Madison Pineda Bender is a professional dancer, creator, and educator based in St. Petersburg, FL. She trained at The Joffrey Ballet School’s Jazz and Contemporary Program and earned her B.F.A. in Dance from The Juilliard School, where she received the Martha Hill Award and the Juilliard Career Advancement Fellowship Grant. She has also trained at Jacob’s Pillow, Nederlands Dans Theater Summer Intensive, Arts Umbrella, and Springboard Danse.

From 2022–2023, Madison was a company dancer and teaching artist with GroundWorks DanceTheater. She has served as a choreographic assistant to Rena Butler and assisted on works at Juilliard, George Mason University, and UNCSA. In 2024, she joined Peter Chu’s company, chuthis., performing at Orsolina28 and later, premiering a new solo at the BEACON 2025 Dance Festival alongside her own work.

Madison was commissioned by The Florida Orchestra to choreograph and perform in their 2025 Soundwaves Chamber Series: “The Soldier’s Tale” and Youth Concerts. She most recently premiered a new trio at the Dalí Museum as a 2025 Momentum Artist, supported by the St. Petersburg Individual Artist Grant.

David Bender

 

Cellist David Bender joined The Florida Orchestra in January 2023. David received his bachelor's and master's degrees from The Juilliard School as a student of Joel Krosnick and Natasha Brofsky. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, David began studying the cello at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music at the age of five. In 2016, he was selected to be a part of Carnegie Hall’sNational Youth Orchestra of the USA, where he performed throughout Europe under the baton of Valery Gergiev and Christoph Eschenbach as principal cellist. In 2017, David was featured on NPR’s “From the Top,” hosted by Christopher O’Riley.

David has attended a number of prestigious summer festivals including the Music Academy of the West and the Taos School of Music. As a winner of the 2018 Keston MAX fellowship at Music Academy of the West, David was awarded the opportunity to perform three concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle. An avid chamber musician, David has studied with the Juilliard, Brentano, American, Shanghai, and Jupiter string quartets.

David has performed under the direction of David Robertson, Alan Gilbert, and Marin Alsop as principal cellist of the Juilliard Orchestra. A recipient of the Gluck Community Fellowship, David engaged in musical outreach to various hospitals, nursing homes, and cancer treatment centers throughout New York City.

David plays on a contemporary cello made by Peter Goodfellow, generously on loan from the Virtu Foundation.

Wilson de los Santos

Wilson is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher with experience in classical ballet, contemporary dance, jazz, neoclassical, Latin dance, Afro-Cuban dance, and hip hop. He has been part of international productions such as Lady Bug Company on the MSC Seaside and MSC Virtuosa cruise ships, and in the production of "A Trip to Broadway, Miranda" by choreographer Carlos Pons.

He has collaborated with companies and events such as the Dominican National Folkloric Ballet and the Contemporary Dance Festival. He currently dances with Tampa City Ballet and participates as a guest artist in various productions, including "The Nutcracker," where he has performed roles such as Snow, Spanish, and Sugar Plum Fairy.

 

He trained at the National School of Dance (ENDANZA) and has participated in international programs such as the Saratoga Dance Intensive in New York and workshops with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. 

Vashti Walters

Vashti Walters began her dance training at the age of 13 at a recreation center in Richardson, Texas. A few months later, she began training seriously at Tuzer Ballet. In 2016, she moved to Florida and joined Tampa Ballet Theatre as a trainee. She spent the 2017-2018 season as an apprentice and was promoted to the company in 2018. She enjoyed performing soloist roles in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. In 2020 she moved to St. Petersburg where she performed as a guest artist for local productions. In 2022 she was certified in the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum in levels Pre-Primary through Level 3. From 2022-2025, she danced as a company member with Tampa City Ballet, where in addition to performing lead roles in classical ballets, she also expanded her contemporary dance experience. Currently, Vashti is regularly performing and teaching throughout the Tampa Bay Area.