Malashock Dance Company

Lauren Christie

Lauren Christie

Lauren joined Malashock Dance in 2019. She grew up in Memphis, TN, where she trained at the Ballet Memphis School. Lauren earned her BA with Honors in Public Communication and French Language with a minor in Dance from American University in Washington, DC. Upon graduation, she was awarded the Evelyn Swarthout Hayes Award for her contributions to the arts. While living in the DC area, Lauren was a company dancer with Christopher K. Morgan & Artists (2012-2018), as well as Alight Dance Theater, Jane Franklin Dance, and Bowen McCauley Dance, with whom she performed at the Kennedy Center and the Guangdong Dance Festival (China). Since moving to San Diego, Lauren has danced with San Diego Dance Theater (2018-present) and Malashock Dance (2019-present), and is a founding member of DISCO RIOT. She has also worked with Blythe Barton, Monica Bill Barnes, Erica Buechner, Tristian Griffin, Jean Isaacs, Zaquia Mahler Salinas, Khamla Somphanh, Gina Bolles Sorenson and Kyle Sorenson, among many other artists. In addition to her work as a performing artist, Lauren is a dance and yoga instructor.

  @lauren___christie

Jessica Rabanzo-Flores

Jessica Rabanzo-Flores

Jessica joined Malashock Dance in the winter of 2023. She was born and raised in San Diego and grew up training and performing with Eveoke Dance Theatre. She holds BA Degrees in Dance and Sociology from UC Irvine. She was the winner of San Diego Dance Theater’s Young Choreographers Prize in 2013. Jessica has performed works commissioned for the company by John Malashock, Christopher K. Morgan and Tristian Griffin. Jessica has also performed works by Khamla Somphanh, Cecily Holcombe, Blythe Barton, Erica Buechner and Patricia Sandback. She has been commissioned to create works for Malashock Dance, Gotham Dance Theater and Canyon Crest Academy. She is currently choreographing for the dancers at Mesa College as an adjunct professor. Jessica is a certified trauma-informed personal trainer and founded her own dance-inspired fitness method Untitled Movement in January 2019 in New York City. 
@jessrabaflo // @untitledmovement // www.untitledmovement.com
Joseph Lister

Joseph Lister

Joey joined Malashock Dance in 2022.  He received his training at Temecula Ballet and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Experimental Choreography from UC Riverside.  Joey has performed works commissioned for the company by Rachel Catalano, Lavina Rich and Araceli Carrera. Joey has been commissioned to create work by Malashock Dance, Avocado Dance Theatre, CalliOpus Contemporary and Evolution Dance Company.  In 2018, he trained in character dance and ballet in Russia at Ballet School of Voronezh in 2018

  @brosephlister_

Nicholas McGhee

Nicholas McGhee

Nick McGhee started dancing at 15 at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego, CA. After attending Mira Costa College, he received his BFA in dance from Cal State Long Beach. While attending his undergrad, Nick had the opportunity to perform for several highly esteemed choreographers such as Keith Johnson, Kevin Williamson, and Micaela Taylor. Nick dances for the LITVAKdance company based in Encinitas, CA. Nick has had the privilege to work with Josh Manculich, Ronen Izhaki, Chuck Wilt, Rebecca Margolick, and Ido Gidron. He has also performed in the CDC fest in Orlando, FL, and in the Seattle International Dance Festival. Nick also works as a bartender at California Pizza Kitchen, he does graphic design and is currently studying to achieve his master’s in psychotherapy.

 

Micah Parra

Micah Parra

This is Micah’s first season with Malashock Dance. She was born and raised in Vancouver, WA where she danced with Virtuosity Performing Arts and Groove Nation. She has since continued her training in intensive programs with NW Dance Project, The TL Collective, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.  Micah was the recipient of Disco Riot’s 2022 Space Residency Program. She has performed works created by Alysia Johnson, Adam McGaw, James Gregg, Kameron Saunders and Ashley Green. Micah’s other passions include but are not limited to aerial pole, duo trapeze and visual/tactile arts.

  @micahparra

Chelsea Zeffiro

Chelsea Zeffiro

Chelsea Zeffiro joined Malashock Dance in the spring of 2022.  She holds an MFA from the University of the Arts and BA from the University of Southern California. Chelsea received a Fellowship in Dance from UArts (Philadelphia, PA) in 2018/2019. She was the 2018 winner of San Diego Dance Theater’s Young Choreographer’s Prize and was awarded for her Solo Performance at Vienna Int’l Ballet Festival in 2016. Chelsea has performed works commissioned for the company by John Malashock, Lavina Rich, Zaquia Salinas, Rachel Catalano, Natalia Hill, Christopher K. Morgan, and Tristian Griffin.  She has choreographed for Coronado Playhouse, WoW Festival, LAX Festival, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego-La Jolla, DISCO RIOT, University of the Arts School of Dance, and SDDT’s Live Arts Festival. Chelsea has lived, taught and developed work in France at Mains d’Oeuvres (Paris) and Institut Chorégraphique International (Montpellier). She is Dance and Theater Faculty at Coronado School of the Arts and co-founded/curated 40 NORTH Dance Film Festival from 2015-2019.

@chelsea_zeffiro          www.chelseazeffiro.com

Malashock Dance Adjunct Dancers

Marshall Whitely

Marshall Whitely

Born in Fairbanks, AK, and raised in San Diego, CA, Marshall was a nationally-ranked ice hockey player by the age of 9. While attending the San Diego School for Creative and Performing Arts, he developed his interest in theatrical and innovative works. At the age of 13, he began training at the San Diego Academy of Ballet. He later trained and performed for two years at the Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy in Orange County before moving to the Washington School of Ballet in D.C. on scholarship. 

After working his way up through TWB Studio Company, Marshall had the opportunity to audition for and later join American Ballet Theater (ABT), in New York.

During his time with ABT, he performed in classics such as Don Quixote, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and La Bayadere. He also helped create/was featured in neoclassical ballets like Whipped Cream, Songs of Bukovina, The Firebird, and Daphnis and Chloe. His performances have taken him all over the United States, through Canada and South America. He has also toured overseas: from Paris to Oman, Hong Kong to Singapore, and to Cape Town, South Africa.

In the future, Marshall hopes to invite fresh audiences to our ballet culture by broadening the genre palette, and at present strives to bring a sense of joy to every class he teaches or takes.

 

Justin Viernes

Justin Viernes

Justin Viernes has been entertaining audiences nationally and internationally since the age of 5. Departing from years of professional singing and musical theater productions, he fell in love with dance and began his dance career at the age of 16. Justin is extensively trained in ballet, jazz, modern, and hip-hop. He has danced for Fusion Dance Company, d’Shire Dance, Sound Dance Company, DK Dance, Patricia Rincon Dance Collective, Imago Moves, The PGK Dance Project, Anjanette Maraya-Ramey and Dancers, Khamla Somphanh and Dancers, The Southern California Ballet, Compulsion Dance and Theater and various artists and professional companies across the Nation. Justin’s dancing has traveled him to Kazakhstan and Belize as a U.S. Cultural Envoy, San Miguel de Allende, Buenos Aires, on stages all over the nation. Justin is a senior company dancer for Malashock Dance, a guest artist for The Southern California Ballet, modern dance faculty for the California State Summer School for the Arts program (CSSSA) at CalArts University, and is Artistic Director of brown paper bag dance co. Justin currently resides in Philadelphia, PA.

Professional dancers interested in auditioning for the company CLICK HERE

Upcoming Events

Check out a schedule of our upcoming performances and events.