Mthuthuzeli November mesmerized audiences last fall with his love letter to Charlotte Ballet, From Africa with Love. Making a highly anticipated return to Charlotte Ballet, he unveils a new work that dives beneath the surface of dance, musicality, and personal connection. In sync with Mthuthuzeli November’s passion for humanity, powerhouse choreographer Jennifer Archibald shares her own unique perspective and draws inspiration from the language of movement, reflecting that in a Charlotte Ballet performance of her piece HdrM to be featured in this series. To also be featured in this series is a new work by the talented Omar Román De Jesús.
Meet the Choreographers!
Mthuthuzeli November
Mthuthuzeli November is an award-winning choreographer and dancer born in Cape Town, South Africa, Mthuthuzeli started dancing at the age 15 with Dance For All. Graduating in 2014, Mthuthuzeli won awards at the South African International Competition and he has danced with Cape Dance Company.
Mthuthuzeli created his debut choreographic work in 2014 on the Cape Dance Company. He danced in a South African production of ‘West Side Story’ before joining Ballet Black September 2015. Since then, he has made multiple award winning/nominated works for Ballet Black since 2016, which include the Laurence Olivier Award for ‘INGOMA.’ He was awarded South Africa’s Emerging Artist prize at Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees for his solo work and nominated for best soloist in a production (Black British Theatre Award).
Mthuthuzeli created short works for the English National Ballet Emerging Dancer competition in 2018 and 2020. He also created and danced for British Grime artist, Stormzy at Glastonbury Festival in 2019. He created a new work commissioned by Cape Town Opera and Cape Town City Ballet for a film production of ‘Pergolesi, Stabat Mater.’ He was also commissioned by The Grange Festival to create a work on the production of Precipice (2020). Toronto’s Fall For Dance North Festival commissioned a work ‘My Mothers Son’ in 2021. He has made two works for the Cape Dance Company, ‘Visceral’ and ‘The Rite of Passage.’
Mthuthuzeli has continued to make works around the world with The Washington Ballet (USA), Northern Ballet (UK), Luzerner Theatre (Switzerland), Cape Town City Ballet (SA), Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance (UK), Ballet Central (UK) and The Grange Festival (UK). Other projects include work for The Chemical Brothers, Sanlam Bank South Africa and British singer Adam Hender. In 2022, Mthuthuzeli November was nominated for Best Classical Choreography by the Critics Circle National Dance Awards for his work ‘The Waiting Game.’
Jennifer Archibald
Toronto-born JENNIFER ARCHIBALD is the founder and Artistic Director of the Arch Dance Company and Program Director of ArchCore40 Dance Intensives. Archibald has choreographed for the Ailey II, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet West, Grand Rapids Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, and BalletX among others. She has worked commercially for NIKE, MAC Cosmetics, Tommy Hilfiger, as well as chart-listed artists. She will return to the Crypto Arena to choreograph the opening for KCON’s annual conference.
She was appointed as the first female Resident Choreographer in Cincinnati Ballet’s 40-year history. Jennifer has been commissioned by BalletMet, Grand Rapids Ballet, BalletX, the Washington Ballet, Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre and the Kennedy Centre’s Pathways to Performance program to deliver new works in 2025. Ms. Archibald was the acting Movement Director for Michael Kahn’s The Oresteia at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Her directorial debut WeAight was named the Official Selection of the 2022 Dance on Camera Festival. She creates a “Documentary Ballet” format, in which she creates works rooted in historical history bringing communities together. Her documentary ballets are theatrical engagements that evolve beyond the stage and rely on historical education as an integral part of the creative process. Her projects in this space include – Breakin’Bricks which honors the community of Black Wall Street produced by Tulsa Ballet; Sounds of the Sun which honors the life of dancer Florence Waren exploring her experience during the holocaust produced by the Pittsburgh Ballet and Seven, a biographical work about Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee commissioned by MADCO Dance Company.
Archibald’s works have been performed at venues including Aaron Davis Hall, Central Park’s Summerstage Mainstage, Jacob’s Pillow Inside|Out Stage, Lincoln Center, New York’s City Center, and The Kennedy Center. She was awarded a Choreographic Fellow for Ailey’s New Directions Choreography Lab under the direction of Robert Battle and is a Joffrey Ballet Winning Works Choreographic Competition recipient. Her commissioned work “DIRT ” was presented at TED TALK by St. Louis-based MADCO Dance Company. Arch Dance Company’s Chasing Shadows, was remounted for Dallas Black Dance Theater’s 2018/19 season. Archibald was also the 2018-19 recipient of the City of New York Dance Initiative.
She is currently an Acting Lecturer at the Yale School of Drama and was appointed as a Guest Faculty Lecturer to develop the Hip Hop dance curriculum at Columbia/Barnard College. Jennifer is also a guest artist at several universities including Boston Conservatory, Columbia College Chicago, Fordham/Ailey, Goucher College, Miami New World School of the Arts, Purchase College, Point Park, Princeton, South Carolina’s Governor’s School of the Arts, University of South Florida, Oklahoma University and Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a returning guest choreographer for the School at Jacob’s Pillow.
Omar Román De Jesús
Omar Román De Jesús is a queer Puertorriqueño choreographer and the director of the NYC-based dance company Boca Tuya. Currently, he is a proud Artist in Residence at 92NY. Omar is the inaugural Baryshnikov Arts Center Fellow at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park and a 2023 Dance Magazine Harkness Promise Awardee. His accolades include the 2022 Princess Grace Award in Choreography, the 2022 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Choreography, the 2022 Palm Desert Choreography Festival Grand Prize, and the 2020 Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at Jacob’s Pillow.
He has been commissioned to create works for over 20 companies and pre-professional schools, including The Paul Taylor Dance Company, Charlotte Ballet, The Juilliard School, Ballet Hispánico, BalletCollective, Limón 2, SALT Dance, St. Louis Dance Theater, MOVE NYC, Bruce Wood Dance, The Joffrey Academy of Dance (Chicago), Whim W’Him, Parsons Dance, The Ailey School, Kennesaw State University, James Madison University, and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
Omar’s works for stage and screen have been presented worldwide, receiving top recognitions through the Joffrey Academy of Dance’s Winning Works Choreographic Competition, Whim W’Him’s Choreographic Shindig, The Dance Gallery Festival, Reverb Dance Festival, and the International Dance Festival of Puerto Rico, where he was awarded the Ambassador of Dance medal. His screendance, Los Perros del Barrio Colosal, has been viewed by audiences in over 20 countries and was awarded Best of Screen Dance International as well as Best Choreography and Best Narrative at the ReThink Dance Film Festival. Over the past five years, he has toured internationally to Colombia, Panama, and the Canary Islands, and has presented work domestically in New York, Georgia, Washington, Pennsylvania, and California. In 2023, his piece Papagayos, commissioned for Ballet Hispánico, premiered at New York City Center and traveled to North Carolina for the American Dance Festival. Most recently, his work Like Those Playground Kids at Midnight was presented in celebration of the 92NY 150th anniversary.
Omar is fond of education and has experience teaching workshops and master classes all over the world for professional dancers, students with special needs, people with physical disabilities, and marginalized communities.
TICKETS:
Tickets start at $30
