Jorma Elo to Create New Work to be Premiered by Boston Ballet School Professional Division Students
Boston Ballet Resident Choreographer to Hold Six-Week Residency on Walnut Hill Campus
Walnut Hill School for the Arts today announces the on-campus residency of internationally acclaimed choreographer Jorma Elo, taking place within the months of January and February 2025. Working with the students of Boston Ballet School’s Professional Division, Elo will create a new and original piece set to the music of Frédéric Chopin. Additionally, he will be leading weekly workshops with all Professional Division dance students, giving a series of regular coachings.
The new work will be performed February 21–22 and May 30–31 at Walnut Hill’s Keiter Center for the Performing Arts and in Boston at Citizens Opera House on May 21, as part of Boston Ballet School’s Next Generation. In a special collaboration with Walnut Hill’s music department, a Walnut Hill piano student will perform the music live.
“I’m very much looking forward to working with the students on a new creation,” says Elo. “It gives me a new perspective to have this opportunity to create with the young talent at Walnut Hill. After my first initiation workshop with the students, I was very impressed by the level and the commitment to the material we worked together on. I’m very much looking forward to working on these Chopin piano selections and very happy that they can be performed live during the performance.”
“At Walnut Hill, when we talk about realizing a trajectory for young artists to grow into professionals, this is exactly what we mean,” says Walnut Hill Head of School Eric Barber. “A professional choreographer of Jorma’s distinction working with high school students is, simply put, unprecedented. I can’t imagine a more fruitful and immersive experience for high school-aged dancers than the one our students will have this semester. This residency epitomizes the rewarding partnership between Walnut Hill and Boston Ballet, and Jorma’s presence in the department will be invaluable.”
Boston Ballet School’s Professional Division comprises the world’s most talented pre-professional dance students at high school age. This rigorous program, led by José Martín Trujillo, sees students benefit from 24 hours of studio training each week in a curriculum that includes technique, pointe, men’s class, pas de deux, variations and repertoire, modern, character, Pilates, men’s conditioning, and workshops, such as Forsythe technique. Students of the Professional Division are taught by professional Boston Ballet School dance educators who have held prominent careers performing and teaching with Boston Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Escuela Nacional de Ballet in Cuba, San Francisco Ballet, New York City Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, among others.
During their senior year, Professional Division students are automatically evaluated for acceptance into Boston Ballet’s Graduate Program. Students also have the opportunity to audition for Boston Ballet II, Boston Ballet’s second company, upon graduation. Professional Division alumni have gone on to perform with some of the world’s top companies including Boston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, English National Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, and many others.
About Jorma Elo
Jorma Elo is one of the most sought-after choreographers in the world. He has created works for companies including American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, New York City Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Vienna State Opera Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Netherlands Dance Theater, and Finnish National Ballet, among others. Elo trained with the Finnish National Ballet School and the Kirov Ballet School in Leningrad. He danced with Finnish National Ballet and Cullberg Ballet until joining Netherlands Dance Theater in 1990, where he enjoyed a 15-year career.
Elo was appointed Resident Choreographer of Boston Ballet in 2005, where he has created many world premieres, including Sharp Side of Dark (2002), Plan to B (2004), Carmen/Illusions (2006 & 2009), Brake the Eyes (2007), In on Blue (2008), Le Sacre du Printemps (2009), Sharper Side of Dark (2012), and Awake Only (2012). Boston Ballet premiered a full length performance titled “Elo Experience” in 2011. Elo was awarded the Benois de la Danse prize for best choreography in 2010, for his production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, commissioned by Vienna State Opera Ballet, and Slice to Sharp for the Stanislavsky Music Theatre.
In 2012, the Finnish Government awarded Elo the Dance Artist Prize. Elo was also awarded the Choreography Prize in the 2005 Helsinki International Ballet Competition, and he was the recipient of the Prince Charitable Trust Prize and the Choo-San Goh Choreographic Award in 2006. He was nominated for a 2008 Isadora Duncan Dance Award. Elo has been featured in Esquire, Dance, and Pointe magazines. He was awarded the 2015 Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland, one of Finland’s highest honors.
Photo by Mica Romulo.
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