About Me.
Onjélee Phomthirath currently resides in Chicago as a main company performer with Giordano Dance Chicago. Onjélee began her dance career at Pinnell Dance Centre in Columbus, OH. There she trained under Jeri Pinnell, along with Andrea Padova, Dimitri Suslov, Carrie West, Amanda Phillips-Bosshart, Patrick Pugh, and Sarah Grooms. In addition, during academic hours she studied dance at Eastland-Fairfield Career Center’s Performing Art’s Program with Gale LeVan.
In 2019, Onjélee earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Ohio State University in dance with a focus in Arts Administration and Costume Design. Here she had the greatest opportunity collaborating with professional ballet company, Ballet Met, amongst her OSU peers to restage and perform Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16 as well as performing in the Dance Brazil Tour in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil with works by Daniel Roberts, and Crystal Michelle-Perkins.
Throughout Onjélee’s training she has studied ballet, contemporary, Horton, musical theatre/character, jazz, jazz funk, hip hop, and tap. She furthered her training while working for Bella Moxi Dance convention as a faculty assistant & corps member. In her time she has worked with choreographers such as Peter Chu, Ray Leeper, Ching Ching Wong, Amy Gunter-Lolofie, Greg Graham, Jon Leher, Danielle Agami, Shannon Mather, Dusty Button, and Alex Little.
In addition to her training, Onjélee has taught dance professionally in studios in Ohio, Utah and Illinois. Her students have won numerous top awards from regional and national championship competitions along with scholarships to commercial dance conventions and concert dance intensives such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. After working with Onjélee, her students furthered their dance education at universities such as Point Park University, University of Indiana, and The Ohio State University. Her students have also worked professionally on cruise lines and have been spotted working with artists such as Dua Lipa, Chris Brown, and Chayanne.