights, Lori (Larry...

Megan Posas has an extensive background in performing arts: from years of gymnastics and cheerleading, to yoga, and dance, she eventually fell into the discipline of Mongolian contortion while living in San Francisco. Since entering the circus scene, she has performed duo contortion as well as solo acts for cabarets, dinner shows, private events, and circus shows around California, the Hawaiian is...

Christian Solares is a professional ballroom dancer, instructor, coach, and Pro/Am competitor based in the Bay Area. He has been dancing since 2006, competing in amateur and professional fields. Christian teaches all four major ballroom dance styles. By not specializing in any particular style, he has a well-rounded repertoire in ballroom dance. Christian pairs technical and biomechanical principl...

Carolyn Burch is a 19 year old from the San Francisco Bay Area, currently a rising junior in Syracuse University’s BFA Musical Theater program. She began performing at the early age of 7, participating in various community theater productions, as well as her middle school and high school musicals until she ultimately decided to pursue theater professionally. Most recently, she performed in the cas...

Risa Ono (she/her) is a Tokyo native dancer and represented by Rae Dance Agency. She started dancing Hip Hop, Lock, and Street Jazz when she was 16. Once she started her dance journey, she performed in multiple events and started making choreography for her school performances / her hip hop team in Japan as well as New York. While she was in New York, she also trained Heels from Army of Sass and j...

Zohar the Nootzel is a passionate multi-disciplinary performer with a deep love for the stage and the magic it brings to audiences. After discovering contortion during her late 20s, she started to train consistently and eventually began to inspire and motivate others to improve their flexibility through her classes and YouTube channel. In 2021, she had an injury that completely changed her life an...

Welcome to Season 4 of the Athlete Voices Podcast! On this podcast, I talk about all things aesthetic sports, including gymnastics, dance, figure skating, artistic swimming, circus arts, musical theater, and more. I interview athletes and performers in these disciplines and share their stories.  --- Stay connected with Athlete Voices! Instagram:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@athletevoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ...

Wen Soon is a marriage and family therapist who began competitive Latin ballroom dancing in 2013. Once he became a therapist, his goal was to work with athletes in partner sports who are looking to resolve conflict and enhance their communication skills. On this podcast, he will talk about his experience doing couples therapy work and how those skills can translate over to partner sports.  Connect...

Casey Hersch is a licensed clinical social worker, animal advocate, Regent’s Scholar, health journalist, and avid Latin Ballroom dancer. She is the author of the mental health children’s book I Am Pawso: A Cat Teaches Kids Ways to Turn Around Difficult Situations. As a psychotherapist, Casey embraces integrative and holistic healing methods to help people overcome trauma and adverse childhood expe...

Pooja Kalyan is a former Team USA figure skater and Junior at Brown University. She is a pre-med student studying neuroscience. She represented Team USA from 2016 - 2021 and is a two-time national medalist at the novice and junior level. She is also the first South Asian and first person from Arkansas to represent Team USA figure skating. Pooja is now co-captain of Brown's figure skating team...

Anita Alvarez is a 27 year-old American artistic swimmer. She is a two-time Olympian, having competed at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games, and is presently a 2024 Olympic hopeful. Anita is also a 6-time World Championship team member, 2-time World Championship medalist, and 4-time USA Artistic Swimming Athlete of the Year. Connect with Anita: ⁠@anitaaalvarez⁠ --- Stay connected with Athlete Voices!...

Tamar Greene is the current George Washington in the Broadway company of Hamilton. Prior to joining the Broadway company, Tamar played the role of George Washington in the Chicago company of Hamilton for a year and a half through its closing. As a proud first-generation American, born of Jamaican and British parents, Tamar is a versatile artist whose musical passions mirror his eclectic background...

Darian Gemora started his dance journey flash mobbing throughout San Francisco and got scouted by the competitive dance team called Funk Beyond Control that ignited his passion for dance. He later moved to a competition team that got second place in America’s Got Talent and was led by SYTYCD Choreographers Phoenix and Pharside. While competing on these teams they won World of Dance LA twice and Wo...

Oxana Lebedew is a 2-time World Champion Latin ballroom dancer, 8-time German Professional Latin Champion, and Blackpool Dance Festival finalist. In addition to achieving immense competitive success, Oxana has been a professional on the German version of Dancing With the Stars. Her illustrious ballroom dance career has led her to perform on the world's biggest stages and garner insights unique...

Natasha Shevchenko began her International Latin ballroom dance journey at the age of six in her hometown of Los Angeles, CA. Throughout the almost 20 year journey in Latin she has achieved numerous awards including: USA National Latin Champion, Dutch Open Semi-finalist (Top 10), Blackpool Quarterfinalist and even performed on a few TV shows such as Dancing with the Stars, The Maury Show, and Amer...

Parker Lynn began ballroom dancing at age 15 in his hometown of Idaho. He quickly began competing in ballroom, and after high school, he joined the BYU ballroom dance company for two years. He moved to California afterwards to pursue dance professionally. Along with dancing, he found a passion in ballroom music has since became a Music Director at competitions. He is currently the Music Director f...

Gino Francisco is head coach and owner of 10th Planet Daly City, a martial arts academy located in the San Francisco Bay Area. A lifelong martial artist and former fighter, Coach Gino specializes in Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and Mixed Martial Arts. He holds a black belt in Jiu Jitsu and teaches a variety of classes with students ranging from young children to senior citizens, and hobbyists to professi...

Gino Francisco is head coach and owner of 10th Planet Daly City, a martial arts academy located in the San Francisco Bay Area. A lifelong martial artist and former fighter, Coach Gino specializes in Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and Mixed Martial Arts. He holds a black belt in Jiu Jitsu and teaches a variety of classes with students ranging from young children to senior citizens, and hobbyists to professi...