Choreographers

FOUNDER, CHOREOGRAPHER–RUTH VESENKA LEWIS is the founder of Dimensional Dance which she started in 2011. Lewis was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. She trained at Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts before turning professional. Lewis danced professional with Hartford Ballet, The Berkshire Ballet and American Repertory Ballet (ARB). At ARB she danced principle roles under the direction of Dermot Burke, Marjorie Mussman and Septime Webre.

Lewis has been commissioned by dance companies, singing groups, museums, arts organizations, and churches to choreograph for their performances. Her latest work for Connecticut choral artists CONCORA under the direction of guest conductor, Ellen Gilson Voth, was for Path of Miracles by composer Joby Talbot. This collaborative piece was choreographed by Ruth Lewis and Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet director, Elisa Shroth, on Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet dancers.

In 2023 Lewis was commissioned by St. Alban’s Episcopal Church to create the full-length ballet The Story of Ruth to be performed live with Dimensional Dancers and with New England chamber choir Voce Inc. under the direction of Mark Singleton. Her first commissioned work in 2012 for the Wadsworth Atheneum was Wyeth: Looking Beyond for their Andrew Wyeth exhibit. In addition Lewis has choreographed works for the Hill-Stead Museum (the Antoine-Louis Bayre Sculpture Exhibit), Hartford’s Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Fairfield Congregational Church, Rocky Hill Congregational Church, Avon’s Valley Baptist Church, and West Hartford Congregational Church. Her dance pieces have been performed on Ballet Theatre Company, CONNetic Ballet, Saratoga City Ballet, Princeton Ballet School, Taft Dancers, Porters Dancers, and guest artists of Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet Company.

In 2024 Lewis choreographed Mothering the Earth: We Are All Connected for which she received funding from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Ms. Lewis conceived and is the lead choreographer of the company’s award winning work Whole-Souled Women: The Story of Prudence Crandall and Sarah Harris which premiered at the Guilford Performing Arts Festival in 2021. In 2020 Lewis created the contemporary ballet To Bee, about the plight of the honey bee along with her award winning choreography Con Brio. Lewis completed Dimensional Dance’s signature piece, O Squared, for it’s full length premiere in 2019.

Lewis is also teaches yoga and is a Connecticut teaching artist. She has led teaching artist workshops, residencies, and collaborations as well as professional development workshops through the agency Hartford Performs.

CHOREOGRAPHER/REPETITEUR- MATISSE MADDEN was raised on the beautiful island of Kauai and is proud of her French Polynesian heritage. She received her B.A. in Dance and her B.S. in Zoology from Brigham Young University. She holds an MFA in Ballet Teaching and Choreography from The University of Utah. She has danced with professional ballet companies Ballet West, Connecticut Ballet and Dimensional Dance. Her first piece for the company was Fierce Like Frida, created in 2019 and choreographed in collaboration with b-boy Savage Henry after being inspired by the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. In 2020 she worked collaboratively with Dimensional Dance hip hop artist, Jus Hues, to create the piece The Ocean in One Drop which celebrates the Earth’s oceans. Madden also collaboratively choreographed with Jamar Goodman the opening section to The Story of Ruth. Madden is teaches the intermediate and advanced ballet classes at Yale University.

REPETITEUR-VICTORIA JAENSON originally from Kampala, Uganda, began her formal dance training at the age of seven at the Brattleboro School of Dance in Vermont. She continued her training at the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, PA on full scholarship. Jaenson was recognized in the Top 12 of the Classical Division at the Boston, MA Semi-Finals in 2016 of the Youth America Grand Prix. She was also invited to compete in the New York City Finals. While still a student at the Rock School she joined the faculty. She went on to study at The Hartt School at the University of Hartford under Stephen Pier in 2017.

In the spring of 2018, Jaenson joined Charlotte Ballet II under Artistic Director Hope Muir where she performed the works of Alonzo King, Medhi Walerski, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Christian Spuck, and Matthew Hart. Jaenson also had the opportunity to be on the faculty at Charlotte Ballet Academy. Following her time in Charlotte, in 2021, she performed with Des Moines Metro Opera.

Jaenson went on to dance with Ballet Theatre Company (West Hartford, CT) for two seasons, under Stephanie Dattellas. She had the pleasure of performing ballet’s by Paul Mejia, Calvin Bittner, Marguerite de Anguera, and Derek Brockington. In 2022 Jaenson worked with Dimensional Dance (Hartford, CT), under Ruth Lewis, having the honor of performing the lead in Whole-Souled Women: The Story of Prudence Crandall and Sarah Harris, sharing a powerful story about educating young Black girls in Connecticut in the early 1830s. She also danced the leading role in The Story of Ruth in June 2023. Other companies Jaenson has guested with for include City Ballet of Boston (Boston, MA), under Tony Williams, AMA Dance Theatre (Mystic, CT), under Felipe Puletini, and with New England Ballet Theatre (Avon, CT).

Jaenson is currently in her third season with Collage Dance Collective in Memphis, TN. At Collage she has had the opportunity to perform in Kevin Thomas’ Firebird, George Balanchine’s Prodigal Son, Hope Boykin’s I Am My Work, Sandra Holloway’s duet Life Interrupted, Christopher Huggin’s ballet Enemy Behind the Gates, and Kevin Iega Jeff’s Trilogy. This Spring, Jaenson completed her Bachelors of Arts in Performing Arts from Saint Mary’s College of California. Jaenson looks forward to setting Dimensional Dance’s The Story of Ruth and Whole-Souled Women: The Story of Prudence Crandall and Sarah Harris on dance companies and universities.

CHOREOGRAPHER/REPETITEUR-JUS HUES is a versatile dancer and singer from Bloomfield, CT. He has performed and taught in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Self-taught, Hues began pursuing hip hop at age 10 while studying classical piano. He worked his way into becoming a versatile choreographer, hard hitting dancer and performer as well as an energetic piano performer. While studying piano at Berklee College of Music he performed touring with Pharaohe Monch, Medusa, and Slum Village for the “Beats for Peace Tour”. Hues has shared the stage with New Edition, Take 6 and Casely. As a choreographer, Jus has created dance for newly signed artists in the industry and performed in front of industry executives from BET. He co-choreographed the hip hop and ballet piece The Ocean in One Drop with Matisse Madden . Jus is featured as Prudence Crandall’s nemesis, Andrew Judson, as well as her controlling husband, Calvin Phileo, in Whole-Souled Women: The Story of Prudence Crandall and Sarah Harris. When not performing he the dynamic director of Jus Move Studios. Jus joined the company in 2020.

CHOREOGRAPHER/REPETITEUR-ELISA WHARTON, originally from West Virginia, studied at Inwood Performing Arts and the Frederick School of Classical Ballet before earning a scholarship to attend the renowned Interlochen Arts Academy.

She went on to earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet, graduating cum laude from the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) at the University of Cincinnati. Her own choreographic talent was also recognized—two of her pieces were selected for CCM’s Choreographer’s Showcase.

Following graduation, Elisa joined Charlottesville Ballet in Virginia, where she danced as a company artist and contributed choreography for two seasons. In 2012, she performed and choreographed for concorDance Contemporary in Crozet, VA, and later joined Dimensional Dance in Connecticut, continuing her dual role as performer and choreographer.

For the past 12 years, Elisa has been dedicated to teaching ballet, inspiring students in both Southington, Connecticut, and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

CHOREOGRAPHER/REPETITEUR-JACOB SHOUP grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and trained at the University of Akron’s Dance Institute, and Interlochen Arts Academy. Shoup received his BA in Dance Pedagogy at Butler University. When he graduated, he combined his dance and faith in the Connecticut based company Ekklesia, where he has performed as Jesus in the ballet Ahavah. He collaboratively choreographed with Hope Blackburn for one section of Dimensional Dance’s The Story of Ruth.

CHOREOGRPHER/REPETITEUR-HOPE BLACKBURN-SHOUP grew up near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she began her dance training at the Philadelphia Dance Theatre. With PDT, she attended annual Regional Dance America festivals and danced the classical roles of the Firebird and the Sugar Plum Fairy. Blackburn-Shoup went on to study at Butler University where she graduated with degrees in Dance Performance and English Literature. Her senior year, she earned a distinction for her choreography from Butler’s dance department for her new work, By Name. In 2021, she joined Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet under the direction of Elisa Shroth. Hope has also guested with Dimensional Dance as an artist in Ruth Lewis’s Mothering the Earth, and Path of Miracles. She also collaboratively choreographed the section The Meeting of Ruth and Orpah for The Story of Ruth with Jacob Shoup. As a teacher and choreographer as well, she is an advocate for the transformative power of dance for all people. This year, she married her long-time dance partner and best friend, Jacob Shoup!

Photo above: Gennaro Della Ragione, Laurance Corbett, and Pam Glauber