PROGRAM FOR PERFORMANCES
(Friday and Saturday)
1. Theme and Variations, Pas de Deux
Dancers: Isabella Boylston, Joo Won Ahn
Choreography: George Balanchine
Music: Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky, Suite No. 3 for orchestra in G major (String Reduction – Var. 9 & Var. 10)
***
2. Portrait
Dancers: Michaela DePrince
Choreography: Peter Leung
Music: Nico Muhly, “Quiet Music” (solo piano)
***
3. Agon, Second Pas de Trois
Dancers: Christina Clark, Daniel Durrett, Lawrence Rines
Choreography: George Balanchine
Music: Igor Stravinksy, Interlude, Bransle Simple, Bransle Gay & Bransle Double
(String Reduction)
***
4. Rodeo Pas de Deux
Dancers: Jennifer Lauren, Renan Cerdeiro
Choreography: Justin Peck
Music: Aaron Copeland, Rodeo: III. Saturday Night Waltz (String Reduction)
***
5. Tanowitz Commission
Dancers: Ruby Lister, Miriam Miller, Mira Nadon
Choreography: Pam Tanowitz
Music: Ted Hearne, “Nobody’s” (solo violin)
INTERMISSION
OUR COLLABORATORS
Learn about the dancers and musicians who are contributing to this year’s festival on the island.
Joo Won Ahn
Joo Won Ahn is originally from Wonju, Korea and began his formal training in 2006 at Y.J. Ballet People Academy and Sun Hwa Art School. In 2012, he became a student at Korea National University of Arts in Seoul where his performance credits include Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty, Paquita, Raymonda, La Bayadère, and Don Quixote. Ahn won the Silver Medal at the Korean International Ballet Competition and 3rd Prize at the 2012 Varna International Ballet Competition in Bulgaria. Ahn was invited to join ABT Studio Company in 2013 after winning the Gold Medal at Youth America Grand Prix in New York City.
Ahn joined ABT as an apprentice in January 2014 and the corps de ballet in June 2014. He was promoted to Soloist in September 2019 and to Principal Dancer in September 2020. His repertoire with the Company includes the title role in Apollo, Solor in La Bayadère, a Cavalier in Cinderella, Ali, the slave and Lankendem in Le Corsaire, the Grand Pas de Deux from Don Quixote, Albrecht in Giselle, Persian Man in The Golden Cockerel, the Nutcracker Prince, Arabian Man, Russian Dance, and Spanish Dance in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Dionysius in Of Love and Rage, Winter in The Seasons, Bluebird, the Italian Prince, and a Fairy Cavalier in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, Neapolitan Dance in Swan Lake, leading roles in AFTERITE, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Garden Blue, Serenade after Plato’s Symposium, Theme and Variations, and Thirteen Diversions, and featured roles in AfterEffect, Bach Partita, and In the Upper Room.
He created Murasaki in A Gathering of Ghosts, leading roles in Desire and ZigZag, and featured roles in After You, New American Romance, and Songs of Bukovina.
Isabella Boylston
Born in Sun Valley, Idaho, Isabella Boylston began dancing at the age of three. While training at the Academy of Colorado Ballet, she won the gold medal in 2001 at the Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York City. In 2002, she began training at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, on a full scholarship.
Boylston joined the ABT Studio Company in 2005, the main Company as an apprentice in May 2006 and the corps de ballet in March 2007. She was promoted to Soloist in June 2011 and to Principal Dancer in August 2014.
Her repertory with the Company includes Nikiya and Gamzatti in La Bayadère, the Ballerina in The Bright Stream, Fairy Godmother and the Fairy Summer in Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, Moss in James Kudelka’s Cinderella, Aurora in Coppélia, Gulnare and an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, Chloe in Daphnis and Chloe, Kitri and a flower girl in Don Quixote, the second girl in Fancy Free, Lise in La Fille mal gardée, the title role in Alexei Ratmansky’s Firebird, Giselle, the peasant pas de deux, and Moyna in Giselle, the title role in Jane Eyre, Manon and Lescaut’s Mistress in Manon, Clara the Princess in The Nutcracker, Olga in Onegin, Other Dances, Juliet and a Harlot in Romeo and Juliet, Princess Aurora and Princess Florine in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, Princess Florine and the Fairy of Fervor in The Sleeping Beauty, Odette/Odile, the pas de trois, and the Polish Princess in Swan Lake, the Mazurka in Les Sylphides, Sylvia and Persephone in Sylvia, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Princess Tea Flower in Whipped Cream, leading roles in AFTERITE, Bach Partita, Ballo della Regina, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Désir, Everything Doesn’t Happen at Once, Her Notes, From Here On Out, Let Me Sing Forevermore, Monotones I, Songs of Bukovina, Symphonie Concertante, Symphony in C, Theme and Variations, With a Chance of Rain, and ZigZag, and featured roles in After You, Birthday Offering, Brief Fling, Deuce Coupe, Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, In the Upper Room, Gong, The Leaves Are Fading, and Sinfonietta.
Boylston created Columbine in Ratmansky’s Harlequinade, The Spirit of the Corn in Ratmansky’s The Seasons, the Diamond Fairy in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, leading roles in Ratmansky’s Chamber Symphony, Christopher Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions, and Gemma Bond’s A Time There Was, and featured roles in Lauri Stallings’ Citizen, Ratmansky’s Dumbarton, and Demis Volpi’s Private Light.
Boylston won the 2009 Princess Grace Award and was nominated for the 2010 Prix Benois de la Danse. In 2011, she received the Clive Barnes Award. She was the recipient of the 2014 Annenberg Fellowship.
She has appeared as a guest artist with the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg and the Royal Danish Ballet.
Christina Clark
Christina Clark is a member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet. She was born in New York, New York and began her ballet training at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, in 2005. She received additional training during summer programs at the Chautauqua School of Dance, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and Boston Ballet School. In August 2016, she became an apprentice with NYCB and she joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in August 2017.
Michaela DePrince
Michaela DePrince was born in war-torn Sierra Leone, right in the midst of the country’s decade-long civil war. Rebels killed her father, and shortly after, her mother died of fever and starvation. At a young age, Michaela had vitiligo, a condition that causes patches of skin to lose its color. In Michaela’s motherland, vitiligo was widely considered a curse of the devil and thus, her uncle abandoned her at an orphanage. It was there where Michaela bore the brunt of relentless taunts, neglect, and abuse; being deemed “the devil’s child.”
At a very young age, Michaela caught in the corner of her eye a magazine at the orphanage, featuring a poised ballerina en pointe. This was the moment when Michaela was not only introduced to ballet, but rather, completely, totally, and utterly enamored with ballet. Soon after, Michaela was adopted to a family in the US; becoming one of the nine children adopted, making it eleven children in total.
Michaela’s new parents quickly recognized her innate talent for ballet. They promptly enrolled her in ballet classes and supported her passion, embracing her ambitions. While attending the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at the American Ballet Theatre, Michaela worked tirelessly to hone and refine her skills so she could overcome the multitude of stereotypes tied to conventional beauty and racial barriers in the world of ballet.
After Michaela was featured in the ballet documentary, First Position, Michaela debuted professionally as a guest principal at the Joburg Ballet in South Africa. She also famously appeared on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. At the age of 17, Michaela performed with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. A year later, she joined the Dutch National Junior Company, as a second-year member and apprentice to the main company. Now at the age of 26, Michaela is now ranked as a soloist.
Besides dancing, Michaela loves working alongside disadvantaged young people, with whom she shares her message of hard work, perseverance, and hope, encouraging them to dream big! In 2016, she was named an Ambassador for War Child Holland. Michaela in collaboration with War Child Netherlands had her very own gala, “Dare to Dream.” The event strives to empower the resilience and well-being of children living with violence and armed conflict with a passionate dedication towards the importance of mental health. After the success of the Benefit Gala, Michaela is now working towards taking her “Dare to Dream” Gala around the globe.
In 2014, she co-authored the book, “Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina,” published by Random House Children’s Books, with her adoptive mother. Michaela’s memoir has since been published under different titles in twelve different countries. She has also worked with her mother on Ballerina Dreams, also published by Random House Children’s Books.
Moreover, she has successfully collaborated with a wealth of clients. Among them, Michaela worked with companies such as J.P.Morgan Chase & Co. and Microsoft; fashion brands such as Jockey and Tommy Hilfiger; titles such as Harper’s Bazaar, Numero, and Vogue; and with women such as Madonna and Beyonce, making an appearance in their music videos. She has also done a popular, well-received TedTalk, in addition to speaking alongside Barack Obama at The Forward Leadership Event. Most recently, Michaela starred in the family feature film, Coppelia, which combines live action dance with animation. The film debuted at Annecy Festival in France to much critical acclaim with plans to travel to other film festivals, debuting in cinemas later this fall.
Time magazine awarded Michaela on its list of Inspiring Women in the World in 2013. Forbes recently named Michaela as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in Art & Culture. It’s clear the ballet stage, and the world-at-large, is truly Michaela’s for the taking.
Daniel Durrett
Daniel R. Durrett started dancing at age 5 at Dr. Lyrica Joy Ministries Ballet School, then trained at UpTown Arts for two years. Cincinnati Ballet’s Artistic Director Victoria Morgan offered Durrett a full scholarship to continue his training at the Cincinnati Ballet Otto M. Budig Academy. In 2013 Durrett competed in the YAGP semi finals and won 1st place in Classical and 2nd place in Contemporary. He advanced to the YAGP NYC Finals and was invited to attend Houston Ballet’s summer course. During the summer intensive Durrett was invited to join Houston Ballet’s Second Company (HBII).
While in Houston Ballet II Durrett performed in Stanton Welch’s Brigade, The Long and Winding Road, Swan Lake, La Bayadère, and Blue; Ben Stevenson’s the Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty, Ma Cong’s Calling, Garrett Smith’s Mortal Form, as well as the Principal role in George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante. Durrett received the Gold medal in the Pre Professional Division of the Indianapolis International Ballet Competition in June 2015, and went on to join Houston Ballet as an Apprentice in November 2015.
Durrett then was promoted in July 2016 to Corps De Ballet and performed more works by Ben Stevenson, Stanton Welch, Justin Peck & Alexander Ekman.
Durrett Joined Boston Ballet as an Artist in 2017 & promoted to Second Soloist in 2022.
Recent repertoire at Boston Ballet includes George Balanchine’s Agon (Bransle Simple), Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 (Pas de Trois), John Cranko’s Romeo & Juliet (Benvolio), William Forsythe’s Blake Works 1 & 3 , Playlist (EP), Pas/Parts 2018, and In the Middle Somewhat Elevated, Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free (1st Sailor), Justin Peck’s ‘In Creases’ and Lead Russian in Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker Jiri Kylián’s Bella Figura (Ken Ossola) Balanchine’s Chaconne (Little Pas De Deux.)
Alex Fortes
A native of San Diego, violinist Alexander Fortes is recognized for his versatility and warmth. Recent orchestral and chamber music performances have included concerts throughout Europe, Indonesia, South America, and North America with groups such as the Henschel, Dalí, Amphion, Attacca, Argus, Franklin, and Momenta Quartets; Toomai String Quintet, the Knights, A Far Cry, Quodlibet Ensemble, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. His playing is featured on A Far Cry’s 2014 and 2018 Grammy-nominated albums, as well as on Law of Mosaics, which The New Yorker’s Alex Ross hailed as one of the top ten albums of 2014. Fortes has performed frequently with OSL since 2010.
Carrie Frey
Carrie Frey(viola) is an active performer and educator, focused on working with open, inquisitive musicians and composers and encouraging creativity in her students. An enthusiastic proponent of new music, she has premiered over 200 pieces. In New York City, Carrie can be heard with a number of new music ensembles, and as an improviser, she performs with Simone Baron’s ensemble Arco Belo and with electroacoustic trio Hierophant. Her debut sonata album, The Grey Light of Day, with pianist Robert Fleitz, was released by Wild Iris Productions in 2016. Carrie is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory (BM) and the Manhattan School of Music Contemporary Performance Program (MM), and is currently pursuing a DMA at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
Pala Garcia
Festival Music Advisor
Pala Garcia is a critically acclaimed violinist, balancing a full performance schedule with her work as an educator and advocate of socially conscious artistry. As a contemporary music specialist, she is the co-founder of Longleash, an “expert young trio” (Strad Magazine) that recently added two highly acclaimed releases to their discography: a debut album, Passage, that earned them Sequenza 21’s Best New Recording Artist of 2017, and a work on the album Soft Aberration, named a Notable Recording of 2017 by The New Yorker. Their work has been recognized and supported by Chamber Music America, the Alice K. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, The Amphion Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Puffin Foundation, the Atherton Family Foundation, and an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Grant from the Music Academy of the West.
Pala has performed as a featured artist throughout Asia, Europe and North America, and has also performed as a regular guest in some of the world’s most respected ensembles, including the the International Contemporary Ensemble, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, her longstanding involvement with Carnegie Hall’s social impact programs has led to meaningful artistic collaborations with New Yorkers from all walks of life, making music, celebrating creativity and building community in prisons, shelters and hospitals.
Pala is Assistant Faculty at the Juilliard School’s Precollege Division, a Graduate Teaching Fellow at Hunter College, and is on the faculty of The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program, which serves talented young students from backgrounds underrepresented in the American performing arts. With Longleash, Pala also co-founded the Loretto Project, an annual weeklong graduate composition seminar in central Kentucky, and directs its Pathways Initiative, a high-school composition workshop invested in addressing issues of gender justice and representation. She received bachelor and master degrees from The Juilliard School, and is currently a Graduate Center Fellow at CUNY’s doctoral program in music performance, where she is also completing a Certificate in Women’s Studies.
Ruby Lister
Ruby Lister is member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet. They were born in Sumner, Washington, where they began their training at the age of five at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Lister attended summer programs at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, in 2017 and 2018, before enrolling full-time for the 2018 winter term. Lister became an apprentice with NYCB in August 2021, and joined the corps de ballet in December 2021.
In 2020, as a student at SAB, Lister received the Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise and the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists. Lister was also featured in the 2020 Disney+ docuseries “On Pointe.”
Miriam Miller
Miriam Miller is a member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet. She was born in Iowa City, Iowa, and began her dance training in 2001 at University of Iowa Youth Ballet and School of Dance under the direction of Kathryn Smith. In 2006, she began studying with Sarah Barragan at City Ballet of Iowa. She attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in 2011 and 2012, enrolling as a full-time student during the 2012 winter term. Ms. Miller became an apprentice with NYCB in January 2015. While still an apprentice with NYCB, Miller performed the role of Titania in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as featured roles in Balanchine’s Harlequinade (Le Bonne Fée) and Peter Martins’ Swan Lake (Princess). She joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in January 2016 and is a recipient of a 2017 Princess Grace Award.
Mira Nadon
Mira Nadon is a member of New York City Ballet’s Corps de Ballet. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and began her ballet training at the age of six at the Inland Pacific Ballet Academy in Montclair, California under the direction of Victoria Keonig and Jill Voznick. She attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of NYCB, in 2014 and 2015, before entering SAB full-time for the 2015 winter term. In November 2017, Ms. Nadon became an apprentice with NYCB and as an apprentice she originated a corps role in Gianna Reisen’s Judah. She joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in November 2018.
John Popham
Festival Music Advisor
John Popham is a critically acclaimed cellist, educator, and musical organizer based in Brooklyn, NY. A versatile and dynamic performer, Mr. Popham has collaborated with a wide-range of composers, musicians, and performing artists both within the United States and abroad. His “brilliant” and “virtuosic” (Kronen Zeitung) playing can be heard on numerous solo and chamber music releases on Tzadik, Carrier, New Focus Recordings, Albany, and Arte Nova record labels. Critics have noted Mr. Popham’s “velvet tone,” “remarkable technique” (Fanfare), and “warm but variegated,” and “highly polished” artistry (The New York Times).
Mr. Popham is a founding member of Longleash, an “expert young trio” praised for its “subtle and meticulous musicianship” (Strad magazine). The trio has performed at venues including the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (Troy, NY), San Francisco’s Center for New Music, National Sawdust, (le) poisson rouge, Florentinersaal (Palais Meran), Aula Maxima (UCC Cork) as well as concert series with the Metropolitan Museum, the Kaufman Center (Ecstatic Music Festival), the Green Music Center (Sonoma), Scandinavia House (New York City), Open Music (Austria), and FUAIM (Ireland).
In addition to his work with Longleash, Mr. Popham is a current member of Either/Or Ensemble, and has performed internationally with Klangforum Wien, Talea Ensemble, the Wet Ink Ensemble, the Argento Chamber Ensemble, and ECCE. Recent festival appearances include Monday Evening Concerts (Los Angeles), reMusik (St. Petersburg), Beijing Modern Music Festival (China), Brücken (Austria), Internationales Musikfest Hamburg (Germany), Open Music (Austria), Wiener Festwochen (Austria), Bay Chamber (Maine), and the Contemporary Classical Music Festival (Peru).
As an educator and arts advocate, Mr. Popham is committed to a holistic and socially engaged approach to musical instruction. In 2016, he joined the cello faculty of the Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program, a program dedicated to nurturing the talents of students from backgrounds typically underrepresented in classical music. Mr. Popham also serves as the Juilliard School’s Artistic Administrator for Community Engagement, where he mentors Juilliard teaching fellows; produces interactive, multidisciplinary educational programs; and curates the school’s Young People’s Concert series. Mr. Popham co-directs The Loretto Project, an annual composition seminar and new music festival held at the Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Kentucky.
Lawrence Rines
Lawrence Rines trained at the School of American Ballet and The Rock School for Dance Education. He has attended summer intensives at Ellison Ballet, The Kirov Academy of Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Miami City Ballet, The School of American Ballet, and The Royal Ballet School.
His repertoire includes Karole Armitage’s Bitches Brew, Paulo Arrais’ ELA, Rhapsody in Blue, Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella (Jester), George Balanchine’s Agon (2nd Pas de Trois), Chaconne (Demi Couple, Pas de Deux), Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Donizetti Variations, Symphony in C (Third Movement, Principal), Episodes, Jewels (Diamonds, Rubies), Symphony in Three Movements (5 couples), Theme and Variations, Coppélia, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 (Pas de Trois), and Kammermusik No. 2, August Bournonville’s Bournonville Divertissements (Napoli Pas de Six), Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot’s (adapted by Larissa Ponomarenko) Giselle (Peasant Pas de Deux), John Cranko’s Romeo & Juliet (Benvolio, Carnival King), Alexander Ekman’s Cacti, Jorma Elo’s Elo Experience, William Forsythe’s Blake Works I, Playlist (EP), Artifact 2017, Pas/Parts 2018, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, and The Second Detail, Jiří Kylián’s Wings of Wax, José Martinez’s Resonance, Wayne McGregor’s Chroma and Obsidian Tear, John Neumeier’s Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler (Soloist Men, Pas de Quatre), Mikko Nissinen’s Swan Lake (Pas de Trois, Pas de Cinq) and The Nutcracker (Lead Russian, Bear, Doll, Spanish, Chinese, Pastorale), Justin Peck’s In Creases, Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty (Puss in Boots, Bluebird), Helen Pickett’s Eventide, and Jerome Robbins’ Interplay and Glass Pieces (First Movement Principal, Third Movement).
Rines has also performed Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude at the Nantucket Atheneum 10th Anniversary Dance Festival under the director of Tyler Angle, principal dancer with New York City Ballet. While at SAB, Matthew Renko choreographed a solo on Rines in the inaugural year of the New York Choreographic Institute’s summer session in 2008.
Rines joined Boston Ballet II in 2009 and became an artist of the Company in 2011. He was promoted to second soloist in 2017, and to soloist in 2019.
Susan Walters
Susan Walters joined the New York City Ballet as a solo pianist in 1997. She has performed all of the important piano solos with the Company, including Piano Concerto No. 2, The Goldberg Variations, Les Noces, Rubies, In G Major, Who Cares, 2 and 3 Part Inventions, and Dances at a Gathering. She performed Dances at a Gathering in Paris, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, and New York City. In addition, Ms. Walters premiered Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH, and performed premieres by Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck, Richard Tanner, and Christopher D’Amboise. Ms. Walters has performed outside of the ballet with such renowned artists as Midori, Peter Wiley, The Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, and members of the New York Philharmonic. In addition, she works regularly with Jacques D’Amboise at the National Dance Institute. Ms. Walters enjoys hiking in Canyonlands and Arches National Parks in Utah.
Renan Cerdeiro
Renan Cerdeiro was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At a very young age, he began training in various dance styles at the Escola de Dança Alice Arja in Rio de Janeiro. In 2008, Cerdeiro was named a finalist at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, and that same year was awarded a scholarship to train at Miami City Ballet School. Within two years founding artistic director Edward Villella invited him to join Miami City Ballet as a company apprentice. In 2013, he was promoted to principal dancer by current artistic director Lourdes Lopez.
Since joining, Cerdeiro has toured with the company performing at the New York City Center, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, in Ottawa and Vancouver, Canada, as well at the Bolshoi in Moscow as part of the Benois de la Danse Gala. Cerdeiro was named by Dance Magazine as one of the world’s “Top 25 Artists to Watch in 2011.”
Jennifer Lauren
Jennifer Lauren is a native of Tuscaloosa, Ala. At age three, she began training in various regional schools and later with Royal Academy of Dance and the Alabama Ballet Pre-Apprentice Program. Lauren’s summers were spent attending American Ballet Theatre intensives. In 1998, at age 16, she joined the Alabama Ballet under the direction of Wes Chapman and Roger Van Fleteren. In her nine years under Chapman, she performed principal roles in numerous full-length classics including Giselle, Firebird, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Don Quixote and others, as well as many principal Balanchine roles.
In 2007, Lauren joined Miami City Ballet as a member of the Corps de Ballet and was promoted to Soloist in 2011. In 2014, she was named one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch.” During her tenure with MCB, Lauren has been featured in principal and soloist roles. In 2015, she was promoted to Principal Soloist and then to Principal in 2017.
