Chautauqua Institution

Event Guide

Table of Contents

BalletX

Program

About BalletX

Company Bios

Contact

BalletX

June 26, 2023

BalletX

June 26 • 8:15 p.m.
Chautauqua Amphitheater

Artistic & Executive Director
Christine Cox

Associate Artistic Director
Tara Keating

The Company
Eli Alford, Shawn Cusseaux, Francesca Forcella, Savannah Green, Annika Kuo, Jared Kelly, Skyler Lubin, Jonathan Montepara, Jerard Palazo, Ben Schwarz, Ashley Simpson, Andrea Yorita

Dance Fellows
Kara Covaleski, Isabella Nova, Demetrious Reed

Production & Stage Manager
Jason Pizzi

Production Coordinator
Kereni Sanchez

Lighting Supervisor
Alyssandra Docherty

Managing Director
Megan O’Donnell

Development Director
Brittani Kelly

Major Gifts Officer
James Ihde

Development & Box Office Associate
Emily Bernard

Marketing Manager
Rachel Core

Digital Marketing Associate
Li Tian Trick

Program Coordinator
Alisa Moore

Program

Umoja

Choreographer: Tiler Peck

Music: “Umoja, Anthem of Unity” by Valerie Coleman, courtesy of VColeman Music Publishing, LLC (ASCAP)

Lighting Designer: Michael Korsch

Costume Designer: Martha Chamberlain

Dancers: Shawn Cusseaux, Francesca Forcella, Savannah Green, Jared Kelly, Skyler Lubin, Jerard Palazo, Ben Schwarz, Ashley Simpson, Andrea Yorita

Umoja premiered on BalletX on July 13, 2022 at The Wilma Theater, Philadelphia, PA

Choreographer’s Note: The collaboration between Valerie Coleman’s score Umoja and the amazing company BalletX was very meaningful for me to work on. Umoja is the Swahili word for “unity,” and that is exactly what I want the dancers and audience to feel as they dance and watch it. After a long period of isolation, nothing seems more appropriate than presenting the Umoja that is so essential to our human existence.

-pause-

Credo

Choreographer: Matthew Neenan

Music: “String Quartet, Op 76, No 1 -- 2nd movement adagio sostenuto” by Joseph Haydn; “Credo” by Kevin Puts

Lighting Designer: Mark Stanley

Costume Designer: Reid & Harriet

Dancers: Eli Alford, Shawn Cusseaux, Francesca Forcella, Savannah Green, Jared Kelly, Skyler Lubin, Jerard Palazo, Ben Schwarz, Ashley Simpson, Andrea Yorita

Credo premiered on BalletX on August 8, 2016 at the Vail Dance Festival, Vail, CO

Choreographer's Note: CRE·DO noun: a statement of the beliefs or aims that guide someone's actions.

-intermission-

Fancy Me

Choreographer: Caili Quan

Music: "Groove Me" by King Floyd

Lighting Designer: Alyssandra Docherty

Dancers: Shawn Cusseaux, Andrea Yorita

Fancy Me premiered on BalletX on August 11, 2018 at the Vail Dance Festival in Vail, CO

Scenes View 2

Choreographer: Jorma Elo

Music: "Partita for Violin Solo No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: V. Ciaccona" by Johann Sebastian Bach

Original Lighting by: John Hoey

Lighting Recreated by: Alyssandra Docherty

Costume Designer: Martha Chamberlain

Dancers: Eli Alford, Francesca Forcella, Jared Kelly, Skyler Lubin, Jerard Palazo, Ben Schwarz, Ashley Simpson

Scenes View 2 premiered on BalletX at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival in 2006.

This performance is made possible in part by the Edith B. and Arthur E. Earley Fund for the Performing Arts.

About BalletX

BalletX, Philadelphia’s premier contemporary ballet, whose dancers were named “among America’s best” by The New York Times and hailed as “technically brilliant…with vibrant personalities” by The Boston Globe, commissions choreographers from around the world to create dance that The Philadelphia Citizen called “fresh, inclusive, and connects to what people want.” Founded in 2005 by Christine Cox and Matthew Neenan, BalletX is led by Cox, whose tenure as Artistic & Executive Director has produced over 120 world premiere ballets by 70 choreographers, a record “few companies can match,” stated The New York Times. Under Cox’s leadership, BalletX has been hailed as a “place of choreographic innovation” by The New Yorker, and an “epicenter of creation,” by Dance Magazine. The company has toured to Vail Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, New York City Center, The Kennedy Center, and The Joyce Theater, among many others, sharing the joy and passion of dance with audiences across the nation. To learn more about BalletX’s programming and dancers, please visit BalletX.org and follow the company on social media.

Company Bios

Christine Cox

Artistic & Executive Director

Tara Keating

Associate Artistic Director