Welcome to Connec(TX)ions Dance Festival!

Friday May 31, 2024

Friday night’s performance will showcase Texas-based professional dance companies as well as some select pre-professional dance companies, offering young dancers the opportunity to share the stage with professional dancers.

Featuring: Ventana Ballet (Austin), Vitacca Ballet (Houston), Ballet Texas (New Braunfels), Red Nightfall Dance Theatre (Austin), and Sea Legs Dance (Austin)

Prelude performances by: DeCruz Ballet (San Antonio) and BHumn Arts Ensemble (Austin)

Doors 7pm
Show 7:30pm
Post-Show Mingle 8:30pm

PROGRAMME

“So Long”
BHumn Arts Ensemble (Austin)
Choreography: Cheryl Copeland
Dancers: Mia Floyd, Hallie Hardesty
Music: boygenius
It is the mission of BHumn Arts Ensemble to cultivate a versatile dancer and to prepare students for a successful career in the dance field via admittance to university training or immersion into the professional world. Beyond technical training, it is the goal of BHumn Arts Ensemble to teach life skills that will assist students in any path they may choose to take. We attempt to produce authentic, well-rounded people who excel in all areas of dance and life.

“Enigmatic”
DeCruz Ballet (San Antonio)
Choreography: Hannah Knorr
Costuming: BeSolu Navy Leotards with Mariia Mesh Navy Tights, Skin Tone
Music: “Secret Agent” by Phillip Glass
Dancers: Murphy Brazzell, Lily Fuori, Ansley Jackson, Nicole Larson, Ana Emilia Zapata
DeCruz Ballet’s Professional Training Division is designed and directed by Lindsi Dec & Karel Cruz, former principal dancers with the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Located in San Antonio, TX. DeCruz Ballet offers classes for all ages and ability levels in an inclusive and positive environment. Recent graduates of our PTD program have joined Ballet Tucson, Ballet 5:8, American Midwest Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet’s Second Company, Alonzo King LINES Ballet School, and San Francisco Ballet School. www.decruzballet.com

Welcome Speech from the CTXDF Directors

“Variations”
Ballet Texas (New Braunfels)
Variation 1: Sleeping Beauty Act III
Choreographer: Marius Petipa
Composer: Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky
Dancer: Mariana Alonso
Variation 2: Kitri’s Entrance
Choreographer: Marius Petipa
Composer: Ludwig Minkus
Dancer: Emily Edwards
Variation 3: Diana & Actaeon
Choreographer: Marius Petipa
Composer: Riccardo Drigo
Dancer: Urara Matsuzawa
Ballet Texas is a professional ballet company based in New Braunfels, TX. Our mission is to bring a fresh and innovative point of view to the ballet world, enrich our community with professional-level productions for all ages and demographics to enjoy, and inspire the next generation of dancers. This company provides professional dancers with job opportunities while nurturing an environment of creativity and passion. Our children’s casts give young dancers the opportunity to perform alongside professionals and expand their ballet education

“Kiss The Dragon”
Sea Legs Dance (Austin)
Choreography & Costuming: Tikiri Shapiro
Music: "Bones" & "Home Again" by Michael Kiwanuka
Dancers: Erin Ellis, Tikiri Shapiro
Sea Legs Dance is a contemporary dance company based in Austin, TX. As the name implies, Sea Legs strives to adapt to the different places dance can take us through narratives and the celebration of each dancer that shapes its work.

“Lighthouse”
Vitacca Ballet (Houston) – 11min
Choreography: Hélène Simoneau
Music: Poppy Ackroyd, JLin & Third Coast Percussion, and Poppy Ackroyd & Anne Muller
Wardrobe: S-Curve Designs
Dancers: Ava Dempster, Fiona Dorr, Elissa Fonseca, Jordan Hooks, Khen Kurulkar, Megumi Nishimori, Joshua Ponton, Coltin Snyder, Aidan Wolf
Note from the Choreographer: Lighthouse is a contemporary ballet that celebrates the ways we are all interconnected. Like the tower it is named for, this work seeks to highlight, through lightness and exuberance, the ways we can offer each other assistance in navigating our own experiences. Through our investment in our own community, we are all serving as beacons for connection, support, and joy.
Vitacca Ballet, recently named one of Pointe Magazine’s “12 Standout Performances of 2023”, was founded in 2020 by Kelly Ann Vitacca as a creation-based repertoire company in the Houston area. As the pandemic brought artists home to Houston, Vitacca committed to keep artists employed and the Houston arts scene alive with project-based work. This experience laid the framework for the launch of Vitacca Ballet in 2021, which now works diligently to operate a 34-week season and employ local, national, and international artists. Vitacca Ballet has been seen on stage nationally in The Nutcracker, LAUNCH, ANDIAMO, SOWN, WOVEN, ONE, Connec(TX)ions, Night at the Ballet, the Vitacca Ballet World Premiere, Red Rock Dance Festival (Utah), Austin Dance Festival, San Antonio Dance Gala, the Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival (Florida), Versatility Dance Festival (Utah), Regional Alternative Dance Festival (Michigan), and more. Vitacca Ballet is thrilled to be an inaugural Conne(TX)ions performance company.

“MoonFall: The Magician and The Muses”
Red Nightfall Dance Theatre (Austin)
Choreography: Dorothy O’Shea Overbey
Composer: Sam Lipman
Music performed by the artists of Density512, conducted by Jacob Schnitzer
Dancers:
The Magician - Kanami Nakabayashi
The Muses - Lillie Amdahl, Elaine Fields, Joshua Martinez
Choreographer’s Note: An excerpt from the full-length immersive ballet MoonFall, this dance introduces the archetypal characters of The Magician and The Muses. In the world of MoonFall, The Magician and their Muses are eternal entities that operate outside the bounds of time and space. They may appear to be agents of chaos - but the chaos they bring is the catalyst for growth, liberation, and the evolution of consciousness.
Founded by Dorothy O’Shea Overbey in 2017, Red Nightfall Dance Theatre specializes in crafting immersive experiences through film and live performance. Our mission is to offer experiences of depth, richness, joy and community for audiences and artists alike, while providing a platform for artists whose work defies conventional categorization. In the face of a chaotic world, the creation of beauty is an act of liberation.

“Serenade”
Ventana Ballet (Austin)
Choreography: AJ Garcia-Rameau
Costuming: AJ Garcia-Rameau
Music: Serenade for Strings in C Major, Movement IV. Finale, composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Dancers: Kirsten Kemp, Taylor Woolums, AJ Garcia-Rameau
Choreographer’s Note: In reverence and ode to George Balanchine, the dancers will take a pause of no dancing during the famous musical reprise that occurs during the end of this piece.
Ventana Ballet is a professional dance company based in Austin, TX, specializing in contemporary ballet dance performance. The word ventana, meaning window, embodies the company’s organizational mission and vision, seeking to provide artistically relevant, technically proficient, and publicly accessible dance performance and education opportunities to the community. Ventana Ballet’s mission is to inspire, entertain and educate audiences through disciplined and innovative approaches to presenting next-generation choreographic works. More information about Ventana Ballet can be found on the company website at VentanaBallet.com

Saturday June 1, 2024
CTXDF Gala Performance

Saturday night’s performance will feature the CTXDF Gala, a closing-night celebration that spotlights select Texas-based professional dance companies, followed by a social with signature cocktails!

Featuring: Ventana Ballet (Austin), Vitacca Ballet (Houston), Red Nightfall Dance Theatre (Austin), and TY&CO (Austin)
Prelude performance by: The Austin Dance Conservatory (Austin)

Doors 7pm
Show 7:30pm
Post-Show Dance Party & Raffle Announcement 8:30pm

PROGRAMME

“O Vis Eternitatis”
The Austin Dance Conservatory (Austin)
Choreographer: Roderick George
Music: Mari Samuelsen
Dancers: Elisabeth Coleman, Ashley Gundy, Elisabeth Tostenrude, Gabrielle Thomas, Mya Davis

Welcome Speech from the CTXDF Directors

“Inhibition”
TY&CO (Austin)
Choreography: Ty Graynor
Music: Daniel Louis White
Dancers: Ty Graynor, Kanami Nakabayashi, Rachel Cox Culver, Connor Timpe, Elaine Fields, Camille Wiltz, Cellise Brown, Taryn Lavery, Sydney Galier, Amanda Mullen, Becka Klebba, Nikki Dvorsky, Hailley Lauren, Erin Ellis
Choreographer’s Note: 'Inhibition' explores the nuanced interplay between voluntary and involuntary restraints on instinctual expression. Crafted in collaboration with Daniel Louis White, a distinguished composer and tenor saxophonist from Austin, Texas, "Inhibition" merges his innovative musicality with the raw energy of contemporary dance. We live in a world, battling a bound social currency. Does our inhibition keep us safe, or does it bring us further away from the spirit we are dying to be.
TY&CO is an emerging and dynamic collective of dancers dedicated to forging connections between classical influences and experimental contemporary realms. Under the creative direction of Ty Graynor, our mission is to cultivate immersive spaces where the human condition is unveiled vulnerably and passionately through dance, transcending the boundaries between audience and performers. We work to evoke an environment where presence, contemplation, and boundless joy flourish. The origin of our company stems from a desire to share stories of the human experience through the untethered relationship of heart and athleticism. We serve as conduits of energy, relaying unspoken truths and reminding audiences of the often forgotten, sensational, three-dimensional experience that is being human.

“Serenade”
Ventana Ballet (Austin)
Choreography: AJ Garcia-Rameau
Costuming: AJ Garcia-Rameau
Music: Serenade for Strings in C Major, Movement IV. Finale, composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Dancers: Kirsten Kemp, Taylor Woolums, AJ Garcia-Rameau
Choreographer’s Note: In reverence and ode to George Balanchine, the dancers will take a pause of no dancing during the famous musical reprise that occurs during the end of this piece.
Ventana Ballet is a professional dance company based in Austin, TX, specializing in contemporary ballet dance performance. The word ventana, meaning window, embodies the company’s organizational mission and vision, seeking to provide artistically relevant, technically proficient, and publicly accessible dance performance and education opportunities to the community. Ventana Ballet’s mission is to inspire, entertain and educate audiences through disciplined and innovative approaches to presenting next-generation choreographic works. More information about Ventana Ballet can be found on the company website at VentanaBallet.com

“The Conversation”
The Austin Dance Conservatory (Austin)
Choreographer: Fionna Dorr, music by Dictaphone
Dancers: Gabrielle Thomas, Elisabeth Tostenrude
The Austin Dance Conservatory, under the direction of Kelly Yankle, is an internationally recognized training facility that provides professional dance education in a nurturing environment. From dynamic classes to acclaimed performances, summer intensives to children’s camps, there are opportunities for all ages at The Austin Dance Conservatory!

“Lighthouse”
Vitacca Ballet (Houston) – 11min
Choreography: Hélène Simoneau
Music: Poppy Ackroyd, JLin & Third Coast Percussion, and Poppy Ackroyd & Anne Muller
Wardrobe: S-Curve Designs
Dancers: Ava Dempster, Fiona Dorr, Elissa Fonseca, Jordan Hooks, Khen Kurulkar, Megumi Nishimori, Joshua Ponton, Coltin Snyder, Aidan Wolf
Note from the Choreographer: Lighthouse is a contemporary ballet that celebrates the ways we are all interconnected. Like the tower it is named for, this work seeks to highlight, through lightness and exuberance, the ways we can offer each other assistance in navigating our own experiences. Through our investment in our own community, we are all serving as beacons for connection, support, and joy.
Vitacca Ballet, recently named one of Pointe Magazine’s “12 Standout Performances of 2023”, was founded in 2020 by Kelly Ann Vitacca as a creation-based repertoire company in the Houston area. As the pandemic brought artists home to Houston, Vitacca committed to keep artists employed and the Houston arts scene alive with project-based work. This experience laid the framework for the launch of Vitacca Ballet in 2021, which now works diligently to operate a 34-week season and employ local, national, and international artists. Vitacca Ballet has been seen on stage nationally in The Nutcracker, LAUNCH, ANDIAMO, SOWN, WOVEN, ONE, Connec(TX)ions, Night at the Ballet, the Vitacca Ballet World Premiere, Red Rock Dance Festival (Utah), Austin Dance Festival, San Antonio Dance Gala, the Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival (Florida), Versatility Dance Festival (Utah), Regional Alternative Dance Festival (Michigan), and more. Vitacca Ballet is thrilled to be an inaugural Conne(TX)ions performance company.

“MoonFall: The Sun and The Moon”
Red Nightfall Dance Theatre (Austin)
Choreography: Dorothy O’Shea Overbey
Composer: Sam Lipman
Music performed by the artists of Density512, conducted by Jacob Schnitzer
Dancers:
The Sun - Ty Lyons Graynor
The Moon - Dorothy O’Shea Overbey
Choreographer’s Note: An excerpt from the full-length immersive ballet MoonFall, this dance introduces the archetypal characters of the Sun and the Moon: celestial forces whose interplay determines the fate of life on the planet. The asymmetry of their relationship sets the stage for the cataclysmic events of MoonFall.
Founded by Dorothy O’Shea Overbey in 2017, Red Nightfall Dance Theatre specializes in crafting immersive experiences through film and live performance. Our mission is to offer experiences of depth, richness, joy and community for audiences and artists alike, while providing a platform for artists whose work defies conventional categorization. In the face of a chaotic world, the creation of beauty is an act of liberation.

“Intersections”
Ventana Ballet (Austin)
Choreography: AJ Garcia-Rameau
Costuming: AJ Garcia-Rameau
Music: My Desert, My Rose, composed by Aleksandra Vrebalov
Dancers: Rachel Cox Culver, Kanami Nakabayashi, Elizabeth Coleman, AJ Garcia-Rameau
Ventana Ballet is a professional dance company based in Austin, TX, specializing in contemporary ballet dance performance. The word ventana, meaning window, embodies the company’s organizational mission and vision, seeking to provide artistically relevant, technically proficient, and publicly accessible dance performance and education opportunities to the community. Ventana Ballet’s mission is to inspire, entertain and educate audiences through disciplined and innovative approaches to presenting next-generation choreographic works. More information about Ventana Ballet can be found on the company website at VentanaBallet.com

What is CTXDF?

Connec(TX)ions Dance Festival (CTXDF, for short) is a week-long celebration of professional dance performance and training in Texas. CTXDF offers a 6-day intensive workshop for professional dancers and pre-professional dancers (separate tracks), culminating with two nights of performances by Texas-based professional dance companies.

We invite you to join us as we CONNECT, support other artists, and grow together in this immersive dance workshop and performance experience. Dancers will have the opportunity to study and explore ballet, modern, contemporary techniques and movement principles, as well as professional repertoire with a faculty of professional dancers and directors in the CTXDF intensive workshop classes (Monday-Saturday).

At the end of the week, CTXDF will feature two professional performances. Friday night’s performance will showcase Texas-based professional dance companies as well as some select pre-professional dance companies, offering young dancers the opportunity to share the stage with professional dancers. Saturday night’s performance will feature the CTXDF Gala, a closing-night celebration that spotlights select Texas-based professional dance companies, followed by a social with signature cocktails!

Who is hosting CTXDF?

CTXDF is hosted by First Street Studio (FSS), soon to relocate and rebrand as East Side Performing Arts (ESPA), a brand new performing arts center and black box theatre in East Austin. FSS/ESPA is a staple arts organization in ATX and a vital center for Austin’s community of performing artists. The studio is an incubator for local creative and artistic collaboration, classes, and rehearsals and is home to more than 100 professional Austin-based dance and theatre companies, individual professional artists, photographers, and wellness instructors. Our mission is to provide an equitable and accessible space that embodies creativity, connection, and affordability. FSS offers an intimate and safe environment where creative risk-taking is encouraged, artistic career paths are bolstered, and local collaborations thrive. First Street Studio Owners, Dorothy O’Shea Overbey & AJ Garcia-Rameau, are committed to protecting and providing a nourishing environment that actively supports the dynamic power of performance art by making space for our community to reflect, connect, and grow.

What is the history of CTXDF?

CTXDF began in 2023 at First Street Studio as a 2-day festival of masterclasses and performances, featuring Ventana Ballet, Vitacca Ballet, and The Austin Dance Conservatory. This year, CTXDF grows into a full-week intensive, followed by performances and a gala featuring several new professional and pre-professional dance companies across Texas: Ventana Ballet (Austin), Vitacca Ballet (Houston), Ballet Texas (New Braunfels), Red Nightfall Dance Theatre (Austin), Sea Legs Dance (Austin), TY&CO (Austin), DeCruz Ballet (San Antonio), BHumn Arts Ensemble (Austin), and The Austin Dance Conservatory (Austin).

Where can I find more information about the classes?

For information and registration, please visit:
www.firststreetstudioatx.com/ctxdf

Where can I send my questions?

ctxdancefest@gmail.com

We can't wait to CONNECT with you!

AJ Garcia-Rameau, Kelly Yankle, Dorothy O'Shea Overbey
CTXDF Directors