Meet the Choreographer | Maya, Conservatory Student

Ballet 5:8 Studio Company’s First Annual Student Produced Showcase, “Emanate: An Arising Artist Showcase,” will take place Friday, October 15th at 6:15 PM CST. For this show, the dancing, choreography, marketing, stage manager responsibilities, stage hand duties, lighting, costuming, and front of house tasks are all being performed by members of the studio company. As one of the four student choreographers, Maya Ventura—a student in the Ballet 5:8 Conservatory—will be presenting her choreography in her contemporary piece, Gloom.

Maya has had the opportunity to choreograph during two summer intensives at Ballet 5:8, but her first experiences with choreographing came much earlier when she would make up dances as a little kid. As someone who is fascinated with movement, Maya loves bringing her ideas to life through the creation of new movement. In her choreographic process, she finds inspiration not only in the music, but also in the emotion that she wants to convey. Maya greatly enjoys exploring ways to physically interpret emotions. Gloom centers around the emotion of depression, and she hopes that it will portray the feeling in a fashion that makes it more understandable. One major source of Maya’s choreographic inspiration comes from School of Ballet 5:8 contemporary instructor, Jamy Meek.

Jamy Meek will also have a piece featured in Emanate as one of three guest professional choreographers, alongside Julianna Rubio Slager (Ballet 5:8 Artistic Director and Co-Founder) and James Wainwright (Ballet 5:8 Company Artist).

Maya would like to thank her dancers for their hard work in her rehearsals. Join us in-person or via livestream on Friday, October 15th at 6:15 PM CST to see Gloom and other wonderful pieces!