National Choreographers Initiative (NCI) returns to the Irvine Barclay Theatre on Saturday, July 26, 2025 at 8:00 pm. Founded by award-winning choreographer Molly Lynch, NCI: Discovery 2025 will feature all new works by four renowned choreographers Natasha Adorlee, Glenn Edgerton, Morgan Sicklick, and Makino Hayashi. Ticket prices range from $25-$80 and are on sale now HERE.
Molly Lynch created NCI to promote professional dance and to support the national dance community. Each year 4 choreographers and 16 dancers from national dance companies are invited to take part in the creative process that culminates in a debut performance of the new works before a live audience at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The creation of the ballets takes place in the dance studios of the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UC Irvine where Lynch is a current Professor of Dance.
National Choreographers Institute – Photo by Dave Friedman.
“I am excited and honored to present the 21st National Choreographers Initiative and so proud of what the program has become,” said Lynch. “This is a unique and creative forum for some of the best choreographers in the country to develop their movement ideas and themes. It’s an intensive process that is equally fun and rewarding for me, the choreographers, the dancers, and the audience.”
Since its launching in 2004, NCI has presented 76 choreographers – with a noteworthy 34 being women – along with 177 dancers from 58 national dance companies. Each choreographer is free to choose the style and theme of their work and of the 80 new works premiered at NCI, 35 have been set on and performed by major dance companies.
During their residency at NCI, the dance artists will have three weeks of intensive rehearsals before the showcase on July 26 at Irvine Barclay Theatre. Each choreographer will introduce their ballet followed by a Q&A session at the end, moderated by Lynch.
This year’s distinguished choreographers include:
Natasha Adorlee – Photo courtesy of NCI.
Natasha Adorlee is an Emmy Award-winning choreographer, filmmaker, composer, and educator based in San Francisco. A first-generation Asian American woman, she was the final Artistic Fellow with Amy Seiwert’s Imagery. Natasha began choreographing in 2016 while maintaining an award-winning dance career with Robert Moses’ Kin, ODC/Dance, Kate Weare and Co., and The San Francisco Symphony. After winning over 10 international awards for her acclaimed short film Take Your Time in 2018, she has become a sought-after filmmaker, choreographer, and composer. To read Adorlee’s full bio, please visit her website.
Glen Edgerton – courtesy of NCI.
Glenn Edgerton has had an international career as a dancer and director. At the Joffrey Ballet, he performed leading roles – classical and contemporary – for 11 years under the mentorship of Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino. He danced the classics of John Cranko and Sir Frederick Ashton along with innovative choreographers like Twyla Tharp, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Paul Taylor and Laura Dean. In 1989, Edgerton joined the acclaimed Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), where he was immersed in the repertory for five years. After retiring from performing he became the Executive Artistic Director of NDT 1 leading the company for a decade and presenting the works of Jiří Kylián, Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, Nacho Duato, Jorma Elo, Johan Inger, Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, among many others.
From 2006 to 2008, he directed the Colburn Dance Institute at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, CA while teaching at UCLA and CalArts. He was awarded with an Honorary Doctorate of Arts degree from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA. Edgerton joined Hubbard Street as Associate Artistic Director in 2008. From 2009-2020 served as Hubbard Street’s Artistic Director bringing the company to world-wide recognition while fostering the next generation of dancers and choreographers. Many of those dancers who turned choreographers are leading the dance field today, like Alejandro Cerrudo, Rena Butler, Robyn Mineko Williams, Penny Saunders, Emilie Leriche, Alice Klock and Florian Lochner among many others. As of fall of 2020 he joined the faculty at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK as an instructor, teaching ballet with an emphasis on the work of Jiří Kylián and Gerald Arpino. In 2022 Edgerton was invited by American Ballet Theater to teach company class and set the iconic work of Jiří Kylián’s, Sinfonietta. Glenn has continued on at the University of Oklahoma and is currently an Associate Professor of Ballet.
Morgan Sicklick – Photo courtesy of NCI.
Morgan Sicklick is originally from Woodcliff Lake, NJ, and received her training at the Irine Fokine School of Ballet. She graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Marketing from Butler University in 2013, performing works by Paul Taylor and Nacho Duato. Morgan received multiple performance and academic awards and earned a Butler Summer Institute Research grant in 2012. In August 2013, Morgan became an inaugural member of Kansas City Ballet’s (KCB) Second Company. Her repertoire with KCB includes works by Michael Pink, Victoria Morgan, Septime Webre, George Balanchine, Todd Bolender, Devon Carney, and Anthony Krutzkamp. Morgan also performed with Moving Arts in July 2015. To learn more about Sicklick, please visit her website.
Makino Hayashi – Photo courtesy of NCI.
Makino Hayashi is a choreographer, based in Portland, OR. She was born in Kumamoto, Japan where she began ballet at Kumamoto Ballet Studio. She moved to the U.S. and has danced professionally with Colorado Ballet from 2002-2008 and with Oregon Ballet Theatre since 2010 and has performed primarily soloist and principal roles. She retired from OBT in 2023. She has guested with several companies in the U.S. and Japan. She has been choreographing and teaching contemporary and ballet at all levels since 2014. Her recent choreographic work “The Message 2024” has world premiered for Oregon Ballet Theatre Made in Portland in Portland, OR in June 2024. She also choreographed “The Rose” in 2023, “What do you see…” in 2018, and “Brothers and a Sister” in 2014 for OBT. “What do you see…” was performed for Women Choreographers PNW in May 2024 and Union PDX in 2022 in Portland, OR. To learn more about Hayashi, please visit her website.
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NCI: Discovery 2025 is on Saturday, July 26, 2025 at 8:00 pm. at the UCI Irvine Barkley Theatre.
Irvine Barclay Theatre is located at 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine, California 92612 adjacent to UC Irvine. For tickets or more information, please visit www.thebarclay.org or call (949) 854-4646.
Written and compiled by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle based on information from NCI press release.
Featured image: NCI – Photo courtesy of NCI.
