most notable roles include Lisa in La Fille Mal Gardee, Wendy in Peter Pan, Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Dryad Queen and Flower Girl in Don Quixote, Gulnara and Third Odalisque in Le Corsaire, the Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle, Fairy Doll Pas de Trois, The Dying Poet Pas de Deux in Great Galloping Gottschalk and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker.
Generously sponsored by Katherine and Michael Whitcomb Domenico Luciano Domenico Luciano was born in Naples, Italy and graduated from Royal Teatro di San Carlo Ballet School in Naples in 1999. In the same year, Mr. Luciano was invited to join the Deutsche Open am Rhein in Dusseldorf, Germany. After dancing with several companies in Europe including Europadance in France, Maggio Danza in Florence, Teatro Dell’Opera in Rome and Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, in 2004 Mr. Luciano joined Tulsa Ballet as a Demi-Soloist. In 2005, he joined Dominic Walsh Dance Theater in Houston as Principal Dancer. His repertoire includes many of the classical principal leads such as Romeo, Paris, and Benvolio in both Sir Kenneth MacMillan and John Cranko’s Romeo & Juliet; Romeo and Paris in Amedeo Amodio’s Romeo & Juliet with Eleonora Abbagnato, Etoile with Paris Opera Ballet; Solor in La Bayadere, The Prince in The Nutcracker, and Albrecht in Giselle, all by Derek Dean; In the Night by Jerome Robbins; Onegin in John Cranko’s Onegin; Roland Petit’s Ma Pavlova with international ballerina Lucia Lacarra; and Don Jose with the National Ballet of China in Carmen. Mr. Luciano also excels in his contemporary repertoire, which includes George Balanchine’s La Valse; Nacho Duato’s Jardi Tancat and Without Words; and Orfeo in Carole Armitage’s Orfeo and Eurydice. With Dominic Walsh Dance Theater he performed Matz Ek’s Pas de Dans, Jirí Kylián’s Double You and 27’52’’, and the role of the White Swan in the White Swan pas de deux from Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Le Spectre de la Rose, Desire in Sleeping Beauty, Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet, The Firebird with Paris Opera Ballet Étoile Marie-Agnès Gillot. As an international Principal Guest Artist, Mr. Luciano danced in production with Tulsa Ballet, Ballet Quad Cities, The Sarasota Ballet of Florida, Atlanta Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, National Ballet of China and The New National Theater in Tokyo. Mr. Luciano is also invited to various national and International Galas and Dance Festivals. In 2003, he received the Leonide Massine award in Positano, Italy as Best Male Dancer of the Year. In October 2008, the Houston Press named Luciano as “Best Dancer.” He was also named in Pointe Magazine “Standouts: Our 12 favorite performances of 2009” and in 2010 he received the “Young Talent Award” in Florence, Italy at DANZAINFIERA. This is his first season with Colorado Ballet.
Generously sponsored by Lawrence French and Gregory Sargowicki
Jesse Marks Jesse Marks is from Bloomington, Indiana. An aspiring cellist from the age of 6, he studied at the IU School of Music and was the awarded the first chair of the Paris Youth Symphony in 1996. Mr. Marks also began his dancing at Indiana University under the tutelage of Violette Verdy. In 2000 he was awarded a full scholarship at San Francisco Ballet School where he studied primarily with Jorge Esquivel. Mr. Marks joined Colorado Ballet in 2002, and was promoted to Soloist in 2008. During his time with the Company he has performed works by George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Christopher Wheeldon and Lar Lubovich, among others. He has also had the privilege of working with and performing world premieres by many choreographers including Dwight Rhoden, Edwaard Liang, Rennie Harris, Amy Seiwert and Jessica Lang. His notable roles include ‘The Chosen One’ in The Right of Spring, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, the Jester in Cinderella, the Nutcracker Prince in The Nutcracker, Lankendem in Le Corsaire, Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, and Blue Boy in Yes, Virginia, Another Piano Ballet. In 2009, Mr. Marks took leave from Colorado Ballet and moved to New York City. While there, he was given the opportunity to join the Metropolitan Opera and dance the principal role of Rinaldo in its production of Armida. During his year away, he also danced with Ballet X and made guest appearances with Delta Festival Ballet, Neglia Ballet and Lydia Johnson Dance. For the past three seasons Marks has also had the opportunity to join Dances Patrelle during its spring season in New York.
Generously sponsored by Janis and Jim Brewster Asuka Sasaki Asuka Sasaki was born in Nagano, Japan where she started training with Emiko Kojima at the Emiko Kojima Ballet School. She also received training from Yoshimi Yo, before training at the Beijing Dance Academy in China. After two years of training in China, Sasaki joined Canada’s prestigious Royal Winnipeg Ballet as an Apprentice. In 2004, she became an Apprentice with Colorado Ballet, and formally joined the Company in 2005. With Colorado Ballet, she has worked with accomplished choreographers such as Eldar Aliev, Michael Pink, Martin Fredmann, Lila York, Shelly Washington, Jessica Lang, Dwight Rhoden, Edwaard Liang and Amy Seiwert. Sasaki has danced many soloist roles with the Company. Her notable roles include, Clara and Dew Drop in The Nutcracker, Mercedes and Flower Girl in Don Quixote, Gulnara in Le Corsaire, Pas de Trois in Swan Lake, Peasant Pas de Deux and Molina in Giselle, Fleur de
Colorado Ballet • Giselle 7