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DOMENICO LUCIANO
from Naples, Italy joined Dominic Walsh Dance Theater in 2005. Having made his American debut with
Tulsa Ballet in 2004, Mr. Luciano studied at the Teatro di San Carlo Ballet School in Naples Italy,
and danced with various companies in Europe as a Principal Dancer including Europadance in France,
Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Germany, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Teatro Dell’Opera in Rome and
Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. His repertoire includes many of the classical principal leads such
as Romeo, Paris, and Benvolio in both Sir Kenneth MacMillan and John Cranko's Romeo & Juliet;
Paris in Amedeo Amodio’s Romeo & Juliet with Eleonora Abbagnato, Principal Dancer with
Paris Opera Ballet; Solor in La Bayadere, The Prince in The Nutcracker, and
Albrecht in Giselle, all by Derek Dean; In the Night by Jerome Robbins;
Onegin in John Cranko’s Onegin; Roland Petit's Ma Pavlova with international
ballerina Lucia Lacarra; and Don Jose with the National Ballet of China in Carmen.
Domenico also excels in his contemporary repertoire which includes George Balanchine’s La
Valse; Nacho Duato’s Jardi Tancat and Without Words; Orfeo in Carole Armitage’s
Orfeo ed Euridice; and Mauro Bigonzetti’s Mediterranea. Also with Dominic Walsh
Dance Theater, he performed the American premiere of Bigonzetti’s Pression, Michele
Merola’s With Painted Lips, Enrico Morelli’s Funabula, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano’s
Dicese, and Jirí Kylián’s Double You. Dominic Walsh has created many roles
especially for Mr. Luciano including Le Spectre de la Rose, Desire in Sleeping Beauty,
Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet, I Napoletani, Terminus and the title role in Amadeus
for which he also designed the costumes. Since 2005, Domenico has danced in all of the company’s tours
to Mexico, Italy, Spain, Greece, Romania, Florida, New York, Iowa, and Kansas. In 2003, he received
the Leonide Massine award in Positano, Italy as Best Male Dancer of the Year and in October 2008,
Domenico was named “Best Dancer” by the Houston Press. He also made his choreographic debut
in 2008, co-creating The Nutcracker with Walsh for Ballet Quad Cities. Most recently, he
performed the coveted role of the White Swan in the White Swan pas de deux from Matthew Bourne’s
Swan Lake and Walsh’s For the Two of You.
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Photo by Gabriella Nissen Photography
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LAUREN BETTENCOURT
joined Dominic Walsh Dance Theater as an apprentice for the 2008-2009 season and was promoted to company member
for the 2009-2010 season. As an apprentice, she danced the role of Ms. Song in Dominic Walsh’s Sleeping Beauty
and also performed in his Bello, I Napoletani, and For the Two of You. She closed the 2008-2009
season dancing one of the lead female roles in Walsh’s The Trilogy: Wolfgang Amadeus. She also made her
debut in 2008 as Clara/Sugar Plum in Walsh’s The Nutcracker. She trained at Central Pennsylvania Youth
Ballet and most recently with Ballet Austin. Her training also includes participation in Boston Ballet’s Summer
Dance Program and the summer program of New York State’s School of the Arts. Her professional experience includes
performing with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and with Ballet Austin II in Stephen Mills’ The Nutcracker,
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and 5 Flights Up; George Balanchine’s Serenade; Thaddeus Davis’s
The Monologue Project; Thang Dao’s Printemps Perdu; and Gina Patterson’s
Ven Pronto. Her repertoire also includes Balanchine’s Raymonda Variations, Divertimento
#15, and The Nutcracker.
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Photo by Gabriella Nissen Photography
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MARISSA LEIGH GOMER
joined Dominic Walsh Dance Theater for the 2009-2010 season, making her company debut in Dominic Walsh’s The
Trilogy: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Marissa grew up in Duxbury, Massachusetts and received her training from
The Boston Ballet School, Ballet Theatre of Boston, London Studio Centre, and Images of Dance with director Margaret
Barbieri. Prior to joining Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, Marissa danced professionally for Les Grands Ballets
Canadiens de Montreal, Festival Ballet Providence, and Boston Ballet. Her career has allowed her to perform in many
venues across the United States, Canada, and Europe including Chicago, Santa Barbara, Ottawa, Bolzano, Modena,
Luxembourg, Salamanca, London, Cardiff, and most notably L’Ete de La Danse at the Grand Palais in Paris. Marissa
has been fortunate to work with noted choreographers Ohad Naharin, Stijn Celis, Shen Wei, David Dorfman, and
Mauro Bigonzetti. Her repertoire includes classics such as Maina Gielgud’s Giselle, George Balanchine’s
Donizetti Variations, Stars and Stripes, Rubies, Allegro Brilliante, and Serenade as well as
contemporary works such as Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Romeo and Juliet, Naharin’s Minus One and
Danz, Celis’s Les Noces and Cendrillion, and Bigonzetti’s Cantata. Marissa is
proud to have been a part of the creation of ballets such as Victor Plotnikov’s Carmen and The Widow’s
Broom, Yves de Bouteiller’s Romeo and Juliet, Gianni Di Marco’s Scheherazade, and Bigonzetti’s
Quatre Saisons. Marissa is married to dancer Ty Parmenter.
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Photo by Gabriella Nissen Photography
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RACHEL MEYER
grew up in Collinsville, Illinois and joined Dominic Walsh Dance Theater for the 2009-2010 season after graduating
from the University of Utah Ballet Department. She began dancing at age three and completed Cecchetti Grade 7. As
a senior in high school, Rachel was a trainee with St. Louis Ballet and became a member of Utah Ballet at the
University of Utah during the second semester of her freshman year. With Utah Ballet, she danced soloist roles in
Pas de Quatre and Conrad Ludlow’s Grand Pas. In 2006, she was a guest artist in Aspen Santa Fe
Ballet’s The Nutcracker and danced in the Northwest Professional Dance Project in 2006 and 2007. Rachel
also danced professionally with Utah Regional Ballet under Jacqueline Colledge from 2007-2008 and spent the past
three summers training at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance under Summer Lee Rhatigan. She has studied Jiri
Kylian works with Glenn Edgerton, William Forsythe improvisational techniques and repertoire with Thomas McMannus,
and Ohad Naharin “gaga” technique and repertoire with Bobby Smith. Her repertoire includes works by Robert Moses,
Alex Ketley, Paul Vasterling, Mary Osland, Lauri Stallings, and Cayetano Soto.
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Photo by Gabriella Nissen Photography
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TY PARMENTER
joined Dominic Walsh Dance Theater for the 2009-2010 season, making his company debut in Dominic Walsh’s
The Trilogy: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Ty grew up with his family in Cape Neddick, Maine and at age 12 went
to boarding school at the National Ballet School in Toronto, Canada. Upon graduating, Ty joined Festival Ballet
Providence where he had many soloist roles created for him including Romeo in Yves de Bouteiller’s Romeo and
Juliet and the Eunich in Gianni Di Marco’s Scheherazade. Ty then went on to perform with Les Grands
Ballets Canadiens de Montreal and the Mozart Summer Festival in Wurzburg, Germany. Prior to joining Dominic Walsh
Dance Theater, Ty spent the last two seasons dancing with Hubbard Street 2 under the directorship of Jim Vincent.
With HS2, he toured extensively throughout Germany and the United States performing works created on the company
such as Andrea Miller’s Blush, Terence Marling’s Glass Skin, Lesley Telford’s Page One,
Christian Spuck’s The Restless and Brian Enos’s Dipthong. Ty is married to dancer Marissa Gomer.
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Photo by Gabriella Nissen Photography
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RANDOLPH WARD
is a native of Miami, Florida and this is his first season with Dominic Walsh Dance Theater. He attended the New
World School of The Arts and received his training from the San Francisco Ballet School and Miami City Ballet
School. Before joining Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, Randolph danced for BalletMet Columbus and the North Carolina
Dance Theatre. Randolph has performed a number of leading roles including Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet,
Phlegmatic from George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, and Night Creatures by Alvin Ailey
and he has danced works by Alonzo King, Nacho Duato, Twlya Tharp, Dwight Rhoden, and many others. He is a Princess
Grace Nominee and was featured in Pointe Magazine's V.I.P. List. In 2004, he was awarded the Violetta Boft Award
for outstanding dancer of the year.
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Photo by Gabriella Nissen Photography
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FELICIA MCBRIDE
began her ballet training under the direction of Julie Morton Simpson at the age of 12 in her hometown of San
Antonio, Texas. After graduating high school, Ms. McBride moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where she danced as
a trainee with North Carolina Dance Theater. After one year with North Carolina Dance Theater, she joined Ballet
Austin II, where she spent one season. While with Ballet Austin she performed in works by choreographers such as
Viktor Kabaniaev, Jennifer Hart, Thang Dao, and Stephen Mills. This is Ms. McBride’s first season with Dominic
Walsh Dance Theater.
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Photo by Gabriella Nissen Photography
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