National Choreographers Initiative

2014 Choreographers and Dancers

Barry KarollisBarry Kerollis was born in Philadelphia, PA. He began his training at the Chester Valley Dance Academy in Lionville, PA and on scholarship at the Kirov Academy of Ballet and the School of American Ballet. Mr. Kerollis began his professional career in 2003 with the Houston Ballet. In 2004, he joined Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, WA, where he continued to dance for seven seasons. He has danced in leading roles in works by George Balanchine, Melissa Barak, Colin Connor, Ulysses Dove, William Forsythe, Paul Gibson, Alex Ketley, Jiri Kylian, Mark Morris, Victor Quijada, Jerome Robbins, Amy Seiwert, Susan Stroman, and Twyla Tharp. In August 2013, Barry originated the role of Harris David in a pre-Broadway workshop of Maan Singh. Barry was featured in an article about health care in Dance Magazine’s January 2014 issue and has written articles for Dance/USA and the American Guild of Musical Artists quarterly magazine. His choreography has most recently been performed in the Philly Fringe Festival. He was commissioned to create a work for Seattle’s “Men in Dance” festival. He has also choreographed works for Delaware Valley Dance, Alaska Dance Theatre, and has created four works for Pacific Northwest Ballet and it’s school in the company’s annual choreographer’s showcase. 
Gabrielle LambGabrielle Lamb is from Savannah, GA. She was trained at the Boston Ballet School. She joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal in 2000 and was promoted to soloist in 2003. At the invitation of Christopher Wheeldon she moved to New York in 2009 to join his company Morphoses. She has performed principal roles in works by George Balanchine, Christopher Wheeldon, Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek. Ohad Naharin, Nacho Duato, Shen Wei, Pontus Lidberg, Lucas Veggetti, and Shannon Gillen. Ms. Lamb began choreographing in 2005 and is a self taught animator and filmmaker. She won the 2009 National Choreographic Competition of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and in 2013 the Genesis International Choreographic Competition Milwaukee Ballet and the National Choreographic Competition of Western Michigan University. Her works have been performed by Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet X, Hubbard Street 2, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and Mystic Ballet (CT); and at Jacob’s Pillow, American Dance Festival, 92nd Street Y, and works and Process at the Guggenheim Museum. She was recently named the recipient of the Banff Centre's 2014-15 Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award and is a 2014 New York City Center Choreography Fellow. 
Phillip NealPhilip Neal was born in Richmond, Virginia. He studied from age 11 at the School of Richmond Ballet, where he was spotted by Edward Villella who arranged a summer scholarship for him at New York City Ballet's School of American Ballet. In 1985 Philip won the silver medal at the Prix de Lausanne ballet competition. He joined the NYCB's corps de ballet in 1987 and was promoted to soloist in 1991 and to principal dancer in 1993. Neal's farewell performance took place in June of 2010. He danced in many works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Peter Martins, as well as Kevin O’Day, Ulysses Dove, Boris Eifman, and Richard Tanner. Mr. Neal has been a guest instructor for Miami City Ballet and School of American Ballet (NYCB). He is currently a repetiteur for the Jerome Robbins Foundation and the George Balanchine Trust. He has choreographed works for the New York Choreographic Institute, Northeast Ballet, and five works for Richmond Ballet.

Garrett SmithGarrett Smith was born in Salt Lake City, UT. He began his ballet training at age 13 with the Utah Regional Ballet. He dancedin the 2002 Winter Olympics opening Ceremonies. Mr. Smith completed his training with Houston Ballet's Ben Stevensen Academy. He was accepted as a member of Houston Ballet II where he danced and toured with the company for two years. During his time with Houston Ballet II, Garrett choreographed five original works for their repertoire. Mr. Smith became a member of Houston Ballet in 2009. He performed a variety of roles with Houston, including works by Jorma Elo, Ben Stevenson, Nicolo Fonte, Christopher Wheeldon, Christopher Bruce, Mark Morris, Frederick Ashton, Stanton Welch, and John Cranko. During his time at Houston Ballet, Garrett was awarded the New York Choreographic Institute Fellowship. As part of this award, Garrett choreographed a new ballet entitled Vivacious Dispositions for Houston Ballet, which was later performed in Houston Ballet's Gala “Jubilee of Dance” in 2010. He was commissioned for Houston Ballet’s triple bill in the 2013-14 season, and created a new work Return. He currently dances with Norwegian National Ballet. He has worked closely with choreographers Jiri Kylian and Nacho Duato, and was commissioned by this company to create two new works.

Lighting Designer
Monique L'Heureux Monique L’Heureux is an award winning lighting designer who has been working in the field of dance for over two decades. This year, she is celebrating her eleventh collaboration with artistic director, Molly Lynch.

Past designs include: Ma Cong’s French Twist for Smuin Ballet; Molly Lynch’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Anjani Ambegaokar’s Made in Mumbaii at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center;The Motion Picture and Television Fund event featuring Chita Rivera, Dick van Dyke, Shirley MacLaine, Hugh Jackman,Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jennifer Hudson, and others; Charles Moulton’s Ball Passing piece in Fall for Dance at the Orange County Performing Arts Center; Robert Sund’s Alice in Wonderland; the National and Pacific Festivals of Regional Dance America; the summer season at the Hollywood Bowl; and associate design work on the Universal Studios’ Magical Starlight Parade in Osaka, Japan.

She attended Pepperdine University and received her MFA from the University of California, Irvine, after which she apprenticed at the Los Angeles Music Center’s Mark Taper Forum. She has taught for the dance departments at Loyola Marymount University and Moorpark College and the theatre department at El Camino College.She is the recipient of four Lester Horton Dance Awards.

She is an accomplished artist and photographer whose work has been shown in galleries including the Long Beach Public Library’s Art on Display, the Carl Broderick Gallery, VIVA Gallery, Long Beach Arts Center, City of Brea Gallery, and The Stage Gallery, as well as a permanent installation in the Glendale Adventist Medical Center. She is a member of United Scenic Artists. www.artanddesigns.net

2014 Dancers
Men:
Allen AJ Abrams – Festival Ballet Theatre
Orlando Canova – Ballet Austin
Dylan Keane – Sacramento Ballet
Christopher Nachtrab – Sacramento Ballet
Ty Parmenter – Ballet Met
Evan Swenson – free lance (LA)
Dustin True – Los Angeles Ballet
Rex Wheeler – Sacramento Ballet

Women:
Amanda Diehl Hulen – Momix/Louisville Ballet
Shira Lanyi – Richmond Ballet
Ashley Lynn Sherman – Ballet Austin
Jackie McConnell – Company “C” Contemporary Ballet
Keenan McLaren – Nashville Ballet
Diana Peters – Texas Ballet Theater
Karen Wing – Sacramento Ballet/ Ballet Met
Jaime Witts – Ballet Austin



2014 Dancers
 2014 NCI dancers

All photos by Robert Salas and David Friedman

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