UNIVERSITY BALLET COMPANY

Presents

Swan Lake and Variations

Cast SWAN LAKE

Staged by: Angelia Prip, Karolina Zimny, and Lydia Ngu

Eight Swans

Alexandra Groves, Angelia Prip, Catherine Cala, Jaclyn Kurys, Karolina Zimny, Lydia Ngu, Sage Hanlon, Samantha Muia

Corps de Ballet Swans en Pointe

Alana Tagliabue, Alyssa Frechette, Emma Radini Ratnavel, Hailey Bernier, Isabel Nieves, Jenelle Henry, Julia Sanders, Lauren Busavage, Marissa Longo, Meghan Jezik, Tessa Christensen

Corps de Ballet Swans on Flat

Alyssa Smart, Anna Bondar, Ariana De La Rosa, Becca Abdella, Camila Porras, Claire Grant, Daniella DiBlasio, DaSyah Crespo, Elizabeth Ly, Ella Niewood, Hannah Sullivan, Hope Romain, Kailee Chhun, Katie O'Brien, Lily Coombs, Gabrielle Brocki, Maddie Mooney, Madeline Mason, Madison Bigelow, Olivia Dybinski, Zoe Seese

Dance of the Little Swans

Staged by: Alyssa Frechette and Alexandra Groves

Alana Tagliabue, Isabel Nieves, Jenelle Henry, Julia Sanders

CONTEMPORARY BALLET - RUNAWAY

Choreographed by: Karolina Zimny

Alana Tagliabue, Alyssa Smart, Angelia Prip, Anna Bondar, Becca Abdella, Catherine Cala, Daniella DiBlasio, DaSyah Crespo, Elizabeth Ly, Ella Niewood, Emma Radini Ratnavel, Hailey Bernier, Isabel Nieves, Jaclyn Kurys, Kailee Chhun, Karolina Zimny, Katie O’Brien, Lauren Busavage, Lily Coombs, Lydia Ngu, Maddie Mooney, Madeline Mason, Madison Bigelow, Marissa Longo, Olivia Dybinski, Sage Hanlon, Samantha Muia, Zoe Seese

PAQUITA VARIATION 8

Staged by: Sage Hanlon

Alyssa Frechette, Catherine Cala, Emma Radini Ratnavel, Hailey Bernier, Karolina Zimny, Lauren Busavage

PAQUITA VARIATION 8

Staged by: Karolina Zimny

Alana Tagliabue, Angelia Prip, Isabel Nieves, Lydia Ngu, Sage Hanlon

Paquita Variation 4

Staged by: Catherine Cala

Alexandra Groves, Julia Sanders, Marissa Longo

Meghan Jezik, Samantha Muia, Tessa Christensen

Modern

Choreographed by: Samantha Muia and Katie O’Brien

Alyssa Smart, Angelia Prip, Anna Bondar, Ariana De La Rosa, Becca

Abdella, Catherine Cala, Daniella DiBlasio, DaSyah Crespo, Elizabeth Ly, Ella Niewood, Emma Radini Ratnavel, Hailey Bernier, Isabel Nieves, Jaclyn Kurys, Julia Sanders, Kailee Chhun, Karolina Zimny, Katie O’Brien, Lauren Busavage, Lily Coombs, Lydia Ngu, Madeline Mason, Madison

Bigelow, Marissa Longo, Meghan Jezik, Olivia Dybinski, Samantha Muia, Tessa Christensen, Zoe Seese

Coppelia Friends Variation

Staged by: Katie O’Brien and Meghan Jezik

Alyssa Smart, Becca Abdella, Camila Porras, DaSyah Crespo, Daniella DiBlasio, Elizabeth Ly, Ella Niewood, Gabrielle Brocki, Kailee Chhun, Maddie Mooney, Madeline Mason, Zoe Seese

Esmeralda Variation

Staged by: Tessa Christensen

Alexandra Groves, Catherine Cala, Sage Hanlon

Giselle Variation

Staged by: Julia Sanders

Hailey Bernier, Katie O’Brien, Madison Bigelow, Samantha Muia

Cupid Variation

Staged by: Lydia Ngu

Alyssa Frechette, Meghan Jezik, Tessa Christensen

KITRI VARIATION

Staged by: Emma Radini Ratnavel

Claire Grant, Lauren Busavage, Lily Coombs, Olivia Dybinski

Bluebird Variation

Staged by: Becca Abdella

Ariana De La Rosa, Anna Bondar, Kailee Chhun, Katie O’Brien, Zoe Seesen

CINDERELLA: SENIOR SOLOS AND DUETS

All self-staged

Cinderella Act I Variation

Lydia Ngu

Fairy Godmother Variation

Karolina Zimny

Cinderella Act III Variation

Angelia Prip

Spring Fairy Variation

Emma Radini Ratnavel

Summer Fairy Variation

Alyssa Smart and Madeline Mason

Fall Fairy Variation

Olivia Dybinski

Winter Fairy Variation

Becca Abdella and Marissa Longo

Outgoing Executive Board

PRESIDENT: Angelia Prip

VICE PRESIDENT: Karolina Zimny

TREASURER: Katie O’Brien

SECRETARY: Samantha Muia

MEMBER CHAIR: Lydia Mgu

TECH CHAIR: Alyssa Frechette

Incoming Executive Board

PRESIDENT: Samantha Muia

VICE PRESIDENT: Katie O’Brien

TREASURER: Julia Sanders

SECRETARY: Catherine Cala

MEMBER CHAIR: Daniella DiBlasio

TECH CHAIR: Sage Hanlon

Incoming Junior Board

FUNDRAISING CHAIR: Lauren Busavage

PROGRAM CHAIR: Sophia McManus

NEW MEMBER CHAIR: Jaclyn Kurys

INVENTORY CHAIR: Isabel Nieves

ATTENDANCE COORDINATOR: Meghan Jezik

Thank You To

Michele Damon

Beverli Christensen

Beth Lyman

Linda Seese

Michael Muia

The Busavage Family

Rod Rock, Director, and the Jorgensen Staff

Julia Crane

Tara Vakil

Bella Bondar

Chrys Prip and the Prip Family

UBC would like to congratulate our graduating seniors and wish them well on their post-graduation plans! Here is a little bit about each of them in their own words:

Angelia Prip (Outgoing President)

Swan Lake, Contemporary Ballet - Runaway, Paquita Variation 1, Modern, Cinderella Act III Variation

Angelia graduated with Honors from the School of Business in December and completed a spring semester internship while finishing her last semester with UBC. She will be starting her full-time job working in mergers and acquisitions consulting in June. She’s been dancing for 17 years and founded UBC in her freshman year at UConn. Since then, she’s been so proud and excited to see the company surpassing some of her biggest dreams and hopes for it. She feels lucky to have so many people along the way who’ve believed in her, been there for her, and helped UBC succeed. She’d like to thank her family; especially her sister Tatiana <3; all of the dancers in the company; all her mentors and advisors; and the other members of the e-board. She wishes all of the other dancers an amazing performance tonight and feels so lucky to share the stage with some of her favorite people!

Karolina Zimny (Outgoing Vice President)

Swan Lake, Contemporary Ballet - Runaway, Paquita Variation 8, Modern, Fairy Godmother Variation

Karolina Zimny is an Environmental Science Major with a Concentration in Sustainable Systems at UConn. She is planning on attending law school and soon entering the legal field. Karolina has been dancing since she was 5 years old in New Milford, CT. Entering her freshman year at UConn, she helped cofound UBC and operated the role of Vice President till present day. Karolina is very proud of how much UBC has accomplished within these past years and excited to see the club’s future endeavors <3. Karolina would like to thank her dance teachers, all of UBC, and her Eboard for the constant support throughout the years. She would also like to thank her parents, friends, and younger self for never giving up on her dreams. Merde!

Lydia Ngu (Outgoing Member Chair)

Swan Lake, Contemporary Ballet - Runaway, Paquita Variation 1, Modern, Cinderella Act I Variation

Lydia Ngu is a Digital Marketing and Analytics Major and Human Development and Family Sciences Minor at UConn. She has been dancing ballet since she was 5 and has earned the bulk of her training at Lexington School of Ballet (LSB). Throughout her time at LSB, she became well-versed in classical ballet repertoire and started participating in outside dance programs like AAB and ABT Summer Intensives, and MYB Nutcracker. Since coming to UConn, Lydia has been involved with UBC since her Freshman year and is the first Membership Chair for the company. Her favorite UBC memories include game nights, pot-luck parties, and typical rehearsal shenanigans. After graduation,

Lydia is going to London to pursue a summer internship specializing in Digital Marketing. Lydia would like to thank all of her dance friends and teachers she has met along the way, especially the rest of UBC Eboard for being the best team ever. She would also like to thank her friends at UConn, especially Emily, Ruby, and Abby for always supporting her secret lifestyle and being the best friends she could have. Finally, Lydia would love to thank Momma Ngu for always being her #1 supporter and her bestie for life! <3

Olivia Dybinski

Swan Lake, Contemporary Ballet - Runaway, Modern, Kitri Variation, Fall Fairy Variation

Olivia Dybinski is a senior double majoring in Applied Math and Statistics. She has been with UBC since it was founded in Spring 2020! Olivia grew up in Berlin, CT and has been dancing since she was 3, training in all styles. She is also part of an a-capella group on campus ( shout out DTB <3 ). She would like to thank her family and friends for always supporting her in dance and beyond!

Becca Abdella

Swan Lake, Contemporary Ballet - Runaway, Modern, Coppelia Friends Variation, Winter Fairy Variation

Becca is a senior Mathematics-Statistics major from Central Massachusetts. She has been dancing for about 12 years and doing ballet for about 7. In addition to UBC, Becca is also the general vice chair for SUBOG’s comedy committee! She enjoys spending time with her friends, watching movies, and playing with her dogs. She would like to give a big shoutout to everyone in UBC for all the great work this semester as well as her mom for the constant support during her rants about anything and everything!

Madeline Mason

Swan Lake, Contemporary Ballet - Runaway, Modern, Coppelia Friends Variation, Summer Fairy Variation

Madeline has been dancing since she was three. She has experience in tap, jazz, ballet, modern, and Irish dance. Madeline hopes to pursue a career in photography and design. She transferred to UConn last year wanting a community to belong to and found that at UBC. Madeline is grateful for her time with UBC for helping her find a passion for dance again. She will continue this passion after she graduates.

Alyssa Smart

Swan Lake, Contemporary Ballet - Runaway, Modern, Coppelia Friends Variation, Summer Fairy Variation

Alyssa grew up dancing at The Center For Dance Arts until coming to UConn and joining the University Ballet Company. The memories and friendships that were made while dancing with UBC are unforgettable. She is going to miss the whole company, but is so happy to be ending her dance career with such amazing people! Congrats UBC seniors!

Marissa Longo

Swan Lake, Contemporary Ballet - Runaway, Paquita Variation 4, Modern, Winter Fairy Variation

Marissa is a biological sciences major with a molecular and cell biology minor. She started dancing at age 3 and was an assistant teacher at her old studio for 5 years. While she has done ballet for more than 10 years it was never her favorite style, but the semesters she was able to spend with the ballet company have given her a new appreciation for it. She would like to thank UBC for giving her the opportunity to continue her dance education, as well as her family for supporting her passion for 19 years.

Emma Radini Ratnavel

Swan Lake, Contemporary Ballet - Runaway, Paquita Variation 8, Modern, Spring Fairy Variation

Emma is a third-year honors Neurobiology and Physiology student from Ridgefield, Connecticut. She has been dancing ballet since the age of three, and grew up dancing with The Ridgefield School of Dance, Ridgefield Conservatory of Dance and the Danbury Music Centre’s Nutcracker. Emma is grateful for memories dancing with UBC, teaching ballet classes, choreographing dances and the friendships! Emma loves teaching and choreographing ballet and skating; she is a USFSA certified figure skating coach and serves on the e-board of the UConn Figure Skating team as secretary. Emma competes with the UConn Ballroom and Skating teams, is a member of Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society, Generations Connect and Public Health House. She serves as the liturgical leader at the Catholic Center where she cantors, sings, plays violin and lectors. Emma grew up skating and dancing to music she played in the symphonic orchestra from ballets including Swan Lake, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Coppélia, Paquita, The Sleeping Beauty, Carmen Suite and Cinderella. She continues to play soccer, tennis, basketball, track, guitar, piano and referees soccer/basketball. Emma is completing her honors thesis in neuroscience research and graduating a year early as a University Honors Laureate. Her ambition is to go to medical school to serve as a doctor. She can’t believe that this is her final show with UBC, as she never planned on graduating early! Special thanks to her parents, little brother Matthew, grandparents, family and friends for being her biggest supporters and cheering her on at all her performances!

Donation Link (Scan the QR code)

UBC gratefully accepts donations to help fund our company. We greatly appreciate any contributions made and wish to thank you for helping our shows become a reality. All donors, unless they wish to remain anonymous, will receive recognition for being an integral part of our ballet family. Thank you!