Yvanhova Figueroa, Irene Ruiz-Rivero & Leonel Linares

Title: Foreigners Within

Performers: Michele Moreno, Claire Mazza, Elisa Toro-Franki, Alejandro Ulloa and Leonel Linares

Choreography: Leonel Linares, Irene Ruiz-Rivero & Yvanhova Figueroa

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Our piece explores the imposed borders that change destinies. Humans losing their origins and hoping for a life somewhere else. We are questioning the co-relation between being an immigrant and the forever feeling of asking for identity. And in contrast to the inevitable sentiments of survival and outlandish, the fact that we - nonnatives - are tied up with a solidity, with a force: the power of that constant search for belonging. In a world that systematically forgets its precious identities, aren't we all foreigners within ourselves?

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Dancers:

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Elisa Toro Franky is a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer based in New York City. She is featured in works that integrate ballet, tango, ballroom, and Middle Eastern styles. Elisa currently performs with FJK Dance, with whom she toured to China in 2017. She also worked as Program Director of Accent Dance NYC, an education and performance organization that provides access to dance in underserved communities. Elisa has performed with Dardo Galletto Dance at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and with Christopher Caines Dance. In May of 2021, Elisa was invited to collaborate with El Puente Presente and a New York Philharmonic string quartet as part of the Bandwagon series. In June of 2021, Elisa performed at I Heart Dance NYC, where dancers from top NYC companies are invited. In September of 2021, she was a  featured ballerina in Rhina Valentin's 'Sancocho' production, in celebration of the Hispanic Heritage Month at Lincoln Center Restart Stages.

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Elisa trained with Cuban mentors and traveled twice to Cuba for international ballet intensives and competitions. She came to the United States in 2004 to train at the Miami City Ballet School, to later dance with the Washington Ballet Studio Company, the Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble, and the New Jersey Ballet."

Alejandro Ulloa
A native of Nicaragua, international freelance artist Alejandro Ulloa began his dance training at the Escuela Nacional de Ballet de Nicaragua under the direction of maestro William Herrera, and launched his professional dance career with the Compañía Ballet de Nicaragua where he quickly became a principal dancer. He was later invited to be part of the contemporary company Danza Contemporánea Universitaria UNAN-Managua. In 2015, Alejandro and Maestro Herrera launched the first-ever ballet and neoclassical ensemble at the Nicaraguan University, where Alejandro became the Cultural Promoter for the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, as well as Director for the “Taller de Líneas Clásicas.” Later that year, he also became co-producer, teacher, and choreographer for Compañía Ballet de Nicaragua, as well as a ballet and contemporary teacher at the Escuela Nacional de Ballet de Nicaragua. Alejandro’s vast repertoire has ranged from classical to contemporary works, as he has worked with a plethora of directors and choreographers. He has appeared as a guest artist for Gainesville Ballet, Danse Etoile in Costa Rica, Island Moving Company, Neglia Ballet, Ajkun Ballet Theatre, and Connecticut Ballet, among others. He has also participated in many festivals, such as Jacob’s Pillow Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts, APAP Festival in New York City, Bitef Theater and Terazije Theater in Serbia, the International Ballet Gala in Nicaragua, the 50th anniversary of Universidad de Campeche-Mexico, the 20th Anniversary of Fundacion Ballet de El Salvador, and Great Friends Dance Festival in Newport, Rhode Island among others. In addition, Alejandro was an integral part of the Art and Science Unite as Psychological Treatment in Adults and Youth Workshop, developed by the Yale Hispanic Mental Health Clinic, and in 2016 he was awarded the “Artist of International Projection of the Year” by the Nicaraguan Artist Association. Alejandro is currently a member of Thomas Ortiz Dance Company, Ballets with a Twist, and Kathryn Posin Dance. He is also a dance instructor for Darien Arts Center and New England Academy of Dance. In 2019, Alejandro co-founded East Coast Contemporary Ballet.

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Claire Mazza

A native New Yorker, Claire began her dance training at the School of American Ballet where she was chosen by Madam Dudin to study at the age of nine. While being immersed in the Balanchine style, she studied privately with Francois Perron in order to focus on the classical French technique and attended Studio Maestro (currently Manhattan Youth Ballet) under his and Deborah Wingert’s direction. Claire also received scholarships to attend prestigious summer programs at the Boston Ballet School and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. As a child, Claire had the unique opportunity to perform with New York City Ballet in their productions of "The Nutcracker," "Firebird," "Coppelia," and "Mozartiana." Upon graduating and after having performed with the Manhattan Youth Ballet Studio Company, Claire launched her professional career and has danced with Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal, Brooklyn Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Richmond Ballet, Morales Dance, Staten Island Ballet, St. Peter’s Dance Company, Dances Patrelle, Cello Pointe, and was a soloist with Connecticut Ballet for many years. Claire is currently a soloist with New York City- based company Ballets with a Twist and Kathryn Posin Dance Company. Her repertoire spans classical to contemporary works, and she recently had the pleasure of performing as a principal in Balanchine’s "Who Care’s?" and starred as Titania in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream." She has also been seen dancing in television productions such as Kings, Royal Pains, and Elementary. In addition to her thriving dance career, Claire has been featured as a model in Dance Magazine, Pointe Magazine, Italian magazine “Donna,” Kike Calvo’s National Geographic table book “World of Dances,” and in Joe McNally’s Nikon print advertisement. Claire has been teaching dance to students ages three to eighteen for the past ten years, and is currently the Director of Dance at Darien Arts Center and on faculty at New England Academy of Dance (NEAD) in addition to training students privately. In 2019, Claire co-founded East Coast Contemporary Ballet.

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Yvanhova Figueroa

Her mother was a ballet dancer, this young dancer originally from Venezuela, she holds a degree from Taller de Danza Caracas as a Modern Dance Performer in 2004. She also holds a BA in Business Administration from Universidad Central de Venezuela.  Because she grew up between dancers and in a dance community, she has explored other disciplines such as ballet, tango show (acro-tango), improvisation, modern dance, and dance theater incorporating video art, photography and music.  She had the pleasure to work with Ballet Teresa Carreno, TangoXTango, Sinergia Tango, The National Dance Company of Venezuela, Taller Experimental Pisorrojo, Mixed Movement, Palissimo and The Ballet of Connecticut. She has formed a collaboration with independent choreographers like Annette Herwander, Scott Lyon, Lindsey Dietz Marchant, Oliver Steele, Roberto Villanueva and Elliott Ortiz. She owns YvaYoga (YvaYoga.com). She has performed at the Alvin Ailey Theater, Dance New Amsterdam, New York Live Arts, Movement Research, and The Tank among others. She has toured with dance troupes as guest dancer in Chile, Argentina, Canada, Venezuela and The United States. 

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Irene Ruiz-Rivero:

Irene Eva is originally from Colombia and has lived in Israel, Spain, and the USA.  She is an actor and a voice artist with an extensive background in dance and music.  Born in a family of artists, she was raised between the bands her mother led and the theatre La Abadía in Madrid (formerly directed by her relatives).  She studied theatre, dance, and music in Israel & Barcelona as a child and teenager, and later traveled to NYC to deepen her studies of modern dance, dance theatre, and music (singing & piano/bass).  She dedicated many years to creating original dance theatre performances with her company, and also participated as a performer in several productions in NYC and later in Spain/Israel- mainly as an actress and also as a dancer and singer. Back in Barcelona, Irene has continued her multidisciplinary career in the performing arts, focusing the last years on acting on screen and preparing new theatre projects, while continuing her training in theatre, voice and dance.

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Michele Moreno

Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, Michele Moreno (she/her) began her ballet training at Ballet Keyla Ermecheo where she graduated as part of Rafael Portillo, Vladimir Lopukhov, and Roumen Rachev's class. After graduation she was offered a contract with Ballet Metropolitano de Caracas under the direction of Keyla Ermecheo where she went from corp of ballet to coryphee.  After few years after she was offered a contract with Ballet Juvenil Teatro Teresa Carreno, under Rafael Portillo and Irina Ivanova's direction. There she had the opportunity to dance an extensive classical and neoclassical repertory including Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Four Seasons.  She returned to the Ballet Metropolitano of Caracas as soloist dancing the company's full repertory and touring internationally to Latin America and the US. After traveling to the US and dancing for the “2000 stars festival” directed by Fernando Bujones she decided to move to New York and started training with Natalya Stavro at Broadway Dance Center. Michele currently dances for Staten Island Ballet where she is also part of the faculty. She had taught at Ballet Angela Custodio and Ballet Caracol in Ibiza, Spain; Martha Graham school, NY; Ballet Arts, NY and Fini Dance Festival, Italy.She also completed the Bolshoi Ballet Academy Teacher’s Certification Level I- VIII and Partnering. In 2017 became faculty member at Broadway Dance Center teens and children program where she teaches the advanced teens and pointe classes and in 2019 faculty member at Broadway Dance Center adult open class division.

Post Show conversation conducted by: Angelica Guvernez