Friday, August 9th at 5:30PM, join us during Charlottesville Unity Days as we present an original piece performed by artists of the Charlottesville Ballet in remembrance of the events of August 11 & 12, 2017.

Choreography by Emily Hartka with the artists Cassidy Burk, Toma Mori, and Feleacia Quezergue
 
 
 
A Message from Co-Director Emily Hartka

-About the Unity Days Performance-
The art form of classical ballet is not usually at the forefront of social justice.  In 2007, Sara Clayborne and I founded Charlottesville Ballet because we were frustrated with the state of affairs in the world of professional ballet.  This 400 year-old tradition is an art form built upon the patriarchal hierarchy and it is entrenched with discrimination based on gender, socioeconomic status, body size/shape, and race.
In the ballet world, there’s a movement beginning where the leaders are finally looking in the mirror and starting to acknowledge these issues. In this tiny sliver of arts and culture, I see a microcosm of our society.
In the ballet world, people are finally asking some tough questions:
How do we honor the classical traditions and ballet’s heritage, yet grapple with the drastic inequalities that are inherent in the classicism of the art form?
We are asking the question: “does Swan Lake really represent our values?”
In our city of Charlottesville, we asked: “does this statue really represent our values?”
But ballet has Misty Copeland.  But America had Barrack Obama.  These incredible people do reflect progress and a measure of change in our society, however as we saw in Charlottesville in August 2017, there is so much more that needs to be done.
Our Unity Days piece today will not have pointe shoes or tutus, and will be a presentation of contemporary dance and theater that was created in collaboration with these three artists. Unlike ballet, modern dance was born in an egalitarian spirit to give people a voice and let ideas of “others” be seen.  Robert Battle, the artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, has talked about dance being “a weapon for change.”  I truly believe that the arts are a prime vehicle for community building and for change, however today’s piece is not a weapon…it is not meant to “inflict” anything and it won’t change what happened in this place two years ago…it also may not be comfortable.
Like the mirrors in dance studios, I hoped that this piece could offer a mirror for us as artists to reflect on the events that happened in our city two years ago.  We hope you will take a moment to reflect with us.  To see these artists, to see yourselves, and to see each other…standing here together in unity.

Cassidy Burk

Cassidy Burk, a native of Leesburg, Virginia, trained for 15 years at The Dance Academy of Loudoun where she fell in love with all styles of dance. Cassidy spent summers training on scholarship with American Ballet Theatre, Charlotte Ballet, The Rock School, and Joffrey. In 2016, she graduated from Point Park University where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts for ballet and jazz. During her time there, Cassidy performed principal roles in works by Matthew Powell, Emery LeCrone, Septime Webre, Peter LeBreton Merz, Garfield Lemonius, Ron Tassone, Susan Stowe, and Kiesha Lalama, including Juliet in Nicolas Petrov’s Romeo & Juliet, Giselle in Giselle, and the Lead Russian Girl in George Balanchine’s Serenade. She joined Charlottesville Ballet in 2016 and now returns for her fourth season as a Company Artist.
 

Toma Mori

Toma Mori is originally from Kyoto, Japan. He began his dance training at Le Studios in Pasadena, California and continued at the Colburn Dance Institute in Los Angeles. Toma also attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and graduated from the Virginia School of the Arts in Lynchburg, VA. Toma has danced as a second company member with Nashville Ballet and as a company member with the Lexington Ballet. He has performed roles such as Peter from Peter Pan, the Faun from Afternoon of a Faun, the Prince from Snow White, the Peasant Pas de Deux from Giselle, and Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Nutcracker Prince and Cavalier from The Nutcracker, and Prince Ivan from The Firebird. He is thrilled to return to Charlottesville Ballet for his third season as a Company Artist.
 

Feleacia Quezergue

Feleacia Quezergue is from San Antonio, Texas. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, where she received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance with a minor in Nonprofit Organizational Studies. While at the University of Oklahoma, she performed with the resident ballet company Oklahoma Festival Ballet under the direction of Mary Margaret Holt. Feleacia has performed soloist roles in The Nutcracker, La Bayadere, and Carmina Burana. At OU, Feleacia also served as President of the Fine Arts Diversity Council, Student Liaison for the School of Dance Directors Search Committee, and Wardrobe Crew Head for the drama production Trojan Women. Feleacia also serves on faculty at CBA and as the Chance To Dance Coordinator. This will be Feleacia’s third season as a Company Artist with Charlottesville Ballet.

Emily Hartka, Co-Director

Emily Hartka fell in love with ballet at the age of five. She began dance classes at Roanoke Ballet Theatre in her hometown of Roanoke, VA and continued her training with Unurbat Gunaajav and Michele Goacher. She performed in collaborative shows with Opera Roanoke, the Mill Mountain Theatre, and with Radford University as the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker. She attended summer intensives at the Richmond Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and on scholarship with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Emily spent her senior year of high school at the Virginia School of the Arts in Lynchburg, VA under the late Petrus Bosman. Upon graduation, she joined the Richmond Ballet as a trainee and also enjoyed working with school children in Richmond Ballet’s Minds In Motion program.
In 2008, Emily relocated to Charlottesville to co-found the Charlottesville Ballet and to attend the University of Virginia, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts in Nonprofit Management & Arts Administration. She serves as Co-Director of the Charlottesville Ballet and recently retired from the stage to focus on the growth and development of the organization. Emily is thankful to all who have made the growth of Charlottesville Ballet possible.