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DANA D’IORIO ADAMES STUDIO DIRECTOR Talent
Factory owner and Director of The Talent Factory Dance Company, has spent the last 25 years following in the footsteps of
her mother Debi Cusick D'Iorio and aunt Cheryl Cusick Igliozzi. Not only did they help develop her potential as a dancer
at a young age, they inspired her creativity as a teacher. Dana has been teaching and choreographing since the age of 14.
Dance is a passion for Dana as reflected in her positive, outgoing personality and ability to build esteem and efficacy in
every child and adult she instructs. Dana has trained with some of the best in the business such as Henry LeTang, Thommie
Walsh, Ronnie DeVito, Gil Stroming, Dan Karaty, Tawana Hall-Charlton and Savion Glover whom she had the privilege
of privately studying with in NYC. Dana offers the same opportunities to her students by traveling with her dance company
to numerous conventions and competitions all over the east coast. Dana is also the choreographer for the Miss Rhode Island
America pageant where she is able to use her own company dancers as pageant performers. She continues to be a role model and
inspiration to all her students! Dana takes pride in offering creative classes as she develops her students to reach their
optimal potential. dana@talentfactoryri.com
TARA
TOMMASIELLO BALLET, JAZZ, CONTEMPORARY, ASST. DANCE COMPANY DIRECTOR
Tara has been dancing since the age of two, beginning her studies
at Dance RI’s Providence location, under the direction of Debi Cusick D'Iorio.
While at Dance RI, Tara began competing at a very young
age, participating in many conventions and master classes where she studied under such renown instructors as Scott Benson,
Laurie Rousseau and Ron DeVito. In 1996, Tara began focusing solely on her
ballet technique with Festival Ballet of Rhode Island under the late Christine Hennessey. She landed the
role of Clara in their annual production of “The Nutcracker" in 1998 and soon after became part of the Junior Company,
where she went on to dance a wide variety of roles. In 2001, Tara joined the Senior
Company as an apprentice dancer under their new name, Festival Ballet Providence. Tara has since attended
many master classes from others in the business, including Suzi Taylor, Travis Wall, Joey Dowling, Jason Parsons, Dan Karaty,
Mandy Moore, AC Ciulla, Lauren Adams-Spinetti and Scott Jovovich, to name just a few. Her choreography
has been recognized within the New England competitive dance circuit, receiving numerous Platinum adjudications
as well as Choreography Awards and Highest Overall Scoring Awards. Tara takes
pride in running her classes with a constant, motivating energy. She strives to continuously push the boundaries
that surround movement while always incorporating a great level of interpretation and diversity in every class.
Tara is the current choreographer of the Miss Rhode Island Scholarship Program Pageant.
When she is not at the studio, Tara is using her business degree from Stonehill
College as a Recruitment Sales Representative at the Providence Journal. tara@talentfactoryri.com
MELANIE MORRISSEY ACTING, VOICE, MUSICAL THEATRE, ASST. THEATRE CO DIRECTOR Melanie
started her acting
career at the age of seven and from that young age she knew that she had found her calling. Melanie did over 30 musical theatre
productions, including tours both locally and in Brazil. Melanie has
been a teacher for over five years teaching acting, voice, dance, and directing musicals. Melanie then moved to New Mexico and was featured in two union productions, Swing Vote and Love Ranch;
and she also appeared in the TV series Crash. Moreover,
she was the director of a nationally recognized acting and modeling school. She has since been offered other roles but finds
that teaching is much more rewarding. Melanie has a lot to offer the students from on camera experience, behind the scenes
work, stage experience, make-up design, directing, and much more. Sign up for her classes today, because space is limited!
melanie@talentfactoryri.com
RIKKI BICKNELL BALLET &
CONTEMPORARY
Rikki has been dancing since age 8, receiving her early training at Dance
RI, under the direction of Debi Cusick D’Iorio. In 1997, she decided to focus on ballet at Festival Ballet of Rhode
Island. After three years of hard work, Rikki had progressed to the advanced level and had to choose between dance and singing.
She decided to take a hiatus from dancing and focus on her musical aspirations. After graduating high school, she studied
voice at the University of Rhode Island and graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. Rikki currently
uses her degree to teach general music, chorus, and band at Greenbush Elementary in West Warwick. She also directs the drama
club at West Warwick High School. She returned to dancing after almost 8 years when she came to the Talent Factory in the
fall of 2008! With Dana and Tara’s guidance, she rediscovered her passion for dance and is so pleased that she gets
to share her love of movement with her students!
SHERYL ANNE ATWOOD STUDIO MANAGER/FITNESS DIRECTOR
Sheryl is the proud
mother of twin boys Travis and Tyler who are in Junior Company and CREW at the Talent Factory. Sheryl has an ecclectic background
that includes dancing for 8 years herself. Sheryl is immersed in fitness in her personal and professional life. She is a successful
fitness competitor and works as a personal trainer and group exercise instructor. Some of her certifications include SPINNING,
TurboKick, Weight Mgt. Consultant, Life Coach, Personal Trainer. She teaches Yoga, Pilates, bootcamp, and dance as well. She
has done workout videos and print work for RunnersWorld, Prevention, and Fitness Magazines. She is an instructor at the University of Rhode Island in the
Human Development and Family Studies Department. She currently is the president of her Parent/ Teacher Organization, a coach
for her twin's soccer team, and is very active in her community. Some of her past professional experience include working
as a teacher, therapist, lecturer, researcher, and real estate agent. She is consistently striving for balance and bliss and
has her priorities remains to be her family. Sheryl looks forward to doing personal training and group exercise at the Talent
Factory and being part of this great team!!! Energetic, UNDENIABLY MOTIVATED, and often hilarious - Sheryl Anne Atwood. sheryl@talentfactoryri.com
CONNIE MURPHY HIP HOP & CREW
Connie has been dancing and teaching for the past 8 years. She trained with Off the Curb,
a hip hop troupe in Newport for 3 years where she performed around the U.S in such places like Third Eye Hip Hop Festival
in Boston, SADD Conference in North Carolina, Americas Camp for kids who lost one or both parents in 9/11, Camp Dreamcatcher
in Pennyslvania for kids infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, Special Olympics in Harlem, among various other shows. Connie got
the chance to meet Omarion and Bow Wow and open for the Soulja Boy Concert right here in Providence. She has also taught many outreach programs and teaches hip hop at many locations in Rhode Island. Connie has trained with some of the best hip hop choreographers in
the business such as Shane Sparks, Dave Scott, Luam, Wade Robson, Laurie Ann Gibson, Chris Judd and Rhapsody. She is
currently a student at Rhode
Island College where she is majoring in Community Health.
MASTER CLASS TEACHERS
KERYN TOMMASIELLO BALLET, JAZZ, CONTEMPORARY
Keryn has been
dancing since the age of two, starting her studies at Dance
RI RI, under the direction of Debi Cusick D'Iorio. At the
age of seven, Keryn began competing at various competitions where she received Best Technical Execution, various
Platinum, Gold and Silver awards for her performances and was also the recipient of a NYC Jazz Scholarship
at Jump Convention in Boston. She has studied under some of the best
in the industry such as Suzi Taylor, Travis Wall, Mia Michaels and Dan Karaty, to name a few. She started
at the Talent Factory when it opened in 2004, where she focused solely one her favorite form of dance, contemporary. Since
then, Keryn has been competing with the Talent Factory and assisting/choreographing for the Junior Company. In addition,
Keryn recently traveled throughout Europe where she observed different forms of dance
and culture. She currently lives in New
York attending Syracuse University University majoring in Fashion Design. In her spare time, Keryn designs clothes
and jewelry and dances with a dance organization, "Danceworks".
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