Our Team
Sine Chan-Golston
leads NOCO’s new direction as Executive Director, with inspiration for NOCO’s new mission stemming from her thesis on “Developing Artistic Resource Sharing and Local Collaboration in California’s Central Valley.” This work was developed while earning her MFA program in Theatre & Performing Arts Management at Brooklyn College. The 3 recommended initiatives (building a local Arts Database, establishing Space Sharing initiatives, and developing Systems (for) Community Collaborations) are the basis of Fresno Dance Collective’s new mission and programming, transitioning NOCO’s performing company into a platform for building artist resources. Her other work in the community includes a Board Member position for the Fools Collaborative, in addition to providing fundraising/grant-writing for Imprints Dance Company and Hib Hib: A Hmong American Sketch Comedy Show.
Sine was born and raised in Fresno CA, and trained in theatre and dance forms through local institutions such as the Severance Conservatory at California Arts Academy, Roosevelt School of the Arts, as lead roles in the Lively Arts Foundation’s annual production of The Nutcracker, and productions at Fresno City College and the Selma Arts Center. They have a professional performing background in classical/contemporary ballet, as part of as companies PDX Contemporary Ballet’s and Fresno Dance Collective (2017), through freelance work with Ballet Zaida and Michigan State University, and through other programs such as Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Gaga @ Orsalina 28, and the Juilliard School.
Through the University of California, Santa Barbara, Sine was mentored by Monique Meunier and Nilas Martins (New York City Ballet), performing Balanchine works such as Concerto Borocco (Principal) and Agon (variation), as well as a guest performer at the World Congress of Dance for the International Dance Council (CID UNESCO, 2019). Through UCSB’s Exercise and Sport Studies program, they gained certification through NASM Personal Training, fostering a deeper appreciation of exercise science and leading to further certifications as a stretch practitioner (Stretchlab), in Floor Barre (Zena Rommett), and working in physical therapy clinics.
Photography by Nathan Carlson
Media by Ballet Zaida
(Gilmtzm) is a queer Chicanx choreographer, performer, educator, and scholar from California’s Central Valley. His interdisciplinary practice moves across dance, theater, text, media, and installation to investigate themes such as identity, cultural memory, inheritance, and belonging. Drawing from lived experience and embodied research, his work considers how personal and collective histories become carried through the body and how performance can question and reimagine the narratives we inherit. Martinez holds an M.F.A. in Choreographic Inquiry from UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance and a B.A. in Dance & Performance Studies with a minor in Theater & Performance Studies from UC Berkeley, where he received the Departmental Citation Award. His movement practice is grounded in modern, contemporary, improvisational dance and informed by training in ballet, West African dance, and Latin social dance forms including cumbia, bachata, merengue, amongst others. His artistic practice has been shaped through work with artists and companies including Lenora Lee Dance, SanSan Kwan, Miguel Gutierrez, Joe Goode, Will Rawls, and David Herrera Performance Company. With over a decade of experience teaching and choreographing from middle school through collegiate settings, Martinez approaches pedagogy as an extension of his creative practice, cultivating spaces centered on curiosity, embodied agency, and individual relationships to movement. He is the founder and artistic director of Gilmtzm, a contemporary performance dance company rooted in queer Chicanx experience and embodied research. Across his work, Martinez approaches the body as a living archive where the body does not merely inherit history; it decides what deserves to be carried forward.
Gilberto Martinez
Preston Her
In progress
Cristal Tiscareno
is a dedicated dance educator, choreographer, and performer whose career reflects a deep commitment to the art of movement and community engagement. She holds an MA in Dance Education from California State University, Long Beach and a BA in Theatre Arts with a Dance emphasis from California State University, Fresno. She is also certified in Mat Pilates, bringing a strong foundation in somatic practice to her teaching.
Cristal has had the honor of performing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and has trained extensively in Modern, Ballet, Jazz, and African dance. Her professional development includes working with an impressive roster of choreographers, teachers, and performers such as George De la Peña, Judy Austin, Madeline Perone, Billy Siegfried, Bill Evans, Ellen Bromberg, John Weaver, Dianne Maroney, Susan McLain, Jill Crosby, Ruth Griffin, and the Paul Taylor Dance Company.
Currently, Cristal teaches at Fresno City College. She served on the board of the Fresno Dance Collective (NOCO) from 2012-2018 and continues to contribute to the region’s artistic landscape through choreography and leadership. Her choreographic work has been featured in numerous Fresno City College theatre productions, including Fantastic Mr. Fox, Avenue Q, American Idiot, The Little Prince, and Let the Right One In. She also served as Dance Director at Break the Barriers from 2005-2011. Cristal is a recent recipient of the 2025 California State University, Fresno Outstanding Service-Learning Faculty Spirit of Service Award, demonstrating commitment to community-engaged education and mentorship.
Cristal currently directs the annual FCC Dance Expo, fostering performance opportunities and community connections for emerging dancers. Beyond her professional life, she loves being active in the dance community and cherishes time with her husband, Trankie, and their three children-Christopher, Michael, and Katrina.
Trianne Harabedian
is a Fresno native who started taking dance classes at the age of four. Her dance education included ballet, modern, flamenco, and other styles, expanded by her years of involvement in the Lively Arts Foundation Nutcracker and training at the Severance Dance Conservatory. She holds a BFA in creative writing from Belhaven University in Jackson, MS, as well as an MA and MFA in creative writing from San Francisco State University.
Professionally, Trianne has worked in independent bookstores, marketing firms, and higher education online learning departments. She is currently a freelance editor while staying home with her two young children.
