Choreography & Performance

Dance has been part of Lena Castro's (they/them) life long before their work turned toward the technical side of the stage, spanning ballet, marching arts, and ensemble theatrical performance.

Their performance background includes ballet training, color guard and flag work with marching band, and partner and ensemble choreography, experience that shapes how they think about blocking, movement, and stage picture when they're behind the light board or building a costume.

That crossover is clearest in Ballet Wichita's Breaking Barriers, a piece exploring the history and legacy of the Civil Rights Movement, where Lena worked as hair designer for the production, bringing a performer's understanding of movement and a designer's eye to how the dancers' hair needed to move, hold, and read on stage.

Lena's long-term goal is to work as a technical director for cultural celebrations around the world, work that draws directly on this combined background in performance and design.