[ Music plays ] [ Music plays ] Lovette: "Jewel Box" is a new piece I'm making for New Jersey Ballet.

It's about the inner workings of a jewelry box -- the music kind that has the ballerina and the center that spins.

There's this enchantment that you hear, this reference to something old in the music, something almost ghost like.

It interrupts itself all the time and keeps you guessing.

There's 6 movements in just a 20-minute time frame, so the music really does propel you forward.

It gave me an opportunity to feature a lot of different dancers in this company, which I wanted to do.

Something you haven't seen before and something you haven't heard before is the goal.

[ Music plays ] [ Cheers and applause ] [ Music plays ] I've been a fan of Maria since I can remember.

Maria Kowroski was a ballerina I looked up to as a student.

I watched her countless times on stage.

She was the pinnacle, the ideal ballerina.

So when Maria Kowroski came to me and said she wanted something new for the company, I had to say yes.

[ Music plays ] Kowroski: Hi, I'm Maria Kowroski, artistic director of New Jersey Ballet.

As a dancer, I was at New York City Ballet for about 25, 26 years, which is a really long time.

[ Chuckles ] I started at this company in November 2021.

I was the acting artistic director for about a year and then really, really dove in.

[ Music plays ] I know Lauren from many years at New York City Ballet.

She's younger than I am, but I remember her as a young dancer and being very inspired by her.

I loved watching her grow as a dancer, but to be able to watch her grow as a choreographer has been really amazing too.

So I feel very fortunate and grateful that she has been willing to help, but also sees my vision and understands where I'm trying to go.

[ Music plays ] Well, New Jersey Ballet is a very special company.

It's existed for 65 years.

It was founded by Carolyn Clark.

She was a former American Ballet Theatre dancer.

We have 22 dancers, and we actually now have a trainee program, which is amazing.

So we're kind of teaching students how to transition from student to professionals.

A lot of people living in New Jersey haven't heard of New Jersey Ballet, which I find strange for a company that's existed for so long.

So I'm trying to get us on the map, get us a new location, performance venues around the state to kind of give some more exposure and to give people, you know, more awareness of what we're doing.

I mean, I think we all know "The Nutcracker" is very popular story ballet.

"Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," I think those are ballets that people know.

But I think for me, when I'm building a repertory program, I really try to think about things that would excite the audience, move the audience.

And when I do a repertoire evening, I have usually four different ballets on the program, and I'm hoping that if you're coming to the ballet for the first time, one of those is going to hit something inside.

[ Music playing ] Lovette: What I love about New Jersey Ballet is it feels like this pocket of opportunity.

I feel like it's untapped potential.

It's this company with an extreme amount of talent that I feel is just underexposed.

Like the world doesn't know about it yet, but it's right here.

I think ballet is for everybody.

I do, and I really do feel like it's this incredible art form that makes you feel music in a different way.

[ Music plays ] The music is extraordinary.

It's intricate, it's complicated.

Kevin Puts actually sent the music to me himself, so it's a score that isn't really out there yet.

It hasn't been publicly released.

I think he's one of the greatest composers of our generation.

So when this music came to me, it felt serendipitous.

Lopena: The score is very intricate.

Trying to put the dynamic of the movement with the music is very exciting, exhilarating.

It gives the audience the opportunity to be pulled in and constantly on their toes, because you never kind of know what's happening.

And then with that, the movement is honestly always on a revolving door.

It kind of gives that sensation of a jewel box.

Things are always working underneath, and then there's so much happening with this beautiful piece on top of it.

Ledford: It's a beautiful and very interesting ballet at the same time.

It's very new movement.

It's based off of classical ballet, but it's definitely more neo classical.

So it has those touches of beauty.

But then when you look on the inside, it's very angular, very architectural.

It's many different things going on at once.

So she definitely brought inspiration from the aesthetic part of the music box, and then the internal parts that actually make the music box work.

Lovette: I really do feel like I have the best seat in the house, because I'm right there in front of the dancers.

I'm -- I'm as close as you can get to the magic.

I work with human beings, not paint brushes.

And I think that's so cool because they really bring aspects of themselves into the process that you can't...

I can't physically cultivate that on my own.

[ Music plays ] Lopena: It's just a very collaborative and unified experience.

She takes in consideration the dancer and the person in front of her, so a piece could be set that she already created, but she's willing to adapt that to the dancer up front.

And you can see that camaraderie from the studio to the stage.

Ledford: Since Maria has come in, I think she's wanting to bring in not just new experiences for us as dancers, but for people in New Jersey to experience.

Lopena: The whole thing is about, you know, new direction.

And so it's bringing a more exciting new work, something the audience of today can understand and see and get something from.

[ Music plays ] Kowroski: I think with ballet, you're going to the theatre to escape life and to be mesmerized by the beauty and formations that the dancers are creating, and they're dancing from their soul.

They're giving you something from inside, which is something that is priceless.

And I think that that's really, really what ballet is about and who it's for.

And I hope that we can bring in more and more and more people to really experience that.

[ Music plays ] [ Music plays ] [ Music plays ] [ Music plays ] [ Cheers and applause ]