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651- 290-0513

St Paul / Woodbury


651-222-7919
Jennifer Pray    Cinder/Rite of Spring
 
J E N N I F E R   P R A Y
         
 
 

            Erin Warn           Jennifer Pray          Ben Olson          Allen Gregory          Aaron Davies         Riley Thomas Weber          Harper Skulley     




JENNIFER joined Ballet Minnesota in September 2012.

Since joining Ballet Minnesota Jennifer has performed in Beethoven's 'Grosse Fuge', Handel's "Messiah', the classic 'Nutcracker' and, in April 2013 she premiered the principal role in 'Cinderella'.

Jennifer graduated with summa cum laude from the University of Iowa with a B. A. in Dance with Honors and International Studies with Honors.  She performed over 15 works at the U. of Iowa by choreographers including Jose Limon, George Balanchine, Martha Clarke, Gina Patterson, Julie Bour, Melinda Myers, Deanna Carter, Armando Duarte, and Eloy Barragan. Jennifer was a member of the university's select touring ensemble, Dancers in Company, for 2 seasons.  She performed 5 works in Dance Gala, and was chosen for the Iowa Partnership in the Arts premiere of Martha Clarke's IN THE NIGHT



A Sample of  JENNIFER's  Artistry
Jennifer Pray 3
Jennifer Pray 1
Jennifer Pray  2



C O P P E L I A  . . . . . .  2 0 1 4
 
Jennifer Pray



R I T E   O F   S P R I N G  . . . . .  2 0 1 3
Choreography: Andrew Rist
Composer: Igor Stravinsky
Composition: Rite of Spring
Costumes: Cheryl Rist


BALLET MINNESOTA PREMIERE
Bryant Lake Bowl: Sample Night LIve
    Wednesday, March 5, 2008, 7:00pm
       10 Minute Sketch presented

SECOND PERFORMANCE
20th Minnesota Dance Festival
    May 15-17, 2008
    Lighting: Mike Wangen
       Added more music & story.



PREMIERE: COMPLETE BALLET
O'Shaughnessy October 25-26, 2013
8th Annual FALL CONCERT

    Lighting: Mary Beth Zorn
    Set: Cynthia Betz, Jim Arnold

    Spirit of Chosen One:
Erin Warn,
    Chosen One: Jennifer Pray

    Maidens: Harper Skulley, Berea
    Ames, Maggie Selner, Erin Chase,
    Olivia-Rose Aswumb, Lily Gray,
    Emily Kleinschmidt, Jordan
    Jankowski, Gretchen Gerlach,
    Kayla Peterson

    Men: Allen Gregory, Aaron Davies,
    Ben Olson, Riley Thomas Weber
Rite of Spring 2013
Jen Pray    Rite of Spring 1
Rite    Jen P    Aaron D



M O R N I N G   I N   B E I J I N G

Choreographer:  Andrew Rist

Composer:  Ying Zhang

Costumes:  Cheryl Rist

Sets:  Jim Arnold, Cynthia Betz

Lighting:  Mary Beth Zorn

Photography:  Chris Emeott


BMN Company 2013
      Erin Warn
      Jennifer Pray
      Allen Gregory
      Ben Olson
      Aaron Davies
      Riley Thomas Weber
      Harper Skulley ( Apprentice )


CBA 2013
      Berea Ames
      Maggie Selner
      Olivia Rose Awsumb
      Lily Gray
      Emily Kleinschmidt
      Erin Chase
      Jordan Jankowski
      Kayla Peterson


Ballet Minnesota Premiere:
      Morning in Beijing
         8th Annual Fall Concert
         October 25, 2013
         O'Shaughnessy
         St Paul, Minnesota

Jen Pray   Beijing 1



C I N D E R E L L A
Jennifer Pray  Cinderella

JENNIFER created the Principal role of Cinderella in Ballet Minnesota's premiere of CINDERELLA.


Choreographer ...  Andrew Rist
Composer ...........  Sergi Prokoviev
Score ..................  Cinderella, Opus 87
Costumes ...........  Cheryl Rist
Lighting ...............  Mary Beth Zorn
Photo ...... Chris Emeott: Sat, 7:30pm
                  Mark Vaughn: Fri, 7:30pm


BMN COMPANY   2012-13
      Erin Warn, Jennifer Pray, Jennifer
      Bennett, Ben Olson, Allen Gregory,
      Aaron Davies, Riley Thomas Weber

BMN APPRENTICES    2012-13
      Hannah Wagner, Margaret
      Underwood, Nik Nelson


CBA DANCERS     2013
      Harper Skulley, Celesta Brainard,
      Berea Ames, Maggie Selner, Erin
      Chase, Mary Shrake, Olivia-Rose
      Awsumb, Maggie Sullivan, Kayla
      Assimacopoulos, Gretchen
      Gerlach, Jordan,Jankowski, Clara       Konetschka, Christina Smith, Elijah
      Heggernes, Bailey McKenzie, Keilah
      Illynkh , Angelina Swanson, Laure n
      Woessner, Lisette Amacher,
      Olivia Huseonica

     
Ballet Minnesota PREMIERE:
      Cinderella
         25th Minnesota Dance Festival
         April 5-6, 2013
         The O'Shaughnessy,
         St Paul, Minnesota

World PREMIERE:
        November 21, 1945
        Bolshoi Theater, Moscow, Russia

 



P R I N C E   F I N D S   C I N D E R E L L A
Finds Cinderella   1


Act 3   Pas2   Cinderella
Act 3   Pas      Jen Pray / Allen Gregory


G R A N D   P A S   D E   D E U X
       




Classic   N U T C R A C K E R

Choreographer:   Andrew Rist
Composer:  T chaikovsky
Costumes:  Cheryl Rist
Backdrops:  Mary Novodvorsky
Sets:  
Jim Arnold, Cythia Betz
Lighting:  
Kevin Jones
Photography:  Chris Emeott


Brief BALLET MINNESOTA
Nutcracker History

        1989:
Andrew Rist choreographs parts of the Nutcracker in St Paul, Minnesota. It is presented as a lecture/demonstration to about 200 people by Classical Ballet Academy of Minnesota.

       1990:
Classic Nutcracker (chor: A Rist) presented by Ballet Minnesota. The production is presented at the St Paul Student Center Theater, University of MN St Paul campus, seating capacity 330.

       1996:

Ballet Minnesota moves the production to O'Shaughnessy, St Paul, Minnesota, seating capacity 1800.

       2002:
A milestone of 10,000 audience members is reached.

Nut 2013   Pray / Gregory




Handel's   M E S S I A H


Choreographer:   Andrew Rist
Composer:  George Frederic Handel
Costumes:  Cheryl Rist
Lighting:  Tom Campbell


Music Premiere:

     Dublin, Ireland
             April 17, 1742



Ballet Minnesota PREMIERE:

          24th Minnesota Dance Festival
          Fitzgerald Theater, St Paul, MN
              May 4-6, 2012



2nd Performace:

          7th Annual Fall Concert
          The O'Shaughnessy, St Paul, MN
              October 26-27, 2012



DANCERS:

          October 26-27
     Company: Erin Warn, Jennifer Pray,
          Ben Olsen

     Apprentice: Hannah Wagner,
          Margaret Underwood, Nik Nelson

     CBA Dancers: Harper Skulley,
          Celesta Brainard, Berea Ames,
          Olivia-Rose Awsumb, Mary
          Shrake, Erin Chase, Maggie
          Selner, Kayla Assimacopoulos,






Beethoven's   G R O S S E   F U G E

choreography:  AndrewRist
MUSIC:   Beethoven: Grosse Fuge
Costumes:   Cheryl Rist
Lighting:   Mary Beth Zorn
Photography:   Dave Trayers



COMPNAY DANCERS 2012-13

      Erin Warn
      Jennifer Pray
      Ben Olsen
      Aaron Davies



APPRENTICES: 2012-13


         Hannah Wagner
         Margaret Underwood
         Nik Nelson



CBA Dancers 2012

      Harper Skulley
      Berea Ames
      Olivia Rose Awsumb
      Mary Shrake
      Maggie Selner
      Erin Chase
      Kayla Assimacopoulos
      Karly Lunda



Ballet Minnesota Premiere:
    Grosse Fuge (Opus 133)
         7th Annual Fall Concert
         October 26-27, 2012
         O'Shaughnessy /
         St Catherine University,
         St Paul, Minnesota

        TicketscReserved: 2962

Jennifer Pray    Beethoven Grosse Fuge




G R A N D   O L D   D A Y S   P A R A D E            2 0 1 3

Grand Old Days Parade    2013

Grand Old Days on Grand Avenue in St Paul is considered the largest one day Festival in the Midwest.

Classical Ballet Academy and Ballet Minnesota have presented a float in the parade for over ten years. This year, 2013, the Cinderella Carriage from the ballet Cinderella was featured in the parade.

Jennifer Pray, who premiered the prncipal role of Cinderella at the 25th Minnesota Dance Festival at O'Shaughnessy on April 5-6, 2013 was on hand, dressed as Cinderella, waving to the audience from the carriage.

Ballet Minnesota Company dancer Aaron Davies was also was there to celebrate.

Getting Ready for the parade





BMN logo
2012 - 2013           25th  ANNIVERSARY  Performance Season
2012-13  Season2
2 2012-13   Season2
3 2012-13   Season2
4  2012-13   Season2
5  2012-13  Season2
6   2012-13   Season2




U N I V E R S I T Y   O F   I O W A

Jennifer graduated from the University of Iowa. She also performed with the University's touring company




Staff