Ballet dancer returns for MLK performance, Jan. 19

An acclaimed dancer, choreographer and teacher will return to Stoneham on January 19 to perform in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration in a matinee program at the Stoneham High School Auditorium.

Janelle Gilchrist, who grew up in Stoneham, will join storyteller Tammy Denease and student artists, poets and musicians to celebrate twenty years of MLK Celebrations in Stoneham in a program titled “Free, free at last.”

The 1 p.m. program, to be held on Sunday afternoon before the national holiday, is presented by Stoneham Schools and the MLK Circle. A family event, it is free and open to all.

The director of the Janelle Gilchrist Dance Troupe, Janelle and accompanying dancers will perform “Dances in the Canebrakes,” choreographed to the music of African American composer Florence Price. Expressing the journey of fugitives from slavery, the dances provide another dimension to the program’s theme, “Free, free at last,” spoken by Dr. King in his famous speech in 1963.

Growing up in Stoneham, Gilchrist attended Concord Academy, then studied at the Hartt School in Connecticut, where she earned a BFA in Dance. She also studied and performed at the Harriet Hoctor Ballet School, Boston Ballet School, Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, Broadway Theater Project, and the Dance Theater of Harlem. She has also had roles with the Hartford Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, Island Moving Company, Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, and Tony Williams Ballet.

For many years she has performed in Urban Nutcracker, a vibrant, multi-cultural fantasia in Boston, taking leading roles, including the Sugar Plum Fairy. In a related endeavor, she has flown to Riga, Latvia with BalletRox to perform and teach the Urban Nutcracker to the Dzirnas Dance Troupe.

A valued instructor in community dance organizations, Janelle Gilchrist is now a fulltime faculty member of the Boston Arts Academy, where she teaches dance and choreography.