DANA D’IORIO ADAMES
Artistic 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. 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. She has trained with some of the best in the business such as Henry LeTang,
Thommie Walsh, Ronnie DeVito, Gil Stroming, Dan Karaty, 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 conventions and competitions
all over the east coast. The Talent Factory Dance and Theatre Company has won numerous titles and prestigious awards for their
impeccable technique, choreography, and sportsmanship. Dana is also the Producer for the Miss Rhode Island America pageant
where she uses her company dancers as pageant performers. Dana takes pride in offering creative classes as she develops her
students to reach their optimal potential and continues to be a role model and inspiration to all her students!
Dana and her husband recently welcomed a baby girl on February 4, 2010, Sofia Lee Adames...a dancer in the making! dana@talentfactoryri.com
TARA TOMMASIELLO
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
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
SHERYL ANNE ATWOOD
Studio Manager/Fitness Director
Sheryl lives in Jamestown with her family. She is the proud mother Talent Factory
Company member’s Travis and Tyler Atwood. Sheryl has an eclectic background that includes dancing for 8 years herself.
Sheryl is immersed in fitness and dance in her professional as well as personal life. She is a successful Fitness competitor
and has won several titles. She is a Life Coach, Figure Athlete coach, Personal Trainer, Group Exercise Instructor, Weight
Loss Management Consultant, Holistic Counselor and Fitness Model. She has shot workout videos and print work for RunnersWorld,
Prevention, and Fitness Magazines and books. Her past professional experiences include working as a teacher, professor, therapist,
lecturer, researcher, manager, and real estate agent.
Sheryl enjoys training the dancers as well as adults at the
Talent Factory Studios. She also loves working one on one with individual clients in personal training. Her Bootcamps are
VERY successful at helping members meet their personal goals. Sheryl gets so much satisfaction and joy from helping others.
She is completely devoted to the success of the Talent Factory. She is willing to go above and beyond to help any of
the performers and their families meet their goals. Sheryl strives for excellence in everything she does! Her most important
job is insuring the health, success, and happiness of her boys. sheryl@talentfactoryri.com
MICHAEL WILSON
Michael is well known throughout Rhode Island for his fast paced, exciting ballet classes and
workshops. Raises in rural Wyoming, Michael studied in New York City as a scholarship student with The Joffrey Ballet
School, where he trained under David Howard, Melissa Hayden and Diana Cartier. Later he danced with The Metropolitan
Opera Ballet Company, Festival Ballet Theater, Ballet Caracas, Cleveland Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Louisville Ballet, New
England Dinosaur and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Michael's performance credits include works by Paul Taylor, Ben Stevenson,
George Balanchine, Jiri Killian, Lisa De Ribere, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Eugene Loring, Michael Christensen, Chu San Goh, Marius
Patina, Agnes de Mille, Bruce Wells, Augustus Bournonville, Michael Fokine, Alvin Ailey, Andre Prokovsky and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. Michael's
choreography has received top awards at competitions throughout the New England area and he a popular adjudicator at dance
competitions. michael@talentfactoryri.com
KERYN TOMMASIELLO
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". keryn@talentfactoryri.com
CONNIE MURPHY
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. connie@talentfactoryri.com
RIKKI BICKNELL
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!
rikki@talentfactoryri.com
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