Displaying items by tag: Winning Works

The Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet, presents four world premieres for the 14th annual Winning Works Choreographic Competition. Following the Joffrey's national call for ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American) artists to submit applications for the competition, this year's winners include— Jainil Mehta, Martha Nichols, Manoela Gonçalves, Houston Thomas, and Chicago-based winner Xavier Núñez (Recipient of the Zach Lazar Winning Works Fellowship). Each will choreograph an original work for the Joffrey Academy Trainees and Studio Company, featuring a commissioned score by a chosen composer collaborator. With three additional performances added this year due to popular demand, Winning Works will be presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago's Edlis Neeson Theater (220 E. Chicago Avenue) on March 8-10 and March 15-17, 2024. Tickets for Winning Works are $30 and are currently on sale at joffrey.org/winningworks.

 "Winning Works, now in its 14th year, is one of the most impactful components of the Joffrey," says The Joffrey Ballet President and CEO Greg Cameron. "Weaving together each branch of the organization, Winning Works manifests Joffrey's commitment to ALAANA choreographers and uplifts the next generation of artists. We are especially grateful to Zach Lazar, for his stellar leadership as previous Chair of the Board and are honored to name Xavier Núñez as the Zach Lazar fellow. We also look forward to extending our stay at the MCA for an additional weekend due to the competition's growing popularity among Chicago audiences."

"Winning Works propels emerging artists forward, and, in turn, shapes the future of dance," says The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director Ashley Wheater MBE. "One of this year's winners, Houston, personifies the pipeline we have developed for artists, having started with outreach classes in our Community Engagement program, moving through our Joffrey Academy, and now presenting a world premiere for Winning Works. It is a delight to welcome Houston back to the Joffrey, in addition to working in this new capacity with Xavier, Joffrey Company Artist, while introducing Jainil, Martha, and Manoela to Chicago audiences."

"This year's program of choreographers brings an abundance of experience to the Academy students, who gain the opportunity of a lifetime to collaborate on five world premieres," adds Abbott Academy Director Suzanne Lopez. "We are incredibly fortunate to host this year's selected artists, as they collectively hold a broad spectrum of professional and academic backgrounds, individually bringing their distinct styles and artistry into the studio. Houston, Jainil, Martha, Manoela, and Xavier will unveil unique pieces at the Museum of Contemporary Art, each conveying complex ideas that speak to the concerns of our time."

ABOUT THE PROGRAM 

Manoela Gonçalves will present Ocean, a work that delves into the complexities of grief, addressing the challenges of saying goodbye to a loved one, a career, a relationship, and even oneself. The piece takes inspiration from personal experiences, Alice Phoebe Lou's lyrics, and the wisdom of Buddhist teachings on the cyclical nature of life and the metaphor of the ocean, where waves signify both the ending of life and a return to the vast, collective essence. The healing process is experienced by diving into your emotions in a transformative and, sometimes surprisingly, beautiful journey.

Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Gonçalves is a multi-disciplinary artist passionate about collaboration, connecting people, and weaving their unique stories into her work. After graduating from Maria Olenewa School from Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, a scholarship was her gateway to London. During her time with the Zurich Ballett as a dancer, she created her first piece with Esther Pérez, Frida, for Young Choreographers, performed at the Zurich Opera House, where she received the Tanzpreis der Freunde des Balletts Zürich (Friends of the Ballet Zurich Award) that same year.

Last year, Gonçalves created Benteveo for the soloist Alessandro Cavallo, which received international recognition after being performed in Italy. Her work bridges the worlds of dance, film, and music through choreographing music videos for international artists, including Nightbell and Maria for Kerala Dust, in collaboration with artists from the Nederlands Dans Theater, Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal, Bayerisches Staatsballet, Ballett Zürich and many more. As a director, Gonçalves's film Lisa was featured at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival and the LA Dance Film Festival in 2021. Gonçalves' dance journey has taken her through European ballet companies, including the Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich, Leipziger Ballett, and Béjart Ballet in Lausanne, where she currently resides in Switzerland.

Jainil Mehta's new work explores the endless demands to consume, produce, and acquire in everyday modern life. During a recent visit with his family in India, Mehta observed the effects of striving for future material wealth on his loved ones' quality of life in the present, questioning the external factors that put pressure on their traditional way of life. With immense power and a feeling of momentum that cannot be stopped, Mehta's work contemplates whether reaching today's markers of success will ever be "enough."

Originally from Mumbai, India, Mehta is a former company dancer with Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. He trained at Shiamak Davar International in Mumbai, India, for thirteen years and graduated Summa Cum Laude with his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance with a Discovery Scholars Distinction. He has learned and performed works by esteemed choreographers like William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Jodie Gates, Barak Marshall, Alejandro Cerrudo, Dwight Rhoden, and Matthew Neenan. He has been featured in national press, including BBC News, Good Morning America, India Times, Brut India, Elle India, Hindustan Times, Official Humans of Bombay, and Quint, on his confidence and courage to break gender stereotypes within the Indian community. Mehta has choreographed music videos for artists such as Big Wild's "6's to 9's" and Falguni Pathak's "Jode Rahejo Raaj," in addition to teaching dance classes online and in person across India, Pakistan, China, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and the United States. He was recently selected as a choreographer at the Playdate Residency, funded by the National Endowment of the Arts, and has choreographed and designed four dance productions, Ctrl Alt Delete (2023), DECODED (2018), Alankar (2017), and Chimera (2015).

Martha Nichols presents Carried by Thought, an abstract expression of our thoughts in a thinking process and how they guide us through our experiences. The work explores how thought triggers the partnership of memory and emotion, which then leads to processing, rationalizing and ends with the acceptance of both what is understood and unknown.

Nichols is the recipient of the 2021 Princess Grace, Brian, and Amy France Choreography Honor and is an award-winning choreographer, notable dancer, master teacher, and dynamic speaker. A multifaceted artist who believes dance is an experience, Nichols' credits include Spirited (Apple TV+), In The Heights the movie, The Greatest Showman, La La Land, The Louis Armstrong House Museum, The Metropolitan Opera, Khalid, Madonna, Rihanna, Moses Sumney, GAP, XBOX, Fire Island Dance Festival, Cirque Du Soleil, MTV's VMAs, The Oscars, The Grammys, Dancing with the Stars, MJ The Musical on Broadway, and more.

In addition to her work in the commercial industry, Nichols has been commissioned by Point Park University, Boston Conservatory, and Pace University, as well as directing and choreographing her first full-length evening work, The Wider Sun, with her project-based company, Martha Nichols Dance. She is the 2016 Capezio A.C.E. Award winner for choreographic excellence, one of Dance magazine's Top 25 to Watch, and can be found in numerous dance publications. Recently, Nichols wrapped as Associate Choreographer on Disney's newest live-action film, Snow White, to be released in 2024.

Xavier Núñez (Recipient of the Zach Lazar Winning Works Fellowship) takes inspiration from a large-scale digital artwork installed on State Street during the pandemic, Chamilia. The work follows the life cycle of a flower and how it grows, blooms, wilts, and leaves nutrients for the next generation. For Winning Works, Núñez translates Chamilia into a live piece made in close collaboration with the dancers of the Joffrey Conservatory, exploring the links between community, beauty, and sustainability.

Born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, Núñez embarked on his dance journey at age ten at The Hartt Community Dance Division in Hartford, Connecticut, becoming the first dancer in his family. He continued training at the International Ballet Academy in Cary, NC, under Miguel Campaneria in 2010. In 2012, he earned the silver medal at the World Ballet Competition, propelling him to join the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company under the guidance of Kevin McKenzie and Franco De Vita. He performed in international galas in Italy and France, performing George Balanchine's Tarantella and Alexei Ratmansky's Le Carnaval Des Animaux. Xavier's path led him to The Tulsa Ballet in 2013, where he performed in productions including The Sleeping Beauty, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Cinderella. In 2017, Núñez took part in the Concours de Opera National de Paris, earning him 6th place and a contract for the 2017-2018 season with the Paris Opera Ballet.

In 2018, Núñez proudly became a member of the Joffrey Ballet, a momentous step in his career. Since then, he has been privileged to grace the stage in lead roles, performing in acclaimed productions such as Yuri Possokhov's Anna Karenina, John Neumeier's The Little Mermaid, and more. Beyond his onstage achievements, Núñez's entrepreneurial drive led him to co-found Action Lines, a video production company, with peers Dylan Gutierrez and Eric Grant.

Houston Thomas presents The Return Studies II, the next installment of a work he created for the New York Choreographic Institute in 2021 titled The Return Studies. The thematic core of the piece revolved around notions of homecoming and returning, resonating with the dancers who were re-entering studios following an 18-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For Thomas, the first installment symbolized a personal return to his artistic roots at New York City's Lincoln Center, marking his reconnection after nine years of working in Europe. In The Return Studies II, Thomas delves into his homecoming journey to Chicago, revisiting the pivotal starting point of his dance journey at the Joffrey Ballet.

Born and raised in Chicago, Thomas began his dance training with the Joffrey Ballet's Outreach Program under Pierre Locket's direction. He later attended the Joffrey Ballet's Academy of Dance while also studying at the Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts) under the direction of Lisa Johnson-Willingham. In 2011, Thomas enrolled full-time at the School of American Ballet. After completing his training at SAB in 2013, Houston joined the Dresden Semperoper Ballett, rising to the ranking of second soloist. After ten years with the company, Thomas decided to focus on choreography entirely, and in 2018, Thomas created his first work, Moonlit Variants, for the Semperoper Ballett's Young Choreographers evening.

In his first work for the New York Choreographic Institute in 2020, Thomas collaborated with NYCB Dancers in the film An Afternoon of Angelic Voices. Thomas created his second work with NYCI, The Return Studies, for its 2021 Fall Session, featuring NYCB dancers and SAB students. Thomas has since created works for Cincinnati Ballet, The Juilliard School, the School of American Ballet, ABT Studio Co., Hamptons Dance Project, Marcelo Gomes, and Ballet San Antonio. In July of 2022, Thomas premiered Follow the White Rabbit at the Young Emergent Choreographers Contest in Biarritz, France, winning a commission to create his work, Skywatcher, for the Opera National de Bordeaux.

Houston Thomas is generously sponsored by Patti S. Eylar.

Former winners of the Winning Works competition include Jeffrey Cirio (2016), current Lead Principal Dancer with Boston Ballet, Chanel DaSilva (2020), who choreographed a critically acclaimed world premiere for Joffrey's 2022-23 season opener Beyond Borders, Amy Hall Garner (2011), the choreographer of the free touring work for families Rita Finds Home co-produced by Joffrey and the Miami City Ballet, Stephanie Martinez (2015), a featured choreographer on the Joffrey's winter program The Times Are Racing, and Claudia Schreier (2018), Ballet Master to Juilliard President Damian Woetzel.   

The Joffrey Ballet gratefully acknowledges the generous support of 2024 Winning Works Sponsors Wilson Garling Foundation, William Blair with Joffrey Board Director Rita Spitz, Bill and Orli Staley Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Ticket Information  

Tickets for Winning Works at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago's Edlis Neeson Theater are $30 and can be purchased at joffrey.org/winningworks. Performances take place on Friday, March 8 at 7:30 PM, Saturday, March 9 at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM and Sunday, March 10, at 2:00 PM; and Friday, March 15 at 7:30 PM, Saturday, March 16 at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM, and Sunday, March 17 at 2:00 PM.

About The Joffrey Academy of Dance  

Founded in 2010, the Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet, provides students of all ages, levels, and backgrounds with a world-class education built on a foundation of classical ballet.  

Based in the heart of Chicago's theater district, the 20,000-square-foot Exelon Education Center at Joffrey Tower, home to the Academy, boasts four state-of-the-art studios and facilities. In 2021, The Joffrey Ballet acquired two more state-of-the-art studios in the South Loop of Chicago.   

The Joffrey Academy received the Boeing Game Changer Award in recognition of its efforts to make dance accessible to everyone, and continuously works in collaboration with Joffrey's Community Engagement department to ensure aspiring dancers from all over the Chicago area have access to a first-class dance education.

The Joffrey Academy, located in Chicago, Illinois, is the only school that follows the organizational mission, training syllabi, and artistic vision of The Joffrey Ballet. No other program, including those holding the Joffrey name, is sanctioned by The Joffrey Ballet.  

For more information on the Joffrey Academy of Dance, the Official School of The Joffrey Ballet, and its programs, please visit joffrey.org/academy. Connect with the Joffrey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.  

It is no wonder that the 9th Annual Winning Works, presented by the Joffrey Academy of Dance Chicago, has been a sold out show since its opening on March 9th through the 10th.  With its talented selection of winning choreographers and their eclectic styles, they brought a show that brings political, cultural and self-awareness, along with insight into different styles of ballet, straight into the artistic heart of Chicago. Each of the 4 performances showcased on the intimate stage of Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, was introduced with a video, giving the audience members an inside look at the process of creation of each of these performances, as well as into to the inspiration of the artists being featured.

The choreographers featured, hail from the United States (Tomie-Waheed Evans and Marissa Osato), Mexico (Edgar Zendejas) and China (Xian Xu,) featuring just as varied themes to their choice in music, style of dance and purpose of their presentation as their cultural backgrounds.

Beginning the afternoon of performances, was Edgar Zendejas’ Lineas. A silent introduction featuring a single dancer, joined by the other performers in gauzy white shirts and white shorts- performing in a cannon, invoking an ethereal beauty. The interaction between the dancers as they interacted within the group, but also as moving bodies. The representation of these interactions, showcased how are attention can shift between groups and interactions, but how we are all intertwined together within these experiences. 

Coup De Grace choreographed by Tomie-Waheed Evans, was an intense representation of the current political climate of our present day, imagining the reactions we would have if we faced an apocalyptic event. The intensity of the music, vibrant colors and movements of the costumes- portrayed how diverse we are in our current world, all struggling to survive, however if we can embrace our community and those around us- how much we can overcome these obstacles and crisis that seem to plague us all.

Xian Xu’s, Vessels Bearing was an expression of Asian culture and how it is defined by rice, through the representation of rice bowls.  With influences of Asian movement and design with Xu’s choreography, the essence of rice, as a provider of energy, sustenance and warmth is what binds so many of us together.  The impact is has on those who have enough to rely on, as well as those who do not have enough.

  
Give the People What They Want choregraphed by Marissa Osato, was another stunning representation of the quality of talent being featured by Joffrey.  This particular ballet reflected how the façade we carry into our everyday life can eventually or may take its toll on us as we try to present our best face forward.  With music created by a local Chicago composer, Elliot Callighan, the vibrancy of this piece, was uplifting in that we are not all individually facing the challenge of our inner realities and how we present them in real life.  

All four pieces, as their 4 choreographers are so diverse in their backgrounds, ballet styles and musical inspirations, it is exciting to watch as the cultures and perspectives combine on the stage. It is a thrill that the 'Winning Works' has continued to provide us with so many opportunities to view the talented works of these choreographers and an insight into the growing styles of ballet. We look forward to what is coming next, as we relish in the talent we have been shown.