Jie-Siou Wu of New Taipei City, Taiwan, began his dance training with Modern, Chinese dance, and acrobatics at the age of 12 at Xinpu Elementary School and Xinpu Junior High School. During 2016 and 2017, he attended the Taipei National University Of Arts. At the Taiwan Grand Prix 2018, Jie-Siou placed third in the senior division and received a full scholarship from Victoria Schneider to attend The Harid Conservatory. In 2020, he returned to Taiwan to complete his mandatory military service. With the help of Meelis Pakri, in 2021 Jie-Siou auditioned to attend the Kirov Academy Of Ballet and was granted a full scholarship. While at the Kirov, he performed multiple pas de deux from Flames Of Paris, La Fille Mal Gardée, and Le Corsaire under the tutelage of Vladimir Djouloukhadze, Joan Boada, and Run-Qiao Du. In 2022, Jie-Siou joined The Washington Ballet Studio Company under Artistic Director Julie Kent. He performed alongside the company in ballets including The Nutcracker, Theme and Variations, Sleeping Beauty, and premiered in New Works including Houston Thomas, Chanel DaSilva, Silas Farley, and Jessica Lang. Jie-Siou joined Manassas Ballet Theatre as a company dancer and faculty member in 2024. Since joining Manassas Ballet Theatre, Wu has danced the Principle roles of Nutcracker Cavalier and Jonathan in Dracula.

Receding and Reemerging will feature a special guest appearance by Cassie Wang, a Cambridge-based multidisciplinary artist working in contemporary dance, design, and animation. Originally from Kansas City, she received her B.A. from Pomona College in Computer Science with minors in Dance and Media Studies and trained with the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Cassie is a principal dancer with KAIROS Dance Theater and a movement researcher at the Partnering Lab. Her other performance and collaboration credits include the Boston Lyric Opera, Dafi Altabeb, Jessi Stegall, Rachel Linsky, Shahar Binyamini, and Ilya Vidrin. Cassie’s choreography has been presented by NACHMO Boston, Dunamis, and Resilience Dance Company, and she has been supported in her professional development through Dunamis’s Emerging Artist Fellowship (2022) and MIDDAY’s BIPOC Professional Dancer Mentorship Program (2023). She is currently a Dance Lab Resident at the Boston Center for the Arts, recipient of the NEFA Dance Fund 2024, a MIDDAY Rough Drafts Artist, and a 2024-25 Next Steps for Boston Dance grantee. Cassie choreographed The Dragon and the Phoenix on AABP in 2024; she is also AABP’s graphic designer.

Tala joins AABP for her 3rd season as a trainee. She trains at South Shore Ballet Theatre and will graduate from high school this year. Congratulations Tala!