OUR DANCERS
Principal Guest Artists
Lia Cirio
From 2008-2009 Cirio toured with Trey McIntyre Project, performing throughout the United States and worldwide. She danced principal roles in McIntyre’s Reassuring Effects of Form and Poetry and A Day in the Life, and originated roles in various new works by McIntyre. She returned to Boston Ballet for the 2009-2010 season and was named principal dancer in 2010.
Her repertory with Boston Ballet includes featured and/or principal roles in classics such as La Bayadere, Swan Lake; The Nutcracker; The Sleeping Beauty, La Sylphide, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Don Quixote, Paquita, and corps roles in The Taming of the Shrew, The Lady of the Camellias, and La Fille Mal Gardee. She has danced featured and/or principal roles in Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, Apollo, Divertimento #15, Who Cares?, Concerto Barocco, The Four Temperaments, Ballo de la Regina, La Valse, Serenade, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and corps de ballet roles in Stars and Stripes and Rubies. She has performed contemporary works by Elo, Kylian, Forsythe, Tharp, Wheeldon, Morris, Pickett, Myers and Caniparoli. She originated roles in Elo’s Carmen (Micaela) and Brake the Eyes.
Cirio was named in Dance Magazine’s first “On the Rise” feature article, and has been featured in additional articles in Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit Magazine, and on the cover of Pointe. She is sister to Second Soloist of Boston Ballet, Jeffrey Cirio. This is Ms. Cirio's first production with the Eglevsky Ballet.
James Whiteside
James Whiteside began his training at age nine at the D’Valda & Sirico Dance and Music Centre, under the direction of Angela D’Valda and Steve Sirico. Guest faculty at the Dance Centre includes Franco DeVita, Raymond Lukens, and Charles Kelley. James enrolled at the Virginia School of the Arts for one year under the direction of Petrus Bosman. In 2002, he joined Boston Ballet II. James has also taught ballet and jazz at competitions and conventions internationally as well as at Boston Ballet School and Boston Ballet Summer Dance Program. He was promoted to the corps de ballet in 2003, second soloist in 2006, first soloist in 2008 and to principal dancer in 2009. .
James Whiteside’s repertoire includes George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations (Principal), Coppélia (Frantz), Ballo della Regina, Rubies (Principal), The Four Temperaments (Sanguinic), Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux; Who Cares?, Serenade (Elegy Man); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lysander), and La Valse; Maina Gielgud’s Giselle (Albrecht); Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker (Cavalier, Snow King) and Swan Lake (Pas de Trois, Pas de Cinq); John Cranko’s Taming of the Shrew (Gremio), Romeo and Juliet (Benvolio); Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty (Bluebird) and Raymonda Act III; Antony Tudor’s Dark Elegies; James Kudelka’s Cinderella (Officer); Jiří Kylián’s Sarabande, Petite Mort, and Sechs Tänze; Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room; Mark Morris’ Drink to Me…; Sabrina Matthews’ ein von viel; Val Caniparoli’s Sonato for Two Pianos and Percussion; and Avi Scher’s Utopia.
Whiteside’s repertoire also includes the world premieres of Jorma Elo’s Brake the Eyes, Plan to B, Carmen (Don Jose), and In On Blue; Helen Pickett’s Eventide and Etesian; Mark Morris’ Up & Down; Heather Myers’ Gone Again. This is Mr. Whiteside's first production with the Eglevsky Ballet.
Soloists
Kerry Shea
Kerry Shea, originally from Virginia began early training at Pennsylvania Ballet, Boston Ballet and Houston Ballet. Kerry continued training on scholarship at the University of Utah. Graduating with high honors she received her BFA. Company credits include the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Ballet West, the Utah Opera and the Sacramento Ballet. With these companies she has enjoyed dancing Swan Lake, Raymonda, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Agnes de Mille's Rodeo and George Balanchine's Concerto Barocco, Valse Fantasie, Western Symphony, Theme and Variations, "Who Cares?", and the Four Temperaments. Kerry was accepted and participated in Alonzo King's Professional Workshop. Recently she has returned from the North West Professional Dance Project in Portland, Oregon. Kerry had the honor of working with Lucas Crandall of the Netherlands Dance Theater and performing a solo Crandall created on her. Kerry is excited to be in her sixth season with the Eglevsky Ballet Company. Under the direction of Ali Pourfarrukh she danced Arabian, demi-soloist Flowers in Nutcracker and Pourfarrukh's Coppelia, Faucets, Aria, and Pas des Quatre. Currently Kerry can be seen dancing in New York City with Lydia Johnson Dance, Brooklyn Ballet and John Marc-Owen. A certified Stott Pilates instructor, she keeps busy teaching private and group Pilates lessons. A special thank you to her ballet coaches Caridad Martinez and Diana Cartier, her parents Jerry and Ruth Shea, and her boyfriend John Farrier.
DemiSoloists
Katie Moorehead - Ballet Mistress
Katie Moorhead began studying under Dina Gazzerro at a young age. Encouraged and inspired to be a creative student, she has choreographed and performed her own work since the age of 9. At 15, she trained with First State Ballet Theater of Delaware, performing with members of Russian Ballet Theater and graduated with honors from the Kirov Academy of Washington DC, training under Mme Alla Sizova and Mme Jacqueline Akhmedova. Katie joined Arts Ballet Theater of Florida where she was the first to receive an Honorable Merit Diploma from the Tersihora Foundation of St. Petersburg, Russia. At Arts Ballet Theater, she was blessed to work with Vladimir Issaev, Lyubov Fominich, Tatiana Terekhova, and Alla Osipenko. She toured to Denmark and Poland with the company. Since moving to New York, she has worked with Lori Spada, Janusphere Dance Company, Octavia Cup Dance Theater, Staten Island Ballet, and Roger Jeffrey. Katie is a ballet substitute at Alvin Ailey and an Apprentice of Gyrotonic at Circular Power Inc. She works as a freelance artist with David Fernandez, Morales Dance and Collective Body Dance Lab. Katie is thrilled to be among these beautifully talented artists the Eglevsky Ballet has brought together for their Nutcracker production. She also teaches in Long Island and is very excited for her students to see her perform! She is thankful to her Creator, family, teachers, and friends for their love and support. Her time off is spent with her wonderfully talented fiancé, Marc Tedesco.
Corps de Ballet
Sarah Atkins
Information coming
Ahmaud Culver
Ahmaud begun his training at Antelope Valley Performing Arts Conservatory under artistic director Marlene Hall. At age 18 he attended the California Institute of the Arts for his BFA in dance where he performed faculty pieces of Collin Connor and Stephanie Nugent, as well as several student works. He also attended the Rock School of Ballet. Ahmaud has toured from California to New York with the L.A. based modern company Helios Dance Theatre under the artistic vision of Laura Miller in her work "Lotus Eaters". Ahmaud resides in New York where he is working on his own choreography and other artists to further his artistic development.
Lalassa Cuomo
Lalasa began her training on full scholarship at the School of American Ballet at the age of 8. She later went on to study with Leslie Browne, Ethan Brown, Valentina Kozlova , Darla Hoover, and Elana Kunikova. David Howard. Lalasa has performed in Connecticut ballet’s Nutcracker and Dances Petrelle’s Nutcracker. She danced the lead in Cinderella at Walter Read Theatre in NYC. Lalasa performed at Symphony Space in both A Phorah’s Daughter and Raymonda. She participated in the Youth America Grand Prix ensemble division where the ensemble received 3rd place. She also danced for Mac Cosmetics at Macy’s and performed in the opening of fashion week for the imitation of Christ fashion show.
Marissa Frey
Marissa grew up in York, Pennsylvania where she began her training at Greater Youth Ballet under the direction of Lori Pergament. As a former member of Regional Dance America, she has received many scholarships. She has worked with choreographers such as Yesid Lopez, Jessica Lang, and Luis Fuentes. In 2009 she graduated with a BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase. Recently Marissa has danced with Janusphere Dance Company and is currently dancing with DeMa Dance Company and Yesid Lopez Contemporary Dance: The Collective. In 2010 Marissa performed works in premiere venues, including The Ailey Citigroup Theater, Webster Hall, White Wave John Ryan Theater, Solar-Powered Dance Series, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and the Tenth Anniversary Dumbo Dance Festival.
Dorrie Garland
Dorothea Garland of Framingham, MA has been dancing in New York City for the past five years. Prior to that, Ms. Garland danced with Columbia Classical Ballet in Columbia, SC; Cadence Dance Project, in Providence RI; and most extensively, Jose Mateo's Ballet Theater of Boston. She trained at New England Ballet and Boston Ballet and later graduated with a BA in Dance from Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA. While at Mercyhurst, Ms. Garland danced leading roles in George Balanchine's Serenade, Giselle, and The Nutcracker among other ballets. She is currently dancing for Marilyn Klaus's Ballets with a Twist in New York City. This is her first appearance with Eglevsky Ballet.
Kate Kelley
Kate was born in Massachusetts where she trained at the Diane Kelly Dance Studio and Walnut Hill School. She moved to New York City in 2006 to study at the Joffrey Ballet School. She has since worked on numerous dance films and performed with the Eglevsky Ballet last winter in The Nutcracker. She performed in Jill Johnson's most recent installation in New York City and premiered at the Baryshnikov Arts Center this past summer.
Karina Lesko
Raised in San Jose, Costa Rica, Karina Lesko began her dance career with the Youth Ballet of Costa Rica. She continued her studies through summer programs with the National Conservatory of Prague, the National School of Cuba, the Superior Art Institute of Colon Theatre of Buenos Aires and La Salle Pleyel, Paris. She completed her B.F.A. at the University of Utah, where she toured as a member of the Character Dance Ensemble. Karina has performed in competitions worldwide, including the International Competition of Varna 2000 and the Music Festival of Paris 2005. She has appeared as a guest artist for the City Ballet of Lima, Peru and worked for Tokyo Disneyland, Japan. Karina's repertoire includes Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Lisette in La Fille Malgardee, Spanish variation in The Nutcracker, title roles in Flower Festival in Genzano, Coppelia and Magisimo. Since moving to New York City, she has danced in various companies including Steps Repertory Ensemble, Nathan Trice Rituals, Nejla Yatkin/NY2 Dance and Roger C. Jeffrey/Subtle Changes. Karina is a fully certified Gyrotonic instructor and is very pleased to be performing with Eglevsky Ballet.