National Choreographers Initiative-About NCI


Mission Statement To support and nurture the process of developing new choreography. To educate and enrich the community through access to the creative process. To support and strengthen the dance community; dancers, choreographers, artistic directors, boards of directors, and audiences; by investing in the future of dance. The National Choreographers Initiative was developed to promote the creation and production of professional dance. It is also an opportunity to engage outstanding choreographers from around the United States in the creative process. There is a need nationwide to have a workshop setting where choreographers can initiate new work as well as experiment and develop their craft. The National Choreographers Initiative is an opportunity to develop and produce dance in support of the national dance community by inviting choreographers of note to participate in this project. NCI provides an opportunity for the southern California community to be a part of the process of creating new contemporary ballets and seeing these works performed for the very first time.

Facilities Irvine Barclay Theatre will present the National Choreographers Initiative performance in its 750-seat, state-of-the-art facility. The Barclay, an independent performing arts center near the University of California Irvine, is a leading presenter of contemporary and world dance. Companies that have appeared at the Barclay include: Ballet Preljocaj, Batsheva, Bebe Miller, Bill T. Jones, Garth Fagan, Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker, Lar Lubovitch, Maguy Marin, David Parsons, Doug Varone, Hubbard Street, Joe Goode, La La La Human Steps, Lines, Mark Morris, Paul Taylor, Sasha Waltz, Sean Curran, Stephen Petronio, Streb, and Susan Marshall. The Barclay is also home to the New World Flamenco Festival. Rehearsals will be conducted in the dance studios of UCI’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts Dance Department. Both the theatre and campus are centrally located in southern California.

National Choreographers Initiative 2024 Advisory Committee
	Bobbi Cox Sophie Cripe Diane Diefenderfer Gale Edelberg Joanne Keith Molly Lynch Sally Anne Sheridan Jenny Szabo Lynn Weiser

Artistic Director

Molly Lynch is an award winning choreographer and artistic director, with over 40 years of experience creating, producing, and presenting dance. She is currently a Professor in the Dance Department at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine. She teaches ballet, pointe, repertory, senior seminar and arts management. Ms. Lynch is the Founder and Artistic Director of the National Choreographers Initiative, an internationally known project to nurture the development of new choreography.

She was the Artistic Director for Ballet Pacifica from 1988-2003. During her tenure, Ms. Lynch established Ballet Pacifica as Orange County's leading professional dance company and one of the area's top performing arts organizations. Among her innovative trademark programs was the Pacifica Choreographic Project. Under Ms. Lynch's direction, the company worked with forty choreographers, premiered more than forty new ballets and restaged some of America's most beloved classics by George Balanchine, Antony Tudor and Choo San Goh. Ms. Lynch has also choreographed over 40 concert and story ballets, 6 children's ballets and a full-length production of "The Nutcracker". Ms. Lynch has recently created new ballets for Sacramento Ballet, Nashville Ballet, BalletMet (Columbus, Ohio), Singapore Dance Theatre, Dance Collage (Hermosillo, Mexico) and Academies of Ballet In Philippines (Manila).

She began her dance training with Lila Zali, received a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet and performed as a soloist and principal dancer with the Louisville Ballet and Ballet Pacifica for over 10 years. As a Fine Arts major at the University of California, Irvine, she studied with distinguished figures in dance such as Eugene Loring, Antony Tudor and Olga Maynard. Upon receiving her MFA in dance from UCI, she was named Outstanding Graduate Student, the first student from Fine Arts so honored. In 1992, Ms.Lynch was given the esteemed Outstanding Alumnus award from UCI and was named one of Orange County Metro Magazine's "Ten Women Who Make A Difference". She was also the recipient of the Red Cross Clara Barton Cultural Arts Award and the Boy Scouts of America Women of Excellence award in 1996. She was the recipient of the 2001 Choo San Goh Award for Choreography. In 2007 she received the Outstanding Arts Organization Award for her National Choreographers Initiative from Arts Orange County. In 2008 she was honored with the Irvine Barclay Theatre's prestigious Jade Award for her extraordinary leadership and creativity. She was awarded the Claire Trevor School of the Arts Dean’s Honoree for Excellence in Undergraduate Education in 2009 and 2014. In October 2017 she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Arts Visionary by Arts Orange County. And in the fall of 2023 she was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award for the Claire Trevor School of the Arts.

All photos by Robert Salas and David Friedman

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