Our Faculty

Julia Adam

Resident Choreographer and teacher

Julia Adam was born in Canada and began her early dance training in her hometown of Ottawa, Ontario. At the age of thirteen, she continued her studies at the National Ballet School in Toronto, graduating in 1983. Julia then spent five years honing her skills with the National Ballet of Canada before joining San Francisco Ballet in 1988, where she completed her illustrious dancing career. As a principal dancer, she gained recognition for her lyricism, musicality, and broad theatrical range, performing a wide array of roles under the direction of Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson. Julia retired from the stage in the spring of 2002.

Upon retiring, Julia turned her focus to choreography, a passion she had cultivated throughout her dancing career. Her first ballet, The Medium is the Message, created for San Francisco Ballet’s Choreographic Workshop in 1993, received acclaim for its wit and distinctive movement style. This success was followed by many other works and led to commissions from variuos companies and earned an Isadora Duncan Award for Choreography.

In collaboration with composer Matthew Pierce, Julia created Night for San Francisco Ballet’s 2000 Discovery Program, which was met with critical and popular acclaim. The ballet toured internationally, performing at venues such as the Paris Opera’s Palais Garnier, The Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden, and City Center in New York. Julia and Pierce continued their collaboration with Crossing for The Joffrey Ballet in 2001 and Reverence for Cincinnati Ballet in 2002. The success of Night led to further commissions by San Francisco Ballet, including Angelo (2002) and Imaginal Disc (2003), another collaboration with Pierce. In 2008, she created a rose by any other name for San Francisco Ballet’s New Works Festival, celebrating their 75th anniversary. In 2009, Julia choreographed her first full-length ballet, The Nutcracker, for Marin Ballet, and subsequently created full-length works for Diablo Ballet and Ballet Memphis.

With over 90 works to her name, Julia has choreographed for numerous prestigious companies, including San Francisco Ballet, Houston Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theater, Atlanta Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, and The Joffrey Ballet. She has also created and staged ten works for Ballet Memphis, where she served as Artistic Associate from 2010 to 2013.In 2014, Julia co-founded Julia Adam Dance with her partner and husband, Aaron Lucich, a project that reflects their shared passions for art, community, food, and the natural world. She was named Performance Director and Resident Choreographer at Marin Ballet in 2022 where she continues to teach and choreograph for the students. Julia continues to choreograph across the country, earning critical acclaim while also teaching and mentoring the next generation of dancers.

Benjamin Warner

Boys’ Program, Pas de Deux

A former dancer with Smuin, Benjamin now serves as Rehearsal Director, teaching, staging, rehearsing, and coaching the Company Artists. Benjamin teaches ballet around the city and in the East Bay, and acts as creative producer and art director on various projects outside of Smuin. Benjamin holds a M.A. in Arts Administration from Goucher College.

Katie Choi

Raised in San Francisco, Katie Choi is a recent graduate of UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts. Before college, she trained at the San Francisco Ballet School under the direction of Patrick Armand, where she performed in renowned productions including Helgi Tomasson’s The Nutcracker and Coppélia, as well as Liam Scarlett’s Frankenstein.

At UC Irvine, Katie earned her B.F.A. in Dance Performance with a minor in Urban Studies, performing in numerous faculty and student works. Her most notable appearances include George Balanchine’s Serenade, restaged by Diane Diefenderfer and Zippora Kirtz, and Giselle, restaged by Tong Wang. Recognized for her dedication and artistry, she was awarded the William Gillespie Scholarship for three consecutive years.

Kyla Marcus

Born in San Francisco, Kyla Marcus developed her love for movement and dance at an early age. After dabbling in multiple styles, she began her ballet training at Oakland Ballet School, before attending San Francisco Ballet School. During her four years at SFBS, she had the privilege of performing with the company in Frankenstein, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker. In her senior year of high school, Kyla completed her pre-professional training at The Ballet School of San Francisco; where she trained with Kristin Long, Julianne Spratlin, and Samantha Clark. Kyla spent two seasons as a trainee with Ballet Idaho starting in 2022, where she performed corps de ballet roles in Divertimento No. 15, The Nutcracker, and Swan Lake, as well as original works by Penny Saunders, Joseph Hernandez, Quinn Wharton, Laura O’Malley, and others. Kyla currently dances with Diablo Ballet, where she has performed Donizetti Variations, as well as Julia Adam’s The Little Mermaid and The Nutcracker Suite.

Jennifer Polyocan

Adult Class

A native of Great Neck, New York, Jennifer Polyocan (she, her) received her training at the prestigious School of American Ballet and with Nancy Bielski at the David Howard School of Dance. After graduating from Professional Children's School in NYC, she joined the Miami City Ballet where she remained for five years having the opportunity to perform soloist and principal roles. Jennifer later joined Wes Chapman's Alabama Ballet and the Washington Ballet where she performed soloist and principal roles. Jennifer performed title roles in Coppelia and Giselle and danced principal roles in works by Antony Tudor, Nacho Duato, Septime Webre, Kirk Peterson, and Dwight Rhoden. In addition to a career in ballet, Polyocan is a graduate of New College of California with a degree in Arts and Social Change. She has taught ballet for over 20 years to both children and adults. She has taught at ODC, UC Berkeley, For Smuin Ballet, Amy Stewart’s Imagery, Belvoir Ballet, and the University of San Francisco. She acquired a certification in the Vaganova method of levels 1-3 from the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet, and training in RPM (Revolutionary Principals of Movement). Polyocan has studied extensively with her mentor and friend Augusta Moore, and shares many of her teaching pedagogies as she had the most significant influence on Jennifer as a teacher. She has completed a three-year training course at the Alexander Technique Center of Cambridge and is ATI certified and also certified in PBT (Progressing Ballet Technqiue™) Throughout her career she experienced mind-body techniques as an essential and valuable measure for preventing injuries and firmly believes that body awareness and curiosity leads to an intelligent dancer, performer and artist.

Maya Sprague

Born and raised in San Francisco, Maya Sprague began her dance training across the city, studying at Star Dance Studios, ODC, San Francisco Ballet School, and SOTA Dance. She completed her pre-professional training at The Ballet School of San Francisco, where she studied under Kristin Long, Samantha Clark, and Julianne Spratlin.

After, Maya joined and completed San Francisco Ballet School under the direction of Patrick Armand. She went on to dance in the Graduate Program at Boston Ballet and then with the Kansas City Ballet’s Second Company.

Maya has danced professionally with Ballet Rhode Island and the Norwegian National Ballet. Her repertoire includes Helgi Tomasson’s The Nutcracker, Sir Frederick Ashton’s The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Val Caniparoli’s Jekyll and Hyde, George Balanchine’s Emeralds, Kathleen Breen Combes’ Swan Lake, and Natalia Makarova’s La Bayadère, among others.

Guest Faculty

Joseph Walsh

Joseph Walsh is a Principal Dancer with San Francisco Ballet. Born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, he began his training at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, where he studied under the direction of Michael Owen and Sam Kurkjian. During his training, he received the Artistic Excellence in Dance Award from Walnut Hill School of the Arts in 2005 and 2006 and was named a National Bender Scholar by American Ballet Theatre in 2004 and 2005. He continued his training through summer programs at American Ballet Theatre, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, Chautauqua School of Dance, Stiefel and Students, and Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy.

Walsh began his professional career with Houston Ballet, where he rose to the rank of Principal Dancer before joining San Francisco Ballet. Throughout his career, he has performed an extensive repertoire spanning classical, neoclassical, and contemporary works and has worked with many of the field's leading choreographers.

At San Francisco Ballet, Walsh has originated roles for choreographers including Aszure Barton, Jiří Bubeníček, William Forsythe, Cathy Marston, Yuka Oishi, Justin Peck, Yuri Possokhov, Myles Thatcher, Christopher Wheeldon, and Liam Scarlett. His originated roles include Barton's Mere Mortals, as Prometheus (also performed as Epimetheus); Bubeníček's Fragile Vessels; Forsythe's Pas/Parts 2016; Marston's Mrs. Robinson, as Benjamin Braddock; Oishi's Bolero; Peck's In the Countenance of Kings, as The Protagonist; Possokhov's …two united in a single soul…, as Narcissus, Violin Concerto, for the Principal Couple, and Eugene Onegin, in the title role; Thatcher's The Promised Land, as Principal; Wheeldon's Borealis and Finale Finale, as Principal; and Scarlett's Die Toteninsel.

His San Francisco Ballet repertoire includes major roles in George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, as Oberon, Coppélia, as Franz, The Prodigal Son, as the Son, Divertimento No. 15, as Lead Man, The Four Temperaments, as Sanguinic, and Scotch Symphony, as Principal; August Bournonville's La Sylphide; John Cranko's Onegin, as Lensky; Natalia Makarova's staging after Marius Petipa of La Bayadère, Act II, as Solor in “The Kingdom of the Shades”; Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Song of the Earth, as Man; Hans van Manen's Variations for Two Couples; and Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella, as Prince Guillaume. His contemporary and neoclassical repertoire includes William Forsythe's Blake Works I, as Principal, Prologue, and The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; Justin Peck's Bloom and Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, as Principal; Alexei Ratmansky's Seven Sonatas, Chamber Symphony, Symphony No. 9 in Shostakovich Trilogy, and The Seasons, as The Faun; Jerome Robbins' Dances at a Gathering, as Brown, and In the Night, First Pas de deux; Liam Scarlett's Fearful Symmetries, Frankenstein, as Victor Frankenstein, and Hummingbird; and Wheeldon's Continuum, Rush, and Within the Golden Hour.

Before joining San Francisco Ballet, Walsh was a Principal Dancer with Houston Ballet. His Houston Ballet and other repertoire included Frederick Ashton's La Fille mal gardée, as Colas, and Les Patineurs, as Blue Boy; George Balanchine's Ballo della Regina, Jewels, “Emeralds” Pas de trois, Symphony in C, and Theme and Variations; John Cranko's Onegin, as Lensky, and The Taming of the Shrew, as Lucentio; Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Manon, as Des Grieux, and Song of the Earth, as Death; Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow, as Camille; John McIntyre's Peter Pan, as Peter; Stanton Welch's La Bayadère, as Solor, Cinderella, as Prince and Ugly Stepsisters, Madame Butterfly, as Pinkerton and Goro, and Marie, as Axel von Ferson and Charles d'Artoise; and Ben Stevenson's Coppélia, as Franz, The Nutcracker, as Prince, and The Sleeping Beauty, as Prince Florimund and Bluebird. His repertoire also includes works by Matthew Bourne, Christopher Bruce, David Gordon, James Kudelka, Jiří Kylián, Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, Antony Tudor, and others.

Walsh received a Princess Grace Award (Dance Fellowship) in 2009. He received the Artistic Excellence in Dance Award from Walnut Hill School of the Arts in 2005 and 2006 and was named a National Bender Scholar by American Ballet Theatre in 2004 and 2005. In June 2017, he performed the pas de deux from George Balanchine's Rubies and the White Swan Pas de deux from Swan Lake at the International Rudolf Nureyev Ballet Art Festival Gala in Ufa, Russia. He also performed at the Benois de la Danse in Moscow, Russia, in 2017. In June 2026, he appeared as a guest artist with the Joffrey Ballet, performing the title role in Possokhov's Eugene Onegin.

Beyond performing, Walsh is active as a coach and educator, teaching and mentoring dancers and students both locally and nationally. He is a stager and Trustee of the Liam Scarlett Trust, helping to preserve and steward Scarlett's choreographic legacy. In 2026, he received an Isadora Duncan Award for his staging of Scarlett's Frankenstein for San Francisco Ballet.

Walsh has also expanded his artistic practice into dance filmmaking. He co-created the dance short film Autumn Etude, which was accepted into the San Francisco Dance Film Festival, and choreographed Le Howl (2018), also screened at the festival. In 2025, he served on the jury for the San Francisco Dance Film Festival. He also appeared in the 2020 dance film Dance of Dreams, directed by Benjamin Millepied. His commercial work includes a Visa holiday campaign (2015) and an Old Navy holiday campaign (2025).

Lauren Strongin

Lauren Strongin (she/her) was born in Los Gatos, California, and grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona. At 11, she was offered a full scholarship to attend The Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC. In 1999, she was awarded a full scholarship to the John Cranko-Schule in Stuttgart, Germany. She was a finalist at the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition in Switzerland and IBC at Jackson, Mississippi.

Lauren joined Sarasota Ballet and quickly was promoted to Principal dancer. She then danced for Houston Ballet and finally, as a soloist for San Francisco Ballet. Her classical repertoire includes principal roles in Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Les Sylphides, Paquita, Giselle, Balanchine’s Coppélia, The Nutcracker, Le Corsair, Scarlett’s Frankenstein, and Cranko’s Onegin among others. She danced principal roles by Ashton, MacMillan, Balanchine, Robbins, Van Manen, Bourne, Tudor, Cranko, Kylián, Scarlett, Morris, Tharp, Possokhov, Wheeldon, Tomasson, Ratmansky, and Forsythe. She created roles in ballets by Scarlett, Morris, Elo, Barton, Peck, and others.

Lauren retired from a professional ballet career in 2019. She is a certified instructor for the Dance for Parkinson’s program and has interned with the SF Ballet in their wellness department, focusing on mental healthcare accessibility for dancers as well as with The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in their development department. Lauren has designed costumes for SFDanceworks and other companies and runs marketing for SFDanceworks. Currently, she is a stager and trustee for the Liam Scarlett Trust and is completing her degree in American Studies at Stanford University. Lauren was awarded an Isadora Duncan Award in 2026 for her restaging of Liam Scarlett’s Frankenstein for San Francisco Ballet.

Esteban Hernandez

Esteban Hernandez is a Principal Dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. Originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Esteban started his ballet training in his backyard with his father, Hector Hernandez. At age 13 he received a scholarship to study at The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, PA, where he trained for three years. In his time at The Rock School, Esteban participated in competitions in Russia, Cuba, Germany and the USA, winning gold medals and the Grand Prix. Esteban finished his ballet training at The Royal Ballet School in London, where he was the first Mexican student to attend the school. Esteban joined the Corps de Ballet of the San Francisco Ballet in 2013, was promoted to Soloist in 2017 and became a Principal Dancer in 2019. 

His repertory includes works by Helgi Tomasson, George Balanchine, August Bournoville, John Cranko, William Forsythe, Hans Van Manen, John Neumeier, Mark Morris, Myles Thatcher, Yuri Possokhov, Dwight Rhoden, Stanton Welch, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, Liam Scarlett and Christopher Wheeldon.

Esteban received the Latino Spirit Award from the California Latino Legislative Caucus for achievements in the performing arts and was named one of the 100 most influential people in Mexico by “Quien” Magazine.

Julianne Spratlin

Founder of DTC

On sabbatical

After her successful, twenty-plus year professional career dancing with Atlanta Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet, Ms. Spratlin established the Dance Training Center / San Francisco in January of 2014.  She sensed the need for a new kind of ballet school in San Francisco: one with the highest quality of training, smaller classes and a warm and supportive environment. Now named the Ballet School of San Francisco, it gives individual attention to students in a healthy, positive atmosphere, and is a place where professional dancers and students from other ballet schools come to tune-­up and work on their technique. In SF, Ms. Spratlin has taught for Amy Seiwert's Imagery and regularly teaches company class for Smuin Ballet. She also returns to the Atlanta Ballet Center for Dance Education as a faculty member for both the Advanced and Professional Summer Intensives.

Ms. Spratlin has been teaching ballet for over 30 years now and is thrilled that, under the umbrella of Dance Training Center, The Ballet School of San Francisco was successfully launched in June 2025.