Who's Who
Dancers
Ericka Richcrick grew up in York, PA on a little farm that her grandparents owned. She spent her days running through the cornfield, chasing the cats, and picking mint leaves to make tea. But, there was always something missing, and that something turned out to be dancing! At the age of tweleve, Ericka took her first dance lesson and hasn't stopped since! She has trained at places like Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Point Park College, the Washington School of Ballet Summer Intensive. She has danced professionally with Northern Ballet Theatre, Ballet Theatre of Maryland, and Jennie & Company. Ericka recently moved to the Big Apple and is happy to be in her first season witrh Ballet For Young Audiences.
Mykal D. Laury II is a New Jersey native. He received his formal training from Sharron Miller’s Academy for the Performing Arts, Gallman’s Newark Dance Theater, and furthered his pre-professional training as a fellowship student at the Ailey School. Upon graduation from the Professional Children’s School, at the age of 17, Laury joined Philadanco. He has worked with several choreographers including Hinton Battle, Ronald K. Brown, Carmen DeLavallade, Danny Ezralow, Rennie Harris, Christopher Huggins and Elisa Monte. He also performed in music videos with pop singer Beyonce and as a cast member in Aida (China touring cast 2008). Laury was a finalist in the NFAA ARTS and received a citation in dance from Jim Mcgreevey, governor of New Jersey.
Jaime Thompson is a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Growing up, she studied ballet, modern, tap, and jazz at the Pennsylvania Regional Ballet, formerly known as Cumberland Dance Company. Ms. Thompson studied at summer programs with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, The Rock School of The Pennsylvania Ballet, and Boston Ballet. After high school she spent two years studying at Point Park College in Pittsburgh. Ms. Thompson then finished her college education with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from The Boston Conservatory. She joined Laura Ward/ Octavia Cup Dance Theatre in 2004 and continues to perform with the company. She currently resides in Eastport, New York and teaches ballet, tap, and jazz at the East End Dance Studio. This is her first season with Ballet for Young Audiences.
Ashley Talluto is a native of Massachusetts. Growing up Ashley trained and performed with The Northeast Youth Ballet and later with The Boston Ballet School. She went on to receive her Bachelor in Fine Arts from The Boston Conservatory. There she was privileged to perform in works such as Jose Limon’s Misa Brevis, Mikhail Fokine’s Les Sylphides, as well as a premiere by Michal Uthoff called Galleria. She has also worked with Balletrox in The Urban Nutcracker and spent a summer as a dancer and intern at The Yard in Martha’s Vineyard. She is currently an AOP at The Streb Laboratory for Action Mechanics and is very excited to be performing her first season with Ballet For Young Audiences.
Karina Teran was born in Ecuador and she was trained at the “Instituto Nacional de Danza” in Guayaquil. After she got her Bachelor of Arts in Dance she joined “Danzas Jazz”Company where she performed some of the biggest musicals known from Broadway. She also danced professionally with“Ballet del Teatro Centro de Arte”in Guayaquil and later with “Ballet de Camara del Teatro Municipal” in Santiago, Chile. Karina moved to the U.S. where she toured with “Boston Flamenco Ballet”throughout the country. She also has danced for “South Florida Ballet Theater” and she was privileged to perform with “The Florida Grand Opera” for the inauguration of the“Carnival Center for the Performing Arts” as part of the cast in the Opera“Aida”. Her repertorie includes corps/ soloist roles in “Nutcracker”, “Giselle”, “La Bayadere”, “Sleeping Beauty” and others. Karina actually resides in New York where she has performed with “Staten Island Ballet”in Nutcracker. She also teaches at “Silva Dance Academy” in Long Island.
Michael A Blackmon is thrilled to be retuning for a second season with BYA. His other credits include: Miss Saigon (John) Grease(Teen Angel) Man of La Mancha w/ John Davidson (Pedro) Damn Yankees (St Louis Black Rep), Damn Yankees (Linville)w/ Stephanie Pope and Darius De Haas(Lucille Lortel Theatre, NY) , Home For the Holidays (Carnegie Hall, NY) Broadway Soul w/ BJ Crosby(New World Stages, NY) ,Boys From Syracuse (Sergeant), Full Monty (Horse) Westchester Broadway Theatre, NY Jesus Christ Superstar(Judas), Secret Garden (Fakir) Cest Fantastique(Guam USA), Eclectic Butterfly Dance Company (NY), As the World Turns, Kellog's Krispix Commercial (Australia and Guam), Michael La Rocca Show (Las Vegas, NV), Annie Get Your Gun, Camelot, Scarlet Pimpernel, George M, Rainbow Connnection (MGM Hotel, NV), Singin in the Rain (Trump Plaza, NJ and Hard Rock Hotel, FL) Carnival Cruise Lines, Scarlet Pimpernel, Camelot, Carnival, George M, On The Town, Annie Get Your Gun, Mame and many other revues and cabarets. Choreography credits include: Oklahoma, Miss Saigon, AIDA, Camelot, Amahl and the Night Visitor, Kismet, NAACP (MO), Carnival Cruise Lines. "Chicago, Swingtime Canteen. Currently Michael is an Assistant Professor at Wagner College.
