“It was very important to us when creating this company to showcase new works by female choreographers,” Orzada said. “For guest choreographers, we wanted to highlight those who had a background in ballet but different styles of choreography to add variety to our contemporary ballet performance.”

Orzada’s piece is titled “Birth, Life, Death, Rebirth”, set to Om’s song “Cremation Ghat”.

“The song I chose for this piece has been one of my favorite songs to jam in the kitchen for several years now,” she said. “The variety of instruments that play at different tempos and rhythms will be so much fun to coordinate with the moves.”

Once she decided on the song, Orzada researched the meaning of the title. A ghat is a set of steps leading down to a body of water and the title probably refers to the Ghats of Varanasi, India.

“If his body is cremated by the Eternal Flame in Varanasi, it is believed that your soul will attain enlightenment and will not be reincarnated,” she said. “So I don’t think it’s a coincidence that during the process of creating this piece, my grandmother passed away. It got me thinking how there are so many taboos and sadness around the subject of death, that sometimes we forget to celebrate the wonderful life they lived. This piece is about celebrating life, death, and everything in between.

Gnatowski’s ballet, “To Autumn”, is inspired by and named after a poem by John Keats.

“It’s an abstract ode to fall, which is my favorite season,” Gnatowski said. “My goal was to show the athleticism of the dancers and let the audience feel at peace.”

Creating a more contemporary ballet, Gilchrist’s piece “Journeys” is set to music by three African-American female composers – Florence Price, Undine Smith Moore and Jessie Montgomery.

“The ballet embodies heartfelt emotions and tales of 19th, 20th and 21st century African American experiences,” she said.

Hailing from Japan, Morimoto’s contribution is titled “Focus Point” and consists of seven pieces from Chopin’s Etude Op.10, featuring a separate dancer in each section.

“The lead dancer changes throughout the piece and therefore creates a different dynamic and look,” she said. “Each dancer has a chance to shine through the crowd and showcase their own personality. The piece was inspired by the idea that each person is their main character when the perspective is shifted. This ballet is an enlarged view of the dancers from different points of focus.

Morimoto noted that the presence of four female choreographers is significant because, despite the fact that women outnumber men in ballet, and despite the fact that the audience and donor base are 70% women , female artistic directors are paid less than their male counterparts.

“The imbalance is even more pronounced when it comes to what you see on stage,” she said. “Many of the famous ballets you see today were choreographed by a male choreographer. Today, men are still privileged to be hired over women all over the world when it comes to choreography and/or positions. of management.

The Choreographer Showcase will take place at 7 p.m. on March 19 at Kingswood Oxford School in Hartford. For more information, visit neballettheatre.com.