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.

Jessica Lang is an American director and choreographer based in New York City. She is resident choreographer at Pacific Northwest Ballet and artist-in- residence at Sarasota Ballet. Since 1999, Lang has created over 115 original works on companies including American Ballet Theatre, The Royal Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Vienna State Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, the National Ballet of Japan, and her eponymous company, Jessica Lang Dance. For opera, Lang made her directorial debut in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater at Glimmerglass and presented at Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival in 2017. She choreographed San Francisco Opera’s Aida, directed by Francesca Zambello, that has been presented at Washington National Opera (WNO), Seattle Opera, LA Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 2024, Lang choreographed Salome for Des Moines Opera and with Kanji Segawa, co-choreographed Zambello’s new production of Turandot for WNO. Additional commissions include new works for the Vienna State Ballet for the Opernball, the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra in 2014, the Harris Theater and the Chicago Architecture Biennial with architect Steven Holl, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Guggenheim Museum for its Works and Process series. For fashion, Lang was the movement advisor for Carolina Herrera’s pre-fall 2022 collection. Lang was artistic director of Jessica Lang Dance from 2011 to 2019. The company performed in over 85 cities, presenting in major venues including Lincoln Center, Los Angeles Music Center, the Kennedy Center, the Harris Theater, NY City Center, Northrop Auditorium, Winspear Opera House, Tel Aviv Opera House, Jacob’s Pillow, BAM Fisher, and Helicon Opera. She is the recipient of the Martha Hill Award, Arison Award, and Bessie Award. She has been a fellow at NY City Center and The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU and choreographer-in-residence at Princeton University. Lang is a graduate of The Juilliard School and a former member of Twyla Tharp’s company THARP!

Sasha Janes is associate professor of ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music. He was born in Perth, Australia, and received his formal dance training from the Australian Ballet School. He has danced professionally with West Australian Ballet, Australian Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, and Dayton Ballet, performing principal roles in works by Jiří Kylián, George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Marius Petipa, Septime Webre, Anthony Tudor, Dwight Rhoden, Alonzo King, Twyla Tharp, Alvin Ailey, and many others. At the invitation of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and associate artistic director Patricia McBride, Janes joined Charlotte Ballet in 2003. In 2006, he was commissioned to choreograph his first ballet, Lascia la Spina, Cogli la Rosa, and has since choreographed several ballets for Charlotte Ballet, including Carmen, Dangerous Liaisons, We Danced Through Life, Last Lost Chance, Shelter, At First Sight, Loss, The Four Seasons, The Red Dress, Utopia, Playground Teasers, The Seed and the Soil, Chaconne, Queen, Sketches from Grace, and Rhapsodic Dances, which was performed as part of the Kennedy Center’s Ballet Across America series in June 2013. The Washington Post called Janes “a choreographer to watch.” He was a participant in New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute and has been a guest choreographer for Richmond Ballet’s New Works Festival. He was a principal dancer with Charlotte Ballet for eight seasons before being named rehearsal director in 2007 then associate artistic director in 2012 and adding the title resident choreographer in 2013. In fall 2016, Janes premiered his ballet Saudade for the Jacobs School of Music, where he served as guest faculty. In spring 2017, he premiered his Wuthering Heights for Charlotte Ballet, inspired by Emily Bronte’s classic novel. In fall 2020, he premiered the first two movements of 19 at the Jacobs School.

Equally at home in the worlds of symphony, opera, and ballet, Judith Yan has held staff conductor positions with the San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and National Ballet of Canada. A passionate advocate for new works, Yan has led numerous world premieres, including An American Dream (Perla/Murphy) for Seattle Opera, Dracula (Pastor/Kilar) for West Australian Ballet, and February (Kaminsky/Moore) and Ours (Estacio/Chafe) for Opera on the Avalon, where she serves as music director and principal conductor. For the Jacobs School of Music, she has conducted An American Dream and both Michael Vernon’s and Sasha Janes’ The Nutcracker. Her participation in the Jacobs School’s 2024 production of Janes’ The Nutcracker was featured in a PBS documentary. Recent engagements include Don Giovanni and Suor Angelica with Opera Omaha, Madama Butterfly with New Orleans Opera, Stuck Elevator with Kentucky Opera, The Rape of Lucretia with San Francisco Opera (Merola), Grigorovich’s La Bayadère and Swan Lake with the Korean National Ballet, and Don Quixote with the Hong Kong Ballet. Since 2021, Yan has maintained a close association with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, conducting nine programs, ranging from Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Dvořák to Gipps, Richter, and Copland. This 2025–26 season, she makes her London Coliseum debut with English National Ballet, leading Giselle and a Gala Concert with Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. The season also features a concert production of Tosca, orchestral programs featuring Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, and her debut with Opera Grand Rapids, conducting Madama Butterfly. In the following season, Yan looks forward to company debuts with Bordeaux National Ballet and Manitoba Opera.

Christian Claessens is senior lecturer in music in ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music. Born in Brussels, Belgium, Claessens began his training at the conservatoire de la Monaie. In 1978, he came to New York as a scholarship student at the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre School. After graduating, he performed with the Kansas City Ballet and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. In 1984, he returned to Europe as a member of the Dutch National Ballet. As a 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. In 1992, he founded the Scarsdale Ballet Studio. In 1999, he codirected the International ballet project with Valentina Kozlova and Diana White of the New York City Ballet. 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. Choreographically, Claessens’ work has been presented throughout the New York Tri-State New York areas as well as with IU’s Jacobs Opera and Ballet Theater and the Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance.

Blake Kile’s work spans theater, dance, concerts, and corporate events, with designs seen across the country. He earned an M.F.A. from Columbia University.

Elizabeth Licata is an award-winning costume artist and head of costumes at IU Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater. Previously, she worked for the Santa Fe Opera, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Constellation Stage & Screen, and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. She was an M.F.A. student under Heather Milam, head of the Costume Technology program at IU. Additionally, she has studied haute couture at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and embroidery from the London School of Embroidery and at Chanel’s École Lesage in Paris. Licata earned a B.A. from Dartmouth and an M.A. from Stanford.

Glenda Lucena is a world-renowned professional ballet teacher and repetiteur. She brings her insight, excellence, and spirituality into every studio. She has served as ballet master at Miami City Ballet, taught consistently for the Chautauqua Institution, and served as both faculty and repetiteur for the Jacobs School of Music Ballet Department.

Kyra Nichols is professor of ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music, where she holds the Violette Verdy and Kathy Ziliak Anderson Chair in Ballet. Nichols began her early training with her mother, Sally Streets, a former member of New York City Ballet (NYCB). Nichols became an apprentice and then a member of the corps de ballet at NYCB in 1974 and was promoted to soloist in 1978. In 1979, George Balanchine promoted her to principal dancer, and she worked closely with both Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. She performed numerous leading roles in the NYCB repertoire, including Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto Number 2, Stars and Stripes, Liebeslieder Walzer, and Davidsbündlertänze. She has worked with an extensive list of choreographers, including William Forsythe, Susan Stroman, Christopher Wheeldon, Jacques D’Amboise, Robert La Fosse, and Robert Garland. Nichols retired from New York City Ballet in June 2007 after 33 years with the company, the longest-serving principal dancer in the company’s history. Immediately prior to joining the Jacobs School, she was ballet mistress at Pennsylvania Ballet.

Rachel Secrest is originally from Carmel, Indiana, where she began her training under the direction of Suzann DeLay. She performed with Jessica Lang Dance for three seasons, appearing nationally and internationally in both concert dance and opera. Her performances of Lang’s choreography include featured roles in Aida with the Washington National Opera and the Los Angeles Opera, where she later served as dance captain and stager in Francesca Zambello’s production. Secrest serves as a stager and choreographic assistant for the work of Jessica Lang. She was choreographic assistant to Lang during her commission at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and has since helped bring Lang’s choreography to companies and institutions across the United States and internationally, including the South African company WGRUV. In addition to her work with Lang, Secrest has served as a choreographic assistant to Omar Román de Jesús on commissions for Juilliard, Ballet Hispánico, the Joffrey School, Point Park University, WINN Dance Hamburg, and SALT Contemporary Dance. As a dancer, she has also performed with BODYTRAFFIC, Parsons Dance, and River North Dance Chicago. She has been a longtime performer and collaborator with BOCA TUYA under the direction of Omar Román de Jesús, where she also serves as company manager, contributing to the company’s creative development since its early years. Secrest holds a B.F.A., summa cum laude, in Dance and Political Science from Fordham University/The Ailey School.

Irina Ter-Grigoryan received her degrees in 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 IU Jacobs School of Music Ballet Department.

Sarah Wroth is chair of the Ballet Department and professor of music in ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music. She began her training at the Frederick School of Classical Ballet in Frederick, Maryland. In 2003, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance with an Outside Field in Education from the Jacobs School of Music. That same year, she joined Boston Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet. While dancing with the company for 14 years, Wroth performed principal roles in works by William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Marius Petipa, Jerome Robbins, Helen Pickett, and Mikko Nissinen, and soloist roles in ballets by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, and August Bournonville. She has performed with Boston Ballet internationally in Spain, England, South Korea, and Finland. In 2009, she was awarded the E. Virginia Williams Inspiration Award for her unwavering dedication to ballet and the Boston Ballet Company. Wroth earned a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University in 2015 and retired from Boston Ballet in May 2017. While at Indiana University, Wroth has graduated dancers into professional positions with over 18 companies around the United States. She has also choreographed a variety of works, including operas such as Ainadamar, Eugene Onegin, Mansfield Park, and Cendrillon.