Janice Martin

Janice Martin is an unusual talent as a virtuoso in many styles and performs in multiple vocal styles and on multiple instruments. Most uniquely, Janice also performs as an “aerial acrobatic violinist.” Janice has wowed millions of viewers on the CW Network’s The Big Stage as well as the NBC Series America’s Got Talent and has toured the world over with her one-woman shows, as featured guest soloist with orchestras as well as with the internationally acclaimed troupe Cirque de la Symphonie, with whom has performed with such orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra, The San Francisco Symphony, the Boston Pops, the Baltimore Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, National Symphony, and Atlanta Symphony to name a few. Janice has performed in some of the most celebrated concert halls in the world such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, and Prague’s Rudolfinum. Following her Carnegie Hall debut on Solo Violin, Janice released her first Solo Violin CD receiving NY Times’ critical acclaim as “a brilliant artist.”

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Avi Borouchoff

Avi began dancing at the age of eighteen after being inspired by Pilobolus Dance Theater. After becoming heavily involved in the theater program at Milwaukee High School of the Arts Avi fell in love with dance with one of his mentors encouraged him to enroll in a Jazz class. Avi holds a BFA in dance from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has always had deep ties with the circus arts as his mother would bring him to events where she was working as a young clown. With a background in competitive cross-country, gymnastics, swimming, and juggling, Avi wasted very little time developing a unique blend of athleticism, circus, and dance. Avi began his aerial work in the international festival Montréal Complétement Cirque and furthered his studies at The Muse Intensive Training Program In Brooklyn, New York. He is now based in Chicago, Illinois, and performs his aerial work anywhere from illustrious galas to intimate cabaret venues. 

Central Illinois Ballet

Central Illinois Ballet was formed under the direction of Rebekah von Rathonyi and Joshua Gullett in 2015, to bring professional ballet to Central Illinois. CIB emerged from it’s school, The Cornerstone Academy for Performing Arts, established in January 2012 in the historic Cornerstone building of downtown Peoria with four instructors and six students. The organization began outreach and lecture demonstrations taking dance, music, and singing into the areas nursing homes, schools, libraries, and Veterans posts.  Recognizing that the greater Central Illinois community needed a professional dance company and school that would positively contribute to the standard of living, the performing ensemble was formed. After Cornerstone Academy staged their first production of the Nutcracker at the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg, IL, the demand for more professional main-stage productions quickly increased. After two highly successful seasons, the Board of Directors and Artistic Staff formally separated the performance ensemble from the Academy by founding the Central Illinois Ballet in January 2015. The 2021-22 CIB company consists of ten professional dancers recruited from all over the United States. Each dancer brings talent, unique style, and personality to the company, with productions ranging from classical and romantic ballet such as “Dracula”, “The Nutcracker”, and “Peter Pan”, to more modern and contemporary styles such as “Sweeny Todd”, “Gatsby the Ballet”, and “Women of History”. With our highly gifted group of professional dancers, Central Illinois Ballet will be celebrating our ten-year anniversary for the entire 2021-2022 season. We are humbled and grateful to be able to continue to bring elegance, sophisticated artistry, collaboration, and creativity to our community.

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Concert Sponsors & Underwriters

Carl W. Soderstrom, MD

Sid & Flo Banwart

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.