Dasha Schwartz has been selected as the student choreographer to represent Dutch National Ballet Academy at The Creative Challenge.

The Creative Challenge is an international initiative involving senior students from leading ballet schools in Canada, the United States and Europe, tasked to choreograph works that explore the use of technology in the creative process and confront the challenges of maintaining the relevance of ballet globally.

Dasha Schwartz'  dancers Lisanne Kottenhagen, Helen Clare Kinney and Ot Klemann will be performing her piece on June 7th on the boardwalk in front of Nemo, east of Central Station several times during the day.

The starting point for the Creative Challenge is ballet and students have complete freedom within three parameters: the work must be presented in a non-traditional performance space; the students must collaborate with artists from other disciplines; students must pioneer the use of online tools to share globally the creative process and performance on the Creative Challenge Web site.

During this inaugural year of the Creative Challenge, six senior students from Canada’s National Ballet School, four additional students from Juilliard, Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, the Hamburg Ballet School and the Dutch National Ballet School are participating in the Creative Challenge utilizing innovative venues in their communities.

Besides the invaluable experience that this project is giving to students in regards to leadership, multi-disciplinary collaboration, entrepreneurship and technological innovation, the Creative Challenge provides a unique opportunity to bring dance into unconventional spaces.