red spotted purple (2018)
2018 • The Joyce Theater
Choreographed by Lauren Lovette
Commissioned by the Ashley Bouder Project
with the New York Jazzharmonic
Jazz Big Band • 10 minutes
ABOUT red spotted purple
When Ashley Bouder approached Lauren Lovette and I about choreographing a ballet, we decided to do a portrait in three movements of Ashley's life. The perpetual determination that a young ballerina requires in her thousands of hours of class before she takes the center stage, the comfort of finding true love amongst the noise of humanity, and the awe and attention that plant deep with the advent of motherhood are all encapsulated in this work. The working title for this piece was Opposite Red, but we ultimately went with Red Spotted Purple to pay tribute to Lauren’s favorite butterfly whose wings shine in shades of blue as bright and high-lumen as Ashley’s eyes.
lauren lovette
CHOREOGRAPHER
Lauren Lovette is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and an acclaimed independent choreographer. In her time with the company she has earned both the Janice Levin Award and the Clive Barnes Award for dance.
She has created works for the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company, among others. Her collaborators include musician Kate Davis, poet Andrea Gibson, and fashion designers Zac Posen, Narciso Rodriguez, and Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim of Oscar de la Renta/MONSE.
In 2019 Ms. Lovette was named Artist-in-Residence for Damian Woetzel’s prestigious Vail Dance Festival. In 2018, she was awarded a Virginia B. Toulmin Fellowship for Women Leaders in Dance at The Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University.
Since December 2018, Ms. Lovette has served as Artistic Chair of the Board of Groove With Me, an organization that offers hundreds of young women free dance and movement classes, with the goal of providing a safe and nurturing environment in which to practice self-expression and explore potential.
ashley bouder project
commissioner
The Ashley Bouder Project is an arts collaborative dedicated to furthering the inclusion of women and marginalized people in leadership roles in the performing arts world. Specifically, the ABP strives to work with and nurture talented individuals in the realms of choreography and musical composition. By choosing artists of the highest caliber and pairing choreographers with composers, dancers, costume designers, and lighting designers, the ABP hopes to create quality art performances and films, while establishing parity and equity in the creative process and beyond.
Ashley Bouder was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and began her ballet training at the age of six at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet with Marcia Dale Weary. After attending the 1999 Summer Program at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, she was invited by SAB to continue her training during the Winter Session. Ms. Bouder was named an apprentice with New York City Ballet in June 2000 and became a member of the corps de ballet that October. She was promoted to the rank of soloist in February 2004, and in January 2005, Ms. Bouder was promoted to principal dancer.
Ms. Bouder has danced in ballet galas around the world and guest starred in companies including the Paris Opera Ballet, Rome Opera Ballet, and the Mariinsky Ballet. She has been awarde Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise at the School of American Ballet as a student. As a professional her awards include the Janice Levin Honoree from the New York City Ballet, the Miss Expressivity for 2011 and the Miss Virtuosity for 2013 from the Dance Open Gala, and a 2014 Benois de la Danse nomination.
Beginning her teacher training in her teens at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB), Ms. Bouder has taught at the summer programs of the School of American Ballet (SAB), Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive (SSDI), Manhattan Youth Ballet (MYB), Carolina Ballet School, and the CPYB. She continues to be a frequent guest teacher at Ballet Academy East, MYB, and SAB, while guest teaching and holding master classes around the country, including the Boston Ballet School and Princeton University.
As a choreographer, using the arts collaborative she founded, The Ashley Bouder Project as an outlet for her work, Ms. Bouder hopes to promote other female choreographers, while also setting an example for women to be more forward and prominent in the creation and directorial sides of the arts world. Her previous work has been presented at the School of American Ballet Choreographic Workshop, the New York City Ballet in the Dancer's Choice Program, the Ashley Bouder Project at New York's Peter Norton Symphony Space, and at Bryant Park Presents.
GALLERY.
