Guest Artists
Photo by Katie Ging Photography
Rebecca Lerch, Demi-Character Dancer
Rebecca grew up in Radford, Virginia, where she graduated with a degree in Dance from Radford University. From 2008-2011, she performed various demi-character roles with Connecticut Ballet under the direction of Brett Raphael. Rebecca joined Ithaca Ballet as an Auxiliary company dancer for the 2011-12 season, has served on the Ithaca Ballet Board of Directors since 2013, and returned to the stage as a demi-character dancer in 2016. Roles with Ithaca Ballet include Swan and Candidate Bride (Swan Lake), Stepmother (Cinderella), Actor/Reveler (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Clara's Mother (Nutcracker). Rebecca has a Masters of Education from the University of South Carolina.
Lavinia Reid, Guest Choreographer
Rainbow Dance Arts Co., Saga Ambegaokar and Dancers and others. Studied at the Boston School of Ballet with Tatiana Baboushkina, Boston Conservatory, American Ballet Center, Ballet Guild of Ithaca, and Village School. Choreographer and costumer designer for companies in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Texas, and the District of Columbia. Awarded scholarship to National Craft of Choreography Conference, and a residency at the Carlisle Project, funded by the Ford Foundation. Former faculty member, Ballet Center of Ithaca and the Seneca School of Ballet (Dundee, NY). Summer guest faculty, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Director of the Chambersburg Youth Ballet in Pennsylvania and teaches ballet at Wilson College in Shippensburg.
Laurence Gonzalez
Laurence Gonzales, Guest Cavalier (Ithaca performance)
Mr. Gonzalez trained at the National Ballet School of Cuba. He has danced with Ballet Laura Alonso (2011-2014), San Diego Ballet (2014-2016), California Ballet (2016-2020), Golden State Ballet (2020-2022) and currently Sweetbird Productions with Rock the Ballet. He has had Principal and leading roles in Carmen, Maria de Buenos Aires, Don Quixote, Nutcracker, Fluctuating Hemlines, Great Gatsby, and Rock the Ballet and had many guest artist appearances. Mr. Gonzalez has also had extensive choreography work and teaching including Sweetbird Productions, North Count Academy of Ballet Temecula, CA, Li’s Ballet Studio Los Angeles, Inspired Movement of Dance Ballet Conservatory (Assistant Director 2018-2022), and The Ballet Company, San Diego. He is co-founder of Pas de Deux Workshop and Coaching.
Jesse Campbell
Jesse Campbell, guest Cavalier (Geneva), Prince in Giselle
Jesse is from Santa Fe, NM and received his dance training from the University of Arizona and The Joffrey Ballet School. He has danced with The Metropolitan Opera Ballet since 2018. Prior to joining The Met, he primarily danced with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet at The Kennedy Center and was a company member with the Oakland Ballet, Orlando Ballet, and others. He has regularly appeared as a guest artist in New Zealand and was part of Alessandra Ferri’s original work “The Piano Upstairs” in Spoleto, Italy.
Outside of ballet, Jesse has received multiple college degrees and has worked in technical project management and in data science for projects in environmental sustainability. He is excited to be in Geneva again to dance with Maria and the dancers of Ithaca Ballet. Many thanks to Cindy, Lavinia, Lauren, Mark, Maria, and Esteban for making this possible.
Brian Hall
Wayne Van Camp
Brian Hall, Demi-character Dancer
Brian Hall is a novelist who occasionally teaches creative writing at Colgate University. He is a former Ithaca Ballet parent and has played several character roles for IB in the past, including the Nutcracker Grandfather.