Fifteen, Fifteen, Fifteen, with Audrey and Amy

Hello everyone! We are Audrey Jones (Harvard ’22/previous HBC Publicity Chair and HBC Co-Director) and Amy Benedetto (Harvard ’23/previous HBC Costumer and HBC Co-Director, current HBC Tech Producer). We are beyond excited to launch a new interview series on behalf of HBC: Fifteen, Fifteen, Fifteen, with Audrey and Amy! As a way to strengthen and build community within HBC and eventually with the broader dance community at Harvard and beyond, we will be reaching out and talking to various community members about their experiences with, insights about, and passion for dance. We will conduct 15 minute interviews over Zoom, each with 15 questions, and we will post a 15 second video highlight of the interview on social media. We will also include the full text of the interview on this webpage in a blog format. We will aim to interview a diverse set of people: current company members, new company members, alumni, others involved in the arts at Harvard, and eventually professionals and members of the dance community at large. In the midst of the hardship and social distancing brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustices, and the challenging political moment we are in, we hope to use this platform to connect and celebrate our collective passion for dance and community. Thank you for tuning in!

Our first interview is with HBC’s wonderful 2020 co-directors Ana Maria Delmar and Abbey Pan. They share their thoughts on the Fall 2020 season, reminisce about their HBC experiences, and express their opinions and insights on being part of the HBC community. Click the link below to read the full transcript!

Our second interview features our fabulous 2020 social chair, Eliza French. She shared her ideas for building community and welcoming new members during this online year, recalled favorite HBC memories, and expressed appreciation for the warmth and fun of HBC! Click the link below for the transcript!

Our third interview is with Sara Komatsu, the wonderfully insightful 2020 Secretary/Historian of HBC! She shared her thoughts on what makes HBC a special community, reflected on how the arts community has adapted to the online experience, and expressed thoughts about racial inequality in the ballet world. Follow the link below for the full transcript!

Our fourth interview is with the wonderfully insightful Julian Morimoto! He shared his thoughts about law school, his experience with ballet, stereotypes about ballet, and some special moments from his time with HBC so far. We really appreciated Julian’s insights and wisdom and hope you enjoy his responses to these 15 questions as much as we did! Click the link below for the full interview transcript!

Our fifth interview is with Savannah Lee, an amazing new member of the HBC community! She shared her thoughts about the ballet world, her experiences as a professional dancer, freelancer, and teacher, and her HBC experience since joining in September. We really appreciated Savannah’s insights and thoughts and hope you enjoy her responses to these 15 questions as much as we did! Follow the link below for the full transcript of Savannah’s interview!

In our sixth interview, we talk with Noelle Morrow, an incredible new member of the HBC community! She shared her thoughts on what it’s like to be a dancer and a scientist and how the two disciplines are interwoven, her experience as a dancer with Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome, and her impressions about HBC since joining in September. Click the link below for the full transcript!

In this interview, we had the opportunity to talk with Kate Guerin, a wonderful new member of the HBC community and first-year at Harvard! She shared about her dance background, what she’s learned from dancing under the limitations of the pandemic, her reflections on challenges the dance industry faces, and her reflections on HBC since joining in the fall. We really loved Kate’s insights and hope you enjoy her responses to these 15 questions as much as we did! Click the link below for the full interview transcript.

Today we had the opportunity to talk with Elizabeth Rainone, an incredible new member of the HBC community! She shared her thoughts on her dance background, what it’s like to be a dancer and a student during the pandemic, what challenges we face in the dance community today, and her thoughts on HBC since joining this past fall. To read Elizabeth’s thoughtful comments, click the link below!

Today we had the exciting opportunity to talk with Arlesia McGowan, an amazingly insightful alumni of HBC and founder of ClassiX Arts, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and providing classical arts education to young Black artists! Arlesia shared with us her experiences at Harvard and with HBC, her inspiration for founding ClassiX Arts, and some advice for how to navigate the pandemic era in a positive way. To read Arlesia’s important thoughts, click the link below!

Today we had the exciting opportunity to talk with Claudia Schreier, an amazingly insightful and talented alumni of HBC, who is now a professional choreographer! Claudia shared with us her experiences at Harvard and with HBC, details about her journey, career, and inspiration, and some advice for how to navigate the pandemic era in a positive way. To read Claudia’s insightful thoughts, click the link below!

Recently, we had the wonderful opportunity to talk with Catherine Qin, an amazing and thoughtful alumna of HBC, current President of the HBC Graduate Board, product marketing manager at a San Francisco-based tech startup, and fantastic mentor to us and to many of our current members. Catherine shared with us her experiences at Harvard and with HBC -- and in particular her experiences in writing and co-directing two original full-length story ballets for HBC. She also reflected on some of the challenges the dance and tech world face and provided advice for how to move forward in the post-pandemic era in a constructive way. We really appreciated Catherine’s insights and wisdom and hope you will enjoy her responses to these 15 questions as much as we did!