Healthy is worth a standing ovation.

We’re proud to support so many award-winning performers. And while it may not be a Tony or Grammy, we’re also proud of own our cast for earning the highest honors in Patient Safety at Manchester Memorial Hospital and 4-Star Quality Care for Medicare and Medicaid patients. From one group of dedicated performers to another, good luck and good health!

Manchester Memorial Hospital

Rockville General Hospital

John A. DeQuattro Cancer Center ECHN Medical Group

Thursday, February 2, 2023, 7:30 pm

University of Connecticut School of Fine Arts

Alain Frogley, Interim Dean

Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts

Rodney Rock, Director presents

ARTISTS’ REPRESENTATIVE

Margaret Selby

President, Selby/Artists Mgmt

(212) 382.3260 mselby@selbyartistsmgmt.com

Media Sponsors

BalletX

1923 Washington Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19146

(215) 225.5389 | BalletX.org

Instagram: @balletx

Facebook: @balletx.official

Twitter: @balletx

Tik Tok: @balletxphilly

BalletX

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

Associate Director of Operations

Megan O’Donnell

Development Manager

James Ihde

Development & Box Office Associate

Emily Bernard

Marketing Manager

Rachel Core

Digital Marketing Associate

Li Tian Trick

Administrative Coordinator

Jean Hodges

Program

Become a Mountain

Choreographer: Justin Peck

Composer: Dan Deacon

Lighting Designer: Nicole Pearce

Costume Designer: Benjamin Burton

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

Become a Mountain premiered in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at The Juilliard School on December 8, 2021. This was commissioned by Juilliard Dance for New Dances 2021.

-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, Jonathan Montepara, Ben Schwarz, Ashley Simpson, Andrea Yorita

Credo premiered by 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-

Exalt

Choreographer: Jennifer Archibald

Music: Meditation music-Sati-Salim-Sulaiman & Vijay Prakash Ft. Taufique

Qureshi-Coke Studio @ MTV Season 3; Muyè (Black Coffee And Nduduzo Makhathini Journey Mix); Jonathan Kaspar - Maarifa (Original Mix); UThandoBlack Coffee; DeMajor Feat. Lizwi - Traveller (Kususa & QueTornik Official Remix); Prince Kaybee - The Republic (Visualizer) ft. Afro Brotherz

Sound Engineer: Foremost Poets

Lighting Designer: Brandon Stirling Baker

Costume Designer: Olivia Mason

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

Exalt premiered by BalletX on May 18, 2022 at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA Choreographer’s Note: “Music can heal the wounds that medicine cannot touch.” Debasish Mridah

BalletX

BalletX creates original choreography that expands the vocabulary of classical dance for all audiences.

BalletX, Philadelphia’s premier contemporary ballet, whose dancers were named “among America’s best” by The New York Times, commissions choreographers from around the world to create dance that is “fresh, inclusive, and connects to what people want” (Philadelphia Citizen) while “positioning Philadelphia on the cutting edge of contemporary ballet” (The Dance Journal).

Founded in 2005 by Christine Cox and Matthew Neenan, BalletX is led by Cox, whose tenure as Artistic & Executive Director has produced over 100 world premiere ballets by nearly 60 choreographers, a record “few companies can match,” according to The New York Times. Under Cox’s leadership, BalletX has been hailed as an “epicenter of creation” (Dance Magazine) and “place of choreographic innovation” (The New Yorker), putting Philadelphia on the map as an international destination for contemporary ballet.

With the support of our donors, subscribers, and single ticket buyers, BalletX has grown to reach 150,000+ audiences nationwide through our performance seasons at The Wilma Theater, free Pop Ups across Philadelphia, and extensive touring to such prestigious venues as Vail Dance Festival, The Joyce Theater, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, New York City Center, Laguna Dance Festival, Bermuda Festival, Belgrade Festival, and many more. BalletX has reached 2000+ Philadelphia public school students through our in-school dance education program, Dance eXchange, and countless patrons through our engagement initiative, The X-Process, featuring open rehearsals and talkbacks with our renowned choreographers and guest artists.

BalletX put down even deeper roots in the spring of 2018 with the opening of our first-ever home – a beautiful, 5,000 square foot studio and administrative headquarters named the Center for World Premiere Choreography. Situated at 1923 Washington Avenue, between Philadelphia’s Graduate Hospital and Point Breeze neighborhoods, the center was designed by local firm ISA, and recently earned an impressive AIA Merit Award for Interiors.

BalletX’s distinctive contribution to the American dance community has been recognized and supported in recent years by generous grants from the William Penn Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, Shubert Foundation, the Jerome Robbins New Essential Works (NEW) Program, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, and PECO, among many others.

Thursday, February 2, 2023, 7:30 pm

Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts

Biographies

CHRISTINE COX (Artistic & Executive Director) - Christine Cox co-founded BalletX, Philadelphia’s premier contemporary ballet company, with Matthew Neenan in 2005. The BalletX team has produced over 100 world premiere ballets by nearly 60 renowned and emerging choreographers to date, reaching more than 150,000 dance patrons.

Under her leadership as Artistic & Executive Director, the company has performed at prestigious national stages including The Kennedy Center, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Vail International Dance Festival, and The Joyce Theater.

Throughout her tenure, Cox has committed BalletX to expanding dance’s vocabulary for all audiences, promoting initiatives that make contemporary ballet accessible and welcoming to new audience members. In 2013, she and her team launched The X-Process, an engagement program that invites audience members to participate in pre-show conversations with choreographers, an interactive lecture series about contemporary ballet, and open rehearsals. Through the Dance eXchange education program, she has partnered with elementary schools from the Philadelphia School District to emphasize dance as a means to promote self-confidence and acquire valuable life skills, reaching more than 2,000 local students in its first six years. Cox also led a TEDx talk at the George School about innovation in the field of contemporary ballet, from the art form’s historical traditions to today’s world of evolving definitions and globalization.

Cox has prioritized making both artistic and civic connections as a leader in her Philadelphia community. As an arts leader, she has served on review panels for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She currently sits on the Advisory Board of the Philadelphia Arts & Business Council, and is a member of the Forum of Executive Women. Christine is the recipient of Avenue of the Art’s 2022 Visionary Award, and has received distinguished fellowships from the Independence Foundation and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Cox was a full-time company member with the Pennsylvania Ballet from 1993 until her retirement from the stage in 2006. She trained in classical ballet at the Pennsylvania Ballet School and continued at the Performing Arts School of Philadelphia, spending summer sessions at the Joffrey and San Francisco Ballet schools. Some of her featured roles included Rum and Coca Cola in Paul Taylor’s Company B, Vortex in Alvin Ailey’s The River; Choleric in George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Eve in Margo Sappington’s Rodin, Mis En Vie the Cowgirl in Agnes DeMille’s Rodeo, and principal female roles in Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free and The Concert. During this time, Cox served for ten years as the rehearsal assistant of the children’s corps for Pennsylvania Ballet’s annual production of Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. Prior to joining the Pennsylvania Ballet, she danced with BalletMet (Columbus, OH), as a guest artist with Ballet Hispanico (New York, NY), and with the American Repertory Ballet (Princeton, NJ).

TARA KEATING (Associate Artistic Director, BalletX) - Tara Keating began her training at the age of seven at the Pioneer Valley Ballet in Northampton, Massachusetts. She then attended The Juilliard School, under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy, where she received a BFA in Dance. While there, she was awarded the Jerome L.Greene Fellowship and the Most Outstanding Dance Major award from the National Dance Association. She has danced professionally with the American Repertory Ballet, “Tharp!” and as a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet. Throughout her career she has originated roles in world premieres by such renowned choreographers as Jorma Elo, Jodie Gates, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Trey McIntyre, Matthew Neenan, Helen Pickett, Septime Webre, and Christopher Wheeldon, among others. In 2005, she became a founding member of BalletX, and danced in nearly every performance until her retirement in 2012. She has staged numerous ballets on BalletX, and has set Neenan’s work on Pennsylvania Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Nevada Ballet Theatre, SUNY at Purchase College, and

Bucknell University. Tara was the Producing Director in 2006 and 2007 for Shut Up & Dance, an annual benefit for MANNA, created by the dancers of Pennsylvania Ballet. She was also the recipient of a 2002 City Paper Choice Award. She is on faculty at University of the Arts, and is a guest teacher at various schools in the region. Tara served as BalletX’s Artistic Coordinator and Ballet Mistress from 2011 to 2013, and was named Associate Artistic Director in February 2014.

Dancers

ANDREA YORITA (BalletX Company Dancer) - Andrea Yorita is from Irvine, California, where she received her classical ballet training at Academy of Dance, under the direction of Merle Sepel, Rebecca Tsivkin, and Mignon Furman. In 2012, she graduated as a Gillespie Scholar with a BFA in Dance Performance from the University of California, Irvine, where she studied under Jodie Gates, Molly Lynch, and Donald McKayle. Originally trained under the R.A.D. syllabus, Andrea has completed all Vocational R.A.D. exams with Distinction, as well as received the Solo Seal Award. In 2008, Andrea competed as a finalist in the Genée International Ballet Competition in Toronto, Canada. She has participated in the National Choreographers Initiative, as an apprentice, and the Traverse City Dance Project. Andrea was a 2016 Dance Finalist for the Clive Barnes Award. She joined BalletX in 2012.

ANNIKA KUO (BalletX Company Dancer) - Annika Kuo studied at Princeton Ballet School (also known as American Repertory Ballet) and has attended multiple training intensives including The Royal Ballet School, The Dutch National Ballet Academy, and BalletX. She graduated in 2022 with a BFA from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she has performed works by distinguished choreographers including Daniel Pelzig, Ruka Hatua-Saar White, and William Isaac. Annika joins the company in 2022, following her one year dance fellowship with BalletX.

ASHLEY SIMPSON (BalletX Company Dancer) - Ashley Simpson is originally from West Palm Beach, Florida and trained at A.W Dreyfoos High School of the Arts and School of Ballet Arts. In 2016 Ashley became a Young Arts Winner before graduating Magna Cum Laude from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program as a Dance major and Communications minor. During her time there, Ashley joined XY Dance

Project, performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and was a trainee/apprentice for Complexions Contemporary Ballet. In 2020 she joined the dance ensemble for the movie production of Lin Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights. During her senior year at Ailey/ Fordham, Ashley joined Collage Dance Collective and was able to work professionally while finishing her last year of college. She joined BalletX in 2020.

BEN SCHWARZ (BalletX Company Dancer) - Ben Schwarz began his training in 2015 under Marcia Dale Weary at The Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet where he spent two years training as part of the male scholarship program. In 2017, Ben was invited to The School of American Ballet’s winter term, where he trained for three years under many former and current NYCB dancers such as Jonathan Stafford, Arch Higgins, and Andrew Scordato. While in New York City, he participated in The New York Choreographic Institute and originated roles in works choreographed by Alysa Spires, Norbert Del La Cruz III, Silas Farley, and Preston Chamblee. In The School of American Ballet’s annual workshop performance, Ben performed in Balanchine classics such as Western Symphony and Bourée Fantasque, as well as neo-classical works such as Justin Peck’s In Creases. Ben joined BalletX in 2022.

ELI ALFORD (BalletX Company Dancer) - Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Eli Alford began dancing when he was twelve years old at Encore Performance Company, where he participated in numerous dance competitions and conventions. While training with Encore, Eli received a full-tuition scholarship to the Alabama Ballet School where he studied under the direction of Roger VanFleteren and Tracey Alvey. As a student, Eli performed alongside the company in their productions of La Sylphide, Don Quixote, and George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker while earning the highest marks on his annual R.A.D. examinations. In 2022, Eli received a BFA in dance from the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance under the direction of Jodie Gates and William Forsythe where he learned and performed the works of Ohad Naharin, Jiri Kylian, Justin Peck, Merce Cunningham, and Dwight Rohden to name a few. During his time at USC, Eli also received a minor in the Biology of Human Movement from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences while working as a lead operational and administrative assistant for USC Kaufman. Upon graduation, Eli joined BalletX as a Dance Fellow and was promoted into the company just three months later. Eli is thrilled to be a part of BalletX where he continues to nurture his passion for movement.

Francesca

FORCELLA (BalletX Company Dancer) - Francesca Forcella started dancing for BalletX in 2013 after working with Houston Ballet II (HBII), the Washington Ballet Studio Company, and Los Angeles’ American Contemporary Ballet. She began her training with all styles of dance from tap and hip hop, to ballet and jazz with her aunt, Gina Forcella, at Dance Stop Education Center in New Jersey, and then later focused on her ballet training with Risa Kaplowitz and former ABT principal dancer, Susan Jaffe, at Princeton Dance and Theater in Princeton, NJ. At the age of 16, she joined HBII under the artistic direction of Stanton Welch with Claudio Munoz and Sabrina Lenzi as ballet master and mistress. Francesca had opportunities with HBII to perform alongside the main company and to tour both nationally and internationally. In 2011, she represented Houston Ballet at the International Youth Dance Festival in Budapest, Hungary. Along with performing in many Washington Ballet productions during Francesca’s time in DC, she was a 2012 recipient of a Helen Hayes award for her work in Imagination Stage’s production of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, in which she played the dancer roles of Lucy and the White Witch. In 2015, while on a vacation period with BalletX, Francesca briefly returned to guest with the Washington Ballet in Swan Lake under her former artistic director, Septime Webre. Since joining BalletX in 2013, Francesca has been a part of countless world premieres, processes, and collaborations, and has worked with many well-renowned choreographers.

JARED KELLY (BalletX Company Dancer) - Jared Kelly began his early dance training at The Washington School of Ballet in Washington, DC.Upon completion, he furthered his training at The Baltimore School for the Arts and Indiana University Ballet Theatre, where he graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Ballet with an Outside Field in Business Marketing. With a broad repertoire of experience, Jared has performed works by George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Mark Morris, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, and Paul Taylor to name a few. Most recently, Jared was a company member with Minnesota Dance Theatre under the direction of Lise Houlton. This is Jared’s first season with BalletX.

JERARD PALAZO (BalletX Company Dancer) - Jerard Palazo was born in Manila, Philippines and moved to Canada at 8 years old, where he began his formal dance training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Professional Division in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2006. After graduating in 2012 he moved to Toronto to further his dance studies with the Toronto Dance Theatre for a year.

Upon receiving a full tuition scholarship from the Alvin Ailey School Jerard moved to NewYork and trained at Ailey from 2013-2015. Jerard was selected for summer programs on full tuition scholarships at Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Program and Nederlands Dans Theatre. He has worked with Nai Ni Chen Dance Company, Peridance Company and Lavagnino Dance in New York. Jerard made his debut as a choreographer at iHeartDanceNYC on June 2021 with ‘New Beginnings’ a duet he specially conceived for New York City Ballet soloist Megan LeCrone, performed by Ms. LeCrone and Jerard on the rooftop of the Empire Hotel near Lincoln Center. It turned out to be the onset of ‘So Close’ his first full-length ballet that had its world premiere in the spring of 2022 at Peridance Contemporary Dance Company and was received enthusiastically. Jerard Palazo is excited to dance in his first season with BalletX.

JONATHAN MONTEPARA (BalletX Company Dancer) - Jonathan Montepara, from Orsogna, Italy, graduated from the Rome Ballet School in 2018. He danced for the Rome Ballet Junior Company, where he performed the neoclassical version of Coppélia by choreographer Milena Zullo. In 2018 Montepara joined American Repertory Ballet2, and he was promoted to artist in 2020. He danced in company productions such as The Nutcracker, Beauty and the Beast, Giselle, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Jonathan was also featured in many contemporary works such as Trey McIntyre’s Blue Until June, Riccardo de Nigris's Beyond the Normal, Colby Damon's Strange Sentience, and Bewitched Pas de deux by Claire Davison. He concluded his season with ARB dancing the lead in two World Premieres: Moving to Bach by Ja’Malik and Circadia by Caili Quan. Jonathan joined BalletX in 2022.

SAVANNAH GREEN (BalletX Company Dancer) - Savannah Green was born and raised in New York City, where she attended LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts as a Dance Major and Manhattan Youth Ballet on a full merit scholarship. She studied at Manhattan Youth Ballet on a full merit scholarship, performing featured roles in professional level repertoire including George Balanchine’s Stars & Stripes, Emeralds, and Serenade, as well as Jerome Robbins’ Interplay. Savannah graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara in June 2017 with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Political Science. In her final year at UCSB, she was a member of the Student Dance Company and spent the year touring internationally and performing works by José Limón, Andrea Miller, and Anna Halprin, among others. During that time, Savannah was privileged to be a featured soloist in

Limón’s tribute to Isadora Duncan, Dances for Isadora. In May 2017, she travelled to New York City with the Student Dance Company to perform as part of The Radical Bodies Exhibition at Hunter College. Savannah also worked with Buglisi Dance Theater, performing new works in New York City and the Kaatsbaan International Dance Center. She also had the opportunity to perform in Jacqulyn Buglisi’s Table of Silence at UCSB, as well as in New York City. She performed at the Vail Dance Festival in Merce Cunningham’s Antic Meet, staged by Melissa Toogood. She spent a season as a Dance Fellow with BalletX, before being asked to join as a company member for the 2020-2021 15th Anniversary Season.

SHAWN CUSSEAUX (BalletX Dance Fellow) - Shawn is an emerging performing artist hailing from Tampa Bay, FL, where he attended Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School. He continued his studies in Pittsburgh, PA at the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University, where he received his Bachelor degree in Fine Arts. During this time he was given opportunities to perform works by Garfield Lemonious, Jae Man Joo, Kiesha Lalama, Jennifer Archibald, Jose Limon, Jason Mcdole, Amy Hall Garner, Robert Priorie, Edwaard Liang, and Camille A. Brown. Before joining the company in 2020. This is Shawn’s third season with BalletX.

SKLYER LUBIN (BalletX Company Dancer) - Skyler Lubin received her early training from The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, during which time she won third place for the Pas de Deux category at the Youth American Grand Prix Competition. In 2008, Skyler was asked to perform in The Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow Gala. She then continued her training at the Miami City Ballet School. Skyler also attended summer programs at The School of American Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. From 2010-2014, Skyler danced as a member of the Corps de Ballet with Miami City Ballet under the direction of Edward Villella and Lourdes Lopez. She has performed in featured roles including Flower Festival pas de deux, Swan Lake pas de trois, and Jerome Robbins’s Afternoon of a Faun, and has premiered pieces by Alexei Ratmansky and Liam Scarlett. Skyler joined BalletX in 2015 and has since performed in numerous world premieres.

Jorgensen Outreach for Youth

Funded through private contributions as well as corporate support, JOY! provides school-age children, many from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, with access to live performances and special enrichment programs. Now in its 15th season, the JOY! Conservatory program offers instrumental and vocal students in grades 9-12 the opportunity for a rigorous course of study including private lessons, ensemble rehearsals and coaching, and basic musicianship courses. For more information, contact Jorgensen director Rodney Rock at 860-486-1983.

Corporate / Foundation Sponsors

SBM Charitable Foundation

Diamond / $1000+

Honey & Harry Birkenruth

Carol Colombo

Nancy & John Silander

Mrs. Nora Stevens

Ruby / $300+

Becky & Scott Lehmann

The University of Connecticut League, Inc.

Sapphire / $100+

Dorothy Blocker

Margaret Dillon & Larry Bowman

Shingo Goto

Carol & David Jordan

James Knox

Carl Nawrocki

Peter Polomski

Joanne Sousa

Pearl / up to $99

Mr. Paul D’Italia

Irwin Krieger & John Mayer

Robin Lubatkin

Pamela Paine

Bonnie Ryan

Marti & Tom Smith

Dale Swett

Joanne Todd

Ilene Whitacre