Genesis
Randy Crespo and Itzel Hernandez. Photo Nathaniel Davauer
Milwaukee’s favorite choreographic competition returns! Three talented choreographers, hand-selected by Michael Pink, will be challenged to develop a dynamic, boundary-stretching piece in only three weeks. Votes are cast each night of the performance and the overall winner receives the opportunity to return to create another work for Milwaukee Ballet. Be part of shaping the future of contemporary ballet when you attend Genesis International Choreographic Competition.
Genesis is sponsored by the Nita Soref 2006 Charitable Trust.
Show Times and Details
This production will be performed at The Pabst Theater.
Patrons joining us Thursday and Friday evenings are invited to stay in the theater after the performances for a brief talkback with our choreographers.
The competition winner will be announced after the Saturday evening performance.
Thursday, February 8, 2024 - 7:30pm
Friday, February 9, 2024 - 7:30pm
Saturday, February 10, 2024 - 7:30pm
Sunday, February 11, 2024 - 1:30pm
Production Trailer
Meet the Choreographers
Lorenzo di Loreto
Lorenzo di Loreto
Lorenzo Di Loreto is an Italian born dancer and choreographer.
Di Loreto trained at the English National Ballet School in London, where he received a Diploma in "Professional dance" recognized by the Trinity College London.
As a professional dancer he danced for most of his career at the Royal Danish Ballet, Copenhagen, Denmark, where he danced the majority of the classical repertoire while working with international choreographers like J.Kilian, Wayne McGregor, Sharon Eyal, Hofesh Shecter, Natalia Horecna, Cristopher Wheeldon, John Neumeier.
In 2021, Di Loreto was chosen by the Royal Danish theatre to take part in “Koreorama”; a choreographer development program of two years where he assisted classes of concept and creative development as well as production development receiving a diploma in “choreography” in 2023.
His recent award-winning short film “VIVIDREAM” (2022) has received numerous nominations at film festivals all around the world like the San Francisco dance film festival and the Cannes World film festival. It's been defined by Danish Magazine POV International as a "..touching and poetic work... capturing something essential and real about the dreamy and trascendental world of dance".
Tsai Hsi Hung
Tsai Hsi Hung
Tsai Hsi Hung graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts 2011. In 2009, she traveled to Australia as an exchange student for the Dance at Queensland Technology University Dance Department. She has worked with the Australian Dance Theater, Tasdance, Expressions Dance Company, and Chunky Move Dance Company Dancers.
In 2020, Hung received a Choreography Fellowship from the New Jersey Council on the Arts. Shortly after, Hung’s work was selected by the Joffrey Academy of Dance for their Spring 2020 Winning Works performance in Chicago.Hung was invited to Taipei National Dance Theater to perform New work this July 2020. Hung's most recent work will be featured in BalletX’s 2020-2021 season. In 2021, Hung won Western Michigan University’s National Choreography Competition and will premiere a new work in 2022. For BalletX’s 2022 Season, Hung created a new work for their dancers through the BalletX Choreographer Fellowship. Battery Dance Company of New York also premiered an original work in the summer of 2022, inspired by the paintings of Hans Hofmann. Hung was in residence at Kennesaw State University, Georgia, in the summer of 2022 to create new work for the students of their dance department. Hung premiered a new work in the Spring of 2022 with the Ballet Hispánico Professional Studies dance students. Hung was recently commissioned by the South Chicago Dance Theatre to create a new work for their 2024 season. She will also continue to work with Taipei National University of the Arts in 2023/2024, teaching and creating new work for their department.
In June of 2018, the MET Dance company performed Hung’s work IO for 12 dancers at the Miller Outdoor Theater in Houston, Texas. In 2019, Hung’s piece DOUBLEND was performed at the NU VU Festival at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Martha Graham Studio Theater and NYU Skirball Center. Her most recent work, Brushstroke- X2, was performed at the 2020 APAP Peridance Showcase in New York. Hung teaches the open class at the Peridance Capezio Dance Center and NYU Tisch Dance and /MOVE|NYC|.
Jack Lister
Jack Lister
Jack Lister is an Australian dancer, choreographer and creator, working across stage, screen, movement direction and large scale performance events.
After graduating from The Australian Ballet School, Jack joined Queensland Ballet (QB) in 2014 and danced many featured roles within the vast classical and modern repertoire, including works by Christopher Bruce, Jiri Kylian, Nils Christe, Liam Scarlett, Trey McIntyre and Natalie Weir.
After creating his first work for QB in 2015, Jack quickly established a name as a respected emerging maker, recognised in The Australian’s national dance critic as “a young choreographer who is going places.” He has gone on to create works for Queensland Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, and Australasian Dance Collective, presented throughout Australia, United Kingdom, China and Germany to critical and audience acclaim.
In January 2020, Jack joined Australasian Dance Collective (ADC) as a company artist and was appointed Associate Choreographer with Queensland Ballet.
Since joining ADC, Jack has performed in creations by celebrated Australian and international choreographers, including Hofesh Shechter, Maxine Doyle, Melanie Lane, Amy Hollingsworth, Alisdair Macindoe, Cass Mortimer Eipper, Kate Harman and Gabrielle Nankivell, as well as creating two mainstage works for the company.
For ADC, Jack has choreographed Aftermath, a co-creation with ADC Artistic Director, Amy Hollingsworth, and two-time ARIA Music Award-nominated, producer and singer-songwriter, The Kite String Tangle’s, Danny Harley. The full-evening work was met with audience and critical acclaim, described by The Courier Mail as “one of the most compelling performances I have ever witnessed.” Since its sold-out premiere season, Aftermath has gone on to feature in three major festivals across Australia.
In January 2022, Jack was appointed Creative Associate of ADC, a position created for him.
Internationally, Jack has created A Brief Nostalgia for the Birmingham Royal Ballet (co-produced with QB), staged at both the Birmingham Hippodrome and Sadler’s Wells in 2019, with recognition in Dancing Times such as, “Lister is just 25 years old, yet the piece appeared to be of exceptional maturity and depth.” He was also a finalist in the 2019 International Ballet and Choreographic Competition, presenting two works in Beijing. In 2022, Jack premiered Perfect Strangers, performed by QB, at The Royal Opera House in London.
Jack has collaborated with respected Australian film director, Ryan Renshaw, creating dance films that have featured in film festivals worldwide. Their collaborative works have garnered award recognition, notably at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival and LA Dance Film Festival and their latest creation, Still Life, receiving over 10 awards globally.
Jack is currently based in Brisbane, Australia where he holds the dual role of Company Artist and Creative Associate with ADC and maintains his ongoing appointment with QB as Associate Choreographer. Jack will premiere his latest full length creation, Halcyon in November 2023; an immersive dance theatre work, using live relay cameras and projection to re-create a “whodunit” in the style of 1920’s film noir.
Meet the Judges
Gil Boggs
Gil Boggs
Artistic Director, Colorado Ballet
Gil Boggs began his dance career with the Atlanta Ballet. He joined American Ballet Theatre in New York in 1982 and was promoted to soloist dancer in 1984 and principal dancer in 1991. Boggs was a member of the company for 17 years. Boggs also performed with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, Baryshnikov and Company, Nureyev and Friends, and made several guest appearances around the world. During his career with ABT, he was recognized as both an accomplished virtuoso and one of the company’s most popular performers. Boggs has worked with numerous noted choreographers, including Agnes de Mille, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Paul Taylor, Mark Morris, Jerome Robbins and Merce Cunningham and has an extensive performance repertoire of both classical and contemporary works.
Boggs accepted the position of Artistic Director with Colorado Ballet in the Spring of 2006. In Boggs’ tenure with Colorado Ballet he has restaged full-length productions of Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Don Quixote and Coppélia along with adding new full-length productions of Romeo & Juliet, Cinderella, Le Corsaire, Beauty and the Beast and Peter Pan. Boggs has also presented 17 world premieres and 18 Colorado Ballet premieres by such renowned choreographers as Twyla Tharp, Lar Lubovitch, Anthony Tudor, Val Caniparoli, Dwight Rhoden and Lynne Taylor-Corbett.
Edwaard Liang
Edwaard Liang
Artistic Director, BalletMet and The Washington Ballet
A former dancer with New York City Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater, Edwaard Liang has built an international reputation as a choreographer. Over the last decade, he has created work for the Bolshoi Ballet, Houston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Kirov Ballet, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Shanghai Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre and Washington Ballet.
Born in Taipei, Taiwan and raised in Marin County, California, Mr. Liang began his dance training at age five with Marin Ballet. After studying at the School of American Ballet, he joined New York City Ballet in 1993. That same year, he was a medal winner at the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition and won the Mae L. Wien Award. By 1998, he was promoted to Soloist. In 2001, Mr. Liang?joined the Tony Award® winning Broadway cast of Fosse. His performance in Fosse was later televised nationally on PBS’ Great Performances series – “Dance in America: From Broadway: Fosse,” and subsequently released on DVD. By 2002, Mr. Liang was invited by Jiri Kylian to become a member of the acclaimed Nederlands Dans Theater 1.
While dancing with NDT 1, Mr. Liang discovered his passion and love for choreography. Since establishing himself as a choreographer, his works have been performed by dance companies around the world and he has won numerous awards for his choreography including the 2006 National Choreographic Competition.
In 2013, Mr. Liang was named Artistic Director at BalletMet where he continues to choreograph new works for companies both domestically and abroad. In 2017, he received an Emmy® Award for his short dance film, “Vaulted.” In 2018, he created a new ballet with Roberto Bolle for the opening of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Dani Rowe
Dani Rowe
Artistic Director, Oregon Ballet Theatre
Dani Rowe is an internationally-renowned choreographer and the Artistic Director of Oregon Ballet Theatre. After a ten-year career as a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet, Rowe went on to dance with Christopher Wheeldon’s Morphoses and Houston Ballet before joining Nederlands Dans Theater 1. There, she worked intimately with dance luminaries Ji?í Kylián, Crystal Pite, Mats Ek, Paul Lightfoot, and Sol León among others. Her rich career of performing, choreographing, and directing at the highest levels of classical and contemporary dance worlds has cultivated in her a curatorial aesthetic that blends innovative and cutting-edge programming alongside the best of classical and neoclassical genres. As a choreographer, she has created multiple works for San Francisco Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater’s SWITCH, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Co.Lab Dance (featuring dancers from American Ballet Theatre), Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet Idaho, Grand Rapids Ballet, SFDanceworks, Dance Aspen, to name a few. Rowe’s most recent work MADCAP (February, 2023) for San Francisco Ballet was hailed a “triumph” (SF Chronicle). Her film Corps-en-tine for The Australian Ballet was called “one of the best things to come out of quarantine” by VOGUE and has been viewed over a million times online. Upcoming choreographic commissions include Pacific Northwest Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, and others. Dani lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two daughters.
Lizzie Tripp and Davit Hovhannisyan | Photo Nathaniel Davauer
Randy Crespo and Itzel Hernandez. (Push, Sixth Breath - 2022) | Photo Nathaniel Davauer
Milwaukee Ballet Company | Photo Nathaniel Davauer
Kristen Marshall and Josiah Cook |Photo Mark Frohna
Marize Fumero and Mengjun Chen | Photo Brian Lipchik