MEET THE CREATORS

Beau Kenyon has cultivated a deeply collaborative practice, making interdisciplinary dialogue, research, and curiosity fundamental to his approach. Based in Boston and Des Moines, Beau has created with choreographers, education leaders, neuroscientists, and filmmakers across the country. His recent site-responsive multimedia sculpture, River Constellation, was built with longtime collaborator and Brooklyn-based sculptor Natalia Zubko and is a permanent fixture of Water Works Park. Kenyon has been awarded fellowships and residencies from New England Foundation for the Arts, Northeastern Center for the Arts, the Boston Public Library, and Mass MoCA and has staged his work at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, SITE Santa Fe, and in public libraries and parks across the country.

Beau’s work with Ballet Des Moines synthesizes every inch of his practice, research, and experiences into a single yearlong residency. His new ballet, Of Gravity and Light, investigates how the science of space can be interpreted through musical and balletic storytelling while relating it to the complexity of human interactions. In partnership with NASA Iowa Space Grant Consortium, PBS, and 4-H, he is also creating a science curriculum that uses Of Gravity and Light material to teach the science of space to 7th graders. Also under this residency, Beau assumes the role of Director of Education and Outreach for the 2021-22 season. In these roles, he is forging season-long community partnerships (both local and national) to enrich our outreach and artistic efforts, including Des Moines Public Schools, Oakridge Neighborhood, the Office of Latino Affairs, the Des Moines Partnership, and many others.

Born in Sidney, MT, Tom Mattingly began his dance training in California's Mojave Desert. Following  full scholarships to the summer intensives of San Francisco Ballet School, Boston Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre, and the Rock School for Dance Education, Mattingly completed his studies at Virginia School of the Arts and is the 2005 recipient of the Dame Margot Fonteyn Award for Artistic Excellence.

Mattingly’s professional career included Richmond Ballet, Chautauqua Ballet, and Cincinnati Ballet before joining Ballet West in 2008. There he tackled many leading roles under the watchful eye of industry experts such as Cynthia Gregory, Anna Marie Holmes, and Sir Anthony Dowell. Proving to be a versatile and dynamic performer, Mattingly quickly rose through the company ranks and by 2013 was promoted to principal dancer.

 In 2014, Mattingly relocated to Chicago to join the newly formed contemporary ensemble Visceral Dance Chicago. After two years, he was hand picked to join the first national tour of “An American in Paris”, the four time Tony Award winning musical directed & choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. In 2019, Mattingly joined Madison Ballet as Ballet Master.

Now retired from the stage, Mr. Mattingly is a passionate teacher, choreographer, and coach. To date he has created world premieres for National Choreographers Initiative, Ballet West, Ballet West II, Ballet West Academy, Dance in the Parks, Richmond Ballet, Madison Ballet, Utah Arts Festival, Ballet Arkansas, Charlottesville Ballet, Elite Choreographic Initiative, Arova Contemporary Ballet.

Dr. Ilya Vidrin is a choreographer, dancer, and educator based in Boston, MA. Ilya’s work sits at the intersection of performing art, ethics, and science, and he has a Masters degree from Harvard and a PhD. from Coventry University focusing on Ethics in Physical Interaction.  Born into a refugee family, Ilya grew up navigating the nuances of cultural expectations, language barriers, and diverging political ideologies and uses his creative practice to explore the embodiment of empathy, cultural competence, and social responsibility. He has partnered in the past with Boston Ballet, Jacob’s Pillow, The Royal Swedish Ballet, Berlin Staatsballett, and many others, and brings a thoughtful, positive approach to his studio work.  

Ilya joined Ballet Des Moines for a two-week residency in September, and serves as the dramaturg for Of Gravity and Light.

Yu-Wen Wu is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Boston. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Wu’s subjectivity as an immigrant is central to her artwork. Arriving in the United States at an early age, her experiences have shaped her work in areas of migration—examining issues of displacement, arrival, assimilation, and the shape of identity in a new country.  At the crossroads of art, science, politics, and social issues, her wide range of projects include large-scale drawings, site-specific video installations, community-engaged practices, and public art. Wu’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is included in several private and public collections.

Wu’s recent exhibitions include her Internal Navigations solo presentation at Praise Shadows Art Gallery in Boston, MA, and the DISPLACED: Contemporary Artists Confront the Global Refugee Crisis group exhibition at SITE Santa Fe, NM, featuring an installation from the ongoing project “Leavings/Belongings.” Recently, Wu’s practice has grown increasingly engaged in public art. In 2020, she produced “Lantern Stories,” an outdoor public artwork commissioned by the Greenway Conservancy for Chin Park in Boston’s Chinatown. Upcoming exhibitions include the next iteration of “Lantern Stories” in San Francisco’s Chinatown neighborhood opening Summer 2022; "We Belong…" a light-based public artwork supported by Now and There in Boston, MA open Spring-Summer 2022; and the 2022 Independent Art Fair in New York, NY.