In high school, ballet dancer Naomi Thien Kim Le’s father, Chinh Le, told her something pivotal: “If you can’t live without it, don’t live without it.” She took his words to heart.

Naomi has now danced professionally with San Jose’s New Ballet Company since 2020. At 23, she feels she still has more to accomplish. “Every year, there’s a new side of myself that unlocks into ballet. I’m achieving more and more despite getting older.”

Chinh Le instructs by example. Both he and Naomi’s mother, Anatasia, are from Vietnam and immigrated to the US in 1980. Their journeys to America, however, were quite different. “In short, she came on the airplane, I came on the boat,” Chinh explains. He attempted to leave Vietnam multiple times before he was successful. The only thing he took with him was his violin. Without a standard American education or fluency in English, he struggled to find musical education opportunities. Despite this, he was determined to become a professional musician. He eventually earned a scholarship at Indiana University. He’s now a violin teacher and a violinist with the San Jose Symphony, which accompanies New Ballet productions.

Chinh passed his passion for music and the arts on to his children. Naomi and her siblings all play instruments and dance with New Ballet. The family even formed a string quartet during the lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We need the normal things to sustain a life. But art gives people a reason to live,” Naomi says. Her mother echoed this importance in her approach to parenting. “What we were taught as [children] is that art is one of the rare gifts that one can possess. We want our children to explore their gifts.”

Naomi is grateful for her family’s support of her ballet career. “They always made sure I could have food on the table, no matter what,” she remembers, “so that I could comfortably choose and put a strong foot forward with what I wanted to do with my life.” Her connection with her heritage is strong. “My work ethic is from my family and my Vietnamese culture,” she explains. “The food that I eat to have the energy to go throughout my day, to dance, and to teach is really influenced by my culture.”

“Every year, there’s a new side of myself that unlocks into ballet. I’m achieving more and more despite getting older.”

Naomi originally began studying ballet at five years old to help with her coordination. Her parents homeschooled Naomi and her siblings and had them try out many different physical activities. Naomi began dancing as a student with New Ballet’s founder, artistic director, and executive director Dalia Rawson. She’s mentored Naomi’s development from a young student to a professional dancer. Naomi always took her classes seriously, but it took time for her to hone her skills as a true performer. “She was almost a little introverted,” Rawson remembers. “She has been a series of little revelations over the years.” When Naomi was 10, Rawson told her she had the discipline and the body to dance at a higher level. She’s now danced in hundreds of professional New Ballet shows.

Naomi’s approach to ballet is a joyful one. “It’s a human experience. I want to get into that kind of carnal state where, truly, I’m dancing because I’m enjoying life, I’m enjoying what I do,” she explains. “I don’t want to spend my career in dancing stressed all the time.” This approach runs parallel to Rawson’s mission with New Ballet, which prioritizes dancers’ mental health.

Naomi herself majored in psychology at Santa Clara State University. She attributes this partially to her mother, who got her master’s in psychology after working as a pharmacist. She says that New Ballet’s emphasis on mental health was also an influence on her decision. “I think I was just surrounded by a lot of people who cared about other people’s well-being and success, and I just wanted to carry that on.”

According to Rawson, there are two things a ballet dancer needs to elevate their practice: a solid control of classical technique and the ability to embody different roles with that technique. Naomi has both. “She brings moments out of choreography that I’ve seen her dance many, many times,” Rawson shares. “She is on the path to becoming San Jose’s first home-grown, home-trained, and hometeam ‘Ballerina.’ ” “Ballerina” as a title has a specific meaning within the dancing world. The dancer needs to have had at least three main ballerina roles, and one of them must be Giselle, which New Ballet will be doing a production of in 2025. Naomi has already danced main roles in Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. “It’s like Hamlet for a female ballet dancer,” Rawson explains. “There’s a very good chance that she will dance that role.”

Follow Naomi on Instagram at naomi_tk_l

Follow The New Ballet – San Jose on Instagram at newballet.sanjose and on the web at newballet.com

On a wet November evening, some of the South Bay’s creative energy settled downtown at Open San José to celebrate the release of Content Magazine Issue 18.1, “Discover.” It was a gathering of artists, creatives, musicians, and supporters who came together to engage with one another and the creatives featured in the issue. The mood was immediately set by DJ Arturo Garces, whose selections carried throughout the venue. Friends from Californians for the Arts had just wrapped a conference at the same location and seamlessly folded into the scene.

Locals and visitors alike enjoyed beer and wine served by Filco Events. Chef Alex Whiteman and his team from Goodtime Bar elevated the experience with refined bites—from a delicate persimmon salad to their classic deviled eggs.

That hallway connecting resident galleries, Chopsticks Alley Art and Works/SJ, and the performance studio was turned into a pop-up exhibition presented by Works/San José. The one-night-only showcase featured eight visual artists from the issue, including Hadi Aghaee, Tachiya Bryant, Sarah Bianco, John Contreras, Low Le, Betty Proper, Jasmine Reid, and Augie WK.

The performance schedule kicked off at 7:00p with remarks from CreaTV CEO Chad Johnston, who welcomed everyone to Open San José. The program, held on the second Thursday of each month, became woven into Chopsticks Alley Art’s regularly scheduled CreativiTEA Open Mic Showcase, featuring powerful performances by House of Asha and Chansing Dai. Afterwards, the event hit its stride with a Hair and Tattoo Runway Show. Tattoo artist Low Le and hair stylist Ming Schipper presented their visions on models that adorned intricate illustrations inked to skin and colorfully stylized hair and nails.

The success of Issue 18.1 relies on the collaboration of everyone in our community—from event partners and contributors to the creatives featured, and anyone who walked through the doors or picked up the magazine. The spirit of Content Magazine lies in the relationships found within the community. As with all of our pick-up parties, the main goal is to come together, meet someone new, and introduce them to old friends.

Join us in February 2026 at Hobee’s Restaurant in Downtown San José for Pick-Up Party 18.2, “Sight and Sound.” The issue will feature creatives such as Akeen Raheem, William Johnston Bohrer, and Jacque Price, students from San José State University (photo 125), and our Santa Clara County Supervisors.