Exit12 - Stories of War - Nashville

MAY 27TH, 2024 6:30PM

TROUTT THEATRE, BELMONT UNIVERSITY 2100 BELMONT BLVD. NASHVILLE, TN

Photo: Alberto Vasari

STORIES OF WAR

Exit12 Dance Company and CreatiVets thank you for joining us for our first Nashville performance of Stories of War in honor of Memorial Day.

As two organizations focused on positively impacting lives of veterans and their families through art, we have teamed up to choreograph a new work set to CreatiVets songs written by veterans and singer-songwriters through a series of workshops.

The experiences of people who serve, and the impact of that service on their families, is diverse and often hard to comprehend. Art offers a way to make those experiences accessible.

Our new collaborative work, The Last Letter Home, takes inspiration from the letter that a deployed service member entrusts to their battle buddy.

In the case they don’t make it home, the letter will.

This new work gives us the opportunity to honor those who have touched our lives and left us their letters so that we can remember.

Thank you,

ROMÁN BACA Artistic Director and Co-Founder Exit12 Dance Company

Román Baca

STORIES OF WAR

PROGRAM ORDER

OH BACA! ...........................................................................................Román Baca

SOMETIMES, SILENCE ................................................. Exit12 Dance Company Artists

Choreographed by: Angela Scimonelli, Army Mom

Music by: Paul Scimonelli, US Marine Band (Ret.)

WOMAN IN A CAR IN FALLUJAH Román Baca

CONFLICT(ED)

..............Jafet Reinoso, Adrienne de la Fuente, Lisa Fitzgerald, Taylor Gordon

Choreographed by: Román Baca

Music by: Anja Lechner & Vassilis Tsabropoulos

AGGRESSED/THIS IS WAR ...........................Adrienne de la Fuente, Lisa Fitzgerald

Choreographed by: Exit12 Dance Company

Poetry: US Marine Iraq War Veteran William Michael Day

Music: Raymond Daniel

COMING HOME FROM WAR, TO NYC .............................................Román Baca

ODYSSEY ........................................ Exit12 Dance Company Artists with Sandy Perez

Choreographed by: Andrew Harper

Music by: Terry Callier, Gil Scott Heron, and Jamie Woon

THE LETTERS IN OUR POCKETS ................................................................Román Baca

THE LAST LETTER HOME ...............................................Exit12 Dance Company Artists

Choreographed by: Román Baca, Lisa Fitzgerald, Taylor Gordon and Exit12 Artists

Music by: CreatiVets

DIALOGUE WITH AUDIENCE Moderated by Dave de la Fuente

STORIES OF WAR

CREDITS

EXIT12 DANCE COMPANY

Román Baca

Co-Founder and Artistic Director

Lisa Fitzgerald

Co-Founder and Associate Artistic Director

Adrienne de la Fuente Executive Director

Taylor Gordon Artistic Associate

Artists

Audrey Borst, Nicholas Cunha, Adrienne de la Fuente, Gabriel DeRego, Taylor Gordon, Lisa Fitzgerald, Jafet Reinoso,

Board of Directors

Dave de la Fuente -President

Maureen Kaplan - Treasurer

Taylor Gordon - Secretary

Calia Brencsons-Van Dyk, Adrienne de la Fuente, Lisa Fitzgerald, Román Baca

CREATIVETS

Richard Casper

Co-Founder and Executive Director

Anya Hudyncia Grant Writer

Ricky Andrews Community Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator

Kyle Yepsen Deputy Director

*CreatiVets Music I Can’t Cry Never Forget Them Trigger

Purpose

We Are America

by Johnny and Hiedi, Chris Ferrara, Erik Dylan, and Kalsey Kuylk you can listen to the whole catalogue at: https://creativets.lnk.to/FollowWE

STORIES OF WAR

EXIT12 COMPANY ARTISTS

ROMÁN BACA

Artistic Director

Román Baca is a classically trained ballet dancer and choreographer In 2001, recognizing his desire to defend the defenseless, he took a hiatus from dance and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, serving as a machine-gunner and fire-team leader in Fallujah, Iraq during the Iraq War.

After the war, Mr. Baca returned to dance and co-founded Exit12 Dance Company. He has choreographed and championed dance works that explore the military veteran experience and the impact of war on civilians and families. He also leads workshops and lectures at schools, universities, organizations, and veteran’s centers to inspire critical conversations about the impact war through the power of dance and art

Mr. Baca graduated from St. Mary’s College of California (BA, Cum Laude, Performing Arts) and was awarded a Fulbright to the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, UK where he earned his MFA with Merit in Choreography.

He is currently a PhD Candidate investigating the performing arts in the military at York St. John University in the UK. Mr. Baca is also a consultant for The Drive Project leading on Bravo 22, a Royal British Legion Funded Recovery through the Arts programme, and an art and recovery pilot programme with the UK Ministry of Defense. Mr. Baca is also a 2024 Fellow with the George W. Bush Institute’s Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program. He also led projects for the Soldiers’ Arts Academy C.I.C. and served on the leadership team that delivered the first UK Veterans Art Festival alongside the 2019 UK Invictus Trials.

Mr. Baca is the recipient of a 2020 scholarship to York St. John University, the 2019 Selma Jeanne Cohen Dance Lecture Award, a 2017-2018 US-UK Fulbright Postgraduate Award to the Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London, a 2018 HillVet Nominee, a 2015 New York State Veterans’ Hall of Fame Inductee, an 2014 Art and Healing Network Awardee, and has served as a fellow with Veterans in Global Leadership, The Mission Continues, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

STORIES OF WAR

EXIT12 COMPANY ARTISTS

LISA FITZGERALD

Associate Artistic Director, Artist

Lisa Fitzgerald is a ballet dancer and teacher originally from Massachusetts. Ms. Fitzgerald graduated from the professional ballet training program at the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts, and afterwards danced with Connecticut Ballet, Ballet Theatre Company, Sarah Berges Dance, Ballet Ambassadors, and Ballet des Amériques. Ms. Fitzgerald’s roles include The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Kitri in Don Quixote, Gamzatti in La Bayadere, and has had various classical and contemporary roles created for her.

Ms. Fitzgerald co-founded Exit12 Dance Company as a way aid her husband Román's transition back to civilian life post deployment and use dance as a way to heal As Associate Artistic Director Ms. Fitzgerald has performed and taught throughout the United States at institutions including West Point Military Academy, Stanford University, and Lincoln Center.

As a classical ballet teacher Ms. Fitzgerald has taught at Pineapple Studios and Danceworks (London), Mark Morris Dance Group, Ballet Theatre Company, and Regal Ballet (London), and West London School of Dance, among others. Along with teaching, Ms. Fitzgerald has choreographed and staged both original and classical ballets for children’s programs and pre-professional schools She has prepared students for classical ballet competitions and worked as a teaching artist, making dance accessible to children who might not otherwise have the opportunity.

Ms. Fitzgerald graduated summa cum laude from St. Mary’s College of California with a BA in Performing Arts Ms Fitzgerald holds a certificate for the first three years of professional ballet education from the Bolshoi Ballet Teacher Certification Program. Ms. Fitzgerald is currently an MA student in Dance Education at the Royal Academy of Dance in London.

STORIES OF WAR

EXIT12 COMPANY ARTISTS

ADRIENNE DE LA FUENTE

Executive Director, Artist

Adrienne de la Fuente joined Exit12 in 2010 and has been with the company ever since, performing and leading workshops throughout the US and abroad.

In addition to her role as company dancer, she became Exit12's Company Manager and Rehearsal Director in 2016, a founding Board Member in 2018, and Executive Director in 2024. The daughter of a former Army Captain, Adrienne has developed a greater understanding of the military's influence on her own family and the community where she was raised through her work with Exit12 In 2022, Adrienne lost her cousin, a US Marine Afghanistan War Veteran, to a drug overdose after his return home from his second tour, making Exit12’s mission more deeply personal.

A California native, she trained with Richard Gibson and Zory Karah at the Academy of Ballet and with Fran Spector Atkins at SpectorDance She was a member of SpectorDance Company and danced in Fran Spector Atkins’ Figures in the Dust based on John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. After moving to New York City for college, Adrienne trained at The Ailey School, while completing her degree in French Studies and Philosophy with a minor in Spanish at Fordham College at Lincoln Center.

Outside of Exit12, Adrienne has performed with SpectorDance Company, the JUNTOS Dance Collective, Brooklyn Ballet, and with several NYC-based choreographers as a freelance dancer She was also Chief Operating Officer at Private Prep, an educational service company headquartered in New York City.

STORIES OF WAR

EXIT12 COMPANY ARTISTS

TAYLOR GORDON

Artistic Associate, Artist

Taylor Gordon, an international dancer, teacher, and director has danced with Exit12 since 2010. She is currently a Show Supervisor for Step One Dance Company/RWS and Resident Director for Dublin Worldwide Productions as well as on Musical Theater faculty at New York Film Academy.

Taylor has performed at Lincoln Center with The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, in 4 seasons of The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Off-Broadway and national tour of Angelina Ballerina The Musical, at The Kennedy Center & Carnegie Hall, internationally as a dance captain with Spirit Productions, TUI Cruises, & Cirque Le Masque, at Jacob’s Pillow, and, and with numerous ballet & contemporary companies in NYC like Exit12 Dance Company.

The New York Times wrote, “ on that big stage, Ms. Gordon does indeed seem a star,” referring to Radio City Music Hall in a full page Sunday Arts feature She trained at Boston Ballet, The Rock School, and Ballet Academy East and spent summers with Twyla Tharp, Complexions, ABT, & Miami City Ballet. An AGMA and AGVA member, she has appeared on television in a principal role in a commercial on Time Warner Cable NYC, on PBS Great Performance at the Met Live in HD, MTV’s “Made,” and The Today Show. She has been featured on CNN, NBC, Fox News, ABC, CBS, Dance Magazine, Vanity Fair Online, The Huffington Post, Dance Spirit, and The Times of India.

Taylor received a BA in Communication Arts and a Master’s Degree in Publishing by age 20 Taylor teaches in NYC at The Pilates Movement, The Mercedes Club, and the United Nations Ballet Club, and her workout videos are available on Amazon. She has guest taught in Japan, China, India, Bali, and across the US. Taylor has interned at The New Yorker and written for publications including Pointe www.taylorjgordon.com

STORIES OF WAR

EXIT12 COMPANY ARTISTS

AUDREY BORST

Artist

Audrey Borst is originally from Berkeley, California, and trained in ballet and modern at the San Francisco Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem and Alonzo King LINES Ballet and danced for Sarah Bush Dance Project, Peninsula Ballet, and the Oakland Ballet School. Since graduating from Alvin Ailey on scholarship she has danced with companies such as Jamal Jackson Dance, Dance-Lab New York, Julia Gleich Dance, Brooklyn Ballet, and The Love Show, performing works by Darshan Bhueller, George Balanchine, Antony Tutor, and Jeremy McQueen and can be seen in the musical Francois and the Rebels at the Public Theater by Jamie Cepero.

NICHOLAS CUNHA

Artist

Nicholas Cunha is a singer, dancer and actor currently based in New York City. A graduate of the University of Toronto, he joined the Conservatory at Circle in the Square Theater on Broadway (KPOP, Fun Home, Once On This Island, Oklahoma!) as an apprentice and has gone on to star in Macbeth and Spring Awakening. Nicholas has also performed as a guest artist of New York City Ballet at NY City Center, David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center as a classical voice soloist (Cherubini's Requiem), Paper Mill Playhouse, and the Shaw Festival as an actor in On Your Feet and White Christmas respectively. A truly international champion of the arts, Nicholas is represented by CESD Talent in New York.

STORIES OF WAR

EXIT12 COMPANY ARTISTS

GABRIEL DEREGO

Artist

Gabriel DeRego, a native of Hawai ´ i, studied dance at the Univ of Hawai'i and graduated with a BFA in Dance Performance from Rutgers, NJ; with study abroad in Jerusalem, Israel. In 2018, he took a hiatus from dance for other pursuits. The beginning of 2022 found Mr. DeRego, unplanned, back in the studio dancing with a Graham and Hawkins based company in Virginia for their 2022-23 season. He is now freelancing in the New York TriState Area. Some recent work has been the Vineyard Arts Project with Claire Kretzschmar, Connecticut Ballet’s winter season, and Ballet Hartford’s The Planets. As a friend and relative of many service members, from an Army aircraft mechanic in WWII to a decorated Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer; from a Naval Nurse and submarine Officer to wizzo’s and physicists, DeRego is honored to join the deeply meaningful work of Exit12

JAFET REINOSO

Artist

Jafet Reinoso, born in Santo Domingo, graduated from the National Dance School of the Dominican Republic and joined the Dominican National Ballet at the age of 18 years old where he worked as corps de ballet and performed as a soloist. Jafet has danced for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and American Liberty Ballet and independent choreographers and danced for Connecticut Ballet as a soloist. He has also taught ballet at numerous studios across the US, performed “Diana and Actaeon” at the Endanco International Contemporary Festival, and debuted an original contemporary piece entitled “Unfixable” choreographed by Patricia Ortega

STORIES OF WAR

EXIT12 SPECIAL GUEST

SANDY PEREZ

Artist

Sandy is a multidisciplinary movement artist who focuses on telling the stories of her communities through themes of her work and the textures of expression. Newer to the professional world of dance, over the past year she has worked with DancEast Collective, had the privilege of creating “Who You Are to Me” through the Animata Arts residency and “FirstGen” for Kindling Arts Festival, co-created “Treachery,” a duet featured in both gallery and festival with Delaine Kylynn, ensemble member for "Arriving at Dawn" through a residency by Chih-Jou Cheng at the Chicago Cultural Center, and most recently assistant directed "Gorrión" presented by Arelys Hernandez in Oz Arts' Brave New Works Lab 2024. She also enjoys Latin dancing and taking beginner tap

She has served in the headquarters companies of the Army’s 311th Signal Command and the 416th Theater Engineer Command, and currently serves with the 91st Legal Operations Detachment out of Darien IL.

PROGRAM NOTES

ABOUT EXIT12 DANCE COMPANY

Exit12 started in 2007 as a way for former professional ballet dancer turned US Marine Iraq War Veteran to reconnect and heal post deployment to Fallujah in 2005, by turning war stories into conversation provoking performances. Exit12 has reached over 10,000 military connected individuals and 70,000 civilians with its programming.

Exit12 has grown into a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that engages the military community in the arts to aid recovery and improve health and wellbeing.

STORIES OF WAR

THANK YOU

EXIT12 WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND A WARM THANK YOU TO:

The New York State Council on the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Intrepid Museum especially Charlotte Martin, Irene Tsitko, Molly Sloan, and Lynda Kennedy, Joe Bello, CreatiVets, especially Richard Casper and Anya Hudyncia, Dave de la Fuente, Megan Leary, Lu Caldera and the Young Marines Westchester, RWS Entertainment especially Kyle Groff, Kimberly Giannelli, and people like you who support our crowdfunding campaigns and fundraising efforts

PRESENTING PARTNERS

CreatiVets’ goal is to offer opportunities for relief and healing for the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our country. Our purpose is to use various forms of art, including songwriting, visual arts, music, and creative writing, to help disabled veterans cope with service-related trauma (i e , post-traumatic stress, or PTS) by fostering self-expression in a way that allows them to transform their stories of trauma and struggle into an art form that can inspire and motivate continued healing. Through compassion, we are helping veterans live again. https://creativets.org