Erina Tanaka is from Westchester County, NY and trained with Logrea Dance Academy and SLK Ballet. She began her professional career as an aspirant with Eugene Ballet, where she performed in classics such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake and was also featured in contemporary work by Suzanne Haag, Val Caniparoli, Stephen Mills, and Gerald Arpino. After spending two years with Eugene Ballet, she joined Canada’s Ballet Jorgen and toured all over Canada and the United States, performing lead roles in A Canadian Nutcracker and Anne of Green Gables - The Ballet. After spending two seasons with Canada’s Ballet Jorgen, Erina returned to the United States, where she worked as a freelance artist based out of Denver, Colorado. Over the past two years, Erina has worked with Boulder Ballet, ARC Dance, Zikr Dance Ensemble, and performed as a guest artist with schools across the United States. She performed work by Sidra Bell, Gregory Dawson, David Taylor, Tom Ruud, and many others. She was also chosen to participate as a dancer in the inaugural Utah Ballet Choreographic Institute in 2022. After two seasons of freelance dancing, Erina joined Oklahoma City Ballet as a company dancer. Erina is very excited to be teaching for Colorado Ballet Society this summer!