Company

Leticia Guerrero

A native of Venezuela, Ms. Guerrero received her early training at the Keyla Ermecheo Ballet School in Caracas. She has performed with numerous companies including Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas, Metropolitan Ballet of Caracas, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Michigan Ballet, Charleston Ballet Theatre, Jose Mateo’s Ballet Theatre and Cadence Dance Project.

She has created leading roles in ballets in Gianni Dimarco’s El Amor Brujo, Schéhérazade and Azucar, Plotnikov’s Carmen, The Widow’s Broom,Loof and Let Dime and Coma, De Bouteiller’s Romeo and Juliet and FBP’s 2006 premiere of Don Quixote. Other leading roles include Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Rubies, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Tarantella, Who Cares?, Pelzig’s The Princess and the Pea, Swan Lake and Eldar Aliev’s A Thousand and One Nights. Ms. Guerrero also participated in the 2004 Venezuela Del Mundo Gala and was recognized for representing Venezuela internationally with high standards and “projection, dignity and beauty.” In addition Providence Mayor David Cicilline awarded a Citizens Citation for her “exceptional and wholehearted devotion for the art of dance.”

After her retirement from the stage in May 2012, she transitioned into her new role as Ballet Mistress with the Company, and as a faculty member with School of Ballet RI where she continues to pass on her knowledge to a new generation of dancers.

Brian Gomez

Name: Brian Gomez

Company Position:  Company Dancer

Joined Ballet RI:  September, 2023

Hometown: La Habana, Cuba

Training/Education: National Ballet School of Cuba “ENA”

 Favorite Quote: “Without sacrifice there is no victory.”

Favorite Role or Ballet & Why:   Solor from “Le Bayadere”. Dancing “Solor” was a dream for me, and I would love to be able to do it again.

Accomplishment you are most proud of:  To have been promoted to the position of Principal Dancer at the age of 18.

Fun Fact about yourself:  If I hadn’t been a dancer, I would have liked to be a soccer player.

Follow Brian on Instagram @briangomez_24

 

Audrey Lukacz

Audrey Lukacz, Company Dancer
Joined Ballet RI: 2020 

Hometown: Portsmouth, NH 

Training/Education: Portsmouth School of Ballet, BA in Dance Pedagogy from Butler University 

Favorite Quote: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou  

Favorite Role or Ballet & Why:I think it’s hard to pick just one favorite since there are just so many beautiful ballets out there. I think if I had to choose, I would say Romeo and Juliet and Onegin to watch. But my favorite role I’ve done so far has been Carabosse in the Sleeping Beauty. There is just something so fun and so powerful about getting to play a role that is so far from reality. Something comes over you on stage and it’s a feeling like nothing else.  

Accomplishment you are most proud of: I am most proud of receiving my bachelor’s degree from Butler University in 3.5 years and getting my first professional contract with Ballet RI.  

Fun Fact about yourself:I do wheel thrown pottery and thrift avidly! I also can pogo stick with no hands.  

Follow Audrey on Instagram @audreylukacz  

 

Katherine Vigly

Name: Katherine Vigly

Company Position:  Company Artist

Joined Ballet RI:  In 2015 as a trainee. Promoted to Apprentice in 2017 and Company in 2019.

Hometown: Miami, FL / Fryeburg, ME

Training/Education: Dance Empire, Portland School of Ballet, Canada’s National Ballet School, B.S. in Ecology and Environmental Science from the University of Maine

 Favorite Quote:

“You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

But also:

“I hate quotations.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Favorite Role or Ballet & Why:  

Yikes, it is very hard to choose… and it is always changing. My most recent favorite was dancing the solo girl in Katarzyna Kozielska’s ‘Ode’. It was a role that I felt I could keep dancing forever because I felt so present and myself in it. My mind never wanted to wander; I was fully able to enjoy getting lost in the moment while dancing it.

 Accomplishment you are most proud of:  Making a career as a professional dancer.

Fun Fact about yourself:  I like learning about insects and how they shape our world. Bombus perplexus is my favorite.

Follow Katherine on Instagram @kjjbickford

 

Clay Murray

Name:  Clay Murray

Company Position:  Company Artist

Joined Ballet RI:  Joined Ballet Ri in 2022 as Company Member

Hometown: Hattiesburg, MS

Training/Education: South Mississippi Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet Academy, Pacific Northwest Ballet

Favorite Quote:  “I won’t break, I’ll just bend, and I’ll sway.” -Kacey Musgraves

Favorite Role or Ballet & Why:

There are so many amazing roles I’ve gotten to do in my career. A few favorites have been Bluebird in “Sleeping Beauty”, Sugarplum Cavalier in “The Nutcracker”, Iago in “Moore’s Pavane”, First Pas De Deux in Yury Yanowsky’s “Death and the Maiden”,Jester in Yury Yanowsky’s “Cinderella”, and Azure Barton’s “Les Chambres Des Jacques.”

Accomplishment you are most proud of:  Overcoming a major knee surgery and coming back to ballet.

Fun Fact about yourself: As a choreographer, I have made new works for both the School of Ballet RI and Ballet RI Company. I’ve found it to be another way for me to be able to express myself in the art form.  

Follow Clay on Instagram @claymurray

 

 

AJ Maio

Name: AJ Maio

Company Position: Company

Joined Ballet RI:  Joined Ballet RI in 2022 as an apprentice. Promoted to Company in 2023.

Hometown: Barrington, RI

Training/Education: School of Ballet RI, University of Utah BFA

Favorite Quote: “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” A.A. Milne

Favorite Role or Ballet & Why: Being the Nutcracker in Ballet RI’s production because getting to dance the Trepak dance is so much fun.

Accomplishment you are most proud of:  Graduating from the University of Utah with my Ballet BFA degree.

Fun Fact about yourself:  I love Ukrainian folk dancing and teach character dance at the School of Ballet RI.

Follow AJ on Instagram @a.m_j08

 

 

Ashley Griffin

Name: Ashley Griffin

Company Position: Company Artist

Joined Ballet RI: Joined as a Company dancer in 2023.

Hometown: Florence, SC

Training/Education: Ashley joined Boston Ballet School’s Pre-Professional Program on full scholarship at the age of 16. Then, she joined Orlando Ballet as Trainee on full scholarship, and was promoted to Orlando Ballet Second Company after one season. She has also 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 2020, Ashley joined Dayton Ballet as a company dancer, where she received opportunities to perform in principle roles such as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the The Nutcracker, the pas de deux girl in Gerald Arpino’s Light Rain, and Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. She has also spent two summers participating in a choreographic collaboration with Dayton Dance Initiative. Ashley recently completed a MS from New York University and has previously completed a BA from Northeastern University with Summa Cum Laude honors. She has also completed Boston Ballet’s Adaptive Dance Teacher Certification. During her first two seasons with Ballet RI, some of her favorite performances have included the Fascinatin’ Rhythm and Man I Love girl in George Balanchine’s Who Cares, the Sugar Plum Fairy and Dew Drop Fairy in The Nutcracker, Desdemona in Jose Limon’s Moor’s Pavane, the Winter Fairy in Yury Yanowsky’s Cinderella, and Pas de Trois in Yury Yanowsky’s Swan Lake.

 Favorite Quote: “When you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic.”

Favorite Role or Ballet & Why:  My dream role is Juliet from Romeo and Juliet because it is a profound story of love that is powerful and timeless. There is an incredible emotional contrast to artistically relish in, and the music is simply magnificent. My other favorite role will always be the Sugar Plum Fairy. It’s an absolute classic, and I’m so grateful to have performed it in two professional companies.

Accomplishment you are most proud of: Dancing professionally at three professional companies while earning two college degrees.

Fun Fact about yourself: One of my favorite hobbies is photographing new places and experiences around the world.

Follow Ashley on Instagram @__ashleygriffin__

 

Tara McCally

Name:   Tara McCally
Company Position:  Company member
Joined Ballet RI:  2021
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Training/Education: Feijoo Ballet School under Nelson Madrigal, Lorna and Lorena Feijoo

Favorite Quote: “The best is yet to come” -Frank Sinatra

Favorite Role or Ballet & Why:  It is impossible to narrow down all the roles I’ve been lucky to perform and choose just one favorite, so two roles I hold close to my heart are “Jackie” in Yury Yanowsky’s “Jackie” and “solo woman” in Katarzyna Kozielska’s “Ode”. Both roles challenged me emotionally, physically and truly made me a better dancer.
Accomplishment you are most proud of: Though I am so proud of all of my achievements in ballet, I am most proud of the family I’ve made on the East Coast!

Fun Fact about yourself:  I’m related to Alexander Hamilton and John Wilkes booth

Follow Tara on Instagram @Tara.mccally

Anna Lisa Wilkins

Name: Anna Lisa Wilkins
Company Position:  Company Dancer
Joined Ballet RI:  2020
Hometown: East Longmeadow, MA
Training/Education: Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (Go Hoosiers!)
 Favorite Quote: Have courage and be kind. Beauty will save the world.
Favorite Role or Ballet & Why:  Emilia from José Limón’s Moor’s Pavane. To tell such a dramatic and powerful story through subtlety and detail was an incredible artistic challenge, and one I hope to revisit one day. (Also, the costume was FABULOUS!)

Accomplishment you are most proud of: Having the opportunity to work for an organization as both a dancer and an administrative manager. I’m living my dream while also gaining experience that will help me develop and impact live performance art from both sides of the stage.

Fun Fact about yourself: Everyone in my family was born on the 13th or 31st – completely by chance.

Follow Anna Lisa on Instagram @annalisa.wilx