Company Members

Senior I

Neema Lazzaroni is a proud US, Kenyan, and Italian citizen. She is currently in year 9 at Hillcrest Secondary. She has been an enthusiastic member of DCK ballet for 6 years and enjoys it more than anything else. Neema also loves cooking, singing, and entertaining her friends and family.

Aske Ballan, 13, started dancing at age 7 at the Royal Danish Ballet School in Copenhagen and performed in various shows at the Royal Danish Ballet including The Nutcracker and Raymonda. In 2020 Aske moved to Nairobi where he joined Dance Centre Kenya, studying ballet with Cooper Rust and starting to explore contemporary dance. Last season he danced the lead part in the Nutcracker and the Jester in Cinderella. He holds the 2022 DCK Award of Excellence.

Eugene Ochieng, 15, is an 8th grade student at West Nairobi School. Eugene was featured in an Associated Press article on the difficulties of dancers in Kibera throughout the pandemic, which led him to receiving a full gold sponsorship to Dance Centre Kenya. He began his ballet training under Mike Wamaya in 2018. In the 2021 Nutcracker, he danced the part of Harlequin, and is very excited about dancing the title role in this year’s Nutcracker.

Senior Apprentice Company

Abdoulaye (Laye) Diebate, 10, is in Year 5 at Brookhouse Runda. He has been dancing since the age of 3, and has performed in The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mother Goose and Cinderella. Laye also plays the piano and violin, and loves gymnastics. In the 2022 Nutcracker he is dancing the roles of Fritz’s friend and Chef.

Jasmine Kiragu, 12, has always loved to dance. She started her ballet training at Invisible Crown Kenya when she was 3 years old and joined Dance Center Kenya in December 2020, taking ballet and contemporary Jazz. She also likes to swim, bake and read. She calls herself the dancing chef as she hopes to be a professional ballerina and pursue culinary art.

Eliana Ciugu, 12, is a 7th grader at the Nairobi Waldorf School. She has been a DCK member for 5 years, having taken Musical Theatre, Gymnastics and now Grade 5 Ballet and Intermediate Pointe. She has performed in several shows including The Nutcracker. Besides dancing, she enjoys reading, swimming and baking.

Ava Stow, 11, has trained with DCK since she was 2 years old. She has performed in the Nutcracker for DCK since she was 5 years old. She has been an angel, a lamb, a mouse, a soldier, and a party girl. In 2022, she danced as a Shade in the Kingdom of the Shades. This is Ava’s first year in Company.