our faculty

Debbie Parou is the Artistic Director of New Castle Regional Ballet. She founded the New Castle Parou Ballet Company 37 years ago as a non-profit organization to promote high-quality ballet training and to present performances for the New Castle community. She has owned and operated the Menichino School for Dance for 50 years, along with the Parou Ballet School.

Her students have been accepted into prestigious summer intensives at the Boston Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, among others. Her dancers have also received scholarships to the Juilliard School in New York City, Butler University’s Jordan College of the Arts, Indiana University’s dance program in Bloomington, and to perform with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans.

Ms. Parou began her formal ballet training in New York and continued her studies with Maggie Carlson (Cleveland Ballet), Gilbert Reed (Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo), Van Curas (Chicago Ballet), The Pittsburgh Theatre, Enid Richardson (Ballet Detroit), and Mansur Kamaletdinov (Bolshoi Ballet).

In 1980, Ms. Parou was the sole recipient in the United States of the Cecchetti Council of America Ballet Scholarship for the continued study of ballet.

 Elissa trained with the New Castle Regional Ballet, where she was a company member for nine years and performed at five RDA festivals. She attended summer programs with the Allegheny Ballet Company and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB), where she also participated in the Teacher’s Workshop.

Elissa additionally attended the Craft of Choreography Conference held in Seattle.

While competing for the national title of Junior Miss in 2009, she earned America’s Junior Miss Talent Award for her Don Quixote wedding variation en pointe.

Elissa is a graduate of Grove City College, where she earned a B.S. in Exercise Science, and of Gordon College, where she received a Master’s Degree in Education.

She currently teaches ballet and pointe classes, choreographs ballets for company dancers, and conducts rehearsals.

Lori began her dance journey as a member of the Parou Ballet Company, where she performed until 1985. She has attended programs at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Regional Dance America Festivals, and Dance Masters Conventions to further her knowledge and expertise in dance education.

Lori now focuses her energy on teaching the Pre-School and Ballet I levels. She also serves as an Assistant Director for NCRB’s annual production of The Nutcracker and as the Secretary of the NCRB Board of Directors.

Alexandre Silva is originally from Brazil, where he received his dance training under the guidance of Cuban master teacher Pablo Moret, Ofelia Gonzales, and Brazilian instructor Christina Helena. Alexandre performed professionally with Sesi Minas in Cuba and later in the United States with Utah Regional Ballet.

He was the Silver Medalist in both 1997 and 1998, and the Gold Medalist in 2000 at the International Festival of Joinville, where he also received special recognition for earning the highest overall scores among all competitors.

Alexandre’s professional dance career spans 19 years, including 12 years as a soloist with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT). During his tenure, he performed leading roles in numerous classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Giselle, Le Corsaire, Coppélia, Don Quixote, Cinderella, Raymonda, The Sleeping Beauty, La Sylphide, and La Fille Mal Gardée, among others.

In addition to his classical repertoire, Alexandre has performed in many modern and contemporary works, including Sinfonietta by Jiří Kylián; In the Night and The Concert by Jerome Robbins; In the Upper Room by Twyla Tharp; and Sylvia, Allegro Brillante, and Western Symphony by George Balanchine, among others.

Megan Trambley trained with the Lake Erie Ballet School under the direction of Sharon Filone, and later at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. She danced with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre for six seasons, performing notable roles such as the Spring Fairy in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Elegy in George Balanchine’s Serenade, and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker.

Megan also enjoyed performing contemporary works, including The Rite of Spring and Kevin O’Day’s STING/ing Situations. In addition, she participated in choreographic and fundraising projects such as The Move and The Dancer’s Trust.

Ms. Trambley has served on the summer faculty of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s Summer Intensive Program. She currently teaches ballet and pointe at New Castle Regional Ballet (NCRB).

Kayla began her dance training at New Castle Regional Ballet, where she was a company member for six years. She performed at two RDA festivals and attended the Craft of Choreography Conference in Seattle, Washington.

Kayla earned a B.A. in Dance and Art Therapy from Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA, studying under Tauna Hunter and Robert Tavani, respectively. During her time at Mercyhurst, she performed with The Mercyhurst Dancers as well as the Liturgical Dance Ensemble led by C. Noelle Partusch.

She currently works as a Protective Service Representative at APSI, advocating for adults with developmental disabilities.

Jessica began dancing at the Parou Ballet Company at the age of three and continued through her high school graduation. She also participated in the company’s first Nutcracker production.

Jessica holds a BSN, an MSN as a pediatric nurse practitioner, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. She is currently an Associate Professor at Duquesne School of Nursing.

In addition, Jessica serves on the Board of Directors for NCRB and teaches tap at the school.

Miss Alyssa Trocci studied ballet at New Castle Regional Ballet for 15 years. During that time, she was a company member and performed at three RDA festivals.

After graduating from the program in 2013, she attended Slippery Rock University, where she earned a B.S. in Education. She now works as a teacher at Union Area School District.

Miss Trocci enjoys being back at the studio, where she assists, conducts rehearsals, and teaches the Creative Movement class.