Company

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. 

Alexandria Melina Troianos was born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. She started her training in all genres of dance at a very young age. She received her ballet training primarily from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School through their High School Full Time Program and their Graduate Program. While in PBTS, Alexandria has performed lead roles in Paquita, Graduation Ball, and Le Corsaire as well as the Bluebird pas de deux, Diana and Acteon, Grand pas de deux in The Nutcracker and George Balanchine’s Tribute. She has also performed in the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s productions of Beauty and the Beast, The Sleeping Beauty and Terrance S. Orr’s The Nutcracker. Outside of PBT, Alexandria performed in the Quantum Theatre’s opera Idaspe choreographed by Antonia Franceschi. Alexandria has choreographed several works in PBTS. Her work has also been chosen to be showcased in a National film festival as well as PBT’s Open Air performance in 2021.

Ashley Griffin starting dancing at the age of 3 in Florence, South Carolina, and at the age of 16, she was accepted to Boston Ballet School’s Pre-Professional Program on full scholarship. Ashley attended programs at the School of American Ballet, Houston Ballet, Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell at the Kennedy Center, Chautauqua Institution, CPYB, Charlotte Ballet, Boston Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet, and the “ART of” intensives supported by William Forsythe in Zurich, Switzerland and Madrid, Spain. In 2016, Ashley was invited to join Orlando Ballet as a trainee and was promoted to Orlando Ballet II after one season. In 2019 while dancing with Orlando Ballet II, Ashley simultaneously earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Science with Organizational Communication and Psychology minors from Northeastern University with Summa Cum Laude honors, and she is currently a New York University graduate student. Ashley has also completed Boston Ballet’s Adaptive Dance Teacher Certification. In 2020, Ashley joined Dayton Ballet as a company dancer where she was delighted to perform principal roles such the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, pas deux girl in Gerald Arpino’s Light Rain, and Daisy Buchanan in Ron Cunningham’s The Great Gatsby. She has also spent two summer seasons participating in a choreographic collaboration with Dayton Dance Initiative. Ashley is incredibly excited about performing in Ballet RI’s exciting repertoire this season! 

Brian Gomez was born in Havana – Cuba. He studied at the National Ballet School in Havana 

Brian began his professional career in the National Ballet of Cuba 

In 2016 he travels to Peru to begin his contract as Principal Dancer with the “Ballet Municipal De Lima” 

In 2021, Gómez moves to Miami, where he joins the company “Dimensions Dance theater of Miami” 

 Gomez has been part of different galas around the United States, some of these are: LifeChange “Gala of the Stars” directed by Brooklyn Mack, Boca Arts Festival directed by Melanie Hamrick, Margo Fonteyn Celebration Gala 

He has danced some roles such as: Sigfried of Swan Lake, Conrad of Le Corsair, Albercht in Giselle, Solor in Le Bayadera, Basilio in Don Quixote, Balance by Jimmy Orrante, Juanita and Alicia by Septime Webre, Ligth Rain by Gerald Arpino, Lecuona and Adiemus by Yanis Pikieris, Fever by Vicente Nebrada 

Athina Alimonos, of Hadley, MA, began dancing at the age of four. She trained with Irina Vakhromeeva for many years, followed by training at Massachusetts Academy of Ballet under the instruction of Rose and Charles Flachs. In 2015, Athina was a Youth America Grand Prix finalist in New York City.

At fifteen, she was awarded a gold medal in the senior division at the Connecticut Classic ballet competition. In 2018, she was a finalist at the World Ballet Competition. Athina has furthered her training by attending summer intensives at the Hartt School on a full scholarship where she worked with Angel Corella, the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in New York City where she was invited to train in Moscow, Russia at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy year round, and the San Francisco Ballet School. During her time at Festival Ballet Providence she has performed in Yury Yanowsky’s Same, as well as Bariolage; Lead Snowflake, Marzipan, and the Spanish dance in The Nutcracker; the Tall Elige Woman in Balanchine’s Serenade; Variation 4 in Paquita; and Grisi in Pas De Quatre, along with many other roles.

Yanowsky won First Prize at the Prix de Lausanne and the Silver medal at the Varna and U.S. International Ballet Competitions. He trained with Carmen Delgado de Robles, Anatol Yanowsky, and the Ballet Nacional de Cuba.

Yury’s passion for choreography began early in his dancing career and over the past decade he has had the opportunity to showcase his work around the world. He has been commissioned to create new works for Boston Ballet, Boston Ballet 2, Bundes Jugend Ballet, Jacobs Pillow Gala, Atlanta Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Kansas City Ballet, Portland Ballet, and Festival Ballet Providence. In 2015, he was awarded the Choreographic Prize at the prestigious Erik Bruhn Competition and his ballet Smoke and Mirrors for Boston Ballet was named “Best in Dance for 2016” by The Arts Fuse and hailed as a “visual and choreographic masterpiece”. In 2018 he founded Dance YaNOWsky, a small touring company dedicated to his vision. Yanowsky is focused on creating new works that are relevant and reflective of todays society, oftentimes using unique collaborations to enhance his works.
Yanowsky has served as Movement Consultant for American Repertory Theatre and as Movement Director for The Boston Lyric Opera. He is a frequent teacher at Boston Ballet, Boston Arts Academy, and Centro Coreographico Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. When not choreographing, Yury remains on the Dance Faculty at Harvard University.

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