Koji EL Kamada - Executive Producer
EL was born in Hiroshima, Japan. At the age of 20, he began to study acting at the Zen Hirano Seminar, with Mr. Zen Hirano who is a full member of The Actors Studio in New York. In Tokyo, he played roles in such famous productions as Yabu-no-Naka (by Ryunosuke Akutagawa), Hanjyo (by Yukio Mishima) and The Odd Couple (by Neil Simon), all under Zen Hirano's direction. He came to New York in 1996 and started studying ballet at the New York Conservatory of Dance with the late Vladimir Dokoudovsky. It was promoted by Mr. Dokoudovsky to the role of Pierrot in Carnaval. In January 2000, he co-founded the Faune Dance Troupe with Miho Maeda who also trained with Mr. Dokoudovsky.
Faune Dance Troupe has presented more than thirty performances in New York City, such as Legend, Carmen, Hommage to French Composers, Asian Showcase of Arts, Japan Arts Matsuri / JAM, Tokyo Drift (in the part of Immigrant Heritage Week coordinated by The Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs) and more. He is also a board of director of NPO AD JaNet and NPO Asian Society of Arts, and has been active both in performing arts and cultural exchange activities.

Noriko Naraoka - dancer/costume designer
Noriko Naraoka is from Tokyo, where she started studying with Ms. Tatsue Sata and Mr. Showa Kouchiin in 1977.   In 1987 she won the IBM prize in the Asia Ballet Competition.   She left Japan to study ballet at the San Francisco Ballet School for a year, when she was sixteen. She was awarded the Prix de Lausanne Scholarship at the17th Prix de Lausanne competition, and then came to New York to study at the School of American Ballet.   Since then, she has performed as a guest artist with many ballet companies, including the Los Angeles Classical Ballet, the Westchester Classical Ballet, the Stanford Ballet, etc. In 1996, she joined the Dance Theater of Harlem, and served as an instructor in several of the ballet videos made by Mr. F. Jung.   Now she enthusiastically performs with the Faune Dance Troupe under the direction of Miho Maeda and Koji EL Kamada.

Javier Dzul - guest dancer/ choreographer
Javier Dzul was born in Etzna, Campeche located in the jungles of the Yucatan peninsula.   In Campeche, a Mayan tribal community, Javier spent the first fifteen years of his life performing ritual dances. He joined Ballet Folklorico de Mexico in 1985 and then became a principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Ensemble. Since his arrival in New York Javier has worked with several dance companies including the Martha Graham Dance Company, Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, Pearl Lang Dance Theater, American Indian Dance Theater, and Battery Dance Company. In 1994 Javier founded Dzul Dance. The Company has performed both in New York and abroad. Currently, Javier attends The New York Conservatory of Dance, where he has studied Classical Ballet since 1996, first under the late Vladimir Dokoudovsky and now with Patricia Dokoudovsky. He has been a guest dancer with the Faune Dance Troupe since 2000.


Rie Hatanaka - dancer
Rie Hatanaka was born in Mie in Japan. She started classical ballet training when she was five years old.She came to New York on June 2006 to become a student of The Ailey School. She worked with Miho Maeda, Abdur-Rahim Jackson, Kevin Wynn, Earl Moseley and Camille A. Brown. She performed in Alvin Ailey’s Memoria at New York City Center in 2008. She is currently a member of the Ailey Student Performance Group. Rie will graduate from The Ailey School in May 2009. She joined the Faune Dance Troupe in 2006.

Eun Jung Jung - dancer
Eunjung was born in Korea. she was a Soloist / Prime Dancer at Gwangju City Ballet Company in Korea for 4 years, became a Soloist / Prime Dancer at  NBA Ballet Company in Tokyo, Japan for 2 years. She has been dancing with the Faune Dance Troupe since 2008.

Masayo Yamaguchi - dancer
Masayo Yamaguchi was born in Nagano, Japan. She started ballet training when she was seven years old under the direction of Ms. Tamae Tsukada. She has performed in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Japan. In 1998, she performed a "Pas de trios" in Swan Lake as a part of Leningrad Ballet's tour in Nagano. She studied and graduated with a BFA in Dance Education from the University of Central Oklahoma. She was a member of Kaleidoscope Dancers Company and also received the Kaleidoscope Dance Award at UCO in 2003. She moved to New York in 2003. This ims her second season with the Faune Dance Troupe.

Affiliated Artists
Darion Smith - guest dancer

He has been a guest dancer with the Faune Dance Troupe since 2011

Seyong Kim - guest dancer

Seyong is a graduate from the Seoul High School of Arts. He attended the Sung-Kyun-Kwan University in Korea and majored in ballet (BA & MA). His passion toward study drives him to enter the Dance Education M.A. program with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) ballet pedagogy at New York University (NYU). Seyong is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Seyong was awarded the gold medal in both the Korea Dance Association Competition and The Sung-kyun-kwan Dance Competition. As a professional dancer, He has danced with Metropolitan Opera Ballet in Lincoln Center, Albania Opera Ballet Theatre, Arzid Modern Dance, Roxey Contemporary Ballet, Ajkun Ballet Theater, Loyola Ballet, Baltimore Ballet, the National Ballet, Albany Berkshire Ballet among others. In addition Seyong choreographed works which were performed at the Dance in ITALY Festival, the Seoul Fringe Festival, the Korea-Japan Dance Festival, the Dumbo Dance Festival and the Republic of Korea Marine Corps.
He has been a guest dancer with the Faune Dance Troupe since 2011.

Steven Melendez - guest dancer

He has been a guest dancer with the Faune Dance Troupe since 2011.

Kana Harayama - dancer
Kana Harayama is from Tokyo. She trained in Jazz dance at Broadway Dance Center Tokyo. She performed as a musical dancer in "The Lion King". She also has a lots of experience as a performer include at Sunrio Puroland,Seibu Lions Cheer leader, FIFA Worldcup, Tokyo Disney Resort. She came to NewYork in 2009.


Masako Tadano - dancer
Masako Tadano was born in Miyagi, Japan. She has trained Japanese Dance, Tap and Theater Dance. She moved to New York in 1994, and studied ballet under the direction of Mr. Jan Miller. She joined the Faune Dance Troupe in 2009.

Chizuru Tanka - dancer

She joined the Faune Dance Troupe in 2009.

Yusuke Shibata – chief of video production
Yusuke Shibata was born in Aichi prefecture, Japan. He has studied Graphic design and Video production around the New York City since 2002. He has been freelancing as a videographer and video editor for the events, promoting artist. He started working with the Faune Dance Troupe since 2006.