When Irvine Barclay Theatre opened its doors in 1990, choreographer Molly Lynch brought Ballet Pacifica to its stage. Lynch served as artistic director of Orange County’s only professional ballet company for 15 years. In 2004, she founded the National Choreographers Initiative (NCI) – an annual three-week intensive that pairs choreographers with professional ballet dancers to incubate new work. The Barclay proved an ideal setting for NCI’s summer showcase.
“The Barclay is an intimate venue with enough seating to have good audience energy but no bad seats in the house,” Lynch says. “They’re well equipped for dance with a sprung stage, Marley floor and fly space. We have the ability to reconfigure the space in different ways.”
Now it’s a passing-of-the-baton moment for Lynch, who decided after 35 years it’s time for a new generation of artists to take over. This July’s performance will be NCI’s final curtain call. But it’s hardly Lynch’s last dance. She serves as professor and chair of the Dance Department at UC Irvine – her alma mater – and has no plans to retire.
“When you decide to leave one chapter behind, another opens,” says Lynch, who is already receiving consulting and mentorship offers. “I’m excited about that. It’s the right time for new people to come forward with their passions and keep the art form alive.”…