Pointeworks Spotlights Women in Ballet, Onstage and Off

When Texas Ballet Theater dancer Sophie Williams founded the nonprofit ballet company Pointeworks, her goal was to bring dancers from various companies together during their layoffs. “I wanted to make a company that was really dancer-first and where we could collaborate together,” says Williams.

She also wanted to place the creativity of women at the forefront. “I never danced work by a female choreographer for the first eight years of my career,” she says. “I’ve watched so many of my colleagues try to transition from dancer to choreographer and have seen the obstacles that the women faced versus the men. If Pointeworks can be the platform to [give female choreographers] the experience to put their work out there, I wanted to do that for them.”

Now Pointeworks is touring to New York City’s Ailey Citigroup Theater March 21–22 for its second season. Six of the program’s seven pieces are choreographed by women. Four are world premieres. Two have original music by female composers, and all of the costumes are designed by a total of three women. 

One world premiere, choreographed by Laine Habony of New York City Ballet, will bring three sisters together when Emma, Claire, and Nicole Von Enck share the stage for the first time in their professional careers. NYCB is home to principal dancer Emma Von Enck and corps member Claire Von Enck, while Nicole is a principal with Texas Ballet Theater. Habony has started what’s turning out to be a burgeoning choreographic career after participating in NYCB’s 2020 First Steps program, which allows its dancers to try choreographing on fellow company members, and creating works for a few other engagements since then. “When it comes to [the movement for] this piece, Emma is quick and clear, and Claire is more waltzy,” she says of her ballet for Pointeworks. “I haven’t worked with Nicole before, but she can do everything, from what I’ve seen.”

Habony also collaborated with composer Katie Jenkins. “[The music is] solo piano and variations on themes,” Habony says. “There’s a central theme, but because they’re sisters, there are individual things that are directly correlated to each dancer. [Jenkins] took the time to research the three of them and come up with musical themes she thinks matches each of them, which I think is really cool.”

Another ballet in the program is Caili Quan’s Press Play, first premiered at BalletX in 2021. “Caili originally put this piece together over Zoom, and she suggested it because we could put it together remotely,” Williams says. Pointeworks’ restaging features dancers from around the country, who rehearsed remotely before coming together in New York City for final rehearsals with Quan prior to the performances.

Other world premieres include works by Oklahoma City Ballet rehearsal director DaYoung Jung, Texas Ballet Theater soloist Rieko Hatato, and choreographer Gabriel Speiller. Reka Gyulai’s Off Beat and Heather Nichols’ Meraki will have their New York City premieres.

Pointeworks is helmed by women at every level, onstage and off, by Williams’ design.

“I think it’s important to showcase the talent and the work that incredible women around the world are putting in,” she says.

“It’s so much harder to have a voice as a woman in ballet, and if I’m creating a platform from zero and putting effort into creating opportunities for artists, I’m gonna create opportunities for the voices that haven’t been heard,” says Williams. “Right now, especially with the political climate, I want to make [those voices] even louder with Pointeworks.”