Lawrence Arts Center proudly presents
April 18, 2025, 7:00 pmApril 19, 2025, 2:00 pm
Welcome to Emergence!
Dear Friends and Family,
Thank you for choosing live theater today in the thriving city of Lawrence with multiple events. Lawrence Ballet Theatre (LBT) and I appreciate your patronage and support by being with us for today’s performance.
After presenting the fun story ballet Don Quixote in October, I decided to take Emergence in a different direction this spring. Emergence is the celebration of pure dance. This performance presents pieces with subtle storylines where the choreography and dancing can shine. From the period style of the romantic era to the contemporary style of today, each choreographer highlights the best of these genres. The dancers show off their talents and personalities in a performance that is sure to delight.
Many thanks to the wonderful people I work with all year to make LBT its best for the dancers and audience. School of Dance Director Hanan Misko, Dance Coordinator Claire Buss, LBT Assistant Liat Roth, Technical Director Samaria Fleig, and Assistant Technical Director Lexey Jost make my job easier and more enjoyable. I am also fortunate to collaborate with the amazing guardians of LBT dancers to help create great dancers and great people.
With gratitude,
Cynthia Crews
Choreography: Jules Perrot
Staging: Cynthia Crews
Music Composed by Cesare Pugni
Costumes: Cynthia Crews
Dancers:
Zana Kennedy as Lucile Grahn
Celeste Stinson as Carlotta Grisi
Jahnava Sibilla as Fanny Cerrito
Rhubarb Brubacher as Marie Taglioni
In 1845, Benjamin Lumley, director of Her Majesty’s Theater in London, created a sensation when he brought together the four greatest ballerinas of the time. These ballerinas were the epitome of the Romantic Era, known for delicate arms, quick footwork, light jumps, and grace. Pas de Quatre brings them together—not in friendship, but in the spirit of competition, each ballerina wanting to prove that she is the greatest.
Choreography: Cynthia Crews
Music Composed by Luigi Boccherini
“Cello Concerto #5 in E flat Major: III – Allegro”
Costumes: Cynthia Crews, Liat Roth
Dancers:
Kaleigh Barr, Elsie Battaglia-Bergstrom, Katie Moyle, Sabina Scott, Olive Smith, Alana Stewart, Elise Vigne, Nichole Weis
Choreographer: Kaitlyn Gardner Schade
Music: “We Are Not Forgotten” by Daniel Ciurlizza,
“Prelude to a Soul” by Sebastian Plano,
“Deep Shadow – Extended Version” by T.T.L.
Costume: Kaitlyn Gardner Schade
Dancers:
Photina Adrian, Rhubarb Brubacher, Allie Gates, Isla Gnojek, Zoe Kaul, Zana Kennedy, Annalise Lantz, Marcella MacGonagle, Belzimere Maletsky, Phoebe Morris, Maria Mosconi, Mattea Rasmussen, Jahnava Sibilla, Celeste Stinson, Mary Swartzlander, Sydney Tiemann, Genevieve Williams, Ruth Yang
NeverDone was selected to perform at Regional Dance America/MidStates Festival
Choreography: Liat Roth
Music: “3.5 Bourrées,” “2.3 Courante,” and “6.6 Gigue”
Composed by Johannes Bach and recomposed by Peter Gregson
Performed by Peter Gregson, Richard Harwood, Reinoud Ford, Tim Lowe, and Ben Chappell, and Katherine Jenkinson
Costumes: Dancewear Solutions
Dancers:
Photina Adrian, Lauren Anderson, Marcella MacGonagle, Kellar Musser, Mattea Rasmussen, Eleni Reece, Olive Smith, Alana Stewart, Sophia Stratemeier, Mary Swartzlander, Rylie Tiemann, Sydney Tiemann, Elise Vigne, Nichole Weis, James Whittaker
Choreography: Marius Petipa
Staged by: Cynthia Crews
Music Composed by Adolphe Adam
Costume: Beth Dearinger
Dancers:
Zoe Kaul, Belzimere Maletsky, Phoebe Morris
Choreography: Claire Buss
Music: “Porto”
Composer: Kevin Rodrigues
Performed by: Worakls
Dancers:
Lauren Anderson, Kaleigh Barr, Elsie Battaglia-Bergstrom, Katie Moyle, Eleni Reece, Sabina Scott, Olive Smith, Alana Stewart, Sophia Stratemeier, Rylie Tiemann, Elise Vigne, Nichole Weis, James Whittaker
Choreography: Melissa Hale Coyle
Music: Felix Mendelssohn
“Symphony #4: Italian – Allegro Vivace”
Costume: Beth Dearinger, Melissa Hale Coyle
Dancers
Rhubarb Brubacher, Jahnava Sibilla, Celeste Stinson
With
Allie Gates, Isla Gnojek, Zana Kennedy, Annalise Lantz, Belzimere Maletsky, Maria Mosconi, Phoebe Morris, Zoe Kaul, Genevieve Williams, Ruth Yang
Allegro Vivace was selected to perform at Regional Dance America/MidStates Festival
STAGE MANAGER Lexey Jost
LIGHTING DESIGN Samaria Fleig
RUNNING CREW Sawyer Harding
LIGHT BOARD OPERATOR Ben Tiemann
SOUND TECHNICIAN Farrukhbek Varisov
HOUSE MANAGER Deborah Dillon
VIDEO TECHNICIAN Nox Angelone
DANCE PROGRAM DIRECTOR Hanan Misko
DANCE PROGRAM COORDINATOR Claire Buss
LAWRENCE BALLET THEATRE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Cynthia Crews
LAWRENCE ARTS CENTER FACULTY, CHOREOGRAPHERS Melissa Hale Coyle, Cynthia Crews, Claire Buss, Liat Roth, Kaitlyn Gardner
ARTISTIC STAFF
Cynthia Crews (Artistic Director of Lawrence Ballet Theatre) started her dance training in Tulsa, Okla., with Roman Jasinski and Moscelyn Larkin, acclaimed Ballet Russe stars and co-founders of Tulsa Ballet Theatre. She performed solo roles with Tulsa Civic Ballet, including Tulsa’s very first Clara in The Nutcracker, before continuing her dance education in New York as a full-scholarship student for Joffrey Ballet and Harkness Ballet. She then returned to Oklahoma and earned a BFA in Ballet Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma.
Cynthia performed as a principal with Tulsa Ballet Theatre for nine years. She danced leading roles in Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, Ruth Page’s Die FlederMaus, Peter Anastos’ Footage, and Loyce Holton’s Wingborne, as well as Giselle, Coppelia, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. She also taught master classes, performed as a guest artist and presented numerous school lecture demonstrations each year. Cynthia has performed and choreographed in a variety of community and professional musical theater productions for organizations including Oklahoma’s Discoveryland Outdoor Dramas and Theatre Tulsa; and Florida’s Manatee Players.
Cynthia’s teaching career began at the School of Tampa Ballet and continued at the Post School of Ballet in Roanoke, Va., and Jasinski Academy, the former official school for Tulsa Ballet. At the collegiate level, she has served as an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida and as guest lecturer at the University of Kansas. Cynthia joined the Lawrence Arts Center in 2004, teaching primarily ballet and pointe. She is founder and artistic director of the Lawrence Ballet Theatre. Cynthia is President of Regional Dance America/MidStates and sits on the National Board for Regional Dance America.
Liat Roth (LBT Assistant and choreographer), a native of St. Louis, Missouri, is a choreographer, dancer, and educator based in Kansas City. In 2021, Liat graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance and Choreography and a minor in Visual Art and Communication. Within the dual emphasis Ballet and Modern program, she had the opportunity to dance works by Paula Weber, Christopher Huggins, George Balanchine, Salvatore Aiello, and Tom Gold. Post graduation, she has danced for City in Motion Dance Theater, Quixotic, choreographers through the Charlotte Street Foundation, Dance Center of Kirkwood, and Lawrence Ballet Theatre. Along with a repertoire of self-produced dance films, her work has been presented at City in Motion’s Modern Night at the Gem, Dance in the Park, and Lawrence Ballet Theatre. Liat strives to foster creative intersections between makers of all mediums in the Kansas City area and beyond.
Lexey Jost (Stage Manager, Assistant Technical Director)
is a scenographer and Kansas native. An alumna of Emporia State University and the University of Kansas, her design, technical and instructional work has covered scenic, lighting and costume production with a focus on props construction and painting techniques for the stage. Her scenic work on the University of Kansas’s 2018 production of Spring Awakening earned honors from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Washington, D.C. Her projects at the Arts Center have recently included design for shows including My Name is Loofa Tutu, La Fille mal gardee, and School of Rock.
Samaria Zambrana (Lighting Designer, Technical Director)
returned to the Sunflower State and graduated from Emporia State University with her BFA after five years in California working with Coast Kids Theatre, New Vision Theatre Group, and the Star Theatre Co. She has found her home here in Lawrence and at the Lawrence Arts Center. Working with young artists and technicians teaches her something new every day. She is very thankful for the amazing people she works with daily and her incredibly inspiring family.
The Lawrence Ballet Theatre Parents!
Sponsors
50 Years of Art for Everyone 🎉
This production wouldn’t be possible without YOUR support. Help the Lawrence Arts Center celebrate its 50th anniversary, and lay the foundation for 50 more years of community-based and educational dance. Donate to the Lawrence Arts Center’s School of Dance today!
