BalletX: Sunset, o639 Hours

Shawn Cusseaux is BalletX’s Independence Foundation Dance Fellow. Shawn is an emerging performing artist hailing from Tampa Bay, FL, where he attended Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School. He continued his studies in Pittsburgh PA at the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University, where he received his Bachelor in Fine Arts. During this time he was given opportunities to perform works by Garfield Lemonious, Jae Man Joo, Kiesha Lalama, Jennifer Archibald, Jose Limon, Jason Mcdole, Amy Hall Garner, Robert Priorie, Edwaard Liang, and Camille A. Brown.The BalletX Dance Fellowship is sponsored by the Independence Foundation.

Jonah graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in 2019. His formative dance training began with The Academy of Dance Arts, in Illinois. During his time in college he also guested with Visceral Dance Chicago, Martha Graham Dance Company, and Illinois Ballet Theatre. After graduating from college, Jonah joined Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. He joined BalletX in 2021.

Francesca Forcella came to BalletX in 2013 after working as a company member with the Washington Ballet Studio Company and Los Angeles’ American Contemporary Ballet. She trained with Gina Forcella at Dance Stop Education Center in New Jersey, then continued her classical ballet training with Risa Kaplowitz and Susan Jaffe.  At 16 she joined Houston Ballet II (HBII) and continued training with Claudio Munoz and Sabrina Lenzi.  With HBII, she toured nationally and internationally, and in 2011, she represented Houston Ballet at the International Youth Dance Festival in Budapest, Hungary. Francesca has enjoyed the privilege of having ballets set on her by choreographers Ma Cong, Elie Lazar, and Lincoln Jones.  She has danced ballets by George Balanchine, Stanton Welsh, Twyla Tharp, and Septime Webre.  Among her favorite roles are the female leads in Trey McIntyre’s Blue Until June and in Stanton Welch’s Fingerprints. 

Stanley Glover is the recipient of a 2019 Princess Grace Award in Dance. Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, Stanley Glover began his dance training at Premiere One Dance Academy under the direction of Adrienne Brazile. He attended Philadelphia’s University of the Arts where he graduated and earned a BFA in May 2016. He was a Top-20 contestant on Season 11 of the hit television show So You Think You Can Dance and has performed repertoire and trained under some of the best in the industry, including Sonya Tayeh, Sidra Bell, Robert Battle, Dwight Rhoden, Tyce Diorio, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Gary Jeter, Roni Koresh, Wayne St. David, Tokyo, Random Dance, Hubbard Street, Pennsylvania Ballet, and many more. He also performed as a principal dancer in the Las Vegas production of Cirque du Soleil’s Mystère. Stanley joined BalletX in 2018.

Savannah Green was born and raised in New York City, where she attended LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts as a Dance Major and Manhattan Youth Ballet on a full merit scholarship. Savannah Green was born & raised in New York City, where she attended the famed LaGuardia High School for Music, Art & the Performing Arts as a Dance Major. She studied at Manhattan Youth Ballet on a full merit scholarship, performing featured roles in professional level repertoire including George Balanchine’s Stars & Stripes, Emeralds, & Serenade, as well as Jerome Robbins’ Interplay. Savannah graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara in June 2017 with a BFA in Dance & a minor in Political Science. In her final year at UCSB, she was a member of the Student Dance Company & spent the year touring internationally & performing works by José Limón, Andrea Miller, Anna Halprin, among others. During that time, Savannah was privileged to be a featured soloist in Limón’s tribute to Isadora Duncan, Dances for Isadora. In May 2017, she travelled to New York City with the Student Dance Company to perform as part of The Radical Bodies Exhibition at Hunter College. Savannah also worked with Buglisi Dance Theater, performing new works in New York City & the Kaatsbaan International Dance Center. She also had the opportunity to perform in Jacqulyn Buglisi’s Table of Silence at UCSB as well, as in New York City. Last summer, she performed at the Vail Dance Festival in Merce Cunningham’s Antic Meet, staged by Melissa Toogood. She spent a season as a Dancer 2 Fellow with BalletX, before being asked to join as a company member for the 2020-2021 15th Anniversary Season.

Zachary Kapeluck hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he received his early training at Southwest Ballet and Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. He trained at The Juilliard School and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s Summer Intensives, and in the summer of 2011, he worked as a guest artist with Mary Miller Dance in Pittsburgh in a project titled Confluence. He graduated with a BFA in Dance from Point Park University, where he had the opportunity to perform works by such choreographers as George Balanchine, Gerald Arpino, Toru Shimazaki, Kevin Iega Jeff, Val Caniparoli, Jessica Lang, and Alejandro Cerrudo.  He received training there from Doug Bentz, Kiesha Lalama, Garfield Lemonius, and Dana Arey. Zachary joined BalletX in 2013.

Blake Krapels, a 2011 United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts, trained in New Jersey under the tutelage of Billy Larson and Jamie Salmon. In 2015, Blake graduated with a BFA in dance from The Juilliard School, where he performed repertoire by William Forsythe, Merce Cunningham, Elliot Feld, Jose Limon and Peter Chu. In addition to his core training at school, Blake participated in Summer Intensives at Nederlands Dans Theatre (2014, 2016) and Springboard Danse Montreal (2013). Since graduating, he has danced for The Metropolitan Opera, Keigwin & Company, GroundWorks Dance Theatre, Emery LeCrone Dance, and Konverjdans. Last fall, Blake launched Alpha, a dance theater company with two of his Juilliard classmates Michael Marquez and Gemma Bender. They curated their world premiere as a part of Cleveland DanceWorks 2017. Blake joined BalletX in 2018.

Skyler Lubin is originally from Miami Beach, also growing up in the New Jersey and Philadelphia area. She received her early training from The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, PA, then continued her training at the Miami City Ballet School. Skyler also attended summer programs at The School of American Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. From 2010-2014, Skyler danced as a member of the Corps de Ballet with Miami City Ballet, under the direction of Edward Villella and Lourdes Lopez. She has performed in featured roles, including Flower Festival pas de deux, Swan Lake pas de trois, and Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun, and has premiered pieces by Alexei Ratmansky and Liam Scarlett. Skyler joined BalletX in 2015.

Ashley Simpson is originally from West Palm Beach Florida and trained at A.W Dreyfoos High School of the Arts and her local dance studio, School of Ballet Arts. In 2016 Ashley became a Young Arts Winner before moving to New York City to train at the Ailey/Fordham BFA program majoring in Dance and Communications. During her time in college, Ashley performed the works of such choreographers as Dwight Rhoden, Alvin Ailey, Bradley Shelver, Nijawwon Matthews, Janice Rosario, Troy Powell, and Hope Boykin. In 2019, Ashley was awarded the Denise Jefferson Memorial Scholarship, representing her class at the annual Ailey/Fordham benefit concert. Additionally, Ashley joined ‘XY Dance Project,’ a project-based company directed by Nijawwon Matthews, performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and was a trainee/apprentice for Complexions Contemporary Ballet, performing with the company during their Joyce season. Most recently she was a part of the dance ensemble for the movie production of Lin Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights, which comes out in 2021. To supplement her training, Ashley attended Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Program, Arts Umbrella, Alonzo King Lines, Juilliard, Orlando Ballet, BalletX, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Joffrey Chicago and Next Generation Ballet summer intensives. During her senior year at Ailey/Fordham, Ashley joined ‘Collage Dance Collective’ and was able to work professionally and tour internationally while finishing her last year of college. While at CDC, Ashley performed the works of Kevin Iega Jeff, Amy Hall Garner, Darrell Moultrie, Joshua Manculich, and Kevin Thomas. Ashley is thrilled to be joining BalletX and is excited to experience the City of Philadelphia.

Richard Villaverde was born in Miami FL, and began dancing at the age of 13. He received most of his early ballet coaching from Maria Eugenia Lorenzo, trained at Dancetown, under the direction of Manuel and Lory Castro, and graduated from New World School of the Arts, under the direction of Daniel Lewis. In 2009, Richard won the national title of “Senior Male Outstanding Dancer” at New York City Dance Alliance, and he was also awarded a full scholarship to The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, where he trained with Douglas Becker, Michael Sheridan, Ronen Koresh, Scott Jovovitch, and Christine Cox. In December 2011, Richard was selected to study abroad at La Biennale de Venezia for six months, under the direction of Ismael Ivo. While there he worked with world-renowned contemporary artists, and upon returning to the United States, he began his first season at BalletX. Since joining BalletX in 2012, Richard has been in over 30 world premieres by choreographers including Matthew Neenan, Nicolo Fonte, Jodie Gates, Trey McIntyre, Kevin O’Day, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and Cayetano Soto.

From Jacksonville, Florida, Pete Leo Walker began his training at The Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts. In 2010 Pete joined Charlotte Ballet under the direction of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride, performing a diverse repertoire including works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Jiri Kylian, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Dwight Rhoden, Sasha Janes, and Jiri Bubenicek. In 2011 Pete received the prestigious Princess Grace Dance Fellowship Award and in 2012 was promoted to Principal Artist with the Charlotte Ballet. The following year he was listed in Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch” and in December 2014, performed Who Cares at the Kennedy Center Honors Awards, as tribute to Patricia McBride. Following his tenure with the Charlotte Ballet, Pete joined Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, touring nationally and internationally and performing works by artists such as Gerald Arpino, Jorma Elo, Cayetano Soto, Alejandro Cerrudo, Alexander Ekman, Nicolo Fonte, and Cherice Barton. While a company member with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Pete had the privilege of performing Gerlad Arpino’s Light Rain pas de duex at the Jacob’s Pillow 2016 Season Opening Gala. Pete has been fortunate to return annually as a guest artist at Chautauqua Institution’s Alumni All-Star Ballet Gala. Pete joined BalletX in 2021.

Andrea Yorita is from Irvine California, where she received her classical ballet training at Academy of Dance, under the direction of Merle Sepel, Rebecca Tsivkin, and Mignon Furman. In 2012, she graduated as a Gillespie Scholar with a BFA in Dance Performance from the University of California, Irvine, where she studied under Jodie Gates, Molly Lynch, and Donald McKayle. Originally trained under the R.A.D. syllabus, Andrea has completed all Vocational R.A.D. exams with Distinction, as well as received the Solo Seal Award. In 2008, Andrea competed as a finalist in the Genée International Ballet Competition in Toronto, Canada. She has participated in the National Choreographers Initiative, as an apprentice, and the Traverse City Dance Project. Andrea was a 2016 Dance Finalist for the Clive Barnes Award. She joined BalletX in 2012.