Alberta Ballet 2009 by Venture Publishing

Supporting the arts. At TELUS, we believe in using our technology and expertise to make a positive difference in the communities where we live, work and play. As such, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re proud to sponsor the Alberta Ballet as part of our ongoing support of the arts in Canada.

ALBERTA BALLET BOARD, PATRONS, FOUNDATION AND STAFF

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD CHAIR

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST IN THE BOARDROOM Since taking the administrative helm less than a year ago, Michèle Stanners has begun leaving her mark

DANCING INTO THE FUTURE Alberta Ballet Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître shares his vision in a Q&A

A TREE THAT’S ALWAYS 10 GROWING From a makeshift basement studio to world-class dance company, Alberta Ballet’s journey continues

TOP OF THE CLASS Nancy and Murray Kilgourkeep students on their toes at the School of Alberta Ballet

MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR A trip behind the scenes of Alice in Wonderland

PORTFOLIO The patrons, the champions, the arts funders

A PERPETUAL, EVOLVING 34 CYCLE OF RENEWAL Critic Michael Crabb’s personal journey alongside Alberta Ballet

A TALE OF TWO CITIES Calling both Calgary and Edmonton home is equal parts blessing and challenge for Alberta Ballet

A CHORUS OF MANY VOICES Alberta Ballet understands the advantages of working with an array of dance partners

WORLD TOUR Alberta Ballet gets stronger at home by taking to the road

THE RUBY SEASON Innovative Dancing Joni headlines Alberta Ballet’s 40th anniversary lineup – with Attitude

ARTIST PROFILES

LAËTITIA CLÉMENT

IGOR CHORNOVOL

48 SABRINA MATTHEWS AMANDA AND PATRICK 49 CANNY 50

DEDICATION

ON THE COVER: Hamilton Nieh, a talented new addition to Alberta Ballet’s roster of artists, helps the company celebrate its ruby anniversary PHOTOGRAPH BYCHARLES HOPE

DISTINGUISHED PATRONS

The Honourable Norman L. Kwong, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta; The Honourable Ralph Klein, Premier of Alberta HONOURARY PATRONS

Peter and Jeanne Lougheed, John and Barbara Poole ALBERTA BALLET BOARD

Chair: D’Arcy Levesque, Enbridge Inc.; Vice Chair – Edmonton: Barry Schloss, Schloss & Company; Vice Chair – Calgary: Laura Haynes, Appetite Consulting; Vice President – Finance: Babette Blindert, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Vice President – Legal Affairs & Corporate Secretary: Frank Molnar, Field Law DIRECTORS AT LARGE

Kristine Eidsvik, Q.C., Bennett Jones LLP; Bruce Graham, Calgary Economic Development; Ross Hahn, Swizzlesticks Salon & Spa; Gail Harding, Canadian Western Bank; Jose Herrero, Fluor Canada Ltd.; Michael Kerr, Davies Park Executive Search; Kim MacKenzie, MacKenzie & Associates Consulting Group; Jill Matthew, EPCOR; Walker McKinley, McKinleyDangBurkart Design Group; Dr. Stephen Murgatroyd, Innovation Expedition; Karen Schonfelder, Nexen Inc.; Kelly Streit, Mode Models; Julia Turnbull, Q.C.; David J. Wachowich, Fraser Milner Casgrain; Colleen Wilson, ATCO Gas ALBERTA BALLET FOUNDATION BOARD

President & Chair: John C. Bonnycastle; Vice President: Barbara D. Linney, Blank Rome LLP; Secretary-Treasurer: Peter A. Johnson, Shaw Communications Inc.; Larry E. Clausen, Communication Incorporated; Margaret Coleman, CIBC Wood Gundy; Norma Gibson

ALBERTA BALLET STAFF

Jean Grand-Maître, Artistic Director; Michèle Stanners, General Director CALGARY OFFICE

Alex Bonyun, Marketing & Media Liason; Audrey Burke, Manager Customer Service; Kat Carson, Development & Special Events Associate; Paul Chambers, Company Manager; Cathy Davis, Box Ofﬁce Assistant; Christine Dechaine, Accounting Assistant; Jackie Sonntag, Ofﬁce Assistant; Mike Hessler, Technical Director; Deb Howard, Stage Manager; Pamela Kaye, Wardrobe Manager; Carolyn Oakley, Manager of HR & Administration; Harry Paterson, Director of Production; Donna Renna, Assistant to Artistic Director; Melody Song, Manager of Development; Cat Soucie, Manager of Special Events; Edmund Stripe, Ballet Master; Flavia Vallone, Ballet Mistress; Karen Zerr, Controller EDMONTON OFFICE

Jennifer Faulkner, Director of Edmonton Operations; Diane Holmes, Customer Service Manager, Edmonton; Mickey Melnyk, Manager of Special Events & Volunteers COMPANY OF ARTISTS

Leigh Allardyce, Reid Bartelme, Nicole Caron, Sandrine Cassini, Liyin Chen, Igor Chornovol, Laëtitia Clément, Tanya Dobler, Stephanie Fucile, Christopher Gray, Yukichi Hattori, Nadia Iozzo, Davidson Jaconello, Galien Johnston, Matthew Lehmann, Alexis Maragozis, Daniel Marshalsay, Maki Matsuoka, Kelley McKinlay, Hamilton Nieh, Rie Ogura, Anthony Pina, Racheal Prince, Blair Puente, Jonathan Renna, Erica Turner, Tara Williamson SCHOOL OF ALBERTA BALLET

Murray Kilgour, School Principal; Nancy Kilgour, Senior Pedagogue; Mark Mosher, School Financial Manager; Jennifer Bednar, School Manager of Marketing & Development; Shirley Agate-Proust, Head of Regular Division; Joyce Shietze, Full-Time Teacher www.albertaballet.com Calgary Ofﬁce Nat Christie Centre 141 – 18 Avenue SW Calgary AB, T2S 0B8 Phone: (403) 245-4222 Fax: (403) 245-6573

Edmonton Ofﬁce Sun Life Place Suite 470, 10123 – 99 Street Edmonton AB, T5J 3H1 Phone: (780) 428-6839 Fax: (780) 428-4589

Publisher: Ruth Kelly; Associate Publisher: Joyce Byrne; Editor: Dan Rubinstein; Associate Editor: Miﬁ Purvis; Consulting Art Director: Jennifer Windsor; Assistant Art Director/Design & Layout: Paige Weir; Production Manager: Teresa Secret; Production Technician: Gunnar Blodgett

CONTRIBUTORS

Ross Bradley, William Claxton, Michael Crabb, Patricio del Rio, John Gaucher, Charles Hope, Trudie Lee, Noémi LoPinto, Scott Messenger, Chris Nicholls, Amy Steele, Curtis Trent, Gerard Yunker

Contents © 2006 by Alberta Ballet No part of this publication should be reproduced without written permission Printed in Canada Venture Publishing Inc. #201 Solar Court 10350 124 Street Edmonton AB, T5N 3V9 Toll-free 1-866-227-4276 Phone (780) 990-0839 Fax (780) 425-4921

From

The Chair f

SPONSORS

rom Ruth Carse’s 20th-century vision a remarkable Canadian ballet company has grown. Our history is rich with pioneering spirit, talented artists, inspiring performances, a respected school, and the support of many who committed their love of art and dance to ensure our arrival at this important milestone. Each transition has brought Alberta Ballet closer to its 21st-century identity – a new and refreshing voice in classical ballet offering a unique and theatrical repertoire which is both relevant and responsive to our growing audiences at home and abroad. Our objective has always been to challenge our artists and our audiences with new experiences in dance and to educate our communities about this amazing art form. Our province-wide mandate and dual residency in Edmonton and Calgary is unique in the world and we cherish the opportunity to develop ballet here in Alberta and “OUR OBJECTIVE across Canada. We are very proud to HAS ALWAYS BEEN serve as ambassadors of our art and our country. TO CHALLENGE It is with a tremendous amount of OUR ARTISTS AND gratitude that we embark on the next exciting chapter of our journey and we AUDIENCES WITH appreciate this opportunity to express NEW EXPERIENCES our deep appreciation to all of our patrons, sponsors and supporters who IN DANCE.” have helped grow Alberta Ballet during the ﬁ rst 40 years into a truly remarkable company. To Telus, Enbridge, Nexen and Epcor, thank you for helping make this publication possible. To our dedicated board, staff and volunteers, both past and present, thank you for your faith and belief in our vision and for ensuring our success as we pursue Ruth Carse’s dream. And ﬁ nally, to our subscribers and audiences, we sincerely hope you enjoy our 40th anniversary season. We share this celebration with all of you.

D’Arcy Levesque Chair, Board of Directors

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Portrait of the Artist

Boardroom IN THE

Since taking the administrative helm less than a year ago, Michèle Stanners has begun leaving her mark BY NOÉMI LOPINTO

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLES HOPE

he new General Director of Alberta Ballet believes the province is at a tipping point. “Art and culture,” argues Michèle Stanners, “are our new energy and part of the new language of Alberta. They are a key resource for this province and are part of what sets us apart and make us more than just a business centre. And, like all resources, they have to be mined, developed, promoted and exported. “People are coming together to collaborate,” she continues. “Each day we see the worlds of art, commerce and community joining forces to build Alberta’s creative potential and enhance our innovative culture.” Stanners was raised in a FrancoManitoban home, immersed in languages and music. She has three University of Alberta degrees: an undergraduate liberal arts degree, and a combined master’s in law and business administration. Getting involved in her community has been a constant in her life. Whether sitting on the board of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra or the Honens International Piano Competition, she applies her problem-solving talents, fi xing the foundations of the not-forprofi t organizations she works for. Managing a not-for-profi t is different than managing other businesses, and managing a creative organization is a unique challenge. “In our organization, we have a product that we are passionate about. Everyone who works here does so because they believe in the power and potential of ballet and

the effect it can have on society.” Alberta Ballet is a positive environment to manage, yet it has its own challenges. As Stanners sees it, “Everyone in our organization is creative. Everyone. And that is as it should be. We are at great pains to make sure that the creativity is nurtured and develops. But it is not always easy when you are working with people who need to invent and break new ground, who often insist that getting it right is the most important thing – despite deadlines, budgets – and it is my job to ensure that we continue to push the boundaries while still meeting our deadlines and controlling our budgets and engaging our audiences. And that is something we do very well at Alberta Ballet.” Stanners believes that the secret is in collaboration and respect. “Our values are very clear at Alberta Ballet. This company has always stood for creativity, relevance, collaboration and trust – and since I joined last year, Artistic Director Grand-Maître, the Board and all the team have worked to ensure that these values extend through everything we do.” One of Alberta Ballet’s biggest challenges is to maintain systematic and sustainable growth. Audience numbers are growing and the number and standard of productions are increasing, but the company is committed to making ballet accessible, and so it is determined to keep ticket prices affordable, and broaden the audience base. There is some government sup-

Art and culture

are our new energy and part of the new

language of Alberta

port, but public funding is less than one would expect for such an important part of the community, so Alberta Ballet has established strong partnerships with companies which believe that the community needs access to the arts and art education. Despite the challenges, Alberta Ballet is currently enjoying a ﬁ scal surplus, its ﬁ rst in years, and is investing that surplus into improved productions, reduced ticket prices for younger audiences, education, facilities and new works. As for the future, Stanners see the expansion of the School of Alberta Ballet, greater collaboration with other artistic partners, increased presence across the province and the West, and endowments through the Alberta Ballet Foundation. “Our vision is clear: it’s our responsibility to develop ballet in Canada, engage and educate our community, train dancers of the future and act as an ambassador of AB our art and our country.”

Dancing into the

Future Alberta Ballet Artistic Director Jean Grand-MaĂŽtre shares his vision

BY NOĂ&#x2030;MI LOPINTO

A powerful artistic vision must go deep into the human soul,

combining emotions with

contemporary realities

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Jean Grand-Maître is the Artistic Director of Alberta Ballet, taking it into its 40th anniversary season. He follows a long line of creative artists, all of whom have helped to shape the company, making it one of Canada’s leading voices in classical dance. Over the last four decades, the company has evolved its own style and unique repertoire. There continues to be a stress put on the highest level of classical training, combined with productions that reach out and touch the audience. The result is always a season that includes full-cast famous story ballets and contemporary choreographers presented like you’ve never seen them before.

around kitchen tables). In our case, Ruth Carse built a very strong foundation, and the company has always seen growth, despite very limited funding. The calibre of our dancers and our JGM: We are a contemporary theatriproductions has improved year on cal ballet company. We perform new year as each new artistic director chal and established ballets, all with modern energy and in a way that is relevant lenged the company with new ballets. My focus is to give it a unique soul and engaging to our audiences. It is important for us to stay in today; after through a rich repertoire and individual identity. all, the performing arts are all about touching the audience. We can only do that if we reﬂect the anxieties and WHAT DOES AB ENDEAVOUR TO joys of the modern world and express BRING TO THE WORLD OF DANCE the modern ethos. A powerful artistic THAT NO OTHER COMPANY CAN? vision must go deep into the human JGM: My aim is to inspire our audisoul, combining emotions with conences to see that life is a great odyssey. temporary realities. When people We will use our live performances experience a performance, we want to reconcile today’s world with the them to feel that it addresses their beauty of life. We will bring new and issues of today. acclaimed choreographers to the stage in Alberta and collaborate with stagHAS THE COMPANY EVOLVED ARTISTI- ing, set, lighting and musical artists to create an even greater experience CALLY SINCE ITS BEGINNINGS ? JGM: Absolutely. Our identity is inﬂu- for our audiences. Our dancers are enced by the community in which we exceptional and I want them to be like “spiritual” Olympians – so that our exist, its history and future, as well performances are not only physical, as the development of the art form but also spiritual and emotional. A live around the world. We must continuperformance can reconcile us to the ally ask ourselves probing questions beauty of life. in order to grow. How do we relate to our modern society? Are we on the cutting edge? How can we remain WHAT IS EXCEPTIONAL ABOUT AB innovative? How can we be part of the AS A COMPANY ? new Alberta? JGM: It’s a company that is coming It is interesting to note that most of age. We have found our identity ballet companies in Canada were and are placed like no other company started by women in ballet schools. – with new patrons, growing audiences Dancers put on little shows and then and within a province that is awakensuddenly they developed into compaing culturally, falling in love with arts nies with boards of directors (usually and culture. Every member of the

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLES HOPE

HAT IS ALBERTA BALLET’S CURRENT VISION AND HOW DO YOU EXPECT THAT TO CHANGE?

company is driven to achieve the best, most creative, most exceptional results in order to touch our growing and supportive audiences. Like other ballet companies, we are seeing reduced government funding, but the support from our community, the commitment of our dancers, the collaboration with other great artists and our passion for success means that we continue to be able to create groundbreaking work. WHAT DO YOU ENVISION FOR FUTURE AB ENDEAVOURS? HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT TO GROW?

JGM: It is my aim to use ballet to entertain, but also to provoke thought and spark emotion. Ballet is a relatively established art form, and in each production, we will take that old European form and shape it to the sensibilities of Western Canada. I would like this company to grow both artistically and physically. We can achieve this by having a longer season with a greater range of works, to offer our community the experience of a new repertoire, while improving opportunities for our dancers. At the same time, growth will come by taking the opportunity to tour nationally and internationally, so that we can act as ambassadors for our province and bring back all that we learn from other companies. I hope to establish a balance in our seasons of young choreographers who bring their youth and energy to the performance with quality classics that continue to touch our audiences. AB

Growing A TREE THAT’S ALWAYS

From a makeshift basement studio to world-class dance company, Alberta Ballet’s journey continues BY S C O T T M E S S E N G E R

n the early 1930s, dance in Edmonton was a largely vacant cultural niche. The same was true about the arts in general: after the promise and momentum of the 1920s, the city of 80,000 was mired in the Great Depression. The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra folded in 1932 for lack of funding, a signifi cant theatre community was still decades from the stage, and one of Edmonton’s earliest cracks at opera wouldn’t happen until 1935. There was the library, of course, and radio dramas, but not much else – including work. Only the Second World War, bringing prosperity in the form of military air traffi c, would bring that diffi cult decade to a close. A woman named Ruth Carse, however, born in 1916 and entering the 1930s on the cusp of adulthood, was managing to run an informal dance studio out of her parents’ home in south Edmonton. The second of fi ve chil-

dren, Carse had already been dancing for a decade, both formally as well as with her brothers, sister and her Scottish father, gathered around their mother at the piano. Determined and uncommonly independent, Carse looked beyond local business ventures. Her sights were set on the ballets of Toronto and New York – dreams requiring not just skill but cash, and therefore enough peace, quiet and basement ﬂ oor-space for her students and, occasionally, curious tag-alongs. She could hardly have imagined the effect her tiny studio would have on the future of Alberta ballet. Twelve-year-old Muriel Taylor was one such tag-along. “When I saw it, I knew from that minute it was for me,” she once said. “I was crazy about it.” Within a few years, Carse was choreographing solos for Taylor to perform. They became a team. Trips across the back lane to the

Carses’ became routine, strengthening not only Taylor’s ballet skills but also the girls’ friendship, which would remain strong after Taylor’s eventual departure for studies in Vancouver and Los Angeles, and her teacher’s exit for Toronto upon turning 21. Out east, Carse studied and performed with the Volkoff Canadian Ballet. She became accustomed to the dancer’s life, virtually unpaid, scraping by on odd jobs, until fi nally leaving for New York in 1949. Despite studying with famed choreographer George Balanchine, life in America wasn’t any easier. According to letters to her younger sister, Marnie Wilkins, performing with the Radio City Music Hall Ballet allowed Carse little more than shredded wheat and cheese during performance breaks. After briefl y returning to Toronto to dance with the National Ballet, Carse left to train as a teacher at the Royal Academy of Dance in London, England. In 1954, at age 38, a torn Achilles tendon only strengthened her ambition. Back in Edmonton, Taylor learned of the injury from Carse’s parents. She’d returned to study business at the University of Alberta with plans to open her own kindergarten-cum-dance school downtown. Revered by parents for its caring, quality teaching and by students for the 5,000 square feet of sprung hardwood fl oors (almost unheard of in western Canada), enrollment at the Muriel

RUTH CARSE COULD HARDLY HAVE IMAGINED THE EFFECT HER TINY STUDIO WOULD HAVE ON THE FUTURE OF ALBERTA BALLET.

Ballet, from A to AB 1661

1400s

Aristocrats in Italy sponsor elaborate costumed dance performances, with each aristocrat trying to outdo the other with progressively more lavish productions. These performances are the predecessor of modern ballet.

A dancer in his younger days, King Louis XIV of France establishes the l’Academie Royale de Danse, the world’s ﬁ rst ballet school. Ballet’s ﬁ ve classic positions are formalized here.

1581

1700-1750

French dancers mount public performances and other troupes spring up across Europe. The Russian Imperial Ballet is founded in 1738. Dancers start to shed cumbersome costumes as moves become more technical.

Catherine de Medici, the Queen of France, brings Italian dance to the French court. In a role that will come to be called “artistic director,” Balthazar Beaujoyeulx creates the ﬁ rst ballet, incorporating dance, song, verse and music.

1816

The ﬁ rst touring ballet performances are welcomed in Canada.

Taylor School of Dance (established 1948) had reached 400. Taylor and Carse remained friends and, in 1950, Taylor asked Carse, never married after losing her fi ancée to WWII, to be godmother to her daughter Candice (today a great supporter of the Alberta Ballet). Needing help, when pregnant with her third child in 1954, Taylor coaxed her friend home, promising a job. Soon enough, Carse was teaching senior classes at the school, pondering the possibilities of ballet in the city she’d always loved. “They really wanted to see dance in western Canada,” says Wilkins. “They wanted to see young people have the opportunity in Alberta.” The transition from Taylor to Carse was fairly smooth, remembers Shirley New-Foose, who danced with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet from 1964 to 1971. Starting at the school at age fi ve, she’d come to know Taylor as a “surrogate mother,” patient and caring. Carse wasn’t much different, despite a measured assertiveness – this was, after all, Royal Academy-certifi ed training. “You had your black leotards, pink tights, soft shoes and your pointe shoes,” says New-Foose, recalling the strictly enforced dress code. Hair was to be perfectly set, ribbons properly knotted. “We were always called bun-heads,” jokes New-Foose, well acquainted with the art of applying hairpins. In retrospect, she says, Carse’s lessons also taught life skills. “When you learn discipline in the early ages of life it carries through. I have fond memories of both of those ladies. They gave me what’s necessary to have a professional career. The discipline, the technique, came from both of them.” Muriel Taylor and student While Carse taught, Taylor travelled

Ruth Carse (left) in her dancing days

MURIEL TAYLOR AND RUTH CARSE OFFERED DANCERS INITIATION INTO A “VERY GROWN-UP” WORLD OF NOT JUST FANCY FOOTWEAR, BUT OF UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO LEARNING STEPS AND CUES, AND OF THE REWARD OF THE EXHILARATION OF THE STAGE (NOT TO MENTION CAST PARTIES).

1900s

1820-1877

Ballet fi nds its fi rst North American home when the predecessor to the New York City Ballet is formed. Midway through the century, leads such as Rudolph Nureyev bring new artistry to male roles, and these dancers fi nd rich and dynamic parts.

Ballet star Marie Taglioni appears in a short skirt and a top that exposes her shoulders and arms, changing forever the way dancers dress to perform. New costumes showcase new techniques and – in tutus and pointe shoes – female dancers take centre stage.

1938

1930s

The predecessor to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet forms; it will become Canada’s ﬁ rst professional company.

Ballet dancers study their craft in Canada for the ﬁ rst time in studios such as that of Russian émigré Boris Volkoff. A slew of talented Canadian dancers are trained at home, only to dance for companies outside the country because there are none in Canada.

A Balanchine Act In staging its ﬁ rst George Balanchine production in 1998, Alberta Ballet came full circle, returning to work Carse may have danced while studying under Balanchine himself. Born in St. Petersburg, the dancer and choreographer immigrated to America in 1933 where he would come to be recognized as one of the greatest choreographers of the 20th century. Upon his death in 1983, his more than 400 works were gathered into the George Balanchine Trust for the preservation of their artistic integrity. Today, only companies of proven talent and quality are permitted to perform them.

to small-town Alberta, seeking out opportunities to perform beyond Edmonton’s YMCA and Victoria Composite High School to give her students a taste of touring, and Alberta a taste of the arts. (“For a lady that has done so much in her life, Ruth never drove,” Wilkins conﬁ des with a laugh. “She said she tried and it wasn’t for her.”) Regardless of the demands Taylor’s scouting placed on her own time and energy, her daughter, Candice Harris, says, “I always remember mom as so positive. She loved what she was doing; it was never considered work.” Taylor also found local sponsors. The school was successful, but excursions exceeded the annual budget. With no government funding, “there was only so much money,” says Wilkins. Like Taylor, Carse too had a head for business. “She came from a Scottish background,” Wilkins jokes, “so she kept a pretty tight rein on ﬁ nances. I think we all learned quite well from my father.” Wilkins remembers her sister – multi-tasking as artistic director, choreographer, and in any other way to cut costs – work-

ing all night at home on costumes, often helped by their mother, who also kept the students in fresh baking. The exposure caught the attention of the city’s burgeoning artistic community. In the mid 1950s, Edmonton Light Opera enlisted dancers for several productions. Then in her early teens, New-Foose recalls dancing in South Paciﬁc , for which her mother bought New-Foose’s ﬁ rst pair of high-heeled shoes – but only, she impressed upon her young daughter, for the show. With performances, say New-Foose appreciatively, Taylor and Carse offered

Brydon Paige (centre) works with his dancers

dancers initiation into a “very grown-up” world of not just fancy footwear, but of unwavering commitment to learning steps and cues, and of the reward of the exhilaration of the stage (not to mention cast parties). Perhaps encouraged by the collaboration, Taylor and Carse introduced the school’s ﬁ rst formal dance group, Ballet Interlude. Fantasyland, choreographed by both women and accompanied by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, debuted at the Jubilee Auditorium in 1958. Finally, Taylor and Carse felt ballet was garnering the

June 17, 1961

1940

1971

Famed Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev defects at the Paris Airport. A week later he’s signed with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas and becomes a star beyond the world of ballet.

Walt Disney releases Fantasia, its classic animation, and uses some of Tchaikovsky’s score from the Nutcracker ballet.

Ruth Carse founds the Alberta Ballet School at Edmonton’s Victoria Composite High to train professional-quality dancers.

1966

Continued growth sees the Alberta government request a name change to reﬂ ect the scope of Edmonton Ballet. On May 16, the company becomes the Alberta Ballet Company.

Ali Pourfarrokh

Mikko Nissinen

“ALI POURFARROKH WAS REALLY TRYING TO STRETCH THE LIMITS OF THE DANCERS. HE WASN’T PLAYING TO THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR.” recognition it deserved in Alberta. With Carse regularly returning, at her own expense, to the Royal Academy of Dance in London for instructional upgrading, the company continued to strive toward excellence. In 1960, it incorporated as the Edmonton Ballet Company, coming one step closer, says Wilkins, to Carse and Taylor’s dream of an Albertan ballet. In the role of company business manager, Taylor provided free rehearsal space as well as all of the teachers and the core of the dancers. As Harris remembers, “She was excited to ﬁ nally see all this coming together.” To both women, Edmonton Ballet was something to which every young dancer in Alberta could reasonably aspire, and in which every Albertan could take pride. But it had to continue reaching beyond Edmonton. For this it needed funding. Encouraged by the possibility of government support, the group reincorporated in 1966 as the Alberta Ballet Company. Regardless of its elevated artistic status, however, it would remain true to the philosophies

1987

1975-1976

Carse steps down as artistic director and is replaced by former student Jeremy Lesley-Spinks. Brydon Paige of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens takes over the following year.

Former director of the Iranian National Ballet, Ali Pourfarrokh, leaves the company he founded, Dance Theatre of Long Island, to become Alberta Ballet’s new artistic director.

1978

Alberta Ballet performs for Queen Elizabeth II at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. The company starts performing at the 2,700-seat Jubilee Auditoria in Calgary and Edmonton.

of the school. Instead of adopting the ranked structure common to major groups, for example, Taylor and Carse favoured the development of individual dancers. And, of course, the company would continue to deliver ballet to Albertans, now also by hosting touring companies such as the National Ballet. Perhaps ironically, the reincorporation signaled the beginning of the end of both Carse’s and Taylor’s involvement with the company. In 1971, Alberta Ballet declared itself professional – the same year Carse started the Alberta Ballet School, independent of the Muriel Taylor School. The split was for the company’s continued development, which Carse oversaw as artistic director until 1975, when she reluctantly stepped down, her health weakening slightly with age. Taylor taught until retiring a decade later at 65, closing the school soon after. She would, however, remain devoted to the company she helped found, attending nearly every performance, sometimes watching her son Scott Harris perform as Alberta Ballet’s principal dancer. The following years, though difﬁ cult, nonetheless contributed to the company’s growth, even though the unbridled ambition of Carse’s successor would lead it nearly to bankruptcy in the mid-1970s. As the artistic director who followed, Brydon Paige made balancing the books priority, a job helped somewhat by the Sir Frederick Haultain Prize of $25,000, awarded by the province in recognition of the company’s artistic achievement. Regardless of precarious ﬁ nances, Alberta Ballet progressed. The Commonwealth Games saw a command performance for Queen Elizabeth, and in 1979, the company participated in the International Festival of the Arts in Cyprus. Though he continued to struggle with money matters until departing in 1987, Paige left the company with 16 dancers and the integrity of a major ballet. “I inherited a very good company,” says Ali Pourfarrokh, who followed Paige, “and just continued, in evolutionary terms, what they had been doing.” Relocating to New York after directing the Iranian National Ballet until the 1979 revolution, Pourfarrokh arrived with an

July 1, 1990

The Alberta Ballet Company and the Calgary City Ballet ofﬁ cially merge, under the operating name of Alberta Ballet. The new company sets up its headquarters at the old CN train station in Calgary (renamed the Nat Christie Centre) and buys the Lindsay Walsh School of Dance in Calgary as a second professional school for the company, the Alberta Ballet School of Dance.

international audience in tow. An experienced choreographer, he also brought new works. “I tried to balance the classics and the contemporary,” he says, hoping to bolster the group’s versatility, which he also promoted by eliminating, as Carse too might have done, the ranked structure that arose under Paige. “Ali was really trying to stretch the limits of the dancers,” remembers Paul Daigle, the current chair of the New Brunswick Arts Board, who, as a freelance costume

YOU HAD YOUR BLACK LEOTARDS, PINK TIGHTS, SOFT SHOES AND YOUR POINTE SHOES. HAIR WAS TO BE PERFECTLY SET, RIBBONS PROPERLY KNOTTED. THIS WAS, AFTER ALL, ROYAL ACADEMY-CERTIFIED TRAINING. designer, has worked periodically with Alberta Ballet for 15 years. “He wasn’t playing to the lowest common denominator.” With the company again on stable ﬁ nancial ground, Pourfarrokh invited choreographers, many of them Canadian, to contribute new work that pushed dancers and audiences. “Ali,” though soft-spoken and respectful, recalls Daigle, “was fearless.” He was also undauntedly determined. Besides increasing the company to 22 dancers, Pourfarrokh pushed for a school in Calgary, precipitating the opening of the downtown School of Alberta Ballet in 1991. Longing for his New York roots, however, Pourfarrokh left in 1998, ending the lengthiest stopover of his ballet career. When Mikko Nissinen arrived after 10 years as principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet, he built upon Pourfarrokh’s international audience with tours to China, his homeland of Finland, Atlantic Canada and Cairo. Eager also to increase technical proﬁ ciency, Nissinen

George Balanchine’s Rubies

Rewarded By Awards In addition to the Order of Canada, The Sir Frederick Haultain Award, an Edmontonian of the Century award, to name but few, Ruth Carse received the President’s Award from London’s Royal Academy of Dance in 2001, two years after her death, recognizing exceptional service as instructor and examiner. Amongst the most prestigious in dance, the award now resides at the School of Alberta Ballet, donated by her sister Marnie Wilkins to inspire young dancers.

1993-1994

Last season the company eliminated its $68,267 deﬁ cit, starting this season debt-free; it’s the only major dance company in Canada without a deﬁ cit. The Alberta Ballet Foundation is formed to create an endowment fund for the company.

1991-92

The season begins with John Butler’s Carmina Burana. Impressed, Butler invites AB dancers Barbara Moore and Jay Brooker to dance the principal roles at the 70th Arena di Verona festival.

March 13, 1993

An inauspicious date for Alberta Ballet’s New York debut. The Great Blizzard of ’93 slams New York City and environs, dumping 53 centimetres of snow on the city, nearly shutting it down. Among the ballet’s small audience that night is New York Times critic Jennifer Dunning, who writes a glowing review.

1998

Mikko Nissinen, former star dancer with the San Francisco Ballet and artistic director of the Marin Ballet in San Rafael, California, replaces Pourfarrokh.

What The Papers Say

impeccable artistic integrity with dedication and elegance, and never, despite constraints of budget, at dancers’ The dancers [of Alberta Ballet] are technically secure expense. and capable of expressing many choreographic “We were all dancers once,” says Borne. “It’s nice to moods, and their varied repertory provides them with know there’s someone thinking about you in those terms.” opportunities for both lyricism and drama. As Daigle puts it, Grand-Maître is “one branch of a tree – New York Times , October 17, 1997 (referring to Ali that’s always growing. Alberta Ballet is doing a fantastic Pourfarrokh’s Butterfl y Dream and Mark Godden’s Minor job. It’s that wonderful philosophy of reaching beyond Threat, among other productions, at the Joyce Theatre) what the company has been achieving. It’s scary to always be growing, but that’s what Alberta Ballet is doing.” It’s a pleasure to see Carmen... simply get better. The Scary, perhaps, but necessary. “Being an artist is a conopening night performance revealed... new strength stant learning experience,” says Pourfarrokh. “You have to and sizzle. And the dancers have jumped a notch in reach out to broaden the concept of the company.” conditioning, poise and confi dence. To reach – Edmonton Journal, April 14, 2005 out, then, as Pourfarrokh, One of the most stunning gifts of the holiday was Paige and unwrapped just before Christmas at the [Spokane] Nissinen did, and Opera House, when Alberta Ballet opened the as Grand-Maître Nutcracker. Their carefully synchronized timing and continues to do, beautiful lines bespoke hours of arduous rehearsal, yet is to aspire, and supported the illusion of effortlessness. the boundaries – Spokesman-Review, December 23, 2005 are merely selfimposed. “Ballet companies,” says Daigle, “are invited Elyse Borne of the George Balanchine Trust to evaluate the company’s readiness for Balanchine’s demand- really only limited by imagination.” ing Rubies. After just two hours of teaching, she agreed Born decades ago that the company met the Trust’s performance expectaof the dreams tions, and Rubies became the fi rst of several Balanchine works Nissinen would add to the repertoire, capturing the of two girls in a makeshift dance attention of the international dance community. studio, Alberta “The only way to make them better was to challenge Ballet has, in its them,” says Borne, “and it came off quite well.” Since 40 years, perhaps then, she says, “the company has grown by leaps and bounds. I love working there. The energy level is fantastic.” always existed within the limitReturning recently for a new staging of Rubies under Jean less realm of Grand-Maître, Artistic Director since 2002, she sees the company in good hands. Grand-Maître, she says, maintains possibility. AB

1998-1999

Alberta Ballet has an 11-city tour of China, including Beijing and Shanghai, in August and September. AB is the second Canadian ballet company to tour there. The company donates proceeds from one of its shows to aid victims of ﬂ ooding in China.

2002-2003

Jean Grand-Maître, who created pieces for companies such as the Stuttgart Ballet, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Paris Opera Ballet, and the National Ballet of Norway, is named new artistic director. His Carmen proves a great success.

November 14, 1999 Company founder Ruth Carse dies at the age of 88.

Jean Grand-Maître

2004-2005

Both of the Jubilee Auditoria are closed for renovation. The company plays 350-seat venues in both Edmonton and Calgary, and spends a lot of time on the road. On December 19, the company wraps up Nutcracker in Vancouver. Four days later they are performing in Beijing. In all, AB performs 83 times this season.

2006-2007

Alberta Ballet turns 40 this year, opening with Carmina Burana. Several former artistic directors are present to celebrate the milestone. The future looks bright.

Top To T op Cla Cl lass ass

of the

Nancy and Murray Kilgour keep students on their toes at the School of Alberta Ballet BY AMY STEELE PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICIO DEL RIO

Previous page: Nancy and Murray Kilgour work with a student. Teaching is their favourite part of the job

nside the School of Alberta Ballet on the southern fringe of downtown Calgary, a group of young women clad in black bodysuits, tights and pink ballet slippers – all of them with hair swept up in buns – are stretching their lithe legs and balancing along wooden bars. A tiny woman with a long, grey ponytail is leading the class. Nearly 70 years old, Nancy Kilgour is the head teacher at the school. As she talks, all of the students lean in and listen intently. They know that Kilgour has helped launch the careers of several internationally acclaimed dancers. Next door, in a modern dance class, a group of male and female dancers are leaping across the ﬂoor as gracefully as white-tailed deer sailing over a barbed-wire fence. Their teacher, Barbara Lisek, is yelling out praise and is covered in a sheen of sweat from demonstrating the athletic moves that they’re practicing. Located in a former health club, with six dance studios, the School of Alberta Ballet has been in existence since

1991. It’s closely affiliated with Alberta Ballet, sharing the same board of directors. It offers a wide variety of programming, ranging from classes for people who want to dance for fun to classes for aspiring professional dancers. Nancy Kilgour and her husband, Murray Kilgour, the principal, arrived five years ago on the heels of illustrious international dance careers. Murray danced at the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto before going on to perform in London with the Royal Ballet and the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet (now the Birmingham Royal Ballet). He then taught ballet at the Royal Ballet School and the Central School of Ballet, both in London. Nancy danced with the National Ballet of Canada as well, then taught at the National Ballet School in Toronto and London’s Royal Ballet School and Central School of Ballet before coming to Calgary. Her office wall is plastered with posters of famous dancers she once taught, including Darcey Bussell, Leanne Benjamin and Viviana Durante.

feet and half an inch tall – which is much shorter than the average ballet dancer. “When a student gets something, it’s the next best thing to doing it yourself,” says Nancy, adding that it gives her great pleasure to pass along the expertise she gained by working with dance luminaries around the world for several decades. “We’ve been so lucky all over the world to meet the best teachers and learn from them, to sit at their feet.” To enter the school’s professional program, students have to audition and must be at least 10 years old. The school also runs a “pre-professional” program for students who are at least 18; its goal is to develop dancers who become talented enough to dance with professional companies, such as Alberta Ballet. The school, in partnership with the University of Calgary, also offers a Bachelor of Arts in dance with a specialization in ballet. Students come from across Canada and the United States, and from as When you have a conversation with the Kilgours, it’s obvious they are very much in love with their art and want far away as Japan, to study at the school every year. Daniel Marshalsay was a student at the school to convey that passion to their students. Murray has just changed into a fresh T-shirt; he was drenched in sweat from from age 12 to 18, when he became a dancer his last class. Teaching is still by far his favourite part of the with Alberta Ballet. It’s now his third season with the company, and he says job. Nancy, likewise, has to be pulled away from the class that without the school he would she is avidly watching in order to do an interview.

Murray has also taught many famous students, including Philip Mosley, the dancer who was the inspiration for the Hollywood ﬁ lmBilly Elliot, and Adam Cooper, who portrayed the adult Billy Elliot in the movie. Michèle Stanners, Alberta Ballet’s General Director, says it was “a coup” to bring the Kilgours to Calgary because they have taken the school up to a new standard of excellence. Up to a dozen or so dancers from the school perform with Alberta Ballet in most productions, and every Christmas the cast of the Nutcracker is full of students. Five former students are now members of the Alberta Ballet dance troupe. “The Kilgours have brought such a level of expertise to the school,” says Stanners. “You can tell the quality by the fact we’re able to use these dancers in our productions and the graduates are now joining our company.”

“WE WANT TO TRY TO TRAIN THESE DANCERS TO A PROFESSIONAL STANDARD SO THEY CAN HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, IF THEY SO DESIRE, TO GO AND FIND WORK ANYWHERE.” “We want to try to train these dancers to a professional standard so they can have the opportunity, if they so desire, to go and fi nd work anywhere,” says Murray. “I’m certainly trying to make sure that we raise the standard, that we make this as professional a school as we can, so we can give opportunities to students in Western Canada. At the same time, we want to be of a standard that people will want to come to us from far afi eld as well – because it’s important to have that mix of blood, enthusiasm and energy from all sorts of sources.” Murray says students, whether they dance for fun or aspire to become professionals, learn a variety of skills, such as self-discipline, focus, teamwork and time management. Nancy has always dreamed big, even when the odds were against her, and she brings that determination to her teaching. She didn’t start ballet lessons until she was 16, and was told that she was too old to become a professional dancer. She was soon dancing at the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto, however, despite the fact that she was only fi ve

never have been able to achieve his dream. “I wasn’t really able to afford all the classes, so they offered me pretty much a full scholarship,” he says. “They did absolutely everything to launch my professional career. They’re the reason I’m here.” Marshalsay feels the Kilgours are not only fantastic teachers, they’re also wonderful mentors. “I loved them right off the bat,” he says. “They love the art so much they want to make us love it as much as they do. And they do.” AB

Murray Kilgour

REFLECTION. Dancer Rie Ogura, dressed for the ďŹ&#x201A;ower dance, rests between scenes.

Magical Mystery Tour A trip behind the scenes of Alice in Wonderland

PHOTOGRAPHS BY GERARD YUNKER

lice in Wonderland is the classic Lewis Carroll tale of a girl’s negotiation through a mysterious and frighteningly magical land. The tale is delightful in its simplicity, yet not without the rich depth that characterized last season’s Alberta Ballet production. Characters in the company’s production seem to have walked off the pages of a storybook. Choreographed by Edmund Stripe, dancers such as Daniel Marshalsay and Laëtitia Clément showcased their talent. But preparing for the production involved some pretty fancy footwork, too.– Miﬁ Purvis

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE. Alice (Laëtitia Clément) fans herself during rehearsal as other dancers wait for their scene.

BALLET MASTER. Choreographer Edmund Stripe checks the clock to see how much time is left in rehearsal. His wife, Janet Tait, beside him, and Mercedes Bernardez, behind him, together ﬁlled the role of Ballet Mistresses for Alice.

SOUNDSCAPE. Musical Director Peter Dala leads the Calgary Symphony Orchestra. “Peter and I worked closely on Alice in Wonderland,” Stripe says. “And we came up with an eclectic score.” Composers included Dmitri Shostakovich, Kurt Weill and William Walton, among others. Stripe knew what music he wanted for Alice, and Dala edited the score and put the music together in such a way that “it ﬂ owed together and made musical sense,” says Stripe.

BRAVE FACE. Dancer Daniel Marshalsay applies his makeup for his role as the Cheshire Cat. Matthew Lehmann looks on while Reid Bartelme, who played Lewis Carroll, does his own preparation. Costumes for the production line the rack behind Bartelme.

SHINING SURFACE. Former Ballet Mistress Mercedes Bernardez and dancers rehearsing Alice’s butterfl y dance in Calgary’s Jubilee Auditorium. They are dancing on a new sprung fl oor the company was able to purchase last season thanks to a $25,000 donation from patron Jim Palmer, a prominent Calgary lawyer, and a matching $25,000 provincial Community Initiatives Program grant. “It’s made a huge difference to the dancers,” Stripe says about the fl oor, which absorbs impact and helps give the dancers elevation in jumps. “It reduces injury, time lost, workers’ compensation claims and physiotherapy. The dancers are very happy.”

WILD PARTY. Four main characters interact at the Hatter’s Tea Party. From left to right are: the March Hare (Igor Chornovol), Alice (Laëtitia Clément), the Dormouse (Nadia Iozzo) and the Hatter (Blair Puente).

A CUT ABOVE. In costumes rented from the Houston Ballet, dancers are dressed for the butterﬂy dance during a studio costume run for Alice in Wonderlandin Studio A at Calgary’s Nat Christie Centre. The costumes were ﬁtted by Head of Wardrobe Pamela Kaye, who designed several other costumes for the production, notably those of Alice, Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

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Portfolio:

Supporters behind the scenes

theP

ATRONS

Barbara and John POOLE “Alberta Ballet has grown dramatically over the years,” says John Poole. “Each new Artistic Director has helped the company grow and improve the artistic performance. Before Jean Grand-Maître, Finnish-born Mikko Nissinen established a solid artistic foundation. And Iranian Ali Pourfarrokh took the ballet in new directions. It’s been interesting to watch how Alberta Ballet continues to improve. It gets more enjoyable each time.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY CURTIS TRENT

Founders of construction giant PCL

Jeanne and Peter LOUGHEED

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GAUCHER

“I think the dedication and discipline of the ballet is very special,” says Jeanne Lougheed. “I am full of admiration and feel uplifted; it’s almost spiritual watching the dancers. I think Alberta Ballet has found its voice. They are not trying to be a mini National Ballet – they have their own unique personality.”

theC

HAMPIONS

Bonnie DUPONT

â&#x20AC;&#x153;At Enbridge we believe that helping grow and sustain arts and culture matters greatly. The returns are far too important to overlook in a holistic model of community development. Alberta Ballet continues to provide an enriching cultural experience that is helping to grow and shape our ever-changing cultural identity as Albertans and Canadians.â&#x20AC;?

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GAUCHER

Group Vice-President, Corporate Resources, Enbridge

Simon VINCENT

Senior Vice-President, Business Marketing, Telus

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GAUCHER

“As we strive to be Canada’s premier corporate citizen, we recognize the importance of being involved in our communities and making a positive difference. As Alberta Ballet celebrates 40 years of stage performance in this province and abroad, we applaud how these artists strive for excellence, tell their stories and connect people through their art.”

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HAMPIONS

John MCWILLIAMS “For me, ballet is visual. It’s the movements, the translation of feeling and movement and back again at the audience. That’s what attracts me most. It’s something to be encouraged in our society, a beautiful form of communication and joy. Those are important values for everyone. Alberta Ballet does it very well, has done extremely well over the years.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY PATRICIO DEL RIO

Senior Vice-President, General Counsel, Nexen

Denise CARPENTER Senior Vice-President of Public and Government Affairs, EPCOR

PHOTOGRAPH BY CURTIS TRENT

“Culture is there to expand our minds and facilitate discussion, to make society what it is. People from all walks of life watching a performance interpret it differently, but they experience it together. From an Albertan point of view, it becomes a shared experience with the world.”

RTS FUNDERS Karen KAIN

Chair, Canada Council for the Arts, and Artistic Director, National Ballet of Canada

“Dance can go beyond words to a place where there are none, and when that happens people are moved. Sometimes they don’t even know why, and they may be touched in ways no one can explain. That is the art form at its most relevant and meaningful. Sometimes it’s just about beauty.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS NICHOLLS

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Audrey LUFT PHOTOGRAPH BY CURTIS TRENT

Chair, Alberta Foundation for the Arts

“Ballet is the perfect combination of physical ability and artistic expression. All dance forms have their own grace, but ballet is very structured and it has been there for eons. You’ll see children who have never seen live ballet before – that’s almost as good as the show itself. You can see the magical transformation on their faces.”

A Perpetual, Evolving Cycle of

Renewal One critic’s personal journey alongside Alberta Ballet BY MICHAEL CRABB

o it’s Alberta Ballet’s 40th anniversary. So what? Why should anyone beyond a dedicated ca dre of aﬁ cionados – admirers of ladies in tutus and gentlemen in tights – care? Well, regardless of your attitude towards balletic attire – Alberta Ballet, in any case, often dances cutting-edge choreography in sleek contemporary duds – there’s good reason to celebrate. You don’t have to be a devotee of something to feel pride in its existence. As someone who lives in the populous heartland of Southern Ontario, it seems to me that Albertans should feel heartily proud. Alberta Ballet has not merely engendered an expanding local appetite for dance, but also signiﬁ cantly enriched the international image of a province better known for oil, cattle and ski slopes. During its many foreign tours, Alberta Ballet has proudly carried the name of Canada’s most dynamic province to Helsinki and Cairo, Nicosia and New York. It has travelled to China – sometimes under appalling conditions – three times. It has danced extensively in the United States and across Canada – A Mari usque ad Mare. Alberta Ballet used to travel to Toronto to attract the attention – begrudging at best – of Canada’s

Romeo and Juliet

national media. Now Toronto critics gladly journey west. The international dance media similarly take note. Ballet companies don’t suddenly spring up in response to public demand. They are the audacious products of human willpower, often exerted in the face of initial public skepticism. The beginnings are shaky, the infant mortality rate high. Companies that survive do so by refusing to accept defeat. They may stumble occasionally, but they keep on going, fuelled by the faith that if they do what they believe in and do it to the very best of their ability, people will finally pay attention. Alberta Ballet fits the pattern perfectly. Ruth Carse, Alberta Ballet’s founder, had a big dream and grit to spare. She could be prickly and defensive, particularly in the face of condescending criticism from beyond Alberta’s borders. Carse nevertheless genuinely believed that her fledgling troupe could one day be something. Alberta Ballet – and I’ve been following its progress for more than 30 years – has faced difficult challenges on several fronts. It has had to vault unthinking prejudice. For example, I remember one Toronto editor who, when I proposed a story about the company many years ago, commented, “Alberta Ballet? Isn’t that an oxymoron?” The company has faced more than its fair share of money problems, too. It struggled to establish a credible artistic identity while caught in an uncomfortable Catch-22 situation. To survive it had to rely more heavily than most on ticket sales. Under the 12-year directorship of Vancouverborn Brydon Paige, an experienced alumnus of Montreal’s Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the company leaned towards traditional classicism and storytelling. In part this reflected Paige’s own tastes, but also a pragmatic assessment of what audiences would buy. Meanwhile, critics and cultural mandarins, spared the task of balancing the books, questioned the

suitability of Paige’s approach and called for more adventurous programming. Even so, under Paige’s careful stewardship the company truly emerged as a professional organization. It was this foundation that allowed Paige’s successor, the self-effacing, soft-spoken Ali Pourfarrokh, to choose a different course, shifting Alberta Ballet towards a new emphasis on ballet modernity and creativity. Even Pourfarrokh was pleasantly surprised by the generally positive audience response, perhaps unaware that just as Alberta Ballet had been steadily evolving over the previous decade and more, so too had its audience. Pourfarrokh himself choreo graphed to his dancers’ strengths in a style that blended the elegance of bal let with the visceral punch of modern dance. He also acquired work that suited his dancers’ impressive versatility – from Birgit Cullberg’s celebrated Miss Julie and American modernist John Butler’s Carmina Burana to Peter Pucci’s kd lang-driven Lifted by Love – and commissioned works from then-emerging Canadian talents such as Crystal Pite and Mark Godden. Pourfarrokh gave Alberta Ballet a distinct artistic image, critical cred ibility – who can foget those glowing New York reviews? – and, finally, recognition at home. Even Ottawa took note, correcting an “historic imbalance” by giving Alberta Ballet a hefty funding increase in 1998 (simultaneously administering a slap-in-the-face cut to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet). Pourfarrokh left Finnish-born dancer Mikko Nissinen a solid base from which to take a significant upward step. The ambitious Nissinen, a former star of San Francisco Ballet, was determined to strengthen the company’s dancing. He introduced guest teachers and challenged the company with neo-classical choreography that called for speed, clarity and finesse. Nissinen, an uncompromising taskmaster, worked his dancers as hard as he worked himself. The result was that Alberta Ballet finally shed its

lingering image as a “provincial” company and established its place more firmly on the international map. When Canadian choreographer Jean Grand-Maître succeeded the Boston-bound Nissinen in 2002, there was much financial fence mend ing to be done. Yet, while necessarily paying close attention to box-office appeal, Alberta Ballet has remained artistically adventurous. Popular new works from its artistic director and from ballet master Edmund Stripe – among these, Grand-Maître’s Romeo and Juliet and Stripe’s Alice in Wonderland are milestone produc tions – have been balanced with valuable revivals. Exciting contributions from, among others, Canada’s iconic Margie Gillis, Emily Molnar and former company dancer Sabrina Matthews – a choreographic talent nurtured within Alberta Ballet – have honed the company’s creative edge.

THE COMPANY HAS HAD TO VAULT UNTHINKING PREJUDICE. I REMEMBER ONE TORONTO EDITOR WHO, WHEN I PROPOSED A STORY ABOUT THE COMPANY MANY YEARS AGO, COMMENTED, “ALBERTA BALLET? ISN’T THAT AN OXYMORON?” Although it is now marking its 40th anniversary, Alberta Ballet is in a way ageless. It exists in a perpetual, evolving cycle of renewal. Art thrives on uncertainty and a measure of fertile instability. Complacency is never an option. That said, Alberta Ballet has earned the right to look back and feel deep satisfaction in what has been accomplished. Yet, given its momentum, I hope it will also be shouting, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” AB Michael Crabb is the National Post’s dance critic.

Calling both Calgary and Edmonton home is equal parts blessing and challenge for Alberta Ballet BY SCOTT MESSENGER

A Tale of a lberta Ballet shoulders a responsibility uncommon to the vast majority of arts organizations: It claims both Calgary and Edmonton as home. Not only is there the challenge and expense of scheduling a season with sprawling prairie geography in mind, there’s also the necessity of building and maintaining relationships with neighbours in both cities. Michèle Stanners, Alberta Ballet’s General Director, has no illusions about the demands of striving for provincial ubiquity. Nonetheless, despite driving Highway 2 with wearying frequency, she prefers to see the Calgary-Edmonton duality as a blessing that few organizations enjoy. “It’s a challenge, but it’s also a unique opportunity,” says Stanners, who has handled marketing, ﬁnance, and economic development since joining the company in Calgary in late 2005. “How lucky we are that Calgary and Edmonton happen to be great cultural cities in a province in a situation of abundance.” After years of experience with various non-proﬁt groups, Stanners is particularly enthusiastic about Alberta Ballet. After all, it operates on a $7-million annual budget – one of the largest of any arts organization in the province – and has access to two markets of more than a million people each. “This is, to me, the company with the most potential anywhere,” says Stanners. There’s good cause for such optimism. Interest in the ballet is almost built into the psyche of each home city. Owing partly to the University of Alberta, Edmonton has a history of supporting the arts, points out Allan

Scott, President and CEO of the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation and the Alberta Art Gallery’s Board Chair. Calgary, on the other hand, home to one of the highest concentrations of corporate head offices in Canada, easily matches the capital’s appetite for culture. Regardless of which side of the rivalry you’re on, says Phil Ponting, a Calgary lawyer and Chair of The Banff Centre’s Board of Governors, “We want to participate in a vibrant and culturally significant city.” Capitalizing on this demand for significance, however, isn’t just a matter of performing. “When you have headquarters in one city,” says Stanners, “there’s always a chal lenge to make sure you’re relevant in the other.” Whichever city happens to be disappearing in the rearview mirror, then, must be left not only with good management to prepare for the next production, but with the sense that Alberta Ballet is a mainstay of its artistic and cultural com munity. With the School of Alberta Ballet and virtually all of the company’s administrative and artistic staff based in Calgary, Stanners has made elevating the company’s capital city profile a priority. Without this, says Ponting, a veteran of various arts boards in his former home of Edmonton, success is tough to achieve. Over the next few years, Alberta Ballet will strengthen present connections with the capital and build a few new ones as well. The company’s Edmonton office will see steady, sustainable growth. Jennifer Faulkner has already come on board as the new Director of Edmonton

f Two Cities Operations, bringing her experience with the worldclass Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival to the table. Fundraising efforts might mean more frequent galas in the city, in light of the success of last fall’s Dance on Air. Stanners will also be looking at possible links between company dancers and Edmonton dance schools. And the Board of Directors, no doubt, will see the addition of a few more Edmonton names. “Edmonton is Alberta Ballet’s northern home city,” says Faulkner, “and I’m really excited to be able to be a part of building our ballet by growing our presence, increasing our audiences and enhancing our performances. Edmonton is already a thriving city, and we want to build on our roots here and contribute to the new energy that is everywhere apparent. It all started here, and the next 40 years will be fantastic.” While Stanners’ primary motivation is drawing audi ences, there is more at stake in maintaining presence. For instance, the nature of sponsorship, as Ponting points out, has long since changed from simple donations to exercises in corporate investment. Basically, if an organi zation doesn’t engage the community, neither does the sponsor. According to Alberta Ballet Director at Large Bruce Graham, President and CEO of Calgary Economic Development, meaningful interaction between the com pany and both communities will help “crystallize” the economic concept of the Calgary-Edmonton corridor, further encouraging investment, perhaps even from outside

the province. In fact, for the latter to occur at all, cities the size of Edmonton and Calgary, when counted alone, often won’t impress. “Once you get outside the boundaries of Alberta,” says Scott, “you’ve got to talk about a population of millions before people take you seriously.” Ultimately,

“HOW LUCKY WE ARE THAT CALGARY AND EDMONTON HAPPEN TO BE GREAT CULTURAL CITIES IN A PROVINCE IN A SITUATION OF ABUNDANCE.” the way to achieve any of this, Graham advises, is to ensure both cities have “pride in ownership of the Alberta Ballet.” “We’re up for the challenge,” Stanners says conﬁdently. And with orchestras, Jubilee Auditoria and strong audiences available in both cities, the company is poised more than ever to truly be the province’s ballet. “I think Alberta Ballet is showing it can be done,” says Ponting. “They’re working hard to make sure they’ve got the right touch in terms of understanding the fabric of both cities.” The proof, he believes, is in the integrity of their work. With last season’s production ofRomeo and Juliet still lingering in his mind, praise comes easily. “One has such great admiration for seeing works so successfully presented,” says Ponting, “that you just can’t help but see Alberta Ballet as an organization our communities abso lutely need.” AB

Alberta Ballet understands the advantages of working with an array of dance partners BY NOÉMI LOPINTO

he night that Asani performed with Alberta Ballet stands out clearly in singer Sarah Pocklington’s memory. “We started with just the hand drums,” recalls the member of the Aboriginal women’s trio. “There was a slight pause, and when we started to sing they danced, and it really was breathtaking. It was so beautiful that it was hard for us to sing. The inclination was to stop singing – it was that stunning.” The Edmonton-based trio performed with the dance company at the Alberta culture exhibition at this past July’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. Asani

sang their trademark a capella songs in Woodland Cree and English, accompanied only by a small set of traditional skin drums. But for “Oti Nikan,” their closing song, which is about preparing children for the future, four Alberta Ballet dancers joined them onstage. “The men were bare-chested and the women were wearing purple leotards and ﬂowing sleeves,” says Pocklington. “The movements were a combi nation of absolute grace with athletics that astounded me. The experience was absolutely unbelievable.” The dancing was choreographed by Alberta Ballet Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître. He loves reaching

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROSS BRADLEY

Alberta Ballet performs with Asani at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C.

A Chorus of Many Voices

beyond his genre, beyond his organization, to share the stage. The results, he says, are often exceptional. “In the end, we nourish each other, feed off each other, and if we are successful, we create great performance art,” says Grand-Maître. “The concept in Alberta is still develop ing, but in Québec, New York and Europe, it’s been going around for a while. They realized a long time ago the advantages of working together.” In a province where arts funding is limited, sharing resources makes sense. Some of Alberta Ballet’s shared projects are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities; others, such as the annual production of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker,

Alberta Ballet Music Director Peter Dala follows the tour from city to city every year. He conducted the past ﬁve Nutcracker tours, with ﬁve different orchestras and alter nating dancers. “Each orchestra is like an individual,” says Dala. “They’re comprised of many people, but they all have their characteristics, which makes it all the more interest ing. It’s a bit like visiting family every year. The challenge is to adapt very quickly.” Other long-term musical collaborators are the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, with whom Alberta Ballet produces three ballets each year.

Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, Alberta Ballet’s annual co-production with Ballet British Columbia

are programme staples involving an array of participants. To produce theNutcracker, Alberta Ballet partners with Ballet British Columbia, whose dancers come to Calgary to train and then tour. Alberta Ballet also collaborates with dozens of ballet and elementary schools in each of the ﬁve host cities –Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Spokane, Washington – to train young dancers for the roles of the soldiers, party children, a rabbit, mice, angels, and the crucial roles of Clara and her pesky younger brother, Fritz. In Edmonton alone, Alberta Ballet works with more than a dozen elementary and dance schools. The Nutcracker also requires musical partnerships.

This fall, Alberta Ballet will perform Romeo and Juliet with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, a production which came about through an 18-month collaboration between Alberta Ballet and the Banff Centre for the Arts. Nearly 100 students and staff from the Banff Centre’s theatre arts program put in thousands of hours building the sets, props and all of the costumes. The production is worth nearly $1 million, but together the two organizations pulled it off for half that amount. The result is a beautiful show, says Banff Centre President and CEO Mary Hofstetter. “Alberta Ballet wouldn’t have been able to do it on its

“EACH ORCHESTRA IS LIKE AN INDIVIDUAL. THEY’RE COMPRISED OF MANY PEOPLE, BUT THEY ALL HAVE THEIR CHARACTERISTICS, WHICH MAKES IT ALL THE MORE INTERESTING. IT’S A BIT LIKE VISITING FAMILY EVERY YEAR. THE CHALLENGE IS TO ADAPT VERY QUICKLY.”

own,” she says. “We worked together and individually contacting potential donors so we could raise the money. It also gave us a splendid opportunity for our students to get ﬁrst-hand experience building a new ballet production. No one really has the funding to go it alone in the arts in Canada. It’s a better use of resources to share and partner with someone else.” Creating Romeo and Juliet was a challenge for GrandMaître, who likens the experience to having a baby. “You give birth hoping it will grow up to be an architect, but accept it if it wants to drive a taxi,” he says, laughing. “Every ballet is different. Creating dance has to really come from the unconscious. If it’s too contrived you lose the emotions. The body cannot lie; we can lie from our mouths but the body has its own integrity – how it reacts and breathes – that’s why ballet can take on a life of its own. I try to imagine a living organism that is fragile, vulnerable and transparent, like a pallet of moving colours.” AB

Bringing Rodin To Life More than seven centuries after confronting the King of England, the “Burghers of Calais” did more than walk again – they got up and danced. The bronze sculpture of six tired, shuffling figures was brought to life by Alberta Ballet dancer and budding choreographer Sabrina Mathews, in collaboration with Calgary’s Glenbow Museum, in 2004. The sculpture was part of Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession, an exhibition of nearly 70 sculptures, drawings and studies at the Glenbow in the winter of 2004-05. It is an ode to the people of a small city in France during the Hundred Years War. In 1347, the port city of Calais was under siege, its people pawns in the power strug gle between England’s King Edward III and Philip VI of France. The city was on the brink of starvation and surrender. King Edward offered to spare its inhabitants if any six of its top leaders would surrender themselves to him, presumably to be executed. They were ordered to walk to the city gates half naked, wearing nooses around their necks and carrying the keys to the city. They were apprehended and jailed, but spared execution. Rodin’s sculpture shows the six on their way to meet the king, stripped down to their breeches, walking together

emaciated and defeated. Sabrina Mathews created a perform ance piece in which four sinuous dancers with golden, copper skin seemed to slowly come to life in the museum. “It was very slow moving, from one pose to the next,” says Alberta Ballet Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître. “Sabrina tried to understand the emo tional context of the sculptures. It was contemplative, like watching tai chi, and the music was classical from the period when he was sculpting. It was the same kind of thing that might have inspired him in his studio.” The half-hour-long performance played three nights in a row to packed houses in the Glenbow Theatre. It was such a success that Mike Robinson, President and CEO of the museum, says the two organizations are on the verge of yet another collaboration. “We are as strong as our networks,” Robinson says. “But the joys transcend economics and quickly take you into the aesthetics. It shows the possible con nections between museums, sculpture, dance companies and art galleries. It’s good for attendance, for the companies, and for the audience.” – Noémi LoPinto

Igor Chornoval, Alexis Maragozis (on the ﬂoor), Michael Vallencourt (looking down) and Nadia Iozzo as Rodin’s “Burghers of Calais”

World

Tour Alberta Ballet gets stronger at home by taking to the road BY NOÉMI LOPINTO

PHOTOGRAPH BY TRUDIE LEE

erforming in China was an eye-opener for Alberta Ballet dancer Blair Puente. During George Bizet’s Carmen, for instance, the 25-year-old was surprised to see camera ﬂ ashes and the bleeding lights of video. “We heard everything,” Puente says. “People taking, eating popcorn and smoking cigarettes. It was completely different. They also laughed at things that for us would be very moving and emotionally intense. InCarmen, when Don Jose is stripped of his military rank, beaten up and tossed out – they shove him down, and he gets a hard kick – the audience actually laughed.” Touring enriches dancers, tests their professional mettle, and reveals the impact of their art form on a variety of audiences. For Alberta Ballet as a whole, its reputation grows with every stop. Ironically, the more it takes to the road, the more success the company stands to have at home. To date, Alberta Ballet has been to Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, New York, Washington, D.C.,

“TOURING REALLY BROADENS YOUR HORIZONS. IT’S A CLICHÉ, BUT YOU ARE NOT IN YOUR COMFORT ZONE ANYMORE. IT REALLY HELPS YOU TO MATURE AS A DANCER.” Helsinki, Beijing, Shanghai, Canton and Cairo. “Touring can pose a host of chal lenges,” says Director of Production Harry Paterson. “This is part and parcel of touring. Success can be influ enced by many things: A bomb scare can have a huge impact and competing entertainment offerings can hurt us. If the Harlem Globetrotters are in town, for example, it can influence sales enormously.” In the upcoming season, Alberta Ballet will bringRomeo and Juliet to Vancouver, Medicine Hat, Regina and Saskatoon. In November, the company will begin its annual production of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, which plays Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria, Vancouver and Spokane, Washington. Most of these productions depend on box-office success to pay the salaries of the dancers, drivers, stagehands, singers and musicians, as well as accommodation and per diem costs. No matter where the company goes, Paterson is there to oversee each production. Although Technical Director Mike Hessler supervises the arrival of trucks and crates filled with cos tumes, lighting and set equipment, worry lines are still one of the perks of Paterson’s job. Ohio-born ballerina Leigh Allardyce, 26, was part of the production of Carmen that travelled to China in December 2004. She described the experience as “magical.” “Touring really broadens your horizons,” says Allardyce. “It’s a cliché, but you are not in your comfort zone anymore.

It really helps you to mature as a dancer. You have to be a professional, to say, ‘What do I need to do to feel comfortable?’ You realize what you need to produce the best you can.” Allardyce also hit the road last year with Alberta Ballet’s Northern Tights Tour, a ﬁve-year-old educa-

tional and interactive tour geared towards elementary students in rural Western Canada. Two dozen danc ers, sponsored by the Royal Bank of Canada and Alliance Pipeline, board a Greyhound bus to reach out to more than 2,000 students in small communities. They teach kids various dance steps, talk about the daily life of a dancer, and perform excerpts from past productions. This past year, Allardyce was the tour’s emcee. “It’s great – they are so completely enthralled,” she says about the kids dancers meet. “We ask for volunteers, bring them up to learn the positions

with the hands and the feet. It’s funny, because you go back to the basics: it gives you perspective about this career and why you do it. It really leaves us feeling like, ‘This is why we do this.’ You do it to share, and maybe even spark a lifelong interest. All of us started dancing because of that one experience that lit a ﬁre.” The RBC Financial Group has been behind the Alberta Ballet for more than 15 years, providing more than $185,000 in funding for the company since 1989 through the RBC Foundation. Regional President for Alberta and the Territories, Bruce MacKenzie, says the Northern Tights partnership has surpassed their expec tations. “One sees the delight in the faces of the kids when they see a beau tiful performance or learn a dance step,” he says. “Our branch managers who go out and introduce the program in places like Grande Prairie, Edson and Bonnyville tell us how proud they are that we’re part of this unique experience.” “The Alliance/Alberta Ballet relationship is an excellent example of matching the needs of the arts and those of business,” adds Paul Anderson, Director External Relations and Sustainable Development with Alliance Pipeline Limited, a new sponsor of the Alberta Ballet Northern Tights Tour. “Alberta Ballet performances are world class and Alliance Pipeline is responsible for ensuring it invests wisely and adds value in its stakeholder communities. It is only through mutual understanding that these dif AB ferent needs can be met.”

Ruby The

Season

Innovative Dancing Joni headlines Alberta Ballet’s 40th anniversary lineup BY NOÉMI LOPINTO

hen Kelley McKinlay ﬁrst heard singer Joni Mitchell’s music, he got shivers. When he learned that he would be dancing to her music, he felt cold all over. “I grew up listening to Joni Mitchell,” says McKinlay, a 23-year-old Alberta Ballet dancer. “When I found out about this show, I was ecstatic. I still can’t wait to do it. She is such an incredible woman, and for her to be coming to the studios here in Calgary, to have the chance to dance to her music and work with her on a production is amazing.” Dancing Joni: The Fiddle and the Drum is the result of a year-long collaboration between the Alberta-born singer/ songwriter and Alberta Ballet’s Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître. Inspired by her music, Grand-Maître sent Mitchell a two-page letter in January 2006, asking her to imagine her music put to movement. “I would invite you,” he wrote, “to imagine our athletic and spiritual dancers moving their powerful bodies and ethereal souls within a protective world of colour and texture that you could create around them.” Grand-Maître initially envisioned a simple 40-minute homage to the poetry and humanism in Mitchell’s songs.

Joni Mitchell

Watching Alberta Ballet grow is part of Michael Crabb’s job as dance critic at theNational Post . After three dec ades of observation, he feels the company is the strongest it has ever been. “There has been a deﬁnite progression towards increasing sophistication over the years,” he says. “Currently, Alberta Ballet has a notable vibrancy. They are dancing as if it were a life-and-death issue. They are totally in the moment, giving their all. This does not mean they are technically perfect, just that they dance with a common purpose and sense of commitment, making every performance real.” “Choreography” literally means “dance-writing.” It is the art of connecting structures, the abstract elements of movement: space, shape, time and energy. Grand-Maître develops a language of movement for each piece; he develops a poem in bodily form using movements from daily life, ballet, modern and jazz dance. Dance and Joni Mitchell’s music will work well together, Kelley McKinlay says, because both involve telling epic stories. “I am a little nervous,” he says about the debut performance, “but I think it’s going to be a very memorable night. Lovers of Joni Mitchell will come and see it and maybe become lovers of dance as well.” The 40th anniversary season opens in October with Carmina Burana and other works (Balanchine’s Rubies, Jean Grand-Maître’s The Winter Room and Ali Pourfarrokh’s Butterﬂy Dream), continues with the Nutcracker in December, Dancing Joni: The Fiddle and the Drum in February, Cinderella in March, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Dracula in April, and features Romeo AB and Juliet’s tour of Western Canada in September.

PHOTOGRAPH BY WILLIAM CLAXTON

He met with her at her home in Los Angeles, returned to Alberta and immersed himself in plans for a retrospective. While working on the project, he found that she still has things she wants to say, and so instead of a retrospective of the past, they developed a new, more challenging approach looking forward. Mitchell’s deeply personal and poetic songs, and her four-octave voice, have inspired millions. She was born Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort Macleod, Alberta in 1943. (She changed her last name after a brief marriage to folk singer Chuck Mitchell.) Joni Mitchell was part of the burgeoning, mid-1960s folk scene in New York City and achieved her greatest fame in the early ’70s as a part of the southern California folk-rock scene. Over the next 30 years, she became a rock-and-roll icon. Mitchell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and was awarded ﬁve Grammy Awards between1969 and 2000. A Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award followed in 2002, along with a citation describing her as “one of the most important female recording artists of the rock era.” She is also an accomplished visual artist, often creating the artwork on her albums. She is a deeply private person who rarely exhibits her paintings, however, and she’s very selec tive when choosing collaborators. “Joni Mitchell refuses a lot of projects,” says GrandMaître. “She has enormous integrity. But knowing how important all the arts are to her, we agreed that she would select the music from her repertoire and create a visual environment within which the dancers would evolve. The idea would exist in her world of music, colour and texture. This collaboration is one of the highlights of my career.” Dancing Joni: The Fiddle and the Drum will be a visual poem about love and revolution, war, environmental neglect and hope. Forty paintings will be projected behind the dancers in greens, reds and blues. The production is central to the Alberta Ballet’s 40th anniversary season. It plays in Calgary from February 8 to 10, and in Edmonton on February 16 and 17, and the evening will also feature Without Wordsby Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato and George Balanchine’s Serenade. One of the Calgary performances of Dancing Joni: The Fiddle and the Drum will be recorded by local company joeMedia for broadcast on CHUM television. This will be Alberta Ballet’s ﬁrst taped television special, a thrilling prospect for General Director Michèle Stanners. “This is very important and will have an impact beyond a simple broadcast,” she says. “Because of love for Joni Mitchell, people who may have a rigid impression of ballet will want to see the production. They are going to see something new and exciting which will help us demystify ballet and reach a larger audience, which is a big part of our job.”

Beer, pizza – and a chat with Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître – is a perfect appetizer for ballet

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GERARD YUNKER

The Right ATTITUDE Nothing goes better with beer and pizza than an evening at the ballet say the creators of “ ATTITUDE,” a program which aims to instill a love of the art form in young audiences. “Traditional performing arts are facing increased competition from movies and rock concerts,” says one of ATTITUDE’s creators, Virginia Webster. “Most young people believe ballet is just not for them. The perception of ballet is that it is tradi tional and uptight. But ballet can be very athletic, contemporary and theatrical.” The name of the program represents both the state of mind and the ballet posi tion: a dancer stands on one leg with the other raised, in front or in back, and bent at the knee. ATTITUDE is the brainchild of the dozen members of the new Alberta Ballet Community Engagement Council, a shadow board of ballet lovers between

the ages of 18 and 35 from Calgary and Edmonton. The program’s innovative approach to engaging youth has resulted in generous sponsorship from EPCOR. “The most important thing about the ATTITUDE program is that it’s directed at young people, who do not know the sto ries of the ballet,” says Denise Carpenter, EPCOR’s Senior Vice-President, Public and Government Affairs. “They get personal interaction with Artistic Director Jean Grand- Maître before the performance – there’s a dialogue with him – in an envi ronment that’s not intimidating. That helps open the minds of young people who oth erwise might not have that opportunity.” The Community Engagement Council, chaired by Webster, uses non-traditional channels of communication, such as web logs, e-mail campaigns and word of mouth, to network with newer and

younger audiences. So far, the strategy has proved successful. At the ﬁrst ATTITUDE event last February, more than twice the expected number of guests showed up. They grabbed a slice, drank a brew and watched a George Balanchine piece set to music by the Gershwin brothers. “We thought it was a great way to intro duce a very modern, contemporary nontraditional ballet,” says Amanda Affonso, another council member. The audience loved it. More impor tantly, Webster says, they said they would return. “One of the things we learned this year was that 60% of this age group had never attended an Alberta Ballet perform ance,” she says. “But when they came, about 80% said they really enjoyed it, or considered it amazing. They kept saying, ‘Wow! I had no idea this is what ballet could be.’” – Noémi LoPinto

Artist Profiles

“Your soul can really express itself” BY SCOTT MESSENGER

aëtitia Clément hasn’t always known the joy of working with a single ballet company. After apprenticing with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montréal, freelance dancing introduced her to the trials of working contract by contract. Travelling the world, Clément often strayed perhaps farther from ballet than she liked, delving into hip hop, tap, jazz, even river dance, but none theless took work as it came. To her advantage, she was already well accustomed to the rigours of travelling. Subjected to her parents’ wanderlust, a very young Clément left her birthplace of Orléans, France for Martinique, in the Caribbean, where she studied ballet every night for the next eight years. “Nothing too serious,” she says, “just for fun.” At age 12, though, she committed even more fully to the art, returning alone

to France for three years at a private school in Montpellier, near Marseille. “It was extremely hard,” recalls Clément, now 28. “Dance school is not easy. There’s lots of competition.” Recognizing this, her parents soon followed, but already with a new destination in mind: Montreal. “You grow up a lot faster when you travel like that,” says Clément. Perhaps in light of these moves, her desire for the stability shouldn’t surprise. After a few years of freelancing and auditioning around the world, Clément happily signed on with Alberta Ballet. “It’s a better lifestyle,” she says. “You get that family feeling that you often don’t have when you’re a dancer by yourself.” Committing to a single company, however, hasn’t meant losing the variety of freelancing. Despite considering herself more of a technical dancer,

Edmund Stripe’sAlice in Wonderland recently awakened in Clément a love of theatrics. “When you’re acting,” she says of playing Alice, her favourite Alberta Ballet role to date, “suddenly, many doors open, and you’re free to decide the way you want to play that charac ter. Your soul can really express itself.” Entering her sixth season with the company, Clément, still mindful of her past struggles, has maintained her role as the regional representative for the Dance Transition Resource Centre, which guides dancers, whether at the beginning, middle, or end of their careers, through the practical aspects of living by dancing. As she knows, rewards don’t come without hope and hard work, and, at times, heartache. “I enjoy it,” Clément says about the work. “I really feel it makes AB a difference in a dancer’s life.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLES HOPE

Laëtitia Clément

“I still keep searching for that feeling, something that everybody will understand” BY SCOTT MESSENGER

Igor Chornovol

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLES HOPE

hile growing up in Kharkiv, Ukraine, close to the Russian border, Igor Chornovol gave little thought to a life in Canada. About six years ago, though, he received an invitation to visit Canada from his mentor, a former Ukrainian National Ballet dancer who had “discovered” Alberta Ballet. The friend, under whom Chornovol had apprenticed for two years, suggested packing along some video footage for the trip. Upon seeing it, Mikko Nissinen, Alberta Ballet’s Artistic Director at the time, offered to make room in the roster for one more dancer. And when red tape threatened to interfere with Chornovol’s move to Calgary, his mentor-friend sprung into action, dealing with government ofﬁcials to ensure the grateful dancer could begin this new chapter. “I didn’t expect it,” says Chornovol, a ballet grad from the National Academy of Ukraine, still amazed. “It was just a visit to Canada.”

Making the leap from tourist to permanent resident, Chornovol wasted no time pursuing the unique artistic aspirations he’d already begun to develop in Ukraine. It was from the older generation of teachers and dancers at the Kharkiv Opera Theatre House and Kiev National Ballet, where he worked during his studies at the Academy, that he’d caught a glimpse of the somewhat elusive spirit of dancing. “It’s not just dry move ment,” he remembers being told. “It’s through our imaginations and our souls that you really try to under stand. I still keep searching for that feeling, something that everybody will understand – especially now with this company.” There have been moments with Alberta Ballet when Chornovol believes he might have located that feeling. Dancing in Edmund Stripe’s Unquiet Light , for example, to the music of Tchaikovsky, he recalls con necting so strongly with the work

that it suddenly seemed, for a few moments, that he danced entirely alone, the audience having virtually disappeared. Jean Grand-Maître’s Romeo and Juliet was an equally revealing experience, says Chornovol, but one that more easily extended to the audience. By dancing in character, he says, “you become someone else, and you become more rich in your experi ence. As dancers we try to share that with the public.” And as a veteran, he also tries to share that with emerging dancers, just as the older generation continues to do for him. Coming up on his seventh season, Chornovol feels lucky to be with Alberta Ballet for its 40th anniversary. He hasn’t seen the Ukraine since leav ing for that summer vacation, but he hopes to return to visit his sisters and parents, with whom he keeps regular contact. In the meantime, he’s got the company. “It’s like my family,” AB he says. “It’s my life.”

“It’s an amazing feeling, that I have the chance to touch people in that way” BY SCOTT MESSENGER

abrina Matthews hasn’t had much time to miss being a dancer. After her departure last year from Alberta Ballet, she joined the vibrant freelance dance commu nity in Montreal to chance a career in choreography, a love developed during a decade with her former company. Already this past summer, international validation came at the Stuttgart Ballet’s Noverre Society’s Young Choreographers event, where her pas de deuxSoles drew accolades from European critics. “It’s been amazing to ﬁnally step out into that world,” the 28-year-old says jubilantly – despite the fact that her nerves are still slightly frayed from the experience. The journey into that world, however, started long before Matthews relocated to Montreal. Originally from Toronto, the graduate of Canada’s National Ballet School landed a spot with Alberta Ballet after a brief performance for then Artistic

Sabrina Matthews Director Ali Pourfarrokh, whom Matthews caught up with in New York after missing a Toronto audition. Hired that day, she left for Calgary a week later. Matthews looks back on her time in Alberta with gratitude. “It was very fortunate for me to be in a smaller company,” she says, “because you deﬁnitely get more opportunities earlier on.” While her friends in larger ballets waited for their key chances, the always-supportive, modest-sized Alberta Ballet provided Matthews’ career development with uncommon momentum. By 2000, local critics were lauding her choreography for Albert Ballet as “bold and imaginative.” The Banff Centre took similar notice of the dancer’s ambition, awarding her the Clifford E. Lee Award for choreography in 2005. Still, leaving wasn’t easy. “Even though Jean Grand-Maître (Alberta Ballet’s present Artistic Director) had given me amazing

opportunities to choreograph,” she says, attributing her conﬁdence and capability to Alberta Ballet, “I really wanted to do it on a much larger scale, to travel and work with different companies.” If Stuttgart is any indication, she’ll get plenty of such opportunities. Invited back to restage Soles for their annual gala, she’ll return there this winter, gaining even more exposure. Despite her promising new career, watching a performance occasionally brings on a bit of envy, reminding her of the transformative experiences of dancing the role of Carmen, for example, during her time in Alberta. “The art of performing is like nothing else,” she says somewhat nostalgically. Nonetheless, upon recalling audience members eager to share the feelings or memories her choreography so often evokes, Matthews stands by her decision. “It’s an amazing feeling,” she says, “that I have the chance to touch AB people in that way.”

“I cried on stage every single show” BY SCOTT MESSENGER

Amanda and Patrick Canny

hen Patrick Canny arrived from Toronto’s National Ballet School to join Bern State Theatre in Switzerland in 1994, Australian dancer Amanda Walsh pegged him as a typical North American: brash and overbearing. He did, however, remind Amanda of the older brothers she’d been missing since joining Bern six months earlier, straight from Melbourne’s Australian Ballet School. Patrick, though slightly younger than her, proved a reasonable substitute, tossing her pointe shoes into trees and dangling her by the ankles. Although he denies the pranks were a warm-up to courtship, “for some odd reason,” Patrick says, “we started dating.” They soon moved in together, embracing the challenge of spending all day, every day, in each other’s company. “When those studio doors closed,” Patrick says, “that stuff was gone. I never took work home.” According to Amanda, setting those boundaries worked. “We had our lit tle tiffs here and there,” she says, “but not that often.” Their relationship would survive relocation to the Hong Kong Ballet in 1996, as well as resist the stress of the city’s repatriation to China in 1997. Eventually frustrated by the resulting social turbulence, Patrick searched the world for a company that would take both him and his new ﬁancée. Mikko Nissinen, then

Alberta Ballet’s artistic director, was the ﬁrst to respond. For both, joining Alberta Ballet in 1998 was a career highlight. “We had a top-notch group of dancers,” says Patrick. “Everybody had skills that complemented each other.” Nissinen’s intense touring schedule also fomented lasting friendships. “It’s a very family-orientated com pany,” says Amanda – one free of internal rivalries. It was also physically and emotionally rewarding. Dancing one of her favourite pieces, GrandMaître’s Vigil of Angels , left Amanda repeatedly overwhelmed: “I cried on stage every single show.” Only recently retired from dance, the Cannys, married in Calgary in 2000, now enjoy new careers. Travelling a path parallel to that not taken as a youth choosing between dance and – oddly enough – the mili tary, Patrick is now a constable with the Calgary Police Service, hoping “to make a difference, however small that may be.” Amanda splits her time between ﬂoral design and teaching at the School of Alberta Ballet, happy to share tips on technique and career. So far, she doesn’t miss the stage. In fact, now 32 and thinking about children, she welcomes the break. Besides, should she get nostalgic, Patrick will always be there, happy as ever to toss her pointe shoes high into the boughs AB of the nearest tree.

Alberta Ballet

PHOTOGRAPH BY GERARD YUNKER

is proud to dedicate this special commemorative magazine to the many outstanding artists whose unique talents have inspired our audiences on stages in Canada and around the world during the company’s ﬁ rst 40 years.

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Alberta Ballet ballerinas typically wear between 50 and 60 pairs of pointe shoes every year, with male dancers using about 30 pairs. Made by cobblers at specialty specialty shops shops in England, China and Australia, the shoes cost about $75 a pair; the company’s annual shoe budget exceeds $100,000. When ballet shoes are spent, dancers autograph them and the company sells them as souvenirs.

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