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"The Devil Ties My Tongue" SKETCH Series 2013 | photo: David DeSilva

DDP interviews with new & emerging talents as well as current leaders in the dance world: choreographers, art directors, journalists, dancers, set/lighting/costume designers, patrons, festival/venue programmers, etc.

Meet the Choreographer: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa

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By Liza Yntema, DDP Founder and President

DDP Founder and President Liza Yntema had the pleasure of interviewing choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa for DDP’s latest Meet the Artist. Read the article below and learn more about Annabelle Lopez Ochoa on her website, here.

Liza Yntema (LY): Can you tell me about your background, both as a dancer and as a choreographer?

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa (ALO): I trained in the classical Vaganova technique at the Royal Ballet of Flanders for seven years, along with some Martha Graham technique, jazz, and flamenco. Then I danced in four different companies in Germany and The Netherlands for 12 years, going from a Dance Theatre based group in Germany, to a modern jazz troupe in Holland, and ending at the Scapino Ballet, a contemporary dance company in Rotterdam, where I choreographed my first pieces during the annual choreographers’ workshop. The company’s artistic director, Ed Wubbe, noticed my talent and subsequently commissioned a new work of mine for the company. The same happened after I made a short duet during the choreographers’ workshop at the Dutch National Ballet. After seeing the work, Ted Brandsen commissioned me to create a new work for the company – this would be my first ballet piece with the dancers en pointe.

LY: What was your first piece?

ALO: I started choreographing at the age of 11, so I’m not quite sure what I would count as my first piece. I suppose I could choose “Symbiosis,” my first creation for the 1997 choreographers’ workshop at Scapino Ballet. It was a short female duet based on a French rhyme that I had written during my daily commute on the train. The piece became very popular and was performed for a few years by the Codarts students.

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Liza Yntema, and BalletX artistic director Christine Cox together at the opening night of The Little Prince, Lopez Ochoa’s 2019 commission for the company.

LY: What obstacles have you had to overcome?

ALO: Obstacles are there for you to bounce back from average work you make or bad reviews you get. Finding solutions to problem tickles my creativity. I have had lots of average work, and I still get bad reviews! I keep learning and keep growing as an artist.

It just doesn’t take as long anymore to bounce back from a bad review. Each time I am reminded that I am lucky to be a choreographer instead of a dance reviewer in this life.

LY: Tell us about your 2019-2020 Schedule?

ALO: My 2019-20 season is jam-packed with 11 premieres and nine revivals, comprised of three full-length ballets:

  • Chamber Dance Project – Rondo ma Non Troppo (June 20, 2019)
  • BalletX- The Little Prince [world premiere] (July 10, 2019) and at Joyce Theater (Oct 1-6, 2019)
  • DTH – Balamouk [extended version] premiering at Jacob’s Pillow (July 9-14, 2019)
  • Incolballet – Memorias del Dorado (July 19, 2019)
  • Arnott Dance – Khepri (July 24, 2019)
  • Kansas City Ballet – Tulips and Lobster (Oct 11-13 & Oct 18-20, 2019)
  • The Washington Ballet – Delusional Beauty (Oct 23-27, 2019)
  • BalletMet- New World Premiere (Oct 25-27, 2019 & Oct 31- Nov 2, 2019)
  • Nashville Ballet- A Streetcar Name desire [US premiere] (Nov 1-3, 2019) 
  • Ballet Nacional de Cuba – Celeste (Nov 1-3, 2019)
  • Ballet Hispanico – New Work (Nov 22-23, 2019)
  • HNB – Frida (Feb 6-25, 2020)
  • Central School of Ballet – Requiem for a Rose (March 2020)
  • Cincinnati Ballet- Bloom [US premiere] (March 19-21, 2020) 
  • Tulsa Ballet – Vendetta [US premiere] (March 26-29, 2020) 
  • Smuin Ballet – Requiem for a Rose [revival] (April 24, 2020)
  • Diablo Ballet- Cylindrical Shadows [revival] (May 1-3, 2020) 
  • Josh Beamish – New Solo & Duet (May 5, 2020) 
  • Whim W’Him – New Work (May 29-30, 2020)
  • Jacob’s Pillow – New Work for the Contemporary Classical Summer School (June 13, 2020)

LY: Do you have any future commissions you can discuss?

ALO: The future doesn’t exist and has no certainty, so I rather not discuss it. What I am certain about is that the premiere of The Little Prince is approaching soon [DDP note: at the time of interview], and it has been a beautiful journey to work with BalletX and dig deep into the symbolism of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s wonderful story.

LY: What motivates you? A piece of music, a story?

ALO: The concept usually comes first, then the music.

LY: Tell us about your relationship with BalletX: Christine Cox has supported so many emerging artists.

ALO: Christine invited me in 2008 to create a work for an all-female choreographers’ evening. I think I might have been the first overseas choreographer at the time. She is fearless- she didn’t let the whole visa application process phase her.

Since then, Christine has invited me three more times. BalletX has really grown as an art institution in Philadelphia, and I have grown and matured as a choreographer. The Little Prince will be my fourth piece for the company. I think that Christine focuses on the potential of artists and hence invites them back. I am forever grateful to her.

Program from BalletX’s world premiere of Lopez Ochoa’s The Little Prince . Photo of program by Liza Yntema. Image of Roderick Phifer of BalletX. Photo by Gabriel Bienczycki.

LY: What might change the culture of ballet to allow more talented women to emerge?

ALO: Parents should allow their daughter(s) to behave in a more “masculine” way. Why do we make a difference between games boys versus girls should play? Young girls, with their leadership instinct, should be allowed to pick their teams in gym class and be captains of a soccer team. We need to stop talking to young girls about the fact that marriage and becoming a mother is the highest form of success and happiness one can achieve. Our happiness should not depend on others.

In ballet school you are taught that if you get chosen for the main character, the princess or the ingenue who is cheated on by a prince, you made it. Seriously?

We should make the other roles just as important. Who are the villagers in Giselle? What is the backstory of the corps of swans? Please, let’s give the corps de ballet more identity instead of screaming at them to stand in line on the right count. Let’s inspire these young women.

That being said, you can’t impose choreography on a woman for the sake of creating more female choreographers. Unlike choreographers, some artists simply love being the vehicle of someone’s creation- and they’re great at it. However, if there is a female choreographer with potential, please don’t ditch them after their first work just because it wasn’t as amazing as you had hoped. Masterworks come much later in one’s life and career, and that is the difference between young male and female choreographers. Male choreographers are given a second opportunity much faster than their female counterparts. Hence, they grow faster at their craft.

Smuin Contemporary Ballet rehearses Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Requiem for a Rose (2016). Photo by Chris Hardy, courtesy of Smuin Contemporary Ballet.

LY: Do you have a dream ballet or an idea you carry around with you?

ALO: If I had, I wouldn’t tell it.

LY: So, what is home right now? You are on the road so much.

ALO: I’m a Buddhist, I don’t give much importance to material things. Home is the place where happiness is. It can be anywhere. But my fiscal address is in Amsterdam.

LY: Do you have a routine for preparing a piece? Thinking it through?

ALO: I think a lot, and I’m aware I should be writing more down. That being said, when I work on a narrative ballet, I usually start with the script six months in advance, and I update it as I rehearse. When it is an abstract ballet, I hardly write anything down (except my search for a title can be found in my notebooks). I find that creativity happens mostly in the studio with the dancers, but can also happen on the street, in the shower, at an exhibition, or while observing any human behavior.

LY: How about what restores you? Spending time with family? Meditation?

ALO: I try to disconnect once a year: turning off the internet, watching and listening to the sound of the waves, and reading books.

I always meditate for a hot second right before rehearsal starts – that’s why in that moment I can never hold a conversation.

LY: Are you still dancing yourself? 

ALO: I don’t dance anymore, except every now and then I’ll dance to salsa or 80’s music. Dancing is good for the soul!

LY: Any thoughts about how Dance Data Project can better serve women leaders in ballet and connect you with funders? the press?

ALO: Give women visibility. Have them be interviewed for magazines like Vogue, etc. to reach to a larger spectrum of young women. Make documentaries. Anything that receives exposure becomes a normalcy, and hopefully in 20 years we won’t be having this gender gap discussion anymore, and we will simply be talking about artists and leaders.

Tamara Rojo as Frida in Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Photo by Laurent Liotardo.

Find out more about The Little Prince here.

Get tickets to see it at Vail Dance Festival here.

Meet the Choreographer: Penny Saunders

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Originally from West Palm Beach, Penny graduated from the Harid Conservatory in 1995, and began her professional career with The American Repertory Ballet under the direction of Septime Webre. She went on to dance with Ballet Arizona, MOMIX Dance Theater, Cedar Lake Ensemble and in 2004 she joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. In 2011, Saunders won the International Commissioning Project which launched her choreographic career, creating pieces for Hubbard Streets’ main and second company, Whim W’Him, SFDancworks, Neos Dance Theater, Owen Cox Dance Group, and The Nexus Project.

Saunders is the choreographer-in residence at Grand Rapids Ballet and receives support from New York City Ballet Choreographic Commissions Initiative. She was the recipient of the 2016 Princess Grace Foundation Choreographic Fellowship. In the 2018-2019 season, she will collaborate with The Royal New Zealand Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Ballet Idaho, Seattle Dance Collective, The Grand Rapids Ballet, and SALT Contemporary Dance in residency at The University of Utah (see her upcoming works following the interview).

Saunders and DDP Founder Liza Yntema in the studio at Grand Rapids Ballet.

LY: First let’s talk about Testimony. You mentioned this was your first truly political work, why now and what do you hope your audience takes away?

PS: When I was listening to the [Kavanaugh] hearings on the radio, I was immediately thinking, “Wow, this could make an interesting piece.” There were just so many overlapping elements to it. First of all, it seemed like such a show! Everyone involved knew there would be no resolution, no new evidence was coming out even with the additional FBI investigation, and there was missing information–a key person was not coming forward.

There we were though, all of us listening to their every word, watching their every action as they talked about their darkest and most vulnerable moments. I hated myself for listening so intently…it felt like one of those awful reality shows! Then the after discussions began: “Well, I found her to be really believable…” blah, blah, blah. [I thought] there has to be a better way than this! We had already experienced the Anita Hill/ Clarence Thomas hearings years before. So similar and so heartbreaking. I suppose making a piece about these hearings was my personal way of digesting it all, and ultimately, I am asking the audience to consider the way in which we hear women. Are we really listening well enough?   

LY: Any future works you are already choreographing in your head?

PS: I am constantly choreographing in my head. I wish I could get it to stop sometimes! But yes, I usually mull over ideas for future projects for a while and create little choreographic wish lists and playlists of music for each. I like to think of myself as a professional daydreamer.

LY: You said something fascinating when we were talking, that you prefer to find younger dancers who, “Haven’t decided what is beautiful yet,” so essentially, they don’t have a pre-existing notion of how they should look. Can you elaborate a bit more?

PS: Yes, what I find (in the ballet world especially) is that people hold on to their ideas of beauty and what looks good on their body because they have had to for many years. I find it hard to undo those things, those physical habits can be so ingrained, that I often find it easier to work with younger dancers who have had less time in the studio “perfecting” those ingrained physicalities so there is more room for my input. 

The relationship a dancer has with the floor is key to the unfolding of their story.

-Penny Saunders to Liza Yntema

LY: We also talked about pointe work; you have choreographed for it, although I haven’t seen any of your pieces en pointe. Can you describe why and how you choose to set a work with pointe shoes or not and how that changes technique and what you look for in dancers?

PS: I wouldn’t say it is my preference, but I have become more and more comfortable creating that type of vocabulary with every new commission that calls for that element.

At first, I found it intimidating because the last ten years of my career was spent at Hubbard Street where socks are the most common footwear. With time and some experimenting though, I have found that making work en pointe can be quite fun.

For me now, it becomes another tool in my tool box. For certain characters or certain stories, pointe shoes can make the most sense, and for others it might need to be barefoot, high-heeled, or what-have-you. It is just another option I appreciate having when I am trying to create distinct characters – the relationship a dancer has with the floor is key to the unfolding of their story.

LY: You mentioned Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. You came up through this company, with Glenn Edgerton, one of the most forward thinking and inclusive Artistic Directors. How do you think that shaped you as a dancer and choreographer? Have you experienced negative reaction to women taking on leadership positions? 

PS: You know, I think that I have been extremely lucky. In my dance career I jumped around a lot – different styles and companies – which gave me a sense of ownership over my own path. I loved experiencing new things and being creative, and the people I worked for loved that too. I had no idea that I would become a choreographer; it still surprises me some times, but I can’t imagine doing anything else at this point. I love it, and it drives me crazy–the perfect combo. I am so grateful that I always felt supported.

Dancers from Grand Rapids Ballet perform in Saunders’ Testimony. Photo by Jade Butler

LY: I am constantly amazed at just how hard physically and mentally everyone in the dance world works. Not just the dancers, but the choreographers, Artistic Directors, Ballet Masters, etc. How does the difficulty change when you are also mom – I know you and your husband trade off – are you provided tools: child care, places to nurse a baby, or flexible hours? 

PS: I think that being a mom adds to the experience in so many ways. Not only do you feel love more intensely, you feel everything more intensely! 

Now that my son is a little older, I am able to relax into it a bit more, but at first it was hell! Being a freelance choreographer is a job that takes me many places, where I have to spend quite a lot of time away from home. As a mom, I just can’t do that. I wouldn’t want to. Thank goodness my husband understands so completely the roles that I juggle – he juggles them too. Organizing our calendar is a ridiculous endeavor sometimes, but we love what we do and we whole heartedly understand and appreciate what it means to parent a child. We have had to set boundaries with our time, and we have had to learn to not say yes to everything. Being home, or at least together wherever we are is our biggest goal. Our 5-year-old son has more frequent flyer miles than most adults!

LY: The Big Question – How do you keep ballet relevant, important, and consistent to diverse audiences, or do you feel that’s not really your role? What is the future of ballet given the fact that government funding is dwindling and audiences are aging?

PS: I think that the role of the arts in this world is under-appreciated. It is one of those things that we think that we can live without, therefore we treat it as this extra expense reserved for the elite.

It is our job as artists to continue reengaging the world by making work that has relevance and shares an honest voice that invites the audience to participate and reconnect. There is a special type of magic that happens when a room full of people share an experience together –– by connecting to the art that they are witnessing, they are able to connect with one another. 

There is a special type of magic that happens when a room full of people share an experience together –– by connecting to the art that they are witnessing, they are able to connect with one another. 

-Penny Saunders to Liza Yntema

LY: The Other Big Question – How can DDP best serve you, women like you, and the little girls I saw in pink tutus in the studio with their noses pressed up against the door as Grand Rapids rehearsed? 

PS: Exposure is a big issue for me. I often make work on smaller companies, which I love, but very often there are no professional photographers/videographers or critics. This makes it difficult to share my work with the world. If more directors could see my pieces performed live, I think I would have a better chance at getting new commissions in larger companies.

Most companies I work for do not take their shows on the road either, so the one weekend of shows is all I get. If there are no good quality videos or photos to share with other directors or festivals, then my work goes relatively unseen. Emerging from this pattern is what I am working on now…

Dancers at Grand Rapids Ballet rehearse Penny Saunders’ Testimony.

Upcoming Projects for Penny:

April 11th – 21st :  SALT Contemporary Dance in residency at The University of Utah (premiere)
June 6th – 9th :  NWA Ballet Theater (remount)
July 12th – 14th :  Seattle Dance Collective (remount)
October 18th – 20th : The Grand Rapids Ballet (premiere)
October 11th – 13th : Indiana University (remount)
October 24th – 27th: The Dayton Ballet (remount)
November 1st – 3rd : Ballet Idaho (remount)
February 7th – 9th :  Diablo Ballet (remount)
April 2nd – 5th :   Dayton Ballet (remount)
April 16th – 19th :  Pointe Park University (remount)
April 17th – 19th :  Oklahoma City Ballet (premiere)
May 7th – 10th :  Tulsa Ballet (premiere)
May 22nd – 24th: Whim W’Him (premiere)
July 8th – 19th : BalletX (premiere)

Saunders’ biographical information was obtained from Grand Rapids Ballet and upcoming projects were provided by Saunders.

Meet the New Choreographer: Lia Cirio

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Lia Cirio is taking on a new role: choreographer. Cirio has joined Boston Ballet’s ChoreograpHER initiative, which gives female company members the opportunity to produce and present original works of choreography. Our Founder, Liza Yntema, recently signed on as Lead Sponsor of the program.

A principal dancer for the company, Ms. Cirio has danced her entire career with Boston Ballet’s, first joining the main company in 2004. As one of the inaugural participants, she has choreographed alongside dancers Hannah Bettes, Jessica Burrows, Lauren Flower, Sage Humphries, and Haley Schwan in the six-piece program.

Boston Ballet in Lia Cirio’s Sta(i)r(e)s; photo by Liza Voll; courtesy of Boston Ballet

Cirio’s work for the initiative is her choreographic debut, and diverges from the classical work she is often seen performing as a dancer. The piece, entitled Sta(i)r(e)s, is set to music by a female composer, Carolina Chocolate Drops. Four dancers perform in the piece, featuring a male couple and a mixed-gender couple.


Lia Cirio with Desean Taber ; photo by Brooke Trisolini; courtesy of Boston Ballet

In a promo video for ChoreograpHER, Cirio says it best:

“The future is female and this is one step to show that we can stand up and be powerful.”

Watch her discuss the process of creating Sta(i)r(e)s in the video below:

Meet the Company Director: Christine Cox

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The absolute first thing to know about Christine Cox is that she is incredibly kind, and the second that she has huge reserves of energy. The enthusiasm, optimism and genuine joy she brings to even the smallest detail or the briefest encounter, do much to explain the extraordinary success and outsized impact of her influential company, BalletX, which over the last 13 years has survived and prospered as the second, smaller company in Philadelphia, growing a fantastically loyal and energized audience base.

Artistic Director of BalletX, Christine Cox.

Cox has managed to create a legacy of groundbreaking work: by the end of the 2018-2019 season, BalletX will have premiered 75 new works, while also keeping the Company consistently in the black. This extraordinary combination of business acumen and artistic fearlessness, has resulted in a new $850,000 Ballet Center for World Premiere Choreography: a 5,000 square foot light filled studio,  as well as for the first time this season, the ability to pay health care costs for dancers who are on a 37 week contract and her full time staff.

Founded in 2005 with Matthew Neenan,  and now lead by Cox who is Artistic and Executive Director BalletX consistently pushes to the cutting edge by producing new works by choreographers who are at many stages of their development and from all over the world..  From Annabelle Lopez Ochoa to Penny Saunders, the Company under Cox’s steady hand, has provided a platform for some of the best and most innovative modern ballet choreographers, many of whom are women, including Gabrielle Lamb, Helen Pickett and many years ago her own work.

Oh, and yes, she also finds time to be a mom of 2 young boys.

Liza Yntema sat down with Christine Cox in early December:

LY: You mentioned in passing that you are dyslexic. It doesn’t seem to have slowed you down at all?

CC: I am absolutely a do-er, not a dreamer. Because school was a such a challenge for me, I learned that hard work is the only way to accomplish anything. For me moving felt like I was home and dance became a safe haven. What I gained from being a little slower in school was how  to navigate in society, How to communicate with people and to to team build.”

LY: You mention that it was challenging for you to fit into the ballet world, please explain?

CC: I started developing at age 10 and was a mature teenager. I was also a strong willed young lady who’s character and personality was much different than other dancers. I looked like a women and that did not serve me well as a professional ballet dancers. Directors wanted me to not have curves and as thin as possible.

BalletX dancers in Wubkje Kuindersma’s Yonder. Photo by Vikki Sloviter.

LY: You seem to be able to do it all, yet you made the decision not to choreograph any more?

CC:  In 2008 I was 9 months pregnant and choreographing, while also developing a company. My gut instincts told me to stop dancing and choreographing and focus on being a new Mom and growing BalletX. The first step was formalizing a company that offered annual contracts instead of gigs.I knew we needed to establish a home theater and our residency at The Wilma Theater was and is a great partnership. I wanted to build a passionate audience that fell in love with new ballets  

LY: You have assembled an incredible roster of talent over the years. How do you find choreographers?

CC: I find choreographers in all sorts of ways. Many pass along their work  through emails and sometimes I get to see it live when time permits.I love work that ignites my soul and touches my heart. I love work that surprises me and gets my brain flowing. I know quickly if a choreographer has something I am curious about. I am also looking for the dancers to grow and learn from the process. New ballets are in important and help the field stay relevant.

Dancers Richard Villaverde and Skyler Lubin rehearse with choreographer Katarzyna Skarpetowska for Off the Canvas. Photo by Vikki Sloviter.

LY: Do you see a difference in how women and men approach choreography?

CC: Well, one very basic differences is that  more men seem comfortable promoting themselves. They will reach out multiple times while I do not get a lot of submissions from women. Maybe they are just not as many out there? Haha – isn’t that part of the problem?

It’s hard for me to compare men and women because everyone is different. As I women I know I like to view work that has some meaning or purpose behind its development. I get tired of movement for movement’s sake unless it has a real intention.

LY:  In 2008, you hosted a panel with Helen Pickett and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa on the state of the dance industry and being a female choreographer.  If I asked you for an update today, what would you say?

CC: It really doesn’t feel much different. I have to seek out female choreographers and am making an effort to support their work at BalletX. This season I am commissioning 4 world Premieres by Women out of 7.

LY:  Finally, I was interested in where you see BalletX headed, back to the model of dancers in socks streaking across the stage at a dead run.

CC: I am tired of socks! I often ask choreographers to make work en pointe company because I am curious about what the shoe can do to help or hinder the dance vocabulary.

LY: And to that point, I am incredibly excited you are working with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa again, on a beautiful uplifting story?

CC: Yes, this summer Annabelle will be back working with us on a new full length ballet of The Little Prince by Saint-Exupéry.

LY:  I cannot wait! So much would rather see that than another Nutcracker.

CC: And we have another super talented choreographer working with the Company now, Katarzyna Skarpetowska is BalletX’s 2019 Choreographic Fellow. [See video below.]

LY: Ok, big picture, talk to me about the future of  ballet..

CC: I can have a dream for the company to grow but everything comes down to having the support. That is a challenge for all non profits. My goal is to continue to push our capabilities at BalletX, support the creation of new work with a minimum of 7 world premieres a year, making BalletX a hub/lab of dance creation.  Focus on the development of artist and open our home for the community to experience dance in a whole new way. Continue and expand our Dance eXchange program for 3rd and 4th grade students in Philadelphia Public schools, while training and supporting teaching artist. Continue to tour and bring programs that inspire new audiences to fall in love with contemporary ballet staff.

Bigger picture for the future of ballet is unclear. I think we have a lot of potential to touch and inspire people if we create opportunities to support new works.