Crossbridges
Type
Performance
Dates
TBA
Location
TBA
Artists
Elenaluisa Alvarez
LeeWei Chao
Andrea Parson
Carlyn Hudson
Performed by
TBA
Crossbridges is a dance performance project by Elenaluisa Alvarez that provides artists with employment during the summer layoff period and creates networking opportunities for dancers in Portland. The project culminates with a high caliber showcase that features artists from established dance companies in Portland.
This year, Crossbridges is partnering with choreographers LeeWei Chao, Andrea Parson and Carlyn Hudson to create on the summer company.
Final cast list will be released in the early summer months.
About the artist
Elenaluisa Alavarez
Elenaluisa started dancing at the age of four and started her professional career in Peru with the Ballet Municipal de Lima. She traveled to North Carolina for college where she focused in ballet and contemporary. While in college, she was mentored by Galina Panova. She later traveled to Israel to participate in the MASA program with Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company. Returning to the United States, Elenaluisa joined Bowen McCauley Dance Company and Vaught Contemporary Ballet, where she had the honor of performing at the Kennedy Center. She spent one season with Wonderbound in Denver before moving to Portland to join BodyVox. Elenaluisa has performed works by Mats Ek, Rami Beer, Albert Galindo, Ilana Goldman, Lee-Wei Chao and Garrett Ammon amongst others.
Now performing as a freelance artist, Elenaluisa also teaches in various organizations in and around Portland. In an effort to make dance accessible, she has pursued teacher trainings in Dance for PD and DanceAbility. She is also the director of Crossbridges, a Portland based summer dance project. Her goal is to make dance accessible to all and provide equitable opportunities to professional artists in Portland.
When not dancing, you can find her sipping hot chocolate with a cat or two on her lap.
Choreographers
LeeWei Chao
Born in Taipei, Taiwan. LeeWei Chao started his ballet training at age 15 with Ms. Xiao Lee, who brought from Russia the Vaganova ballet method to Taiwan. After dancing with Taipei City Ballet, and Henry Yu Dance Company, he joined Singapore Dance Theater. In 1996, Lee Wei joined Joffrey Ballet Concert Group in New York City, followed by dancing with Joffrey Ballet Chicago, and Milwaukee Ballet.
Mr. Chao started his choreography work while he was dancing with Milwaukee Ballet Company. As a choreographer, LeeWei’s works have been performed by Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet Nouveau Colorado, Oklahoma City Ballet, Minnesota Ballet, Point Park University, New Mexico School of the Arts, TCU Residency, Oregon Ballet Theater II, BodyVox and others.
In 2014, LeeWei received a National Choreography Recognition Award from Regional Dance America.
LeeWei has taught at Milwaukee Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, LINES Ballet Training Program, LINES Ballet Summer Program, LINES Ballet BFA Program Dominican University, Stanford University, National University of Taipei, Taiwan, ODC Dance San Francisco, San Francisco State University, Smuin Ballet, and others.
LeeWei was featured in the August 2018 issue of Dance Teacher Magazine, and in the May 2021 of Pointe Magazine.
He is currently a faculty member with Oregon Ballet Theater, NW Dance Project, BodyVox, The Portland Ballet and Open Space.
Carlyn Hudson
Carlyn Hudson is an independent choreographer originally hailing from Nyack, New York. Her early dance education was focused on Classical Ballet and Jazz, before studying at the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase College, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2008.
Carlyn performed as a member of the Connecticut Ballet prior to relocating to Portland, Oregon in 2010. Once in Oregon she co-founded an all-woman, contemporary dance collective called SubRosa and then, in 2017, she jumped o to begin producing work under her own name. She has continuously produced full length dance concerts since then and she recently took on co direction of Women Choreographers of the Pacific Northwest in the interest of helping to uplift other women artists of the region.
She has set work at Northwest colleges and universities, in addition to theater productions in Chicago, IL, and her work has been presented at Connecticut Ballet’s Under the Stars, Unveiled Dance Festival, Pacific Dance Makers, Chop Shop Contemporary Dance Festival, Union PDX Festival of Contemporary Dance, and the Ballet Alliance Festival among others. Carlyn is a grateful recipient of The Miller Foundation’s 2025 Spark Award as well as project based grants from The Regional Arts and Culture Council.
Carlyn’s work is based in ballet technique. It’s intricate but clear, and has been described as having a “dash of humor noir in a creamy base of impeccable musicality”.
Carlyn continues to educate students in classical ballet, pointe technique and dance composition while prolifically producing original works of classical and contemporary dance.
Andrea Parson
Andrea Parson is a multidisciplinary theater artist born and raised in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Her passion for movement began in the late 1980s, inspired by country records played in her family’s living room and her mother’s aerobics classes. She began choreographing early, crafting dances for friends and family, often improvising through grocery store aisles.
Andrea pursued dance training at the Joffrey Ballet School, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and Loyola Marymount University, where she earned a BA in Dance in 2009. Following graduation, she joined Northwest Dance Project in Portland, Oregon, where she was awarded the Princess Grace Dance Fellowship in 2010. Over 11 years with the company, she performed nationally and internationally, garnering acclaim for her portrayal of dramatic characters such as Hedda Gabler and Carmen.
Now based in Portland, Andrea creates and performs original solo and ensemble work that merges contemporary dance, physical theater, storytelling, and humor. Her recent award-winning solo, You Can’t Be Serious, was presented at BodyVox Dance Center (2023), Oregon Fringe Festival (2024), and Hollywood Fringe Festival (2024). Andrea presented You Can’t Be Serious at the Fall United Solo Festival 2024 in New York City where she received an award for best physical theater.
In addition to her performance work, Andrea choreographs for regional dance and theater organizations across the Pacific Northwest. Her work is rooted in the intersection of narrative, movement, and voice. A dedicated educator for over 15 years, she has taught contemporary dance, ballet, dance fitness, and creative movement to students of all ages and abilities. She is currently on faculty at Pacific University and recently became a certified Functional Movement Awareness Educator.
Support this project
Press/Media
For media inquiries and more information, please contact Elenaluisa Alvarez at elena.luisa225@gmail.com