Winter Dance Gala 2024 Program

Original Premiere, 2021, University of Kansas City

Great Works Dance Project 2024 

Choreography: Jae Man Joo

Rehearsal Director: Whitney Moncrief

Music: "Etude 02" by Philip Glass from Philip Glass: Etudes for Piano, Vol. 1, nos. 1-10,     "Symphony No. 3" by Philip Glass from Symphonies Nos.2 and 3- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Marin Alsop

Lighting Design: Evan P. Carlson 

Costume Coordination: Julia Kosanovich

Dancers: 

Charlotte Anderson, Kaitlynn Bradley, Madison Christopher, Alaina D'Orazio, Sabrina Darnall, Laneé Dickens, Olivia Gray, Chloe Gunkel, Maeve Krzysiak, Erica Magaru, Abigail Meronek, Grace Minard, Jordan Moyer, Ashlie Roth, Jessica Thompson, Katelyn Yeskie

(Performing 2/9 at 7:30 pm & 2/10 at 2 pm)

Katie Hatfield, Laila May

(Performing 2/10 at 7:30 pm & 2/11 at 2 pm)

Hailie Rane Adamczak, Ariana Bereolos 

Understudies: Ariana Bereolos, Megan Hansen, Alyse Kazimierczuk, Morgan Simpson, Juliana Stavola

This Great Work Dance Project artist residency and performance was made possible through the Great Works Endowment, the Arthur E. and Martha S. Hearron Great Works Dance Project Endowment, the Clara Gamble Special Projects in Dance Endowment and the Jerre Locke-James Ballet Fund.

Jeremy Blair ("As You Like It")

Jeremy Blair is a choreographer, performer, and educator based in Kalamazoo, MI. His creative research investigates LGBTQ+ representation, social-vernacular dance, and jazz dance pedagogy. His choreography has been presented at Jacob’s Pillow, City Center, Gibney, Harris Theatre, and other venues throughout the United States. Jeremy has performed with Thodos Dance Chicago, Lucky Plush Productions, Chicago Moving Company, Khecari Dance Theatre, Aerial Dance Chicago, and with Friches Theatre Urbaine in Paris. Jeremy received an MFA in choreography from the University of Iowa and a BA in theatre from Millikin University. Jeremy currently is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Western Michigan University and is a 500-hour registered Hatha yoga teacher.

Jae Man Joo ("Between Sky and Water")

International Choreographer. 2009 Princess Grace Choreographer Award Winner. Former Associate Artistic Director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet. A Former Principal dancer at Ballet Hispanico & Complexions. he has also Worked With Shen Wei, Zvi Gotheiner, Igal Perry, and Jessica Lang. Jae Man Joo was invited to create a New work for Jacob's Pillow in 2017 and 2019. He Received The Best Individual Artist Award From The Bagnolet International Dance Festival In Paris, France. He received the 2021 Korea Dance Critics Choice Award and the 2022 prestigious Korea Edaily CULTURAL GRAND PRIZE. Joo's ballet works are being performed worldwide. Recently he premiered a new ballet "Serenity", the 7th creation for Complexions at the NY Joyce Theater and Full evening work ballet “DIVINE” for Gwangju City ballet last July in Korea. currently he is creating a Brand New Full-Act Ballet for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater 2024 Season at the Benedum. He is A Resident Choreographer, Resident Artist, and Ballet Master for Complexions and Assistant Professor/Ballet at Point Park University /Conservatory of Performing Arts.

Seyong Kim ("An Evening of BACH")

Seyong Kim, Associate Professor of Dance at Western Michigan University, holds an MA in Dance Education from NYU and an MA in Dance from Sung-Kyun-Kwan University in South Korea. He is a Certified Movement Analyst, a Registered Somatic Dance Educator, a PBT (Progressing Ballet Technique) Certified Teacher, and an ABT® Certified Teacher (Primary through Level 7 of the American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum). Furthermore, he earned the Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University. Seyong has taught for the University of Georgia, Rutgers University, Kent State University, Randolph College, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, and Grand Rapids Ballet. Seyong has danced with the Metropolitan Opera, Albania National Ballet Theatre, Traverse City Dance Project, TAKE Dance, and Oakland Ballet Company. His choreographic works have been presented at Landestheater Coburg in Germany, Taiwan JueDai Taipei International Dance Festival, International Contemporary Dance Festival of Mexico City (FIDCDMX), ProArteDanza in Canada, Battery Dance Festival, Palm Desert Choreography Festival, American Dance Guild Festival, Washington International Dance Festival, Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, Movement Research at the Judson Church, and CrossCurrent Asian American Dance Festival.

Special Thanks to the Dance Major Seniors! As your graduation approaches, I wanted to extend my sincere appreciation and special thanks for sharing your artistic journeys with me over the last four years. I feel privileged to have played even a small role as your mentor on this journey. It has been an honor to work with such talented, dedicated students and watch you grow into skilled artists as well as compassionate human beings. Stay true to the joy that dance brings you. Wishing you profound success and fulfillment in all of your future endeavors.

Kelsey Paschich ("Archetype")

Kelsey Paschich is a multifaceted dance artist and Assistant Professor of Innovation at Western Michigan University. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, she holds an MFA from the University of New Mexico and BFA from Point Park University. She is one of 15 US Countertechnique® Certified Teachers and 44 globally. Paschich boasts an international performance career spanning over 20 years; companies include: Moscow State Ballet, DCDC2, Thodos, River North Dance Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Interdansa Dance Festival, Keshet Dance, ARCOS Dance, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Austria’s Hannibal Project. She creates live and digital works investigating humanity, the moving body, and technology through screendance, dancefilm, and installations. Her recent experiments with motion capture and AI have led to innovative digital creations that have been featured in over 11 festivals across the globe. Awards include: WMU Presidential Innovation Professorship, Tanz mit dem Tiger Distanced Digital Dance Maker (Germany), Creative Living for Dancers (Belgium), and NCCAkron Dancing Lab residency. Paschich was an invited speaker for conferences in Bandung, Indonesia, Seoul, Korea, Amsterdam, The Netherlands and was the recipient of the National Dizzy Feet Foundation Gene Kelly Legacy Scholarship. Her curiosity and bold vision reveal dance as a perpetually evolving art form which she continues to shape through her versatile, multi-faceted career and drive for innovation.

Special thanks to my cast of dancers who have invested their whole selves into the re-staging and development of this work.

Carolyn Pavlik ("Nothing was left but infinite fragments")

Carolyn Pavlik is a Professor of Dance at Western Michigan University. She earned her M.F.A in Dance from the University of Washington and her B.A. in Dance from the University of Texas. Carolyn is the co-editor (with Melanie Kloetzel) of Site Dance: Choreographers and the Lure of Alternative Spaces. Her dance films have been presented worldwide, most notably at the American Dance Festival, LesGaiCineMad, Festival Internacional de Video-danza de Buenos Aires, Cineautopsia: Bogota Experimental Film Festival, and the 41st Seattle International Film Festival, and her concert dance works have been presented in New York, Washington, Michigan, and Texas. Carolyn was awarded the 2017 WMU College of Fine Arts Excellence in Creative Research Award, 2008 Maggie Allesee New Choreography Award and the 2005 Austin Critics’ Award. She performed professionally with the Sharir Dance Company, among others. Carolyn is certified in Polestar Pilates and trained in Myofascial Release Technique, Deep Tissue Massage, Thai Massage and Shiatsu.

Marissa Peterson ("The State Of")

Marissa Peterson graduated from Western Michigan University in April 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance, and a certificate in Dance Studio Management. During her time at WMU, she had the opportunity to perform Paul Taylor's work, Esplanade. She also performed in faculty pieces choreographed by David Curwen, Jeremy Blair, and Monique Haley, along with many student choreographed pieces. Marissa has had many of her works showcased in performances at WMU such as Orchesis, the Martha Hearron memorial, and Graduating Presentations. She has also had her work presented at the American College Dance Association in 2017. In her senior year of college, Marissa opened a dance studio, and has been running it for seven years now. She loves teaching, choreographing and, running the business side as well.

Ashlie Roth ("Yikes!")

Our Artistic Director, Ashlie Roth, is originally from Portland, Oregon and is currently pursuing her BFA Degree in Dance with a minor in Leadership and Business Strategy. She performed with South Chicago Dance Theatre in Memoirs of Jazz in The Alley, and was a member of WMU’s Western Dance Project. She has had the privilege to work with choreographers like Jae Man Joo, Penny Saunders, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Tsai Hsi Hung, and more.

Yacov Sharir ("Nothing was left but infinite fragments")

Professor Yacov Sharir came to Austin in 1978 to start the American Deaf Dance Company and later accepted a position at The University of Texas at Austin where he taught for thirty-six years. A dual citizen of Israel and the United States, Sharir spent his early career as a dancer with the Batsheva Dance Company School, the Stuttgart Ballet, and the Ballet Theatre Contemporaine in Paris. As a performer, he had the opportunity to work under many dance legends including Martha Graham, Jerome Robbins, and José Limón. In 1982, Sharir founded the Sharir Dance Company, the resident dance company of the UT Department of Theatre and Dance. As a choreographer and teacher, Sharir pioneered the use of new technologies, including virtual reality, intelligent fabrics, and interactive systems in performance. His work has earned him prestigious fellowships from the Banff Centre for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Kia Smith ("Symphony in Grey")

Kia S. Smith is a Chicago native and holds a BFA in Dance from Western Michigan University and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is the founder and Executive Artistic Director of South Chicago Dance Theatre which recently had its Auditorium Theatre of Chicago debut with the organization’s first evening length work Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley. As a freelance artist, Kia’s upcoming and recent commissions include Chautauqua Opera (2023), Chicago Opera Theater (2023), Giordano Dance Chicago (2023), Houston Contemporary Dance Company (2023), Middle Tennessee State University (2023), University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee (2023), Western Michigan University (2024), Chicago Repertory Ballet (2022), Ruth Page Civic Ballet Training Company (2022), and Madison Ballet (2021). Kia was named a Rising Star in 2023 by Chicago Magazine and Player of the Moment in the category of Dance for New City Magazine's annual 50 Players List.