Choreography Project

NEW BEGINNINGS CHOREOGRAPHER HIGHLIGHT // Simon Montalvo

Choreography Project 2025 wraps this week to lead into our show, New Beginnings, this SUNDAY! Throughout the month of August we have been spotlighting each choreographer that will premiere their latest work in our show. Last, but not least, meet Simon Montalvo!

Simon Montalvo (they/them) is a non-binary/transgender movement artist, researcher, and collector of stories born on the land of the Coahuiltecan and Karankawan peoples. Building movement through improvisation, dance theatre, and radical community care, Simon’s deep commitment to sharing and protecting their community’s stories has guided their artistic journey. Simon is a first company member of Jo-Mé Dance Theatre, a Part-Time Fellow with Danza Orgánica, a past Next Steps for Boston Dance Artists award recipient, and a recent mentee of Midday Movement Series’ BIPOC Mentorship Program. Simon holds a BFA in Contemporary Dancer Performance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and has had their choreography presented by the Boston Center for the Arts, Danza Orgánica, the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Project31, and TAMUCC.

Catch the premiere of their work on August 24 through our link in bio.

New Beginnings is sponsored by Providence Tourism Council, Papitto Opportunity Connection, AS220, Providence Ballet Theatre, The City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, and RISCA

📸 (1, 2) Heidi and Jonathan Denney of Exclusive Image (3, 4, 5) Simon’s Rehearsal in Residency

NEW BEGINNINGS CHOREOGRAPHER HIGHLIGHT // Alyah Baker

We are already on our last week of Choreography Project 2025! Our show, New Beginnings, is happening THIS SUNDAY. Throughout the month of August we have been spotlighting each choreographer that will premiere their latest work in our show. Meet Alyah Baker!

Alyah Baker is a dance artist, scholar, and choreographer working at the intersection of art and embodied activism. She is an assistant professor of dance at UNC Charlotte, where her research focuses on q***r aesthetics, Black feminist praxis, and community building through dance. Baker earned her MFA in Dance(‘21) and a B.A. in Sociology (‘03) from Duke University. She has trained and performed professionally with companies including Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Oakland Ballet, and Carolina Ballet Theater (now Carolina Ballet), dancing featured roles in works by George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Laura Dean, José Limón, and Alonzo King.

In 2021, Baker founded AB Contemporary Dance, a collaborative dance project that explores identity and belonging through storytelling and movement. Her pedagogical and choreographic research has been featured in local and national media, including Dance Teacher Magazine and the New York Times. Baker’s collaborative and solo works have been commissioned by the American Dance Festival, Queering Dance Festival, and Oakland Ballet, and have received generous support from the National Performance Network, the Kenan Institute of Ethics, the Center for Cultural Innovation, and the North Carolina Arts Council.

Catch the premiere of her work on August 24 through our link in bio.

New Beginnings is sponsored by Providence Tourism Council, Papitto Opportunity Connection, AS220, Providence Ballet Theatre, The City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, and RISCA

📸 (1, 3) Provided by Artist (2, 4) Alyah’s Rehearsal in Residency

NEW BEGINNINGS CHOREOGRAPHER HIGHLIGHT // Ava Grebe

We are wrapping the second week of Choreography Project 2025. As we get closer to our show, we are highlighting the choreographers that will be featured in New Beginnings. Meet Ava Grebe!

Born in Maryland, United States, Ava was introduced to dance by her mom when she was three years old. After training primarily in classical ballet, she attended the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville, SC, where she began to study modern forms such as Graham, Horton, and Limòn. She recently graduated from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, earning a BFA in Contemporary Dance Performance with an emphasis in Choreography. There, she performed works by Aszure Barton, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, and Heather Stewart. She has presented choreography at The Dance Complex, SOMArts, and PMT House of Dance. Last fall, she traveled to Brussels, Belgium to attend the annual Flying Low/Passing Through Workshop at TicTac Art Center, led by David Zambrano.
This is Ava’s first time choreographing in residency and she cannot wait to dive into the process. She is inspired by film, the habitual eclectic nature of her grandmothers, and her experience of movement as a conduit to collective healing. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, climbing, and traveling.

Catch the premiere of her work on August 24 through our link in bio.

New Beginnings is sponsored by Providence Tourism Council, Papitto Opportunity Connection, AS220, Providence Ballet Theatre, The City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, and RISCA

📸 (2, 3, 4) Ava’s Rehearsal in Residency (1, 5) Rainey Scarborough

NEW BEGINNINGS CHOREOGRAPHER HIGHLIGHT // Nina Yoshida-Webster

As we gear up for our show at the end of the month, we wanted to share each of the works and choreographers that will be featured in New Beginnings. Meet Nina Yoshida-Webster who has started her residence with us this week!

Nina Yoshida-Webster was born in New York City and began her ballet training at New Jersey School of Ballet. At age 15, she was invited to train professionally with Gelsey Kirkland in NYC. Nina has performed professionally with Gelsey Kirkland Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, and Asian American Ballet Project. In 2021, Nina moved to Providence, RI to dance with Ballet Rhode Island. She has performed as a principal dancer in a wide range of classical and contemporary repertoire, including Kitri in Don Quixote, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, the Sugarplum Fairy and the Snow Queen in the Nutcracker, Stepsister in Cinderella, Jumping girl in George Balanchine’s Who Cares? Eternal Spring pas de deux in Leonid Yakobsen’s Rodin, and Yusha Marie Sorzano’s Two Women duet. Nina is thrilled to be choreographing for Choreography Project for the first time!

Catch the premiere of her work on August 24 through our link in bio.

New Beginnings is sponsored by Providence Tourism Council, Papitto Opportunity Connection, AS220, Providence Ballet Theatre, The City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, and RISCA

📸(1, 2, 5) Heidi and Jonathan Denney of Exclusive Image (3, 4, 6) Nina’s Rehearsal in Residency