Alberta Ballet (also known as the Alberta Ballet Company) was founded by Muriel Taylor and Dr. Ruth Carse in 1958 and became a professional company in 1966.
The company is a resident company of both the
Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
The Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium is a performing arts, culture and community facility, located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
General information and history
The auditorium was built in 1957, on a site adjacent to the University of Alber ...
in Edmonton, Alberta and the
Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
The Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium is a performing arts, culture and community facility located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The auditorium was built in 1955 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alberta. It is owned and operated by the Gove ...
in Calgary, Alberta and performs its full season in both venues.
Development
Carse
In Scottish geography, a Carse (the modern form of older Scots ; Scottish Gaelic or ) is an area of fertile, low-lying (typically alluvial) land occupying certain Scottish river valleys, such as that of the River Forth.
Carse of Forth
The C ...
directed the company until 1975.
She was followed by Jeremy Leslie-Spinks (1975-1976), Brydon Paige (1976–1988), and Ali Pourfarrokh (1988–1998). During Pourfarrokh's tenure, in 1990, the company merged with the Calgary City Ballet and moved into the Nat Christie Centre in Calgary. Since then, it has performed in both Edmonton and Calgary.
Former San Francisco Ballet dancer
Mikko Nissinen then directed the company until 2002. Nissinen introduced Balanchine works, while continuing to commission new works from Canadian and international choreographers. He toured the company to China, Finland, and Egypt.
[
Jean Grand-Maître was then appointed as artistic director. In 2019 Christopher Anderson was appointed co-artistic director of the company alongside Grand-Maître. This was planned as part of a three year transition process leading to Anderson becoming full artistic director of the company for the 2022/2023 season.
In June 2023 it was announced that Christopher Anderson and Alberta Ballet had "decided to part ways”. Anderson left the company in December of 2023.
Francesco Ventriglia has been director of the company since January 2024.
]
Choreography
Artistic director Jean Grand-Maître has choreographed ''Carmen'', which toured China, and ''Fiddle and the Drum'', a collaboration with Joni Mitchell
Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...
while at the Alberta Ballet. In the spring of 2010 the company built on its ballet and pop collaboration by staging an Elton John production named ''Elton'': Love Lies Bleeding. Elton John reportedly was so moved by ''Fiddle and the Drum'' that he asked Alberta Ballet to produce a ballet for him.
Alberta Ballet was the first Canadian company to stage a ballet by Christopher Wheeldon
Christopher Peter Wheeldon (born 22 March 1973) is an English international choreographer of contemporary ballet.
Early life
Born in Yeovil, Somerset, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dancer at th ...
of the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...
. Wheeldon choreographed ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' with the company. It also commissioned two pieces from Jorma Elo
Jorma Elo is a contemporary choreographer.
Early life
He was born 30 August 1961 in Helsinki, Finland. His father, Jaakko Elo, is a urological surgeon, mother Ruth Elo née Carlstedt, a dentist. Jorma Elo's partner since 1994 is Nancy Euveri ...
, of the Boston Ballet
The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. ...
.
Canadian choreographer Sabrina Matthews has created pieces the company as well.
2015-2016 season
The season included performances of the glam-rock ballet '' Love Lies Bleeding'', featuring principal dancer Yukichi Hattori in the role of Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
.
2016-2017 season
The 2016–2017 season featuring Alberta Ballet company dancers included ''Dracula'', ''The Nutcracker'', ''Alice in Wonderland'', and the World Premiere of ''Our Canada'', a new creation in collaboration with Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...
. ''Dracula'' was on-loan from Texas Ballet Theater and choreographed by their artistic director, Ben Stevenson (dancer).
Guest company performances included ''Shadowland'' (performed by Pilobolus
''Pilobolus'' is a genus of fungi that commonly grows on herbivore dung.
Life cycle
The life cycle of ''Pilobolus'' begins with a black sporangium that has been discharged onto a plant substrate such as grass. A herbivorous animal such as a h ...
), a mixed bill from dance company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is an all-male drag (clothing), drag ballet troupe that parodies the conventions of Romantic ballet, romantic and classical ballet. The company's current artistic director is Tory Dobrin.
The dancers portray ...
, and ''Life'' (performed by BalletBoyz).
Dancers
Dancers of Alberta Ballet (2024/25):
Alberta Ballet School
The Professional Division at Alberta Ballet School is a full-time dance and academic training program for students in grades 7 through 12, with a part-time, dance-only option for those in grades 5 and 6. The School's Dedicated Contemporary Dance Stream is available to students in grades 10, 11 and 12 who wish to focus on contemporary dance.
The School is led by Artistic Principal Ashley McNeil and, in 2018, was recognized by Canadian Heritage for its national impact in training artists for professional artistic careers, at the highest levels.
Other Notable Artistic Staff
* David Adams
*Jeremy Leslie-Spinks
*Cherice Barton
* Lambros Lambrou
*Marianne Beausejour
*Scott Harris
*Brian Bender
*Jay Brooker
*Claude Caron
*Nicole Caron Yumiko Takeshima
is a Japanese designer and former Principal dancer with Semperoper Ballett, Universal Ballet, the Alberta Ballet Company, Feld Ballet, and the Dutch National Ballet. Born in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Takeshima began dancing at the age of four in Sap ...
*Greg Zane
*Jung Min Hong
*Howard Epstein
*Clark Blakley
*Wayne Mcknight
*Anita Bostok
*Youri Alechine
*Stephanie Achuff
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Companies based in Alberta
Culture of Alberta
1966 establishments in Alberta
Performing groups established in 1966