Tag Archives: Cincinnati Ballet

The 22-23 Season opens with ‘The Kaplan New Works Series’ at Aronoff Center, Sept. 8-18

Cincinnati, OH (August 22, 2022) – For the first time in 25 years, Cincinnati Ballet has a new artistic leader. Jodie Gates has officially assumed her role as the Company’s Artistic Director and welcomes audiences to the first production of Cincinnati Ballet’s 2022-2023 Season with The Kaplan New Works Series at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, Jarson-Kaplan Theater. “The creation of new choreography is critical to the evolution of the artform,” Gates said. “One of my goals for the Company is to demystify ballet and encourage new voices and perspectives in contemporary dance. While I did not program this season’s New Works, I am excited to experience these world and regional premieres. I am grateful for the Company’s longstanding commitment to encouraging choreographic experimentation and that commitment will continue in my artistic vision for the future.”

This Season’s New Works features contemporary dance including a world premiere from Cincinnati choreographer and DANCEFIX founder Heather Britt and a Cincinnati premiere by award-winning British choreographer Cathy Marston. The program also features premieres from Cincinnati Ballet dancers Daniel Baldwin, Taylor Carrasco, and Melissa Gelfin De-Poli. Over the years, New Works has reached cult-type status with Cincinnati audiences who are often first to experience groundbreaking world premieres by up-and-coming choreographers in the intimate Jarson-Kaplan Theater. Big names in the dance world including Travis Wall, Mia Michaels, and Cincinnati Ballet’s own resident choreographer Jennifer Archibald have created pieces for New Works that have gone on to be performed at ballet companies and venues around the world. Over the past five years, New Works also became a unique artistic incubator of sorts for Cincinnati Ballet dancers interested in becoming choreographers. Each year, industry leaders select pieces created by Cincinnati Ballet dancers for the Company’s annual Choreography Workshop in the Spring; Those creations are then commissioned and performed during New Works.

Jodie Gates assumed her position as Cincinnati Ballet Artistic Director, Sue and Bill Friedlander Endowed Chair, and Artistic Director of Cincinnati Ballet Otto M. Budig Academy on August 1, 2022. Ms. Gates was most recently the Founding Director of the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and the Artistic Director and Founder of the Laguna Dance Festival in Laguna Beach, California since 2005. She began her professional career at age 16 with the mentorship of the visionary artistic director Robert Joffrey. Gates went on to become a celebrated principal dancer at Joffrey Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and Pennsylvania Ballet as well a principal guest artist with prominent companies internationally. She danced title roles in the classical full-length ballets and principal roles in neoclassical and modern dance works and has collaborated with a host of renowned choreographers, including Alonzo King, Agnes de Mille, William Forsythe, Paul Taylor, Martha Clarke, and Mark Morris, among others. Gates is herself an accomplished choreographer having created more than sixty original dance works. She is also an artistic collaborator with choreographer William Forsythe, staging ballets internationally for Forsythe Productions. She is the recipient of the distinguished 2021/2022 Residency Fellowship from the Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University. The fellowship acknowledges her most recent work as initiator for the Artistic Directors Coalition for Ballet in America, a group of artistic directors, choreographers, and educators who are addressing systemic racism within the culture of ballet.

Tickets for The Kaplan New Works Series are on sale now. For more information visit cballet.org. Please check the website for the latest health alerts. Masks are currently optional for patrons at Music Hall and the Aronoff Center for the Arts. NOTE: Artists may be masked during performances depending on current health alerts.

WHO: Cincinnati Ballet

WHAT: The Kaplan New Works Series

WHEN: Thursday, September 8 at 7:30 pm

• Friday, September 9 at 8 pm
• Saturday, September 10 at 2 pm and 8 pm
• Sunday, September 11 at 1 pm
• Wednesday, September 14 at 7:30 pm
• Thursday, September 15 at 7:30 pm
• Friday, September 16 at 8 pm
• Saturday, September 17 at 2 pm and 8 pm
• Sunday, September 18 at 1 pm

WHERE: Aronoff Center for the Arts, Jarson-Kaplan Theater
650 Walnut Street
Cincinnati, Ohio

TICKETS: Call 513.621.5282 or visit cballet.org

Cincinnati Ballet 2022-2023 Season Sponsors:

Rhonda & Larry A. Sheakley, Margaret and Michael Valentine, ArtsWave, Mercy Health, Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund, Ohio Arts Council, The Austin E. Knowlton Foundation

About Cincinnati Ballet
Since 1963, Cincinnati Ballet has been the cornerstone professional ballet company of the region, presenting a bold and adventurous array of classical, full-length ballets and contemporary works, regularly with live orchestral accompaniment. Under the artistic direction of Jodie Gates, Cincinnati Ballet is  a creative force within the larger dance community, commissioning world-premiere works and exploring unique collaborations. With a mission to enrich, expand, and excel in the art of dance through performance, a high-caliber academy, and impactful education and community engagement in local to global communities, Cincinnati Ballet reaches beyond the stage in programs that allow every person in the region to be part of the continued evolution of dance. To that end, Cincinnati Ballet presents exhilarating performances, provides extensive education and community engagement programs, and offers top-level professional ballet training at Cincinnati Ballet Otto M. Budig Academy.

Company promotes three dancers, hires two new artists

(May 5, 2022) CINCINNATI, OH — Cincinnati Ballet announces new dancer hires and promotions for the 2022-2023 Season. Two new artists will join the Company with the opening of The Kaplan New Works Series in September. Simon Plant and Lenai Alexis Wilkerson will join as new artists of the Company. Cincinnati Ballet’s artistic leaders also announce three dancer promotions for the 2022-2023 Season. Nikita Boris has been promoted to the corps de ballet. Apprentices Catherine Lasak and Jhaelin McQuay have been promoted from apprentice to new dancer positions in the Company. “It is so gratifying to watch these talented dancers develop their artistry and am pleased to share their promotions. I am excited to watch their continued growth in the Company,” said Artistic Director Victoria Morgan, who will retire at the conclusion of the 2021-2022 Season. Artistic Director Designate Jodie Gates, who will assume artistic leadership of the Company in August, added her congratulations to the new artists joining the Company. “I am thrilled to welcome Simon and Lenai to this talented group of artists,” Gates said. “Cincinnati Ballet audiences can look forward to incredible performances and opportunities to connect with these two dynamic dancers.”

Simon Plant in Dwight Rhoden’s BALLAD UNTO, Parma, Italy in 2017. Photography Roberto Ricci.

Simon Plant was born in Sydney, Australia and trained at the Australian Ballet School. Upon graduation, he was a member of The Australian Ballet for two seasons, where he performed works by acclaimed choreographers Wayne McGregor, Kenneth MacMillan, Jiří Kylián, among others. He immigrated to the United States in 2017 and joined New York City’s Complexions Contemporary Ballet under Co-Artistic Directors Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson.

Photo by Cathryn Farnsworth.

Lenai Alexis Wilkerson hails from Washington, D.C., where she attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, under the direction of Norma Pera. Lenai graduated from the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, and then became a company artist with Ballet Hispánico, where she toured internationally for three seasons. Lenai has performed works by choreographers including George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Martha Graham, Barak Marshall, Azure Barton, Anabelle Lopez Ochoa, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, d.Sabela Grimes, and Dwight Rhoden. She is one of the seven 2016-2017 dance scholars awarded a scholarship from Nigel Lythgoe’s DizzyFeet Foundation.

Nikita Boris was born in River Edge, New Jersey. She began her ballet training at the Irine Fokine School of Ballet and Petrov Ballet School. Nikita continued her studies at the Valentina Kozlova Dance Conservatory of New York. In 2016, she had the opportunity to attend the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. She participated in the Vaganova Prix, received the Artistry Award, and performed in the winner’s gala at the Mariinsky Theatre. Nikita joined Boston Ballet II in 2018 and spent the 2019-2020 Season with New York Dance Project, before joining Cincinnati Ballet.

Catherine Lasak spent her youth training at the Judith Svalander School of Ballet and Ballet Chicago Studio Company. Following summers at the School of American Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet, she joined PNB’s Professional Division on full scholarship. For the 2017-2018 Season, Catherine Grand Rapids Ballet as an apprentice. In 2018, Catherine joined Cincinnati Ballet’s Second Company – CB2 for two years, before being promoted to the Company for the 2021-2022 Season.

Aaron M. Conway Photography

Jhaelin McQuay began dancing at age 11 at the Marina Del Rey Magnet School for the Performing Arts. He soon expanded his dance training at the Debbie Allen’s Dance Academy, where he found a love and appreciation for hip hop, modern, tap, flamenco, contemporary, ballroom, and African. In his teens, McQuay seasonally trained at The Rock School, Bolshoi Ballet, Ballet West, and San Francisco Ballet. He performed with Ballet West’s Academy for three years before joining Cincinnati Ballet II in the 2019-2020 season. He has danced for the Oscars and has appeared on stage with Mariah Carey, Chris Brown, Raven Symone, and Debbie Allen, as well as performing works by George Balanchine, Fredrick Aston, Bruce Marks, Dwight Rhoden, among others. In early 2021, McQuay’s choreography placed top five in the YAGP finals.

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Cincinnati Ballet 2021-2022 Season Sponsors:

Victoria Morgan’s 25^th Anniversary Season presented by PNC

Rhonda & Larry A. Sheakley, Margaret and Michael Valentine, ArtsWave, Mercy Health, Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund, Ohio Arts Council, The Austin E. Knowlton Foundation

About Cincinnati Ballet

Since 1963, Cincinnati Ballet has been the cornerstone professional ballet company of the region, presenting a bold and adventurous array of classical, full-length ballets and contemporary works, regularly with live orchestral accompaniment. Under the artistic direction of Victoria Morgan, Cincinnati Ballet has become a creative force within the larger dance community, commissioning world premiere works and exploring unique collaborations. With a mission to enrich, expand, and excel in the art of dance through performance, a high-caliber academy, and impactful education and community engagement in local to global communities, Cincinnati Ballet reaches beyond the stage in programs that allow every person in the region to be part of the continued evolution of dance. To that end, Cincinnati Ballet presents exhilarating performances, provides extensive education and community engagement programs, and offers top-level professional ballet training at Cincinnati Ballet Otto M. Budig Academy.