Karina Thendean is currently a sophomore at Northeastern University, majoring in Bioengineering with a minor in Philosophy. She is originally from the Bay Area in California, and for most of her youth, she trained at Contra Costa Ballet until her junior year, when she joined Boston Ballet’s Pre-Professional Division at Walnut Hill. In her two years at Boston Ballet, she was able to perform alongside students and the company in productions such as Mikko Nissinen’s “The Nutcracker”, “Coppelia”, “ Le Corsaire”, and various other student-run pieces. After she graduated, she took a gap year to dance in Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Graduate Program, where she performed in Terrence Orr’s “The Nutcracker”, “Serenade”, and other student choreography, while also getting the chance to choreograph herself. Karina has attended many summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre, School of American Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, and Royal Danish Ballet. Outside of ballet, she enjoys exploring the city, going to yoga classes, and attempting new recipes.

In the summer of 2026, Karina worked in a project with SUNDANCEX, performing in David Sun’s The Wild Wind Weeps at the Lila Dance Festival, Rochester NH.