April 8-10, 2022
Ohio Theatre
Run Time: Approx. 2 hrs
Choreography: Edwaard Liang
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Race against the clock in Edwaard Liang’s enchanting production of Cinderella. Set to Prokofiev’s jubilant and lush score, this classic fairytale will captivate all ages.
Edwaard Liang
A former dancer with New York City Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater, Edwaard Liang has built an international reputation as a choreographer. Over the last decade, he has created work for the Bolshoi Ballet, Houston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Kirov Ballet, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Shanghai Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre and Washington Ballet.
Born in Taipei, Taiwan and raised in Marin County, California, Mr. Liang began his dance training at age five with Marin Ballet. After studying at the School of American Ballet, he joined New York City Ballet in 1993. That same year, he was a medal winner at the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition and won the Mae L. Wien Award. By 1998, he was promoted to Soloist. In 2001, Mr. Liang joined the Tony Award® winning Broadway cast of Fosse. His performance in Fosse was later televised nationally on PBS’ Great Performances series – “Dance in America: From Broadway: Fosse,” and subsequently released on DVD. By 2002, Mr. Liang was invited by Jiri Kylian to become a member of the acclaimed Nederlands Dans Theater 1.
While dancing with NDT 1, Mr. Liang discovered his passion and love for choreography. Since establishing himself as a choreographer, his works have been performed by dance companies around the world and he has won numerous awards for his choreography including the 2006 National Choreographic Competition.
In 2013, Mr. Liang was named Artistic Director at BalletMet where he continues to choreograph new works for companies both domestically and abroad. In 2017, he received an Emmy® Award for his short dance film, “Vaulted.” In 2018, he created a new ballet with Roberto Bolle for the opening of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Sergei Prokofiev
Composer
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was a 20th-century Russian (and Soviet) composer, pianist and conductor who wrote in a wide range of musical genres, including symphonies, concerti, film music, operas, ballets, and program pieces. Prokofiev’s music can be defined as a synthesis of traditional tonality and stylistic innovation of 20th century composition. He was inspired by the ballets of Igor Stravinsky and other art forms of the period. He was also greatly influenced by his advisor Serge Diaghilev, a great ballet impresario. Well-known works written by Prokofiev include the Lieutenant Kijé suite, and Romeo and Juliet, the ballet from which “Dance of the Knights” is taken. In 1943, Prokofiev joined Sergei Eisenstein in Alma-Ata, the largest city in Kazakhstan, to compose the ballet Cinderella (Op. 87), one of his most melodious and celebrated compositions.
James Kronzer
Scenic Designer
James Kronzer
calls Washington, D.C. and northern Italy home. He has designed scenery for The Washington Ballet and Hong Kong Ballet. His theater credits include Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional productions of: Sweeney Todd at the Denver Center; All The Way at St. Louis Rep among many others. He also designed scenery for Disney Cruise Lines Twice Charmed and has shows running on twelve ships on the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet. TV credits include over 300 stand up comedy specials for HBO, Comedy Central, Showtime and Netflix He has worked with comedians such as Louis CK, Ali Wong, Mo Amer, Marc Maron, Bo Burnham and Jim Gaffigan. He was nominated this year for the prestigious Art Director’s Guild Award for his work on Jim Gaffigan’s latest special Comedy Monster. Mr. Kronzer has been nominated 32 times for the Helen Hayes Award (DC) and has received the award eight times. His work can be seen at www.JamesKronzer.com.
Judanna Lynn
Costume Designer
Judanna Lynn has designed costumes for most of the major dance companies in the U.S., including Alvin Ailey, Atlanta Ballet, BalletMet, Ballet West, Boston Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Houston Ballet, Hubbard Street, The Jóse Limón Dance Co., Louisville Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and Washington Ballet. Other costume credits include “Festival of the Lion King” for the opening of Disney’s theme park in Hong Kong, the Hartford Stage/Old Globe Theatre’s production of Tintypes and the musicals Once on This Island for the Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis and Hats! Ms. Lynn was a former dancer with San Francisco Opera Ballet and former resident costume designer of The Juilliard School.
Jack Mehler
Lighting Designer
Jack is very pleased to be returning to BalletMet, having previously designed Airavata, Alice, by Liang, Cinderella, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, and Twisted II. Other projects with Edwaard Liang include Constant Light for Ballet West, Symphonic Dances for San Francisco Ballet, and Woven Dreams for the Joffrey Ballet. He received the 2012 Korean Musical Theatre Award (Korean Tony) for Elisabeth and the 2013 award for Rebecca. Other dance work includes Atlanta Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Donald Byrd/Spectrum Dance (Gypsy award), Buglisi Dance Theatre, Ballet Memphis, Hubbard Street, Joffrey Ballet, Lar Lubovitch, San Francisco Ballet and many others. Theatre work includes Cleveland Play House, Manhattan Theatre Club, North Shore Music Theatre (four IRNE nominations), Ogunquit Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Riverside Theatre, Seattle Rep, Syracuse Stage, Walnut Street Theatre, Weston Playhouse, the Working Theatre, and the WPA Theatre, among many others. He also provides design coordination/owner’s representation for arts organizations building or renovating performance and rehearsal facilities and is a founding board member of ACT of Connecticut (2 Broadway World awards).
BalletMet’s company dancers are members of the American Guild of Musical Artists, the union of professional singers and dancers who create America’s operatic, choral and dance heritage.
Ruby Ace May
Evelyn Aikens
Mya Aikens
Cobalt Alfonso
Sydney Anosike
Isabella Ayers
Fox Baldwin
Katherine Ball
Emily Bartlett
Elisa Bester
Ivy Bono
Adara Bowman
Graceann Brake
Madison Burks
Constance Cabanes
Leighton Calfee
Lydia Christman
Lennon Combs
Phoebe Congleton
Vaughn Congleton
Kenla Craig
Jamari Cunningham
Myka Damas
Maya Danchine
Julia Darnieder
Mila DeCola
Sophia DeMatte
Audrey Dinh
Daphney Dinh
Vivian Draper
Jaelynn Duey
Naomi East
Talia Eldridge
Mila Foutty
Marissa Gephart
Kylee Gibson
Gabriela Glenn
Clara Guardia Perez
Lucia Guardia Perez
Kaitlynn Hanna
Catherine Harman
Anne Hart
Hilliary Hatchett-jackson
Mia Hernandez
Matilda Hopkins
Mallorie Hubbard
Lydia Huffman
*Sumi Ichikawa
Phoebe Ing
*Erin Jenkins
Alaina Kelly
Hidy Kirkpatrick
Haley Kliewer
Chisaki Kudo
*Elizabeth Labovitz
Elsie Lewis
Peri Lichtenstiger
*Abigail Liddell
Isabel McBride
Nina McElroy
*Darcy McLoughlin
Ophelia Metzger
Autumn Morvai
Maryann Nichols
Layla Nutt
Karen Oyama
Sophie Patel
Mariana Paxton
Elena Porter
Margot Rollins
Cate Seabloom
Gracie Seed
Dale Smith
Olive Smith
Penelope Smithies
Karalee Sprague
Chloe Steele
Andrew Stewart
Eloise Stewart
Brynnen Stypinski
Isabella Swartzel
Elizabeth Szeto
Sora Takahashi
Avery Tate
Madeline Tinkler
John Dalton Turk
Elizabeth Weinberg
Claire Wessells
Anthony Whitaker
Lela Williams
Carter Rose Williamson
Olivia Wooddell
Koharu Yasuda
*Trainees of the BalletMet Academy
