J A C K I E K O P C S A K
DANCE EDUCATOR - CHOREOGRAPHER - PHOTOGRAPHER
J A C K I E K O P C S A K
Dance Educator - Director/Choreographer
Choreographic P R O J E C T S
Yoshiki REQUIEM - Dolby Theater
October 2023
In October, I had the good fortune to create two dances for Japanese superstar Yoshiki's Requiem World Tour performance at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. USC Kaufman dancers performed to Swan Lake as well as Yoshiki's original composition Forever Love.
USC Kaufman dancers at the Dolby Theater. Photos by Daniel Rojas.
USC Kaufman dancers Avery Zerr and John Ledwith. Photo by Rose Eichenbaum.
The cast of WHY NOT? Photo by Rose Eichenbaum.
WHY NOT?
April 2023
A musical theater-inspired piece for the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance Spring Showcase at the Wallis Center for the Performing Arts. The work, set to the 1940s big band sounds of SWING! The Musical, featured an exciting fusion of jazz, tap, ballet, and swing dance.
PAIR/US
February 2020
Inspired by the Norton Simon Museum's special exhibit "By Day & By Night: Paris in the Belle Époque." Period French music was played live by pianist Grace Chung, saxophonist Gavin Templeton and soprano Karina Kallas and danced by students from the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance.
USC Kaufman dancers in PAIR/US. Photo by Carolyn DiLoreto.
Dancer Ciara Billups in PAIR/US. Photo by Carolyn DiLoreto.
Pasadena ArtNight dancers Emma Andres and Sophia Oddi with Gavin Templeton.
Photo by Jackie Kopcsak.
Music & More SummerFest 2019
Trebinje, Bosnia-Herzegovina
ArtistsPlus Productions joined Artistic Director Tatjana Rankovich and artists from all over the world for the 2nd Annual 'Music & More SummerFest'. Performances took place at a stunning hillside amphitheater as well as a traditional theatre and included new choreography for two works by composer Ionel Petroi (Sunny Waltz and A Wild Run), as well as Piazzolla's Libertango and the Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 4.
Music and More SummerFest at the Hercegovacka Gracanica, Trebinje.
Photo by Whitney Browne.
I'll Be Home for Christmas
Angeles Chorale & Orchestra
December 2017
Collaboration with maestro John Sutton to integrate dance into the Angeles Chorale's 2017 holiday concert. Dancers from the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance embodied short narrative pieces centered around a WW2 soldier returning home at Christmastime.
Dancer Madison Vomastek with the Angeles Chorale. Photo by Jackie Kopcsak
PASADENA ArtNight
October 2019
Created in collaboration with composer/musician Gavin Templeton for performance at ARC Pasadena. Gavin's original composition for bass clarinet and voice was performed live by the composer and soprano Karina Kallas along with dancers Laura Alexich, Emma Andres and Sophia Oddi.
Photo by Nate Lubben.
Music & More SummerFest dancer Alyssa Allen.
Photo by Jovan Vidakovic.
Dancers Adam Vesperman and Madison Vomastek. Photo by Mary Mallaney
Appalachian Spring
American Youth Symphony
May 2017
ArtistsPlus Productions joined the illustrious American Youth Symphony for the second half of their 2017 Members Priority Concert featuring Aaron Copland's iconic "Appalachian Spring." Under the expert direction of Maestro Juan Felipe Molano and with choreography by Jackie Kopcsak, the five dancers cast an enchanting spell over the audience, which quickly erupted in a standing ovation at the close of the program.
Photo by Nate Lubben.
Dancers Jennifer Sherry and Juan Posada Penagos with the American Youth Symphony.
Photo by Carolyn DiLoreto
Perfect/Union
MUSE/IQUE Symphony Orchestra
July 2016
Performed under the summer stars at Cal Tech's Beckman Auditorium, ArtistsPlus Productions joined maestro Rachael Worby in an evening celebrating some of music's dynamic duos. Kopcsak created three pieces: a Fred Astaire-inspired pas de deux to the music of George and Ira Gershwin, a quartet set to Bach's Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin and a glittery finale to John Williams iconic score for the cinematic classic, "ET."
Perfect/Union. Photo by Carolyn DiLoreto.
Perfect/Union. Photo by Carolyn DiLoreto.
Carmina Burana
Angeles Chorale & Orchestra
April 2016
Under the marvelous direction of conductor John Sutton, Carl Orff's dramatic score came to life at Pasadena's First United Methodist Church. Choreographers Jackie Kopcsak and Shauna Barger integrated dance throughout the piece, allowing six ArtistsPlus dancers to join the ensemble of singers, musicians and operatic soloists for this incredibly dynamic performance.
Carmina Burana dancers Cleo Magill and Andrea Fabbri in rehearsal with the Angeles Chorale and Orchestra. Photo by Carolyn DiLoreto.
Divertissement Degas
UC Irvine Master's Thesis, 2013
After conducting research in the archives of the Paris Opéra, Kopcsak created a one-act story ballet that explored the lives of the late 19th Century ballerinas featured in the works of French Impressionist painter Edgar Degas.
Dancers from UC Irvine; photos by Skye Schmidt.