Each year a distinguished guest is invited to present the keynote address and this year that honor goes to Roman Baca, Artistic Director of Exit 12 Dance Company and Artistic Director and General Manager of Ballet Theatre Company. Baca, a Marine Iraq War Veteran, is a respected alumnus of The Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory having graduated in 2000 as a recipient of the much revered Brian Tippen Memorial Scholarship.
His beautiful and talented wife, Lisa Fitzgerald-Baca, is also a Nutmeg alumnus having graduated from the Post-Graduate Professional Program in 2005. She has danced with Connecticut Ballet, Mooney/Cooley Dance, Ballet Ambassadors and co-founded Exit12 Dance Company.
“It is such a great pleasure to have our graduate, Roman Baca Class of 2000, as our keynote speaker. We look forward to having Roman share his knowledge and experiences with our students,” said Nutmeg’s Founding Executive Director, Sharon E. Dante. “We are so proud of the creative way he has merged his love of dance and his respect for the military into his career.”
Upon graduating from The Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory, Baca performed with The Nutmeg Ballet, Connecticut Ballet, and New Mexico Ballet and eventually felt the calling to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. While serving our country as a machine-gunner and fire-team leader in Fallujah, Iraq, Baca was inspired to transform his combat experience into dance performances that would be not only artistically moving, but also emotionally healing.
And so, in 2007 Baca co-founded Exit 12 Dance Company, a contemporary dance company “committed to creating and performing works of high cultural significance that inspire conversations about worldly differences and the lasting effects of violence and conflict.”
“The opportunity to study at Nutmeg completely changed my life. It was the classical ballet training, and so much more. It was the knowledge and the relationships I gleaned working in the community that have had a lasting impact on what I have done, am doing, and who I am today,” said Roman Baca.
This recipient of the Connecticut Wartime Veterans Medal has choreographed several major works relating to the military and their families, he writes and lectures about his experiences, and has also worked on two short films. His work has been recognized by The National Endowment for the Arts Quarterly Magazine, Pointe Magazine, NPR’s All Things Considered, American Public Media, TEDx and Reuters. Mr. Baca serves on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Dance Alliance.
“I am honored that now my own students have the opportunity to study at Nutmeg over the summer, and that I have been asked to speak to the graduating class,” Baca added. “I hope that they can continue to add to their knowledge and experiences, like I have, in order to make their art and their life a success.”
The graduation ceremony for the Class of 2014 begins at 10:30 a.m. in The Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory’s Premiere Studio Theater on Saturday, May 17th. The public is invited to attend this exciting event and congratulate this year’s graduates: Hope Friedman, Amber Hirschfield, Adrian Mendez, Thel Moore, Matanya Solomon, Catherine Ward, and Benjamin Youngstone. The Post High School Professional Program class of 2014: Leticia Bitelli, Cydney Bronstein, Deanna Dewitt, and Meagan Selinsky.
Tickets to the performances that take place Wednesday, May 14th through Saturday, May 17th can be purchased through the Warner Theatre 860.489.7180 or online at www.warnertheatre.org.