CHOREOLab 2012

LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY’S

CHOREOLab 2015 Thursday, January 29th · 6 PM

STUDIO THEATRE @ SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY

PANELISTS Kyle Abraham, Joshua Beamish, Brian Brooks and Alejandro Cerrudo

PARTICIPANTS

Blythe Barton, Geoffrey Gonzalez, Ami Ipapo, Melissa Nunn and Elyssa Dru Rosenberg

Marcus Overton, moderator

PROGRAM ORDER WILL BE ANNOUNCED FROM STAGE

Blythe Barton, choreographer

A DARKENED PLUME

Music: My Favourite Faded Fantasy by Damien Rice Dancers: Bradley R. Lundberg, Nicholas Strasburg, Cara Steen, Chelsea Zeffiro

Blythe Barton, BFA, MFA, is currently a company dancer with both San Diego Dance Theater and Malashock Dance. Her company, Blythe Barton Dance, is in its 6th year and has performed throughout San Diego. Blythe’s choreography has been commissioned twice by Chapman University, as well as presented at Trolley Dances, ArtPower: Wonderland, the San Diego Young Choreographers Prize, SHADOWS, Ignite, Celebrate Dance Festival, New Voices from SDDT, Backhaus Dance’s Platform, San Diego International Fringe Festival (2013 & 2014). She currently teaches in the San Diego Dance Theater School

and serves as Administrative Assistant.

Geoffrey Gonzalez, choreographer

INFINITUS

Music: Raein by Olafur Arnalds Dancer: Ariana Gonzalez

Geoffrey Gonzalez, a Phoenix, AZ native, has been performing and choreographing for the City Ballet of San Diego under direction of Steven Wistrich for the past several years.  Starting his dance training at a later age of 15 studying classic jazz and hip-hop, Geoff soon found himself inspired to reach for a classical dance and concert dance career.  After studying at the School of Ballet Arizona under director Kee Juan Han, he was accepted under full scholarship to the University of Arizona dance major BFA program. In the years since, Geoffrey has become familiar with a variety of different dance styles, genres and techniques.

Geoff credits this learning opportunity as the gateway through which he has successfully developed his artistic choreographic formula.

Ami Ipapo, choreographer

S P A C E S

Music: Neglected Space by Imogen Heap Dancers: Trixi Anne Agiao, Desiree Cuizon, Martin Anthony Dorado, Caryn Glass,

Arthur Huang, Katie Lupke, Carey Nagoda, Sierra Puett, Nicole Carriker (understudy)

Ami Ipapo is the co-artistic director of The Movement Initiative, a Brooklyn-born, San Diego-based dance and wellness company that strives to make movement accessible to a larger demographic. Since relocating to the West Coast in 2012, Ami has produced three full-length shows and several movement films with her partner, Caryn Glass, presenting work at Visionary Dance Theatre, White Box Live Arts, RAW Space Off Broadway at Spreckels Theater, San Diego Dance Theater’s Young Choreographers’ Showcase, Michael Mizerany’s SWEAT! And Hot Guys Dancing. Their critically acclaimed dance theater production,

Victor Charlie, was awarded prizes for the Top Box Office Seller and Audience Favorite at the 2014 San Diego International Fringe Festival. Ami holds a BFA from East Carolina University, and her most notable professional credits include a 5-year career with Elizabeth Streb’s Extreme Action company and Little Ease [outside the box], a movement film collaboration with director Matthew Tarr, which received a jury prize nomination at Lincoln Center’s Dance on Camera Festival.

Participants listed in alphabetical order

Melissa Nunn, choreographer

PRESENCE: PART 2

Music: Gellie Amma by Four Tet (sound designed by Kristopher Apple) Dancers: Veronica Gong, Mario Jaimes, Nicole Lee, Ahizza Romero, Tim Seaman, Katherine Winter

Melissa Nunn is a performer/dance-maker whose work has toured to China, Mexico, England, France, Germany, and Switzerland. She has co-written grants from the California Arts Council, Commission for Arts and Culture, and Las Patronas, and been funded by the Adams Endowment and Office of International Programs for tours to Germany and Switzerland. She was artist-in-residence at the Universities of Heidelberg and Freiberg, and has received nine teaching awards as Professor of Dance at San Diego State University. Her artistic contributions to the professional community have been recognized in two tributes:

Reverence and Remembering: A History of Modern Dance in San Diego, Chapters 1 and 2.

Elyssa Dru Rosenberg, choreographer

TRIO

Music: Code Name Vivaldi by The Piano Guys Dancers: Alyssa Junious, Shoshana Mozlin, Shauna Tyser

Elyssa Dru Rosenberg, the founder and director of isadoraNOW, is a choreographer, dancer, and educator. Elyssa’s choreography and Isadora Duncan reconstructions have been performed at Joyce SoHo, Symphony Space, the Peridance Salvatore Capezio Theater, Dance New Amsterdam, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, Visionary Dance Space and many other venues. Elyssa has taught master classes and workshops in Isadora Duncan’s technique and history at schools and universities throughout the United States including New York University, Tufts University, and SUNY Purchase. Elyssa holds a Master in Dance and Dance

Education from New York University. Her written work includes: “The Philosopher’s Dances: The Influence of Politics on Isadora Duncan’s Creative Process,” “Body, Mind, Spirit: Choreography by Duncan, Laban and Hawkins,” “A Call to Arms: Isadora Duncan’s Military Works.” She has presented at conferences for the National Dance Education Organization and the Society of Dance History Scholars. Elyssa currently serves as Chair of the Isadora Duncan International Symposium Outreach Committee and as a Steering Committee member of San Diego Dance Connect.

Thank you to the members of the Dance Society for their support of La Jolla Music Society’s dance programs and a special thank you to the chair, Katherine Chapin, for her leadership.

To learn more about the Dance Society or to become a member, please contact Ferdinand Gasang, Development Director, at 858.459.3724, ext. 204 or FGasang@LJMS.org

For more information on CHOREOLab, or to learn about all of the educational opportunities LJMS offers throughout the year, please contact Jonathan Piper, Education Manager,

at 858.459.3724, ext. 221 or JPiper@LJMS.org

Kyle Abraham 2013 MacArthur Fellow, Kyle Abraham, began his dance training at the Civic Light Opera Academy and the Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He continued his dance studies in New York, receiving a BFA from SUNY Purchase and an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. In 2010, Kyle received a prestigious Bessie Award for Outstanding Performance in Dance for his work in The Radio Show, and a Princess Grace Award for Choreography in 2010. The previous year, he was selected as one of Dance Magazine’s 25 To Watch for 2009. In November 2012, Abraham was

named the newly appointed New York Live Arts Resident Commissioned Artist for 2012-2014. Just one month later, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater premiered Abraham’s newest work, Another Night at New York’s City Center to rave reviews. That same year, Abraham was named the 2012 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award recipient and 2012 USA Ford Fellow. In 2011, OUT Magazine labeled Abraham as the “best and brightest creative talent to emerge in New York City in the age of Obama.” For more information, please visit: abrahaminmotion.org.

Joshua Beamish Joshua Beamish founded MOVE: the company in 2005 and his works have since toured throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Outside of the company, he has created in collaboration with The Royal Ballet, Cirque du Soleil, NYCB Principal Ashley Bouder for The Ashley Bouder Project, The National Ballet of Canada’s YOUdance, Compania Nacional de Danza de Mexico, Cape Dance Company/South Africa, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Toronto Dance Theatre and Kansas City’s Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance, among others. He also choreographed for the CBC Radio Canada series Ils Dansent and the

Cultural Olympiads for both the 2010 and 2012 Olympics. Joshua is the recipient of residencies throughout North America, including Jacob’s Pillow and the National Incubator Artist for the American Dance Institute in Washington, DC. He is an alumni of the NY Choreographic Institute, an affiliate organization of New York City Ballet, and a Jerome Robbins Foundation grantee. Notable recent presentations include The Royal Opera House, the Guggenheim and a 24-dancer evening for MOVE: the company commissioned by the Bangkok International Festival to celebrate 50 years of Canadian and Thai political relations. Joshua is a current member of The Joyce Theatre’s Young Leader’s Circle Committee. Joshua would like to extend his special thanks to Joanna and Brian Fisher, Deborah Wingert Arkin, Cathy Eilers, Larry Henry, Ella Baff, Chalvar Monteiro, Pablo Francisco Ruvalcaba Tovar, Erin Fogarty, Kyle Abraham, Risa Steinberg, Joshua Green and Chelsea Beamish.

Brian Brooks Choreographer Brian Brooks was awarded with a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship. In the same year, he was also a proud recipient of the NY City Center Fellowship, the Jerome Robbins New Essential Works grant, and the Joyce Theater’s Artist Residency. Based in New York City, his dance group, the Brian Brooks Moving Company, has been presented throughout the US, South Korea and in Germany, and was presented by BAM in their 2013 Next Wave Festival. The company will be presented by The Joyce Theater in June 2015. For three consecutive years, Brooks has been commissioned by Damian Woetzel at the Vail International Dance

Festival to create new works featuring dancers from NYC Ballet. Brooks choreographed director Julie Taymor’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2013), which was the inaugural performance at Theatre for a New Audience’s Brooklyn home. As a guest artist, he has created new dances at schools including The Juilliard School and The Boston Conservatory. He has served as part time faculty at both Rutgers University and Princeton University, and was a Teaching Artist at the Lincoln Center Institute from 1999 to 2012. Originally from Hingham, MA, Brooks lives in New York City.

Alejandro Cerrudo Alejandro Cerrudo was born in Madrid, Spain and trained at the Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza de Madrid. His professional career began in 1998 and includes work with Victor Ullate Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater 2. Cerrudo joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2005, was named Choreographic Fellow in 2008, and became the company’s first Resident Choreographer in 2009. Fifteen works choreographed to date for Hubbard Street include collaborations with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Second City and Nederlands Dans Theater 2. These pieces and

additional commissions are in repertory at companies around the U.S. as well as in Australia, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands; touring engagements have brought his work still further abroad, to audiences in Algeria, Canada, Morocco and Spain. In March 2012, Pacific Northwest Ballet invited Cerrudo to choreograph his first work for the company, Memory Glow, upon receiving the Joyce Theater Foundation’s second Rudolf Nureyev Prize for New Dance. Additional honors include an award from the Boomerang Fund for Artists (2011), and a Prince Prize for Commissioning Original Work from the Prince Charitable Trusts (2012) for his acclaimed, first evening length work, One Thousand Pieces. Cerrudo was recently announced the 2014 USA Donnelley Fellow by United States Artists.

PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES