INSPIRING WOMEN
A Celebration of Female Choreographers
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Program Background
“You think of ballet, you think of ballerinas. Usually she’s taking the bow … she’s front and center. But the power, the decision making, the ability to hire other people to push your vision forward has been almost exclusively male. And I think that should change both for creative purposes, but also because it’s just nuts.”
- Elizabeth Yntema, president and founder of the Dance Data Project
“It’s a statistical fact that women have been historically under-represented as choreographers (and directors) in the repertoires of major ballet companies. According to data released by the Dance Data Project, in 2023/2024 women made up only 27.4% of the choreo-graphers commissioned by U.S. ballet companies. Connecticut Ballet has always valued the work of talented female creators... This season, we celebrate their contribution and hold their work up for our audiences to appreciate.”
- Artistic Director Brett Raphael
This historic program raises a glass to celebrate the creative
accomplishments of four inspiring female choreographers:
Eve Chan
Jolet Creary
Carlyn Hudson
Lila York
Each of the artists has been commissioned by Connecticut Ballet to create a work over the past three decades... including the newest work, a world premiere by Hartford's own Jolet Creary of 860 Movement & EQuilibrium Dance Theatre. A program not to be missed!
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Saturday, May 3 - 7:00pm
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Saturday, May 10, 2025 - 7:30pm
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INSPIRING WOMEN PROGRAM
Saturday, May 3, 2025 – 7:00pm
Belding Theater, The Bushnell
A Piece That Might Never Have Happened About a Peace That Might Never Have Happened
(Premiere: April 2022)
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Choreography by Carlyn Hudson
Music by Franz Schubert
Costumes by Anna Alisa Belous
Lighting by Christopher Bell
Make-up & wigs by Cesar Olivas & Ron Wolek
Colleen McKenzie
Carla Hernandez
Ava Prentice
Camila Pino
Paulo Gutierrez
Jose Rojas
Alex Marmolejos
Hunter Solomon
--- Pause---
Crystal Garden
(World Premiere)
Choreography by Jolet Creary
Music by Flako & Culoe De Song
Lighting by Christopher Bell
Clarissa Jackson
Emily Sipnick
Hunter Solomon
Paulo Gutierrez
Camila Pino
--- Pause---
The Open Road
(Premiere: February 2021)
Choreography by Eve Chan
Music by Kai Engel & Ludwig van Beethoven
Walt Whitman’s Song of the Open Road:
Music by Tony Anderson, narration by Dave Luukkonen
Lighting by Christopher Bell
Carla Hernandez
Ava Prentice
Colleen McKenzie
Clarissa Jackson
Alex Marmolejos
Paulo Gutierrez
--- Intermission ---
Strays
(Premiere: April 1990)
Choreography by Lila York
Music by Aaron Copland
Costumes by Elena Comendador
Lighting by Christopher Bell
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Carla Hernandez
Ava Prentice
Colleen McKenzie
Clarissa Jackson
Camila Pino
Emily Sipnick
Hunter Solomon
Alex Marmolejos
Paulo Gutierrez
Jose Rojas
Cameron Smith
Kevin Vogel
Gabe Foley
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INSPIRING WOMEN
Producer Brett Raphael
Assistant to the Producer Kimberly Levesque
Company Teachers Billy Blanken, Christina
Fagundes, Anna
Laghezza, Bat Udaval
Wardrobe Coordinator Theodora Foster
Company Transportation Preston Goddard
Videographer Nick of Time Productions
Marketing Associate Jennifer Moscatello
Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved.
Inspiring Women dance works are copyrighted by the choreographers and licensed to Connecticut Ballet, Inc.
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