CHOREOGRAPHIC ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
Supporting the Creation of New Works
In June 2024, BSV and The Community Library collaborated to create a Choreography Residency. For the first time in its five years, The Community Library’s Writer-In-Residence program at the Ernest and Mary Hemingway House in Ketchum, hosted a ballet choreographer. The residency allows a choreographer the time to become inspired and incubate a new work in the remarkable beauty of the Wood River Valley.
2025 - Jessica Lang
We are thrilled to share that Choreographer Jessica Lang, Resident Choreographer at Pacific Northwest Ballet, is currently creating a new work for the 2026 Ballet Sun Valley Summer Festival, a co-commission between Ballet Sun Valley and Pacific Northwest Ballet. This past August, Lang spent a week in residence at The Hemingway House, in partnership with the Community Library, incubating her new work. Reflecting on the this opportunity she shared, “At The Hemingway House, I didn’t have to focus on time or a schedule, and therefore I found a routine that served my creative energy best.”
One of the most celebrated choreographers of our time, over the past two decades Lang has created more than 100 original works for dance companies around the world including American Ballet Theatre, The Royal Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and The Joffrey Ballet.
Her world premiere will be performed by the arists of PNB in our 2026 Summer Festival. Join us at our Summer Festival to experience Jessica Lang’s newest creation— born in Sun Valley!
2024 - Dana Genshaft
Dana Genshaft, of San Francisco Ballet and SFDanceWorks, was the first Choreographer-in-Residence at The Hemingway House. Genshaft is a distinguished figure in the dance world, renowned for her multifaceted career as a dancer, choreographer, and educator. During her fifteen-year tenure as a soloist with the San Francisco Ballet (SF Ballet), Genshaft showcased her versatility across a wide-ranging repertoire, encompassing classical to contemporary works by esteemed choreographers like Petipa, Balanchine, Forsythe, Wheeldon, and McGregor. Driven by her passion for teaching and choreography, Genshaft expanded her role beyond performance. Joining the faculty of the SF Ballet school in 2015, she imparted her expertise in improvisation while mentoring aspiring choreographers. In 2018, in recognition of her innovation and artistic vision, Genshaft received the prestigious Princess Grace Award for Choreography. Since that time Genshaft has choreographed for esteemed companies like BalletMet and Washington Ballet. She has also premiered works in Ballet Sun Valley’s October performances with the SF Ballet Pre-Professional dancers. Her work UNDERTOW was created during her time in her Sun Valley residency and premiered at Ballet Sun Valley on October 10, 2024.
Header Images: San Francisco Ballet Pre-Professional Dancers, 2024, ©Kristen Shultz; Photo 1: Jessica Lang’s Her Door to the Sky, photo © Angela Sterling. Photo 2: BSV Education Students, Photo 3: San Francisco Ballet Pre-Professional Dancers, 2024, © Kristen Shultz