Sense of Self
Ethan Schweitzer-Gaslin
Sense of Self
Performed by
John Frazer (appearing courtesy of Ballet Idaho)
MUSIC
Make Me Cry - Jacob Collier
Ethan Schweitzer-Gaslin is a New York City based freelance dance artist from Western Massachusetts. He began studying ballet at age 5 at Amherst Ballet, then trained on scholarship at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and at summer programs around the country. After graduating from the UNCSA high school program, he spent 2 years as an apprentice with Oregon Ballet Theatre and 8 years as a Company Artist at Ballet Idaho. He has also been appearing with Arc Dance Company in Seattle since 2015 and with Project Flux Dance in Boise since 2018. He has been a semi-final Silver and Bronze medalist and a two-time finalist at Youth America Grand Prix, and has appeared at the Men In Dance Festival, the Sweet Pea Festival, and Treefort Music Festival. Ethan is known for performances in the roles of Peter Pan and the Nutcracker Prince, and in works by choreographers including George Balanchine, Alejandro Cerrudo, Edwaard Liang, Penny Saunders, Alex Ketley, Marie Chong, Daniel Ojeda, Lauren Edson, Anne Mueller and Peter Anastos. He has choreographed for dancers from Boston Ballet School, Houston Ballet II, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Northwest Dance Theatre, and Ballet Idaho. He has been an instructor for Ballet Idaho’s Learning Through Dance outreach program and the Project Flux Dance community class program, and a guest instructor at Ballet Idaho Academy, Idaho Fine Arts Academy, Northwest Dance Theatre and Amherst Ballet.
Programme Notes
The task of a solo performer is to create an entire world that is captivating to an audience that emanates entirely from their own being. We all contain multitudes within ourselves, a fact many of us have been forced to reckon with even more directly in the past few years. Small individual moments and thoughts throughout each of our lives - shaped by our circumstances and surroundings - come together to form a sense of identity and of how we exist within the context of the world around us. While this piece was created in February of 2020 before we knew what the future held for all of us, the movement has taken on increased relevance in re-examination in light of recent history.
Behind the Scenes PHOTOS
