On the Horizon Choreographers

GEORGIE GRACE BUTLER (Choreographer, No Ordinary Love) is 20 years old and is from Atlanta, Georgia. She began her training at the Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance. In 2015, Butler moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to train at Boston Ballet School. She trained as a pre-professional student and trainee with the company. Butler danced roles in Miko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker, Raymonda, and Miko Nissinen’s The Sleeping Beauty. In 2018, Butler became a trainee at Pennsylvania Ballet. There she danced roles in Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, and Angel Corella’s Giselle and The Sleeping Beauty. She joined Atlanta Ballet 2 in 2019. CHRISTINA CARLOS (Choreographer, Passage) is from Atlanta, Georgia. Entering at a young age, she grew up in Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education. Carlos cherishes her time training at Atlanta Ballet, and is grateful for the opportunities that it provided her. She studied at Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre with summers spent at Miami City Ballet, Washington Ballet, staibdance, and Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education’s Summer Intensive. Carlos debuted her first piece created on the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education’s Academy program students in 2015, and is honored to be debuting her second work, which she created on Atlanta Ballet 2. Passage will be her sixth choreographic piece for Atlanta Ballet. Carlos will be furthering her dance career and studies at the California Institute of the Arts from 2021-2025, in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program in dance. SERENA CHU (Stager, Napoli Act III, Pas de Six and Raymonda Variations) was born in Long Beach, New York, where she received her early training at the School of American Ballet, performed in numerous productions with the New York City Ballet, and danced in the 1990 Workshop performance of Puss In Boots by Robert LaFosse. After attending the Bolshoi Ballet program in Vail, Colorado, Chu went on to study as a scholarship student with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, Russia, and was one of the first Americans to graduate from the school. She was a member of Sarasota Ballet before joining Tulsa Ballet, where she danced many featured rolls in works from renowned choreographers such as N. Duato, G. Balanchine, J. Kylián, W. Forsythe, V. Caniparoli, B. Stevenson, A. DeMille, P. Taylor, T. Tharp, C. Wheeldon and S. Welch. Some favorite ballets in Chu’s repertoire include Arenal, Without Words, Lambarena, Company B, Serenade, Nine Sinatra Songs, Remansos, Por Vos Muero, and SeAthrough, a piece created on her by Tony Fabre. Chu was a guest principal with Ballet Des Moines during its inaugural years and helped build a new regional company in the U.S. Chu has been seen in Dance Magazine, The New York Times, Newsday, and the covers of the Tulsa World and DM magazine. She is a YoungArts award winner, and was featured on CBS Sunday Morning. In addition to performing leading roles on the stages of the Joyce Theater in New York City, and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Chu has taught in many notable schools around the country, including Tulsa, Oklahoma; Salt Lake City, Utah; Des Moines, Iowa; Las Vegas, Nevada; and now in Atlanta, Georgia, where she has staged works with Atlanta Ballet 2, including their family ballets of Beauty and the Beast and The Swan Princess.

EVELYN ROBINSON (Choreographer, In the Midst of Existing) is from the small town of Tyler, Texas, where she began her training at age 7 at Tyler Junior College Academy of Dance, under Thereza Bryce-Cotes and Shurrell Wiebe. At the age of 15, Robinson began attending the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) high school dance program on full scholarship. There she trained under Susan Jaffe, Jennet Zerbe, Eva Draw, Angelina Sansone, Jared Redick, Laura Martin, and many other UNCSA dance faculty members. While at UNCSA from 2017 to 2020, Robinson danced principal roles in Ethan Steifel’s The Nutcracker, Frederick Ashton’s Symphonic Variations, Joseph Mazilier’s Paquita, Marius Petipa’s Harlequinade and Sleeping Beauty, and Ilya Kozadayev’s Dream(s)pace. During her training, Robinson attended Atlanta Ballet, Ballet West, UNCSA, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Houston Ballet and the Royal Ballet’s summer programs. In 2020, Robinson competed at the Prix de Lausanne and was one of 21 dancers who advanced to the finals.

WILLIAM WOODWARD (Choreographer, Fire and Silk and Breath) is 20 years old, and was raised in New York City. He started training at Ballet Academy East. In 2018, Woodward moved to San Francisco to continue his training at the San Francisco Ballet School. There he performed in Helgi Tomasson’s Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty. Woodward joined Atlanta Ballet 2 in the 2020|2021 Season.