Hayden Rivas

Hayden's passion for dance began the first moment he stood on stage at age four and promptly told his parents after his performance that he wanted to dance on the stage again. Hayden has been very lucky to be mentored by professionals who have helped hone his skills and further ignite his passion for performing in all performance mediums. After training at various studios in the greater Vancouver area, Hayden is now enrolled at the prestigious University of Southern California's Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Hayden now works on his craft in multiple forms including ballet, hip hop, improvisation, CounterTechnique, Dunham, Gaga, Taylor as well as opportunities to do master classes in Bollywood, Bharatanatyam, Kathak, African, Horton, jazz, as well as many more. He is grateful to continue to work with choreographers and dancers such as William Forsythe, Jodie Gates, d. Sabela Grimes, Jackie Kopcsak, Bruce McCormick, Thomas McManus, Patrick Corbin, Bret Easterling, Jennifer Lott, Jermaine Spivey, Fiona Lummis, and Dawn Stoppiello just to name a few. He also has loved his time dissecting works choreographed by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, and Paul Taylor. As well as re-staging works choreographed by Dwight Rhoden, Desmond Richardson, and Hope Boykin. Under the mentorship of Jodie Gates, Achinta S. McDaniel, Thomas McManus, and Dawn Stoppiello, Hayden has had the opportunity to cultivate his own work, find the many facets within the dance field, and carry out multiple directed research projects. Working with a small production company called RYBG, based in Los Angeles, has allowed him to create multimedia productions in conjunction with dance. Hayden has had the pleasure of working with choreographers such as Kenny Ortega, Jamal Simms, Mandy Moore, Jeffrey Mortensen, Louise Hradsky, and Jillian Meyers on Disney's Descendants 3 and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. He also is grateful to be a part of Zeitgeist Dance Theatre under the direction of Francisco Gella and Yusha-Marie Sorzano. Hayden continues to pursue both acting and singing by taking classes with Arts Club, Mcllroy & Associates, The Drama Class, Sherrie Unwin, and most recently working privately with Lisa Durupt, Toby Levins, Jennifer Garcia, and Katie Kibota. He was seen as Donkey in a regional production of Shrek The Musical. Along with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, Hayden also is planning on pursuing a cinematic arts minor and a progressive master's degree in legal studies. He is interested in finding the intersection between the entertainment industry, law, and dance. He continues to find inspiration by all art mediums and continues to live by his mantra, "never stop learning".