About Defying Gravity

We Are Defying Gravity

Meet Our Faculty

Nicole Bibby

Nicole Bibby

Director | Choreographer | Instructor

Nicole is a well known dancer and choreographer residing in Warwick, Rhode Island. Nicole has extensive knowledge in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, and lyrical dance. Her training includes Kelly Cannone, Gerianne Genga, Dante Sciarra, Myles Marsden, and Michael Taylor. Throughout her career, she has performed across the country in various shows and competitions. Some dance titles won include Starquest, American Dance Awards, Dance Alliance, and Tremaine dancer of the year. Over the years she has performed for the Helping Hands Foundation, Dancers Responding to Aids, Miss Rhode Island Pageant, and United We Dance in association with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre. She was a choreographer/teacher for All Star Dance Academy (Portsmouth, RI), Extensions School of Dance (Bristol, RI), Jean Deluca Dance Studio (Johnston, RI), Paula Coffee Dance Center (MA), Falmouth Dance Academy (Falmouth, MA), and Greta Lemming Dance Studio (Ottowa, CA) More recently, she has graduated from Salve Regina University receiving her bachelors degree in marketing in May 2007. While at Salve she earned the position as senior captain of the dance team.

Jamie Giusti

Jamie Giusti

Instructor | Office Manager

Jamie has been dancing for over 25 years and has been teaching for 10 years. She grew up studying various styles of dance including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical and Acro. She spent many years competing at various regional and national competitions. After graduating Cranston High School West she continued dancing for the UFL team, Hartford Colonials. In 2016 Jamie graduated from Johnson & Wales University receiving her Bachelors degree in Business Management. She enjoys sharing her passion and love for dance while creating a positive and fun environment for her students. Outside of dance, Jamie is the proud mom to Jaxon (3) and Vaeda (1).

Karen Pare

Karen Pare

Acrobatics

Karen has been rooted in ballet and gymnastics since childhood. She trained under esteemed gymnastics coaches Ron Meyers, Tim Lyons, and Jay Villegas, earning the title of All-Around Class 2 State Champion Gymnast in 1981. Her dance and coaching education includes training with renowned instructors such as Gerrianne Genga, Kelly Cannone, Joe Tremaine, Rita Beaulieu, Marylou Genga (tap), and Tony Cappola. Karen began her teaching journey at just 15 years old, working at a summer camp where she discovered her passion for instructing young dancers. She is committed to teaching through positive reinforcement and focuses on building a strong technical foundation that allows her students to grow with confidence and resilience.

Lauren Difede

Lauren Difede

Ballet | Contemporary

Lauren was born in St. Croix of the U.S. Virgin Islands, but has primarily grown up in Houston, TX. She began dancing at 8 years old at North Harris Performing Arts in Spring, TX and is grateful for her versatile training in ballet, contemporary, jazz, and tap. Lauren graduated from the dance department at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Houston and then received her Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Psychology, with a minor in Philosophy, from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Lauren has danced for Revolve Dance Company (Houston, TX), Dominic Walsh Dance Theater (Houston, TX), Infinite Movement Ever Evolving (Houston, TX), Spindle City Ballet (Fall River, MA), Untitled Collective (NYC), and is currently a dancer with the Island Moving Company in Newport, RI. Lauren has also had the privilege to work and train with notable choreographers from all over the world including Paul Lightfoot, Sol Leon, Marco Goecke, Natalia Horenca, Maurice Causey, Priscilla Nathan Murphy, and Fred Strobel. Lauren has been teaching for 14yrs and currently provides instruction in Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, and Tap in ages 3-adult.

Jodi-Lyn Papa

Jodi-Lyn Papa

Lyrical | Jazz

Jodi-Lyn, born in Rhode Island is a former competitive dancer and studio owner of many years. She specializes in lyrical and jazz styles. She is also a creative costume designer (J-Lyn Exclusives™) and mom to son Jordan.

Flavia Gusmao

Flavia Gusmao

Contemporary | Toning

Flavia moved to Rhode Island with her family in 2021. She grew up in Florida training in a studio which focused on classical ballet, Jazz and contemporary in preparation for professional programs. She started competing at age 9 and spent her summers attending the Orlando Ballet Summer Intensive from ages 10-17. Flavia joined the Orlando Ballet as a trainee for 1 year but ultimately had to exit the program due to injury. Flavia received her PhD in Speech Language Pathology from NOVA Southeastern University and a Bachelors in Dance from the University of Central Florida. During her studies at UCF she taught classes at surrounding studios in the Orlando and South Florida area. She continues to guest choreograph for studios and past students in Florida and student in RI. Flavia enjoys working with the DG dancers and sharing her love of the arts, teamwork, and building confidence.

Kelly Cannone

Kelly Cannone

Ballet | Jazz

Kelly Cannone has been an arts educator for more than 25 years. Throughout the last two decades she served on The Arts Advocate of RI, Dance Teachers Club of Connecticut, Dance Masters of America, The Arts Advocate of Rhode Island, and was a Board Member of the Warwick Consortium of the Arts & Humanities. In 1981 she founded Dance Artistry, Inc. in Warwick, RI and became owner of the studio Dancer Magazine called “One of the four most successful studios in America.” She started her own dance company the Dance Artistry Dancers, a non-profit organization, for ages seven to twenty, who perform all across the United States. They have also performed internationally in a cultural exchange program visiting Copenhagen, Denmark, and Minsk and Moscow, Russia. In order to expand her teaching opportunities to the martial arts, she earned her black belt in American Kenpo Karate. She used her martial arts experience to organize self-defense workshops for high school students. Outside the realm of teaching, Kelly has numerous career highlights, these include choreographing numerous corporate events, commercials, and music videos including the Miss R.I pageant, Koch Eye Associates Promotional Video, Market America’s Regional Convention and many more. Kelly has appeared in several televisions commercials and theater productions. She has been on staff with Dance Olympus and Candance conventions. Kelly was a special awards judge and guest faculty member at various performing arts competitions. She presents special awards recognizing unique talents in young performers and motivating them to continue achieving their goals. She was the jazz adjudicator for prestigious World Tap and Jazz Dance Championships to select a team to represent the US. Additionally, she established early education arts curriculums in more than fifteen preschools in Rhode Island. Kelly instructed elementary students at local public schools and also established programs for private institutions. She gained special needs experience when she coordinated “Dancing Feat” in conjunction with the Warwick Chamber of Commerce at the Trudeau Center, to teach disabled individuals physical mobility and endurance. She has volunteered her time and expertise to many events in the Warwick Public School system such as “Peace Day,” and “National Dance Week.” She has supported local private schools at “Women in Sports Day,” and “Cultural Awareness Day.” To give back to her community she founded “Shades of Grey”, an educational program, where her students performed a dance piece for the Warwick School department warning students about the danger of drug and alcohol abuse. Other charitable contributions include providing choreography and fundraising for Dancers Responding to AIDS, and participating in the Avon Breast Cancer Walk. Kelly and her students fundraised for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, RI Station Fire Fund, March of Dimes, Unicef, RI Paralyzed Veterans Association, Smithfield Lyons Club, and D.A.R.E. Now on the board of directors for “ The Weber Foundation of Helping Hands” Kelly presents a charity dance show “Better than Broadway” each year where New England studios share there talent to raise money for families and children in dire need. Kelly’s latest venture is writing motivational articles for children. Her work has been published in Dancer Magazine,The Gold Rush and Cheerleading Dance and Drill Magazine. Kelly has been traveling around the country teaching dancers and dance teachers how to set goals in her Aspiring Dreamz Workshop. This past year Kelly has published a Book on Amazon titled “Choreograph your Dreamz, Goal Setting For Dancers” Coming soon “Choreograph Your Dreamz” the Pocketbook series.

Hannah Teixeira

Hannah Teixeira

Acrobatics | Jazz

Hannah grew up dancing at Defying Gravity. She competed for over nine years where she won many high scores and special awards. Hannah attends the Community College of Rhode Island where she studies business marketing.

Alix Beamon

Alix Beamon

Choreographer

Alix began dancing at the age of three and performed as a competitive dancer until the age of nineteen. She received her fundamental training at Dance Artistry, Festival Ballet, and Warwick Dance & Gymnastics Academy. With respect to specialized training, Alix auditioned for and was accepted into New York City Dance Alliance Summer intensives, Broadway Dance Center intensives, Michele Assaf's Summer intensive in Tropea, Italy and Debbie Allen’s School of Dance in Los Angeles. Throughout Alix's competitive career, she received numerous regional and national titles and highest overall scores including: Miss StarQuest, Miss West Coast Dance Explosion, Miss New York City Dance, Miss Hollywood Vibe, and Miss Starbound. In her junior year of high school, Alix was crowned the national title winner at Hollywood Vibe Dance Nationals in Orlando, Florida. After graduating high school, Alix attended Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles, as a dance major. After spending a year in LA, she then moved to New York City and was accepted into a professional internship program at Broadway Dance Center where she trained under Sheila Barker for five months and was featured in Dance Teacher Magazine. Alix then auditioned for and was selected to represent MSA Talent Agency after completing her five month internship. Currently, Alix is a prosecutor and enjoys spending time with her husband, son, and two pugs.

Brianna Raymond

Brianna Raymond

Hip Hop

Brianna is a versatile dancer and choreographer from Rhode Island. She has been dancing competitively since the age of 9. Brianna is trained in both classical and street styles. She attended high school at the Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the performing arts located in Pawtucket, RI. Brianna also trained in a preprofessional program in Louisiana for a year. Brianna was nominated for the Monsters of hip-hop 2022 and 2023 show. Brianna was also a Headliner for World of Dance Boston 2022. Brianna is currently training and taking on Teaching jobs at multiple studios in the RI area.

Patty Brearley Image

Patty Brearley

Tap

Patty Brearley has over 30 years of experience as a dance educator. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Performance, an Associates in Physical Therapy, and is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer. She has also recently received her PBT certification. This education and experience has given her a unique eye for proper placement, form, and technique that provides a safe and progressive classroom while promoting injury prevention in the young dancer. Patty grew up a competitive dancer, and holds several titles. As an educator she has been a past member of DTCB as well as, Dance Master’s of America. She has spent numerous years traveling the United States and Canada as an adjudicator, choreographer, and teacher. Her experience has included such disciplines as Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Modern (Horton), tumbling, and musical theater. As a professional dancer, Patty has performed with Trinity Rep in Providence in their production of “West Side Story” as Francesca and has been a featured singer for several weddings in the Rhode Island area. Although Patty enjoys performing live in the theater, her calling has always been in the classroom. Her contagious energy, love for the art form, and sincere approach to each and every student has made her one of the most sought after teachers in the New England Area.

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Massiel Valderrama

Ballet

Massiel Valderrama was born in the state of Lara, Venezuela, graduated in 2016 from the “María Teresa Alford School”. Ms Valderrama joined the “Teresa Carreño” theater company in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2017. In 2018, Valderrama moved to Lima, Peru to begin her contract with the company “Ballet Municipal de Lima” where she spent four years of her career. In 2021, she moves to Miami, where she begins to be part of the company “Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami”. She is currently working with the BalletRI company and Throughout her career, Valderrama has interpreted different roles as corps de ballet and soloist Some are: Snow Queen and Arabian Dance of The Nutcracker, Lilac Fairy of The Sleeping Beauty, Spanish Dance, Big Swans and Waltz soloist of the Swan Lake, Pas de trois of the Le Bayadere, Juanita and Alicia by the choreographer Septime Webre, Lecuona and Adiemus by the choreographer Yanis Pikieris, Light Rain by the choreographer Gerald Arpino, among others. Miss Valderrama has 7 years of teaching experience, and has been a teacher in different studios and schools, some of these are; Lucy Telge Studio-Peru, María Verdeja School of Arts-Miami, Prodigy Dance Studio- Miami and School of BalletRI.

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Grace Bressner

Acrobatics | Conditioning

Grace Bressner is a Rhode Island raised dance instructor with a specialty in Acrobatics, Jumps, and Tricks. A former competitive dancer, Grace has trained extensively in classical styles and has explored a wide variety of dance genres throughout her career. During the pandemic, she took her passion online, building a TikTok following of over 1.1 million by creating original choreography and reimagining trending dances for a global audience. Today, Grace brings that same creativity and energy to the classroom, focusing on jump techniques and acrobatic training for her students at DGRI.

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