About Gianni Di Marco
Choreographer
Gianni Di Marco joined the Conservatory in 2006 as an instructor in partnering and advanced ballet technique, and is a professor of dance. He also teaches somatic and advanced partnering repertoire. In 2016, he started Step by Step!, a dance program for children with autism.
Di Marco began his dance career with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, where he was promoted to first soloist. He has also performed with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, Opera Leipzig Ballet, Boston Ballet, Festival Ballet Providence, and Tony Williams Dance Company. His roles include Romeo and Mercutio in Rudi van Dantzig’s Romeo and Juliet and pas des deux in Petipa’s Don Quixote, as well as works by Balanchine, Nacho Duato, J. Kylián, Hans van Manen, Cranko, Danny Pelzig, and others.
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Di Marco has choreographed more than 50 original works, including Muñecas (2009), On the Brink (2007), and In the Window (2012) for Boston Conservatory, La Rondine (2003) for the Boston Lyric Opera, and Orpheus (2012) for Boston Baroque. He has created works for Boston Ballet, including The Nutcracker (1996), Dance on the Top Floor (1998), Raw Dance(2002-2005), and various gala balls (1999-2016), as well as multiple works for Festival Ballet, including Lady of the Camellias(2016), Scheherazade (2005), and El Amor Brujo (2009).
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Di Marco has been teaching ballet and movement to children and adults since 2000. In addition to Boston Conservatory, he has taught at Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education, Harvard University, University of South Carolina, and Walnut Hill School for the Arts. He was the principal of Citydance, a Boston Public Schools outreach program. In 2002, he founded Adaptive Dance with Michelina Cassella, a program for children with Down syndrome and autism, at Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education.
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Di Marco is a graduate of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. He has studied with the National Ballet of Cuba and the National Ballet of Canada. He has completed Cecchetti certification (intermediate level), certification for Gyrotonic® and Gyrokinesis®, and certification for Burdenko water therapy.
About ruth whitney
ballet dancer
Ruth Whitney is a Boston based dancer who received her early training and performance experience with the Boston Ballet, studying under Tatiana Nikolaevna Legat and Laura Young. She has performed regionally and internationally with companies including Boston Ballet, Teatrul De Balet Sibiu, and most recently as a principal dancer with Festival Ballet Providence. Her classical repertoire includes Odette/Odile, Aurora, Juliet, Sugarplum Fairy, Marguerite, Firebird and Titania as well as Balanchine’s neo-classical Agon and Apollo. Ms. Whitney has worked with many wonderful choreographers including Gianni Di Marco, Viktor Plotnikov, Pavel Rotaru, Marcus Schulkind, Dominic Walsh, Lorraine Chapman, Kevin Jenkins, and Andrew Kelley. She holds a BA in English and Dance from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Ms. Whitney has taught classes throughout New England including at Jeannette Neills Dance Company, Boston Ballet, and South Shore Ballet Theatre.
About Amane Takaishi
Ballet Dancer
Amane Takaishi, a native of Japan, began her early training with Mitsuyo Kishibe in Tokyo. At the age of 13, she moved to England and studied ballet with Desmond Kelly, OBE at Elmhurst School of Dance in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet, followed by Central School of Ballet, under the direction of Sara Matthews. Amane extended her training through summer intensives at Royal Ballet School and English National Ballet School. In 2013, she received ​a ​bachelor’s degree with honors in Dance and Performing Arts from Kent University, UK. Her professional career began in the United ​States​ with ​the ​Eugene Ballet Company, Ballet Tucson, and A&A Ballet in Chicago. In 2019 ​she began dancing​ with ​the ​City Ballet of Boston, directed by Tony Williams. Her featured roles include ​the ​Snow Queen and Rox Riff in the ​Urban Nutcracker. ​ She is thrilled to be involved ​with ​the project ​Discombobulated ​by Gino in collaboration with Framingham State University’s Fashion promotion class.
About Joe GonZález
Ballet Dancer
Born and raised in Boston Massachusetts, Joe González started dancing at the age of 13 at the Roxbury Center Performing for the Arts and is a highschool graduate from Boston Arts Academy as a dance major. Joe has participated in programs such as; Boston Conservatory's summer intensive, American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival and SpringBroad Danse Montreal in 2010 and 2011.
González received his Bachelor's in fine Arts from The Boston Conservatory in 2011 and has premeired many works in their choreography showcases and commissioned 2 works at Bryn Mawr College in 2018 and 2020. Joe currtenly tours nationally and internationally as a performing artist with Philadanco! (The Philadelphia Dance Company) and Jo-Mé Dance Arts Inc. as choreographer/ Co-founder and Exectuive Artistic Director. He has also toured and performed as a former member with Anna Myer and Dancers and Prometheus Dance. González has also danced with #DBdanceProject, Putty Dance Project, Dance IQUAIL, and Waheed Works and continues his work as a performing artist, choreographer, Artistic Director of Philadanco's 3rd Company (D/3) and as a dance professor at Temple University and dance educator at the Boston Arts Academy.
About Avery Saulnier de reyes
Ballet dancer
Avery Saulnier de Reyes is a freelance dancer, recently performing with SundanceX, Janelle Gilchrist Dance Troupe, City Ballet of Boston, Dance Currents, Columbia Pictures and ArtsEmerson. She recently produced her first live program with the Choreographers Collaborative, and is now working on future projects that creatively address dancing in a time of pandemic. Avery received her classical training at Boston Ballet, American Ballet Theater and Lexington School of Ballet. She is immensely grateful for the love and support of family, friends, directors and colleagues, and is happy to be working with Gianni Di Marco and all of the incredible artists involved in this project!
About Betsy Boxberger Khalil
Ballet Dancer
Betsy Boxberger Khalil trained under Victoria Lyras at the Indianapolis School of Ballet. She graduated from Duke University with a double Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Environmental Policy. Betsy is currently a company member with City Ballet of Boston. She has also performed with José Mateo Ballet Theatre, Janelle Gilchrist Dance Troupe, Fukudance, and Ballet Quad Cities, and as a guest artist with Dance Kaleidoscope and the Indianapolis School of Ballet. Featured roles include the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Urban Nutcracker, the Pink Girl in Gerald Arpino’s Birthday Variations, Second Violin in Concerto Barocco, the lead girl in Valse Fantasie, and George Balanchine’s Sugar Plum in The Nutcracker. In 2015, she was awarded the Robert D. Beckmann, Jr. Emerging Artist Fellowship by the Arts Council of Indianapolis. Betsy is excited to be working with Gianni Di Marco on Discombobulated.
About Dr. RuiRui Zhang
project manager
I am Dr. Ruirui Zhang, the instructor of this FASH452 fashion promotion class. I believe the revival and reorientation of arts and humanities, especially under this very challenging epidemic/post epidemic era. It is now an excellent time for us to fully embrace and praise the beauty, fluidity, potentiality, and fragility of human nature, and dance is one of the greatest outlets to manifest that.
This collaboration creates an excellent opportunity for my FASH452 students to work closely with each other and the artists. The students witness their contribution to the project in a real-time manner. They can cognitively and affectively understand the essence of being a community member by working seamlessly together this semester.
I wholeheartedly respect artists, such as Gianni DiMarco and Ruth Whitney, who continuously bravely explore something unknown and embrace and deal with the uncertainty courageously. Thank you, Gianni and Ruth, for this great collaboration opportunity.
About the students
promotional team
John Frasca
Team Lead
Hi there, my name is John Frasca and I am a senior fashion merchandising student at Framingham State University. I am currently working for a fashion magazine as a writer but I am interested in styling, editorial photography, and developing brand identity for fashion companies. For Discombobulated I am the team manager in addition to working on the visual/graphic design and fundraising teams. I'm really excited to see this project come to life over the next few months and hope some of you are along for the ride with us.
Zuzu luetje​
Fundraising team
Zuzu Luetje is a Junior at Framingham State University majoring in Fashion Merchandising and minoring in information systems. As a part of Discombobulated Zuzu is in charge of fundraising with John Frasca as well as a member of the merchandising team.
Katelyne Murphy
social media manager
on/offline promotion & merchandising teams
My name is Katelyne Murphy I am working as the social media manager. I am also part of the merchandising group and the on/offline social promotion team. As the social media manager, I post on our social media accounts to promote Discombobulated and work closely with the visual merchandising team to get promotional ideas to post. We have social media accounts on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. As a part of the merchandising team, I help to plan and develop strategies to sell merchandise related to the show. Lastly, as a part of the on/offline social promotion team, I help to think of ideas related to promoting the ballet in order to increase the awareness.
Jennifer Rodriguez
Visual merchandising team lead
on/offline promotion & merchandising teams
My name is Jennifer Rodriguez and I am a student at Framingham State University pursuing a degree in Fashion Merchandising & a minor in Marketing. I am beyond excited to take part in the upcoming virtual performance of “Discombobulated “. My role in this production includes working with the merchandising team in creating memorable pieces of merch for the show, working with the on & offline promotion team in coordinating virtual events & lastly, I am also the team lead of the visual merchandising team. We aspire to create a memorable event in times of uncertainty. Our lives have changed & we overall desire to spread positivity and hope to all different types of creators. I am so excited to be working with such an amazing team & I hope you all enjoy the show!! #ImDiscombobulated
Kianna Gainey
visual merchandising &
on/offline promotion teams
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Hi, my name is Kianna Gainey, Im currently a senior at Framingham State University. My major is Fashion Design with a concentration in merchandising. My role in the project is Visual merchandising and on/offline social promotion events.
I’m Katelyn DiMaggio, I’m a junior at Framingham State University studying fashion merchandising. My fashion promotion class has the amazing opportunity to work closely with Gianni Di Marco to promote his original choreographed dance “Discombobulated”. I will be working between two teams, where my roles will be creating merchandise to sell with proceeds towards the dance, as well as visual merchandise designing. I’m so excited to grow in the fashion merchandising field, and this is a great opportunity and challenge to take on.
Kate DiMaggio
visual merchandising & merchandising teams
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Angeles ramos
visual merchandising & merchandising teams
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My name is Angeles C. Ramos. I am a senior working my fashion merchandising major with a minor in entrepreneurship at Framingham State University. For this project I'm working with the merchandising team and the visual merchandising team.
hannah prescott
merchandising team lead
& on/offline promotion team
Hello! My name is Hannah Prescott & am currently a senior at Framingham State University: Majoring in Fashion Merchandising & minoring in Museum Studies. I’m so excited to be the team leader for the merchandising team & to be on the on/offline social promotion team for this project. The merchandising team in short will be working with the visual merchandising team to create a product line for the show. Including items like; shirts, water bottles, masks & tote bags. The on/offline social promotion team on the other hand will focus more on promoting the show and making sure people know about it. Growing up dancing & loving ballet makes this opportunity that much more amazing. I’m looking forwarded to seeing all of this come together & the experience it will give me.
raven grinstein
team blogger & visual/digital design team
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My name is Raven Grinstein and I am a senior in Framingham State's Fashion Design & Retailing program with a concentration in Merchandising. I am both appreciative and excited to be a part of this unique project. As the team blogger, I'm responsible for creating and updating this website, as well as coordinating promotional efforts with various media outlets. Additionally, I collaborated on the show's visual design and direction, most notably the 'Discombobulated' logo. This project has given us all great real-world experience with promotions and merchandising. Plus, we had the opportunity to work with Mr. Di Marco to help bring light and beauty into the world amidst all of the chaos.