A refined court of dancers showcases Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s glittering score in this resplendent George Balanchine masterwork. “This ballet, with the most sublime choreography ever made to music by Mozart, creates an ideal realm in which chivalry, brilliance, serenity, and expansiveness coexist and give off light.” -The New York Times
Saudade World Premiere
“Surprising … wonderfully atmospheric … amazing pas de deux” … accolades abound for Sasha Janes, associate artistic director of Charlotte Ballet and one of the dance world’s “choreographers to watch”-The Washington Post. Be there for the much-anticipated premiere of his new work!
As Time Goes By
This visionary ballet helped catapult Indiana-born Twyla Tharp to stardom. Created for the Joffrey Ballet in 1973 and set to Joseph Haydn’s famous Farewell Symphony, it’s rooted in classical technique but infused with the unique Tharp style and choreography that would become her trademark.
2016 Performances
Sep. 30, Oct. 1 Musical Arts Center 7:30 PM
Oct. 1 Musical Arts Center 2 PM
Explore our IU Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater archive.
Caroline Atwell, Colleen Buckley, Leah Gaston, Natalia Mieczykowski Lily Overmyer, Ginabel Peterson-Padilla, Lauren Smolka, Anna Lisa Wilkins
Andante
Danielle Cesanek, Georgia Dalton, Anna Grunewald Emily Smith, Raffaella Stroik Andrew Copeland, Tyler Dowdy, Glenn Kelich
Finale
Ensemble
The performance of Divertimento No. 15, a Balanchine® Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style® and Balanchine Technique®.
Service standards established and provided by the Trust.
Premiere: September 30, 2016 | Indiana University Ballet Theater Bloomington, Indiana
Tal Samuel, Conductor Guðbjartur Hákonarson, Violin Soloist Benjamin Watkins, Piano Soloist
Spiegel im Spiegel
Marissa Arnold, Caroline Atwell, Colleen Buckley, Alexandra Hutchinson Anna Peabody, Ginabel Peterson-Padilla, Imani Sailers, Elizabeth Yanick Antonio Houck, Darren Hsu, Glenn Kelich, Jared Kelly, Mark Lambert
Für Alina
Ryan McCreary and Glenn Kelich
Piano Sonatine, Op. 1 No. 2: III. Allegro
Alexandra Hutchinson, Imani Sailers Darren Hsu, Jared Kelly
Fratres
Ensemble
Saudade – A Portuguese term for the feeling of a deep emotional state of nostalgia. A profound melancholic longing for an absent love.
Saudade was once described as “the love that remains” after losing one’s beloved.
Choreography by Twyla Tharp Music by Joseph Haydn Symphony No.45 in F-Sharp Minor, 3rd and 4th Movements Original Costumes by Chester Weinberg Original Lighting by Jennifer Tipton
Premiere: October 10, 1973 | The Joffrey Ballet New York, New York
Staged by Richard Colton Tal Samuel, Conductor Shawn Stevens, Ballet Mistress
After the Fact
Imani Sailers
Ten Make Six
Margaret Andriani, Camille Kellems, Imani Sailers Tyler Dowdy, Darren Hsu, Jared Kelly
The Four Finales
I.
Bianca Allanic, Margaret Andriani, Mary Bastian, Sophia Brodin, Camille Kellems, Natalia Mieczykowski, Imani Sailers, Alexandra Willson
Liam Doherty, Eli Downs, Tyler Dowdy, Nicholas Gray, Darren Hsu, Jared Kelly, Mark Lambert, Sterling Manka
II.
Bianca Allanic, Margaret Andriani, Mary Bastian, Natalia Mieczykowski, Sophia Brodin
Liam Doherty, Nicholas Gray, Glenn Kelich, Mark Lambert, Sterling Manka
Mackenzie Allen, Anna Barnes, Alia Federico, Kristin Howard Camille Kellems, Lauren Smolka, Gillian Worek, Cecilia Zanone
Andante
Margaret Andriani, Georgia Dalton, Anna Grunewald Alexandra Hutchinson, Ryan McCreary Jared Kelly, Mark Lambert, Sterling Manka
Finale
Ensemble
The performance of Divertimento No. 15, a Balanchine® Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style® and Balanchine Technique®.
Service standards established and provided by the Trust.
Premiere: September 30, 2016 | Indiana University Ballet Theater Bloomington, Indiana
Tal Samuel, Conductor Guðbjartur Hákonarson, Violin Soloist Benjamin Watkins, Piano Soloist
Spiegel im Spiegel
Marissa Arnold, Caroline Atwell, Colleen Buckley, Claire Donovan Alexandra Hutchinson, Ryan McCreary, Ginabel Peterson-Padilla, Imani Sailers Antonio Houck, Darren Hsu, Glenn Kelich, Jared Kelly, Mark Lambert
Für Alina
Anna Peabody and Mark Lambert
Piano Sonatine, Op. 1 No. 2: III.Allegro
Alexandra Hutchinson, Imani Sailers Darren Hsu, Jared Kelly
Fratres
Ensemble
Saudade – A Portuguese term for the feeling of a deep emotional state of nostalgia. A profound melancholic longing for an absent love.
Saudade was once described as “the love that remains” after losing one’s beloved.
Choreography by Twyla Tharp Music by Joseph Haydn Symphony No.45 in F-Sharp Minor, 3rd and 4th Movements Original Costumes by Chester Weinberg Original Lighting by Jennifer Tipton
Premiere: October 10, 1973 | The Joffrey Ballet New York, New York
Staged by Richard Colton Tal Samuel, Conductor Shawn Stevens, Ballet Mistress
After the Fact
Imani Sailers
Ten Make Six
Camille Kellems, Lily Overmyer, Imani Sailers Tyler Dowdy, Darren Hsu, Jared Kelly
The Four Finales
I.
Anna Barnes, Lauren Lane, Camille Kellems, Natalia Mieczykowski, Lily Overmyer, Imani Sailers, Alexandra Willson, Sarah Young
Liam Doherty, Eli Downs, Tyler Dowdy, Nicholas Gray, Darren Hsu, Jared Kelly, Mark Lambert, Sterling Manka
II.
Anna Barnes, Lauren Lane, Natalia Mieczykowski, Lily Overmyer, Sarah Young
Liam Doherty, Nicholas Gray, Glenn Kelich, Mark Lambert, Sterling Manka
III.
Anna Barnes, Camille Kellems, Lauren Lane Liam Doherty, Glenn Kelich, Mark Lambert
IV.
Anna Barnes, Lauren Lane, Sarah Young Tyler Dowdy, Glenn Kelich
Ensemble
Then
Anna Barnes, Lauren Lane, Natalia Mieczykowski, Sarah Young, Imani Sailers
Bianca Allanic, Caroline Atwell, Mary Bastian, Colleen Buckley, Leah Gaston, Natalia Mieczykowski, Ginabel Peterson-Padilla, Anna Lisa Wilkins
Andante
Danielle Cesanek, Georgia Dalton, Anna Grunewald Emily Smith, Raffaella Stroik Andrew Copeland, Tyler Dowdy, Glenn Kelich
Finale
Ensemble
The performance of Divertimento No. 15, a Balanchine® Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style® and Balanchine Technique®.
Service standards established and provided by the Trust.
Premiere: September 30, 2016 | Indiana University Ballet Theater Bloomington, Indiana
Tal Samuel, Conductor Guðbjartur Hákonarson, Violin Soloist Benjamin Watkins, Piano Soloist
Spiegel im Spiegel
Marissa Arnold, Caroline Atwell, Colleen Buckley, Alexandra Hutchinson Anna Peabody, Ginabel Peterson-Padilla, Imani Sailers, Elizabeth Yanick Antonio Houck, Darren Hsu, Glenn Kelich, Jared Kelly, Mark Lambert
Für Alina
Ryan McCreary and Glenn Kelich
Piano Sonatine, Op. 1 No. 2: III. Allegro
Alexandra Hutchinson, Imani Sailers Darren Hsu, Jared Kelly
Fratres
Ensemble
Saudade – A Portuguese term for the feeling of a deep emotional state of nostalgia. A profound melancholic longing for an absent love.
Saudade was once described as “the love that remains” after losing one’s beloved.
Choreography by Twyla Tharp Music by Joseph Haydn Symphony No.45 in F-Sharp Minor, 3rd and 4th Movements Original Costumes by Chester Weinberg Original Lighting by Jennifer Tipton
Premiere: October 10, 1973 | The Joffrey Ballet New York, New York
Staged by Richard Colton Tal Samuel, Conductor Shawn Stevens, Ballet Mistress
After the Fact
Imani Sailers
Ten Make Six
Margaret Andriani, Camille Kellems, Imani Sailers Tyler Dowdy, Darren Hsu, Jared Kelly
The Four Finales
I.
Bianca Allanic, Margaret Andriani, Mary Bastian, Sophia Brodin, Camille Kellems, Natalia Mieczykowski, Imani Sailers, Alexandra Willson
Liam Doherty, Eli Downs, Tyler Dowdy, Nicholas Gray, Darren Hsu, Jared Kelly, Mark Lambert, Sterling Manka
II.
Bianca Allanic, Margaret Andriani, Mary Bastian, Natalia Mieczykowski, Sophia Brodin Liam Doherty, Nicholas Gray, Glenn Kelich, Mark Lambert, Sterling Manka
Bianca Allanic, Mary Bastian, Sophia Brodin Tyler Dowdy, Glenn Kelich
Ensemble
Then
Bianca Allanic, Mary Bastian, Sophia Brodin, Natalia Mieczykowski, Imani Sailers Nicholas Gray, Darren Hsu, Mark Lambert
Choreographers
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, George Balanchine is regarded as the foremost contemporary choreographer in the world of ballet. He came to the United States in late 1933, at the age of 29, accepting the invitation of the young American arts patron Lincoln Kirstein (1907-96), whose great passions included the dream of creating a ballet company in America. At Balanchine’s behest, Kirstein was also prepared to support the formation of an American academy of ballet that would eventually rival the long-established schools of Europe.
This was the School of American Ballet, founded in 1934, the first product of the Balanchine-Kirstein collaboration. Several ballet companies directed by the two were created and dissolved in the years that followed, while Balanchine found other outlets for his choreography.Eventually, with a performance on October 11, 1948, New York City Ballet was born. Balanchine served as its ballet master and principal choreographer from 1948 until his death in 1983.
Balanchine’s more than 400 dance works include Serenade (1934), Concerto Barocco (1941), Le Palais de Cristal, later renamed Symphony in C (1947), Orpheus (1948), The Nutcracker (1954), Agon (1957), Symphony in Three Movements (1972), Stravinsky Violin Concerto (1972), Vienna Waltzes (1977), Ballo della Regina (1978), and Mozartiana (1981). His final ballet, a new version of Stravinsky’s Variations for Orchestra, was created in 1982.
He also choreographed for films, operas, revues, and musicals. Among his best-known dances for the stage is “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue,” originally created for Broadway’s On Your Toes (1936).The musical was later made into a movie.
A major artistic figure of the twentieth century, Balanchine revolutionized the look of classical ballet. Taking classicism as his base, he heightened, quickened, expanded, streamlined, and even inverted the fundamentals of the 400-year-old language of academic dance. This had an inestimable influence on the growth of dance in America. Although at first his style seemed particularly suited to the energy and speed of American dancers, especially those he trained, his ballets are now performed by all the major classical ballet companies throughout the world.
Sasha Janes joined Charlotte Ballet in 2003 at the invitation of Jean Pierre Bonnefoux, where Janes performed principal roles in ballets by Twyla Tharp, Alonzo King, Nacho Duato, George Balanchine, Dwight Rhoden, Nicolo Fonte, Septime Webre, Jean Pierre Bonnefoux, Alvin Ailey, and Mark Godden.
He was appointed rehearsal director/ballet master in 2006, becoming responsible for daily scheduling, coaching, teaching company class, and the staging of ballets in the company’s repertoire. He also assisted guest repetiteur’s in staging works by William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Alvin Ailey, Nicolo Fonte, Jiri Bubenicek and many others. He produced his first choreographic work for Charlotte Ballet in 2006, Lascia la Spina, Cogli la Rosa.
Janes has choreographed over 25 ballets for Charlotte Ballet, including the highly successful Rhapsodic Dances, performed at The Kennedy Center as part of its Ballet Across America series to outstanding reviews in The Washington Post. Other works for Charlotte include Carmen, a new twist on the classic tale, set in the textile mills of North Carolina during the mill strikes of 1934, and Dangerous Liaisons, set to an original score by internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter-cellist Ben Sollee.
Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Twyla Tharp has choreographed more than 160 works: 129 dances, 12 television specials, six Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows, and two figure skating routines. She has received one Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, 19 honorary doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President’s Award, 2004 National Medal of the Arts, 2008 Jerome Robbins Prize, and 2008 Kennedy Center Honor. Her many grants include the John D.and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and American Philosophical Society, and an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
In 1965, Tharp founded her dance company, Twyla Tharp Dance. Her dances are known for creativity, wit, and technical precision coupled with a streetwise nonchalance. By combining different forms of movement—such as jazz, ballet, boxing, and inventions of her own making—Tharp’s work expands the boundaries of ballet and modern dance.
In addition to choreographing for her own company, she has created dances for the Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Martha Graham Dance Company, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, and Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Today, ballet and dance companies around the world continue to perform Tharp’s works.
Tharp’s work first appeared on Broadway in 1980 with When We Were Very Young, followed by her collaboration with musician David Byrne on The Catherine Wheel and later by Singin’ in the Rain. In 2002, her dance musical Movin’ Out was set to the music and lyrics of Billy Joel. She later worked with Bob Dylan’s music and lyrics in The Times They Are A-Changin’ and with songs sung by Frank Sinatra in Come Fly Away.
In film, Tharp has collaborated with director Milos Forman on Hair, Ragtime, and Amadeus. She has also worked with Taylor Hackford on White Nights and with James Brooks on I’ll Do Anything.
Her television credits include choreographing Sue’s Leg for the inaugural episode of PBS’s Dance in America, in 1976, co-producing and directing Making Television Dance, and directing The Catherine Wheel for BBC Television. She co-directed the television special Baryshnikov by Tharp.
In 1992, Tharp published her autobiography, Push Comes to Shove.She went on to write The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life, followed by The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together. She is currently working on a fourth book and continuing to create.
Artistic Staff
Michael Vernon started dancing at the Nesta Brooking School of Ballet in London before going on to study at the Royal Ballet School in London with such legendary teachers as Dame Ninette de Valois and Leonide Massine. He performed with the Royal Ballet, Royal Opera Ballet, and London Festival Ballet before coming to New York in 1976 to join the Eglevsky Ballet as ballet master and resident choreographer.He became artistic director of the Long Island-based company in 1989 and remained in that position until 1996.
Vernon choreographed numerous ballets for the Eglevsky Ballet, in addition to ballets for many other professional companies in the United States and worldwide, such as BalletMet of Columbus, Ohio, and North Carolina Dance Theatre. Mikhail Baryshnikov commissioned him to choreograph the successful pas de deux In a Country Garden for American Ballet Theatre (ABT). His solo S’Wonderful was danced by ABT principal Cynthia Harvey in the presence of President and Mrs. Reagan and shown nationwide on CBS television. He served as assistant choreographer on Ken Russell’s movie Valentino, starring Rudolph Nureyev and Leslie Caron.
Vernon taught at Steps on Broadway in New York City for many years, working with dancers from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and many other high-profile companies. He is an integral part of the Manhattan Dance Project, which brings New York-style master classes to all regions of the United States. He has been involved with the Ballet Program of the Chautauqua Institution since 1996 and is the artistic advisor for the Ballet School of Stamford. He is permanent guest teacher at the Manhattan Youth Ballet and has a long association with Ballet Hawaii.
Vernon has been a company teacher for American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He has guest taught in companies all over the world, including West Australian Ballet, National Ballet of China, Hong Kong Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Berlin Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, and the Norwegian National Ballet. He has been a guest teacher for The Juilliard School and taught for many years at The Ailey School. He recently joined the panel of judges for the Youth of America Grand Prix regional semifinals. For Indiana University, Vernon has choreographed Endless Night, Jeux, Spectre de la Rose, and Cathedral, and has staged and provided additional choreography for the full-length classics Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. He has choreographed for many IU Opera Theater productions, such as Faust and the world premiere of Vincent.His production of The Nutcracker has become one of the best attended events of the Jacobs School of Music.
Described as a daring, authentic, and versatile young conductor by American and Israeli press, conductor Tal Samuel is fast earning a reputation as a promising talent conducting from the pit and on the concert hall stage. Her recent work and performances won her a career award from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and a grant for a promising young conductor from the Haifa Symphony Orchestra Foundation.
She has been a staff conductor at IU Opera and Ballet Theater since 2015. Recent productions she has worked on include The Daughter of the Regiment, Così fan tutte, DeadMan Walking, Oklahoma!, The Nutcracker, and Swan Lake.In 2014, she was invited to conduct three subscription concerts of Balanchine’s iconic ballet Emeralds, while working closely with Distinguished Professor Violette Verdy and her colleague Mimi Paul, who were two of the original ballerinas.
Samuel previously served as music director of the Jacobs School of Music Campus Orchestra and the Yerucham Youth Orchestra, and was artistic director and conductor of the Meytar Music Festival in Israel.
Her recent conducting engagements include orchestras such as the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonieta Bee’r-Sheva Symphony Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Herzliya Chamber Orchestra, Carter Symphony Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Indiana Symphony Orchestra, Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, Meytar Festival Chamber Orchestra, Buchmann-Mehta Symphony Orchestra, and New Music Ensemble of Tel-Aviv University.
Samuel was invited to participate in highly selective conducting master classes in Israel and abroad, including workshops with Jorma Panula, Yoel Levi, Asher Fisch, Carl St.Clair, Lior Shambadal, and Noam Sheriff. This summer, she was invited to take part in the prestigious Cabrillo Music Festival, working and performing with conductors Marin Alsop and James Ross.
Samuel was born in Haifa, Israel. She studied piano since the age of six and viola since the age of 10, with the latter becoming her main instrument. As an accomplished violist, she has performed with various chamber groups and orchestras in her home country and abroad and played under conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, Helmuth Rilling, and others.
She earned a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the Jacobs School of Music and a bachelor’s degree in orchestral conducting, minoring in viola performance and composition, from Tel-Aviv University. She is currently completing her doctoral studies under the tutelage of Arthur Fagen and David Effron.
Elyse Borne began her dance training in her native Los Angeles and finished at the School of American Ballet in New York. As a recipient of a Ford Foundation scholarship, she joined New York City Ballet, where she danced for more than 13 years, being promoted to soloist. She performed numerous principal roles in ballets by Balanchine and Robbins and shared a debut in The Nutcracker with Mikhail Baryshnikov. During this time, she also made several television appearances and traveled on concert tours with Baryshnikov, Peter Martins, Suzanne Farrell, Edward Villella, Patricia McBride, and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. Borne served as ballet mistress for Miami City Ballet for eight years and for San Francisco Ballet for six years. Currently, she devotes herself full time to staging ballets nationally and internationally on behalf of the George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins trusts, and additional works by Hans van Manen and Helgi Tommason. She has staged ballets at the Boston Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Dutch National Ballet, National ballet of Canada, Royal Ballet, Kirov Ballet, Central Ballet of China, Royal Danish Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Zurich Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, Ballet Nacional de Danza (Mexico), Alberta Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and many others.
Richard Colton worked with Twyla Tharp from 1972 to 1989. He was in the original casts of Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs, Baker’s Dozen, In the Upper Room, As Time Goes By, Deuce Coup 2, and Brahms Paganini, among others. Tharp dedicated one work, Bum’s Rush, to Colton. In addition, he appears in the Tharp/Milos Foreman films Hair and Amadeus. He is honored to share his knowledge of Tharp’s work with IU Ballet Theater.
Christian Claessens was born in Brussels, Belgium, and began his ballet training with the renowned Dolores Laga and the legendary pedagogue Nora Kiss at the Conservatoire de Danse de la Monnaie.When he was 11, his family moved to Cannes, France, where he continued studies under Rosella Hightower and Jose Ferran. In 1978, Claessens came to New York as a scholarship student at The School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre School, studying with Stanley Williams, Andre Kramarevsky, and Richard Rapp. After graduating, he performed with the Kansas City Ballet under the direction of Todd Bolender and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater under Patricia Wilde. Returning to Europe in 1984, he began his association with The Dutch National Ballet. There he had the great opportunity to expand his classical repertoire in works by Fokine, Petipa, Ashton, Tudor, Nijinska, Nureyev, and Balanchine, while working closely with contemporary choreographers such as Rudy Van Danzig, Hans Van Manen, Rudolf Nureyev, Maguy Marin, William Forsythe, Frederick Ashton, Carolyn Carlson, and Ohad Naharan, and was soon established as soloist.
Claessens toured internationally in ballet troupes such as Stars of the American Ballet, Stars of the New York City Ballet, Stars of the Hong Kong Ballet, and Kozlov and friends, among others. He has appeared on television and in film and has taught at major ballet schools throughout the U.S.and Canada. In 1991, he co-founded the Scarsdale Ballet Studio with Diana White of New York City Ballet (NYCB). During his 15-year run as director and master teacher, he trained dancers on all levels. In 1999, he founded the International Ballet Project with Valentina Kozlova of NYCB. In 1998, he was asked to take over the directorship of the Purchase Youth Ballet, a division of the Conservatory of Dance at The State University of New York under the directorship of Carol Walker, dean of dance. In 2011, Claessens joined the faculty at Ballet Tech, official public school for dance in New York City under the direction of Eliot Feld. An important and critical interest of Claessens has been the development of programs which have been therapeutic for special needs and challenged young people. He designed and taught curriculums for this at New Rochelle High School, Steffi Nossen School of Dance, and Scarsdale Ballet Studio.
His students trained from childhood to professional status are now prominent in major companies, such as New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and others.
Currently, Claessens teaches at the Jacobs School of Music as an adjunct faculty member as well as principal teacher and curriculum advisor for the pre-college ballet program and Summer Intensive. He has choreographed for both IU Opera Theater and IU Ballet Theater. He is also on the faculty of the IU Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance under the direction of Elizabeth Shea, teaching courses on the Somatic approach to classical ballet.
Shawn Stevens is originally from Houston, Texas. At age 14, she attended Walnut Hill School of Performing Arts under the direction of Sydelle Gomberg. She continued her training at the School of American Ballet. In 1982, she was chosen by George Balanchine to join the New York City Ballet (NYCB). During her time with the company, she performed principal roles in Balanchine’s ballets, including Symphony in Three Movements, The Four Temperaments, and Symphony in C. She also danced in the original cast and performed principal roles in Brahms/Handel, choreographed by Twyla Tharp and Jerome Robbins. Stevens has worked with many other choreographers, such as Peter Martins, William Forsythe, Edward Villella, Ib Andersen, and Joseph Duell.During the 10 years she performed with NYCB, she danced in the TV programs Live from Lincoln Center with NYCB and Dance in America. She has also appeared as a principal dancer with the New York City Opera in Cinderella. In 1991, Stevens joined Twyla Tharp Dance, where she performed for five years. With Tharp’s company, she performed repertoire works as well as new works as a principal. She was asked to dance in the Cutting Up tour with Tharp and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Stevens’ film credits include I’ll Do Anything and In the Upper Room, both choreographed by Tharp. Stevens was personally invited to perform in Tharp’s hit Broadway musical Movin’ Out. She has been teaching ballet at several schools, universities, and companies throughout the United States. She is approved by The George Balanchine Trust to restage George Balanchine works and also stages works by Tharp through the Twyla Tharp Dance Foundation.
Anastasia Falasca earned both her bachelor’s in music performance and her Performer Diploma from the Jacobs School of Music. A native of New Jersey, she has studied piano and violin intensely since the age of four and received training at Temple Music Prep and the Settlement Music School. She has attended the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and played in the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. She is a current member of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra. This is her second season with IUBT.
Irina Ter-Grigoryan earned her degrees of piano performance, pedagogy, and accompaniment in the former Soviet Union. She served as a faculty member at the Baku State Conservatory and as an accompanist for the Azerbaijan State Theater Opera and Ballet. She was selected from a small pool of musicians to accompany international and regional competitions representing the Soviet Union. During her time in the United States, she has continued her work as an accompanist with the Temple Square Concert Series Recitals in Salt Lake City, Utah; University of Utah; and Ballet West Co.; and as a collaborative pianist at DePauw University.She currently holds the position of accompanist and music director with the Jacobs School of Music Ballet Department.
Featured Dancers
Margaret Andriani began her training at Kansas City Ballet at the age of eight. At the age of 13, she joined Kansas City Youth Ballet under the direction of Alecia Good-Boresow and Kimberly Cowen. Throughout her time at Kansas City Ballet, she was able to perform alongside the company as a corps member in Todd Bolender’s The Nutcracker, George Balanchine’s Serenade, and Victoria Morgan’s Cinderella. For the 2013-14 season, she was the company’s student apprentice under the direction of Devon Carney. She has spent summers training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Indiana University, and Ballet Austin.Currently, Andriani is a junior at IU pursuing a major in ballet and an outside field in arts management. She is a recipient of the Jacobs School of Music Young Artist merit award and the Jacobs School of Music Faculty Award.
A native of South Jersey, Danielle Cesanek began her dance education at age three under the direction of Kimberly O’Connor Sparks at Today’s Dance Center. She participated in various competitions, such as Dance Excellence in Los Angeles, Calif., and performed in Disney World. At age 13, Cesanek continued her training with Andrea Duffin, Jennifer Mooney, and Eva Szabo at South Jersey Ballet School, where she performed principal roles in The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, Giselle, and Swan Lake. She supplemented her training by attending summer programs at American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Chicago, and Pennyslvania Ballet. At age 17, Cesanek was invited to study full time at the School of Pennsylvania Ballet. While there, she studied under the instruction of William DeGregory, Arantxa Ochoa, Alexander Iziliaev, Laura Bowman, and Martha Chamberlin. She also performed with Pennsylvania Ballet in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. In her time at Indiana University, she has performed in George Balanchine’s Emeralds, Swan Lake, and Concerto Barocco, as well as in Michael Vernon’s The Nutcracker. Cesanek is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance with an Outside Field in Entrepreneurship.
Andrew Copeland began studying ballet in 2001. He trained at the Rowland/Ballard School of Ballet and Gymnastics in Kingwood, Texas, under Sheryl Rowland and at the Akiko Ballet Studio in Japan. He has attended the summer intensives of Ballet West for two years, Oklahoma City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Portland Festival Ballet on full scholarship. He is a recipient of the Premier Young Artist Scholarship from the Jacobs School of Music as well as the United Airlines Scholarship. At IU, Copeland is a Founders Scholar and a member of the Hutton Honors College and the Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta honor societies. With IU Ballet Theater, he has performed in Michael Vernon’s The Nutcracker (Cavalier, Snow Cavalier, Arabian), Paul Taylor’s Airs, Antony Tudor’s Dark Elegies, David Parsons’s The Envelope, and George Balanchine’s Swan Lake (Prince Siegfried) and Raymonda Variations. He is currently a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance and Biochemistry.
Georgia Dalton was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, and began her ballet training with Columbus Youth Ballet at age three. From age five to 18, her ballet education included formal training with Dublin Dance Centre and Columbus City Ballet. She has attended summer intensive programs with American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Ballet Met. Dalton most recently performed George Balanchine’s Serenade with IU Ballet Theater. She is a recipient of the Premier Young Artist Award and is a sophomore pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Ballet with an Outside Field in Marketing.
Dalton Dowdy is a senior at the Jacobs School of Music. Originally from Tampa, Fla., he began formal training at Next Generation Ballet under the direction of Peter Stark, where he appeared in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Cinderella. Since arriving at Indiana University, Dowdy has performed in George Balanchine’s Tarantella, Rubies, and Donizetti Variations; Twyla Tharp’s Surfer at the River Styx; Merce Cunningham’s Duets; Antony Tudor’s Dark Elegies, and David Parson’s The Envelope. He has also performed annually in Michael Vernon’s The Nutcracker, collectively as Harlequin Doll, Trepak, and Chinese divertissement.
Anna Grunewald was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. She began her training at a small performing arts school, then, after guidance from the director, moved to the Ballet Academy of Pittsburgh. She danced with the Ballet Academy of Pittsburgh under the instruction of Steven and Lindsay Piper and Lindy Mandradjieff from fourth grade through her senior year of high school. During summers, Grunewald has studied at the Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive, Boston Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, Ballet West, and Chautauqua. A sophomore, she has performed in George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco and Serenade with IUBT.
Alexandra Elizabeth Hutchinson is a senior ballet major with an outside field in arts management at Indiana University. Her classical ballet training began at the age of three in Wilmington, Del. She then studied for eight years at the Washington School of Ballet, where she was a Virginia Johnson Scholar for three consecutive years while receiving two Kennedy Center Honors Scholarships. She has studied with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Carolina Ballet, and Chicago Ballet. At the request of her mentor, Violette Verdy, she studied with the L’Académie Américaine de Danse de Paris in France. Hutchinson’s performance repertoire includes The Sleeping Beauty Variation, Paquita, The Nutcracker, Choo San Goh’s Fives, and Septime Webre’s Le Corsaire. At IU, she has performed in Balanchine’s Swan Lake, Concerto Barocco, Raymonda Variations, Emeralds, and Rubies, with featured roles in Paul Taylor’s Airs and Michael Vernon’s The Nutcracker. She has taught ballet at Indiana University and at Joyful Motion Dance Studio in Maryland. In 2015, she was the first guest artist to perform on CBS affiliate WUSA-9 television morning show Great Day Washington.
Glenn Kelich is a junior from Arcadia, Ind. He began studying ballet as a sophomore in high school with Indiana Ballet Conservatory under the direction of Alyona Yakovleva-Randall. He has attended summer intensive programs with the Ballet West Academy, Joffrey Chicago, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, all on full scholarship. In 2014, he was awarded the gold medal for classical variations at the Youth American Grand Prix regional and qualified for the finals in New York City. Thus far with Indiana University Ballet Theatre, Kelich has performed in Anthony Tudor’s Dark Elegies, Michael Vernon’s The Nutcracker, Balanchine’s Rubies, and Balanchine’s Elegie. A recipient of the Premier Young Artist Award and the William and Emma Horn Scholarship at the Jacobs School of Music, he is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance with an Outside Field Sports Marketing and Management.
Jared Alexander Kelly is a sophomore pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance with an Outside Field in Business at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He began dancing at the New Macedonia Baptist Church as a member of the Liturgical Dance Ministry under the direction of Renee Henry. He continued dancing at the Thomas G.Pullen K-8 Performing Arts School in Landover, Md. During that time, Kelly was accepted into the Dance Theatre of Harlem Pre-Professional Residency Program at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In sixth grade, he began more intensive training at The Washington School of Ballet (TWSB) with Kee Juan Han and Katrina Toews. With TWSB, he performed at the White House for President and First Lady Obama. He also performed in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker with Pennsylvania Ballet at the Kennedy Center. At Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA), Kelly trained with Norma Pera and performed numerous lead roles, including The Preacher in Appalachian Spring by Martha Graham, Waltz and Elegy Male in Serenade by George Balanchine, and The Nutcracker Prince in Barry Hughson’s The Nutcracker, on the Lyric Opera House stage in Baltimore. While at BSA, he became a founding member of Vision Contemporary Dance Ensemble under the artistic direction of Katherine Smith. He has attended the summer programs of The Washington School of Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts, Boston Ballet School, and the School of American Ballet.At Indiana University, Kelly has performed roles in Paul Taylor’s Musical Offering, Twyla Tharp’s Surfer at the River Styx, Michael Vernon’s The Nutcracker, and George Balanchine’s Serenade.
Mark Lambert is a freshman at Indiana University majoring in ballet with an outside field in arts administration. He started ballet at age 14 at Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Mich., under Cameron Basden and Joseph Morrissey. During his time there, he performed principal roles in The Nutcracker, La Bayadere, Peter and the Wolf, and numerous roles in Coppelia, The Sleeping Beauty, and New Works pieces. He is a recipient of a Premier Young Artists Scholarship at the Jacobs School of Music.
Ryan McCreary is a junior scholarship recipient at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. From Mason, Ohio, she fell in love with dance as a young girl at the Mason Dance Center. Continuing her studies at Northern Cincinnati Youth Ballet (NCYB) under the direction of Oliver Arana, she performed lead roles in The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, and Paquita. She has also learned and performed principal roles in works by George Balanchine and Paul Taylor. McCreary attended summer programs at the Art of Classical Ballet, NCYB, and The School of American Ballet, and has studied with such distinguished instructors as Devon Carney, Mariaelena Ruiz, Stephanie Roig, Magaly Suárez, and Susie Payne. McCreary has placed in the top 12 at the Youth America Grand Prix in New York City and placed fourth at the World Ballet Competition in Orlando, Fla. In 2013, she was a silver-award winner at YoungArts in Miami, Fla., and a finalist for the Presidential Scholar in the Arts through that program.
Anna Peabody is a sophomore from Baltimore, Md., in her second year with IU Ballet Theater. She studied at the Baltimore School for the Arts under Norma Pera prior to attending IU. She has attended summer programs with Orlando Ballet, Boston Ballet, Chautauqua Institute, and Ballet Austin. While at IU, she has performed in Paul Taylor’s Musical Offerings and Michael Vernon’s The Nutcracker.
Emily Smith is a senior from Gurnee, Ill., and received her early training at Dancenter North under the direction of Cheri Lindell. While there, she had the pleasure of dancing such featured roles as Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. She spent five summers attending intensive programs at Pacific Northwest Ballet and Miami City Ballet. In summer 2016, she was an intern at Broadway Dance Center and completed its Summer Professional Semester for dancers. At Indiana University, she has performed in Raymonda, Concerto Barocco, La Bayadère, Swan Lake, Rubies, David Parsons’ The Envelope, and Michael Vernon’s The Nutcracker (various roles, including Snow Queen). Smith is pursuing dual degrees at IU: Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance and Bachelor of Arts in Biology. She is a recipient of a Hutton Honors Scholarship and the Music Faculty Award from the Jacobs School.Smith is a member of Hutton Honors College, Founders Scholars at Indiana University, Intra-Collegiate Emergency Medical Service, and Alpha Phi.
Raffaella Stroik, from South Bend, Ind., is a junior at the Jacobs School of Music. She trained at Southold Dance Theater under the direction of Erica Fischbach, where she danced featured roles such as Swanhilde in Coppelia and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. She competed as a soloist in the New York City finals of the Youth America Grand Prix. While at IU, Stroik has danced principal roles in Antony Tudor’s Dark Elegies and George Balanchine’s Emeralds as well as the Swan Queen in Balanchine’s Swan Lake. She has participated in American Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive in New York City, Boston Ballet’s summer dance program, and Ballet West’s summer intensive on full scholarship. She has also studied with Fabrice Herrault and Sofiane Sylve.
