Ballet Theatre of Maryland and Full Circle Dance Company, Together with the Gordon Center,
Present
We Walk in Moonlight
A Collaboration in Movement, Myth, and Mystery
Saturday, October 28, 2023 | 8:00 pm
The Gordon Center
​
Welcome to an unprecedented collaboration that reminds us that the language of movement
unites us all. Bringing our two companies together to work with choreographer Travis D. Gatling
has enriched our practice, creating surprising exchanges as well as moments of powerful unity.
The resulting work En.tranced premieres tonight at the beautiful Gordon Center, surrounded by
works from each company’s repertoire. We are here together with you tonight to assert the
originality, energy, and excitement of dance right here in Maryland. We hope you are moved by
what you see on the stage tonight, and that you will continue to explore the rich landscape of
dance in our communities.
​
Nicole Kelsch, Artistic Director, Ballet Theatre of Maryland
Donna L. Jacobs, Artistic Director, Full Circle Dance Company
Angels Unawares (FCDC)
Choreography: Travis D. Gatling
Music: “Meetings Along the Edge,” Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass
Angels, as described in the Bible, are not the fluffy, filmy, pastel-colored creatures of
contemporary pop culture. They are powerful beings with heavy responsibilities who inspire awe.
Dancers: Hope B. Byers, Shaela Davis, Elizabeth Hafey, Allison Powell, Amanda Rosenbaum, Alicia
Williams, Misty Yackshaw
Ultraviolet (BTM)
Choreography: Michael West, Jr.
Music: “Sunrise,” “Song of the Sun,” “The Persistence of First Love,” “Of Waving Woods and
Waters Wild,” “I Am in the Garden,” and “Your Hands Hold Home,” Timbre
“Complex and contemplative, Ultra Violet suggests the mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of
what lies ahead, and the discoveries beyond where we are now. The vast and limitless night sky is
symbolic of what is possible and continues to inspire the desire to pursue a world beyond our
own. Historically, there has been a mystical or spiritual quality attached to Ultra Violet. The
color is often associated with mindfulness practices, which offer a higher ground to those
seeking refuge from today’s over-stimulated world. The use of purple-toned lighting in meditation
spaces and other gathering places energizes the communities that gather there and inspire
connection”—The Pantone Color Institute (2018)
Sun: Cindy Case
Moon: Michael West, Jr.
Ocean: Alexander Collen
Water: Madison Sweeney, Brenna Mazzara, Karissa Kralik
Air: Anne Gutcher, Catherine Welch, Amanda Cobb
Earth: Aaron Bauer
Rose: Victoria Siracusa
Intermission
Daydreams/2009 (FCDC)
Choreography: Misty Yackshaw
Music: “Squares,” The Beta Band; “Be Be Your Love,” Rachel Yamagata; “Mr. Zebra,” Tori
Amos; “Runaway,” Deee-Lite; “Nothingman,” Pearl Jam; “This Bitter Earth/On the Nature of
Daylight,” Dinah Washington/Max Richter
How well do you know your coworkers? And what secret life have you been hiding?
Dancers: Hope B. Byers, Teresa Hinton, Morgan James, Allison Powell, Amanda Rosenbaum, Misty
Yackshaw
Flow and Ebb (BTM)
Choreography: Cindy Case
Music: “Finale” of Piano Trio in G Major by Claude Debussy
Loss, like the ocean, is crushing at its depths. Its heaviness will ebb and flow with the tides;
sometimes, the experience is distant but never completely absent. At its worst, the circling
pattern of birds above the surface only provides glimmers of relief and joy. Learning to navigate
these emotional extremes is one of the inevitabilities of loss.
Coincidentally, Debussy’s Piano Trio in G Major was considered lost until its rediscovery in
1979. In this piece, select movements from Debussy’s composition capture the weight and
turbulence of these stormy seas.
Dancers: Madison Sweeney with Caroline Anderson, Lindsey Bell, Amanda Cobb, Anne Gutcher, Hannah
Hanson, Cassandra Hope, Sarah Jung, Karissa Kralik, Lauren Martinez, Brenna Mazzara, Clara
Molina, Victoria Siracusa, Rowan Treece, Catherine Welch
En.tranced (BTM and FCDC)
World Premiere
Choreography: Travis D. Gatling
Music: “Void” and “Point” by emptyset
“I became drawn to how our bodies physically respond because of specific dreams—like falling,
being startled, flying or floating, running, feeling trapped or paralyzed, and so on. These
physical sensations helped me generate my movement vocabulary. This project and experience
remind me that dance is a universal language we all share regardless of its type. Through the
transformative nature of the art form, we celebrate human expression, our connections, our
differences, and dance’s ability to move, challenge and inspire others.”—Travis D. Gatling
Dancers: Morgan Anderson, Alexander Collen, Morgan James, Karissa Kralik, Isaac Martinez, Lauren
Martinez, Mindy Rawlinson, Michael West, Jr., Alicia Williams
Credits:
BTM Artistic Director: Nicole Kelsch
Full Circle Artistic Director: Donna L. Jacobs
Lighting Design for We Walk in Moonlight: Helen Garcia-Alton
Photography: Brion McCarthy
Program Design: Allison Powell
Special thanks to:
This program is supported in part by the Creative Baltimore Fund and the Maryland State Arts
Council.
​
Choreographers
Travis D. Gatling
Travis D. Gatling began his dance training at Norfolk State University under the mentorship of
Inez L. Howard, the Founding Director of the NSU Dance Theater. While earning a B.A. in
English/Liberal Arts, he performed and choreographed for the company for several years and
later served as the Rehearsal Director. He continued his training in ballet, modern and jazz at the
Virginia Ballet Theatre with Glen White, former soloist with the Joffrey Ballet and Elbert
Watson, former member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. He attended Ohio State
University as a Fellowship student where he earned an MFA in Dance Performance. Gatling’s
performance credits include lead roles in works by Donald McKayle, Merce Cunningham and
Doris Humphrey, as well as solo works by Ronald K. Brown and Earl Mosley and several others.
He was a full time modern and jazz instructor at Avondale High School of Performing Arts in
Decatur, Georgia, where he also served as the Artistic Director for the Dance Repertory
Company, the school’s touring group. Some of his other teaching and choreography credits
include Georgia State University, Emory University, and the Morton Street Dance Center in MD.
He has been commissioned to create new works and set existing repertoire for the University of
Akron, the Cherokee Ballet in Woodstock, GA, Middle Tennessee State University, Full Circle
Dance Co. in MD, and Urban Soul Dance Company in TX. In addition to teaching Modern, Jazz
and Ballet techniques, and Black Dance Forms at Ohio University, he served as the Artistic
Director and Head of the Dance Division and then the Director of the School of Dance from
2015-2022.
Cindy Case
Cindy Case is a Maryland native who studied locally under Pamela Moore, DFCCA. She has
been a trainee with Richmond Ballet, a second company member with Nashville Ballet, an
apprentice with Charlottesville Ballet, and a company dancer with San Diego Ballet and Ballet
Theatre of Maryland, where she is a soloist. Previous professional credits include an ensemble
role in Serenade, Myrtha in Giselle, a Big Swan in Swan Lake, Dew Drop Fairy and Arabian in
The Nutcracker, Lucy in Dracula, Catherine the Great in Roman Mykyta’s The Little Slippers,
the waltz variation in Les Sylphides, and Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote. She has danced
contemporary works by Gina Patterson, Heather Maloy, Paul Vasterling, Gregory Hancock, R.
Colby Damon, Javier Velasco, and Keith Lee; since joining BTM she has also originated roles in
works by fellow company members Michael West, Jr., Lindsey Bell, Karissa Kralik, and Isaac
Martinez. Cindy has danced professionally since 2012 and at BTM since 2019. Over the course
of her career, she has also served as an academy teacher, community outreach instructor,
choreographer, communications coordinator, and copywriter for multiple organizations. In 2019,
her choreography Infernum in 3/4 premiered in San Diego Ballet’s Dance Gallery. In the summer
of 2020, she became a Cecchetti Diploma Fellow while also co-founding the currently inactive
Digital Dance Project. Her first mainstage work for BTM, Flow and Ebb, premiered in 2022.
Misty Yackshaw
Misty began dancing as a toddler in Myrtle Beach, SC and attended the Ballet Summer Intensive
at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities. She was a member of the
University of South Carolina Dance Company and the USC West African Drum and Dance
Ensemble as well as the independent company Djoliba Don. From 2006-2009 she danced and
choreographed with Full Circle Dance Company, and she returned after a hiatus in 2016. Her
works for Full Circle include Alternate Paradigm, Daydreams, The Ceiling, Comic Interlude, and
the 2020 dance film DISSONANCE. She is the recipient of the 2021 Mark Ryder Original
Choreography Grant for her work The Hill, which premiered in 2022. Misty enjoys creating
character-centric pieces that explore the nuances of individuals and she loves to incorporate
humor in dance.
Michael West, Jr.
Michael West, Jr. is a native of Baltimore, where his training began in Baltimore County Public
Schools. Upon graduating from George Washington Carver Center for the Arts & Technology, he
was invited to join Nashville Ballet’s second company, NB2 where he trained and performed for
two seasons. Michael moved on to perform as an aerialist and dancer with Nashville-based
contemporary dance company FALL, and later with Suspended Gravity Circus. While in
Nashville, he performed at many venues including the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, the
Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Marathon Music Works, Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, OZ
Arts Center, and many others. West has been featured in the official music videos for OBB’s
“Sweater”, Humming House’s “Takin’ Over,” Front Country’s “Broken Record,” & Lauren
Balthrop’s “So We Remember.” Since joining BTM, Michael has performed roles such as
Hilarion in Nicole Kelsch’s 2021 staging of Giselle, Behemoth/the Devil in the Ukrainian
folktale ballet The Little Slippers and the titular hero in Kotyhoroshko, created by Roman
Mykyta, as well as the Lead Nomad in Don Quixote. He also had the opportunity of performing
at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for the Winter
Wonderland concert in 2022. In the 2023 production of Momentum, Michael set his own
choreography on the company and premiered his original ballet Ultraviolet, inspired by the
cosmos and set to music by Timbre.
