Company

Alexa is from Uxbridge, Massachusetts where she trained at Deane Dance Studio in Mendon, Massachusetts. Alexa started dancing with Ballet RI as a trainee during the 2021/2022 season. Prior to joining Ballet RI, Alexa went to the Boston Ballet summer intensive and recently Hubbard Street Summer Intensive. 

Alexa has been fortunate to have performed many roles as a trainee with Ballet RI. Some of her favorites include performing in Yury Yanowskiy’s world Premiere Es muß sein! and “Gwendolyn” in Gwendolyn the Graceful Pig. She is very excited for the upcoming works with Ballet RI for the 2023/2024 season! 

Erin Diehl was born and raised in Annapolis, MD. Throughout her training she studied numerous styles of dance spanning from ballet, to musical theatre, to Irish dance. Diehl performed with Chesapeake Ballet Company, Teelin Irish Dance Company, Dance Academy of Severna Park, and Edna Lee Dance Studio before graduating high school in 2018. Her Summer training credits include Boston Ballet, The Radio City Rockettes, and Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Ballet. 

Following graduation Diehl continued her education at The University of Utah, earning a BFA in ballet as well as minors in Korean Studies and Linguistics. Features roles include Paquita and Medora (Le Corsaire). Most recently she danced as a trainee with the Nashville Ballet during the 22-23 season. She has had the privilege to work with choreographers such as Maria Konrad, Susan Jaffe, Penny Saunders, Melissa Nolen-Bobick, and Mollie Sansone.

Elena deGuzman began her ballet training at age three in California. She trained at Philadelphia Dance Theatre, The Washington School of Ballet, The Rock School for Dance Education, and Philadelphia Ballet. She has attended various summer programs, including American Ballet Theatre and Boston Ballet. She has been awarded scholarships to the Chautauqua institute summer intensive, the Rock School for Dance Education, and most recently the trainee program at Philadelphia Ballet. Elena has performed works by George Balanchine including Serenade, Walpurgisnacht, and Who cares. During her time at Chautauqua Elena received a choreographic award and had her works showcased on stage multiple times.  

During her time as a trainee at Philadelphia Ballet, Elena performed as a flower, Spanish dancer, and tea dancer in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, waltz girl in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, as well as touring with the company for Angel Corella’s Swan Lake. 

Originally from Duxbury, Massachusetts, Grace Campbell began her serious ballet training at South Shore Ballet Theatre, studying for five years under George Birkadze, Donna Silva, Marthavan McKeon, and Stephanie Moy. In 2017, she furthered her training in Erica Cornejo and Carlos Molina’s pre-professional daytime program in Boston. After the 2018 Summer Intensive, Kansas City Ballet School’s Daytime program invited her to stay year-round where she remained for two years studying under Grace Holmes, Racheal Nye, Kimberly Cowen, and Dmitry Trubchanov. Upon graduation in 2020, she joined Kansas City Ballet’s Trainee program for the 2021/2022 season. In 2022, she attended Tulsa Ballet’s Summer Intensive and was invited to their Trainee Program for the following season. Last season, she was a trainee at Ballet RI, and she’s excited about her recent promotion to Junior Apprentice, allowing her continued dancing with the company! 

Massiel Valderrama was born in the state of Lara, Venezuela, graduated in 2016 from the “María Teresa Alford School”  

Valderrama joined the “Teresa Carreño” theater company in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2017 

In 2018, Valderrama moved to Lima, Peru to begin his contract with the company “Ballet Municipal de Lima” where he spent four years of his career 

In 2021, he moves to Miami, where he begins to be part of the company “Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami” 

Throughout his career, Valderrama has interpreted different roles as corps de ballet and soloist 

Some are: Snow Queen and Arabian Dance of The Nutcracker, Lilac Fairy of The Sleeping Beauty, Spanish Dance, Big Swans and Waltz soloist of the Swan Lake, Pas de trois of the Le Bayadere, Juanita and Alicia by the choreographer Septime Webre, Lecuona and Adiemus by the choreographer Yanis Pikieris, Light Rain by the choreographer Gerald Arpino, among others. 

Julia began dancing at the age of 4 in Christchurch, New Zealand under the tutelage of Lioudmila Solovieva, Fredric Jahn, and Patricia Ruanne with Dance Masters International and Southern Ballet Theatre. During her formative years she was a national scholar and associate with the New Zealand School of Dance as well as performing in various performances with the Royal New Zealand Ballet such as Liam Scarlett’s world premiere of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. At the age of 15 Julia moved to Calgary, Canada to further their training with the Alberta Ballet School’s Professional Division where she graduated with a certificate of dance in 2021. After graduating they completed further training under the guidance of George Birkadze and Ashley Ellis at the Dallas Conservatory’s Classical Training Program, where she performed various roles such as Gamzatti in La Bayadere, the Sugarplum fairy and Dewdrop in The Nutcracker. Julia is also currently pursuing a B.A specializing in Politics and International Relations with Massey University of New Zealand alongside her dance career. 

Stephen Gunter is a native of Winston-Salem North Carolina, and a apprentice with Ballet Rhode Island. He spent the majority of his training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, graduating with a BFA in ballet performance. Stephen also spent time with Ellison ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and the Bolshoi Academy.  

As a classically trained dancer, Stephen enjoys telling stories more than anything else, and dance is a wonderful medium to use. His favorite performances include dancing the roles of Marcutio in Romeo and Juliet, Solor in la Bayadere, and Espada in Don Quixote. In addition to these classic story ballets pieces such as Fredrick Ashton’s Symphonic Variations, and Ilya kozadayev’s Dream(s)pace are also high points in Stephen’s performance experience. 

Garret McNally began his classical training in 2008 at the Robert Ivey Ballet in Charleston, SC. In 2014, he attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts High School Program training under Susan Jaffe, Jared Redick, Misha Tchoupakov, Frank Smith, and others. There his passion for dancing grew, performing many works including August Bournonville’s Napoli Pas de Six, Frederick Ashton’s Birthday Offering, George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Donizetti Variations, and Serenade, Helen Pickett’s Petal, Natalia Makarova’s La Bayadere, and Michel Folkine’s Les Sylphides. 

 Afterwards, he joined the New Orleans Ballet Theatre amid studying History at the University of New Orleans. After graduating in 2021, he joined the Richmond Ballet as a Second Company dancer being promoted into the main company the following season. There he worked and performed in Malcolm Burn’s Romeo & Juliet, Stoner Winslett’s Echoing Past, and The Nutcracker, Ma Cong’s Thrive, Firebird, and Ershter Vals, Jerome Robbins’ In the Night, George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, and Serenade, as well as works by Jennifer Archibald, Val Caniparoli, Yury Yanowsky, Nicolo Fonte, and Katarzyna Skarpetowska. 

Gianna DeMassio, originally from upstate NY, began her ballet training at the New Paltz School of Ballet under the direction of former New York City Ballet dancers Lisa and Peter Naumann. At fifteen, she joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theater’s Full-Time program, where she trained until graduating high school in 2018. She also attended summer programs at the Chautauqua Institute and American Ballet Theater in NYC. 

In 2018, Gianna danced as a Trainee with Charlotte Ballet, where she studied with Patricia McBride and performed lead roles in contemporary works by Mark Diamond and Christopher Stuart. In 2020 Gianna joined the Richmond Ballet Trainee Program and was promoted to Apprentice shortly after. While dancing with Richmond Ballet, she worked with choreographers: Jennifer Archibald, Nancy Paradis, and Katarzyna Skarpetowska and performed in main stage productions of Stoner Winslett’s The Nutcracker, Ma Cong’s Firebird and George Balanchine’s Serenade.