Photo: Heather Bond
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Founder/Artistic DirectorRose HutchinsRose Hutchins, MFA, has taught, choreographed, and performed across the nation for more than a decade, earning the respect of those she works with for her expertise, work ethic, and artistry. Some notable achievements include her award-winning choreography Degas; her work Embark which was featured at Regional Dance America/Pacific; and her scholarly research “Sociopolitical Influences on the Creation of the Ballet Giselle” which was published in The Journal of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters, with the distinction of “best paper” in the arts division. While completing her graduate work with the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Rose lead an academic study to develop and test a somatic-based contemporary ballet technique curriculum designed to prepare today's ballet dancers more fully for the demands of contemporary ballet choreography. This research culminated with a choreographic work titled Essence, which Rose completed remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. NEW STAGE, a documentary about dancer artists in lockdown, featured excerpts from Essence along with Rose's reflections on this creative experience.
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BALLET BLOOM PROJECT
ARTISTS 20–21
Image: Max Auger
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Max AugerMax Auger graduated with a BA in Dance Performance from The University of New Hampshire in 2014 where he studied under the direction of Larry Robertson, Susan Endrizzi and Gay Nardone. During college, Max was lucky enough to study on full scholarship over the summers with Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre which has distinctly informed both his movement and choreography. Since graduating, Max has gone on to act and dance professionally in both film and stage in Boston (Contrapose Dance, The Bang Group), Chicago (Cotton, the Company) and extensively throughout New Hampshire (Ballet Misha, Tributary Dance, New Hampshire Dance Collaborative and The Palace Theatre). While in New Hampshire, Max also produced the short film Run (2015), which was accepted into the New Hampshire Film Festival. Max recently relocated to Portland, Maine and is just starting to find the small, but vibrant, dance community while working closely with Kelsie Steil. In his free time, Max photographs dancers.
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Image: Jocelyn Miyara
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Rebecca BassRebecca Bass holds a degree in Dance and Economics from Barnard College of Columbia University. As a student at Barnard, she co-founded and served as artistic director of Columbia University Ballet Ensemble. Her training in classical ballet includes summer intensives at the School of American Ballet and the North Carolina School of the Arts.
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Image: Joy Michelle
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Emily BrunickEmily Brunick graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Exercise and Movement Science. While completing her degree, she also spent the four years as a dancer and choreographer for UVM’s Orchesis Dance Company. Following her undergraduate program, she began teaching ballet and contemporary classes in Burlington, VT for South End Studios and Nova Dance Collective. She has had the pleasure to perform in a variety of professional shows including Lake Street Dive’s New Year’s Eve concert at the Wang Theatre in Boston, Paula Higa’s original showing of In/Voluntary Motion in Burlington’s Black Box Theatre and Michael Figueroa’s piece “This is why we can’t have nice things” at Portland’s SPACE gallery. Currently, Emily lives in Portland working as a Licensed Massage Therapist all while seeking out opportunities to explore movement in new ways.
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Image: Michael Ellis
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Jacqui DeFrançaOriginally from West Boylston, Massachusetts, Jacqui DeFrança is a graduate from Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles where she received a B.A. in Dance. She has had the pleasure of performing at venues such as: Ailey Citigroup Theater, St. Mark's Church, Joe's Pub, Milk Studios, Dixon Place, Lightbox, and SPACE Gallery. Jacqui has also danced at various showcases including: ACDF, Western Arts Alliance Annual Conference, Reverb Dance Festival, APAP, and CFDA/Vogue presentation. As well as stage, she has experience with TV and Film, dancing in Video Music Awards performance with Rihanna, Oh Land's music video Renaissance Girls and acting and dancing in the short films Out of Zinc and Big Breakin'. Learning under artistic director Mike Esperanza, Jacqui was a member of BARE Dance Company from 2008-2016. She also has worked with New York City based, Flying Under The Radar (FUTR) with artistic director Marlon Taylor-Wiles since 2014. Currently she resides in Biddeford, Maine where she and her husband run their own ice cream shop. She feels the best part about being an artist is the freedom in not doing just one thing.
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Image: Liv Powell
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Veronica DruchniakVeronica Druchniak is a former principal dancer with Maine State Ballet. She is a proud member of the Equity Membership Candidate Program, and has performed with several local theatre companies. She has spent the past two years traveling the world and doing what she loves as a production dancer aboard the Queen Mary 2. Onboard, she premiered a new contemporary work, Adagio, to international acclaim. Now back in Maine due to the pandemic, Veronica has found her place teaching at Studio for the Living Arts and Encore Dance Company, and performing with Ballet Bloom Project and Safe Haven Ballet in New Hampshire. Veronica holds a BA in Mathematics with a minor in Physics from the University of Southern Maine.
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Image: Alison Lamb
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Elly LovinElly Lovin grew up studying classical ballet and pointe with Robert Thomas and Miyoko Kato of the Joffrey Ballet and earned a BFA in Dance from the University of Iowa with a focus in ballet, modern dance and performance. She has been a Registered Yoga Instructor since 2008 and has developed and taught yoga and creative movement programs in public and private schools in Taipei, Chicago and New York City. Elly now lives in Portland with her husband and son, where she teaches for The Portland Ballet, Casco Bay Movers, and Waynflete Schools. As a Maine Arts Commission Teaching Artist, she holds creative dance residencies for school children around Maine, and is twice a recipient of the MAC Dance Ed Grant (2018, 2020). Elly feels most alive at the beach or in a room of laughing, moving children, resonating with the sentiment of Isadora Duncan: “I do not teach children. I bring them joy.”
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Image: Dustin Newhouse
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Kelsie Steil
Kelsie Steil graduated from Plymouth State University with a Bachelors in Adventure Education and a Minor in Dance in May, 2018. There she received the 2018 Contemporary Dance Ensemble award for her achievements in choreography. Her latest work is an ongoing duet danced between herself and dancer Max Auger called IMMORTAL!. The work had its most recent showing in FAB15 in February, 2020 and is funded in part by New England Foundation for the Arts’ New England Dance Fund, with generous support from the Aliad Fund at the Boston Foundation. In November 2019 she presented her piece Cast in Maine Moves IV. Kelsie has had the joy of living, dancing and teaching locally and internationally. One of her most major projects was a three-part film series based in Lithuania, which can be viewed on her website. In the midst of making dance works, she works as a Pilates and Dance instructor while spending as much time in nature as possible.
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PAST ARTISTS
Image: MK Cranford Photography
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Hannah RancoHannah Ranco is a dancer and choreographer from Bridgton, ME, currently earning her BFA in dance studies with a concentration in choreography at Dean College. While at school, she stays busy working at two local studios. She is also the captain of her school’s hip hop team and a member of Regality Dance Company. Her choreography credits include her two latest pieces You Were a Lesson and Cogito Ergo Sum both of which were presented on the Dean College stage.
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Image: Amy Wilton Photography
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Emma WiltonEmma grew up in Maine and has been in love with dance since age nine. Her passion for all things arts has led to many forms of creative expression; interning at galleries and art education organizations, performing in community productions, and experimenting independently in music, film, painting, drawing, and mixed media. Emma began dancing with Studio Red in Rockland, Maine in 2009 were she was given the opportunity to perform at Disney World and Hershey Park, travel throughout New England attending conventions, masterclasses and competitions, and dip her toe into the world of teaching. Emma has had the pleasure of training with Studio Red, The Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory, Move: The Initiative, New York City Dance Alliance, and has most recently attended a semester at Bennington College to study post-modern dance technique.
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