For one night only, Boston Ballet School presents Next Generation at the Citizens Bank Opera House.
Showcasing talent within the Boston Ballet organization – Boston Ballet II, Boston Ballet School Post Graduate program, and the Professional Division at Walnut Hill School for the Arts in collaboration with the New England Conservatory Preparatory School – the program features ballets that range the classical and contemporary ballet canon:
- Overglow by Jorma Elo’s
- Lenore by Lia Cirio
- Gestalt by Paul Craig
- Quartet by Arianna Hughlett
- Coppélia Suite by Samuel Kurkjian’s
- Peasant Pas de Six from Giselle.
Boston Ballet School Presents Next Generation, part of Boston Ballet’s ChoreograpHER Initiative
Principal Dancer Lia Cirio’s Lenore is a pas de deux set to Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 2 in G Minor Op. 26. Lenore premiered in 2019 during Boston Ballet’s BB@home: ChoreograpHER program. Cirio made her choreographic debut at BB@home: ChoreograpHER in 2018 with Sta(i)r(e)s followed by the peppermint wind for Boston Ballet School’s Next Generation in 2019. Most recently, Cirio choreographed a world premiere Chaptered in Fragments for the mainstage ChoreograpHER program in 2022.
Post Graduate student Arianna Hughlett’s Quartet features four dancers performing to Antonin Dvořák’s string quartet. The four musicians, from New England Conservatory and Walnut Hill School, will perform alongside the dancers onstage. Hughlett has choreographed for Boston Ballet’s virtual program The Gift in 2020. She also participated in the ChoreograpHER Initiative student workshop.
The world premiere of Principal Dancer Paul Craig’s Gestalt features six dancers and is set to songs from Pieter DeGraff’s “Equinox” album. Craig also choreographed for The Gift in 2020.
Boston Ballet School’s Professional Division at Walnut Hill offers Boston Ballet School’s world-renowned dance instruction in conjunction with Walnut Hill School for the Arts best-in-class college preparatory academic and rich residential life program to provide a holistic educational experience on Walnut Hill’s scenic campus in Natick, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston.
The Post Graduate program is an extension of Boston Ballet School’s Professional Division at Walnut Hill, designed for accomplished ballet students who have completed their academic grade school education. These students train, rehearse, and perform alongside members of Boston Ballet’s second company (Boston Ballet II), as well as with Boston Ballet’s main company on a selected basis.
Currently, 25 percent of Boston Ballet’s dancers are graduates of the Professional Division, and 90 percent of Post Graduate students secure jobs with professional ballet companies.
Featured Photo of Mia Steedle and Blake Laneskogg in Lia Cirio’s the peppermint wind. Photo by Liza Voll, courtesy of Boston Ballet.
