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.
General information and history
The auditorium was built in 1957, on a site adjacent to the University of Alberta to cel ...
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
Mikko Nissinen (born March 4, 1962) is a Finnish ballet dancer. He has danced with the Dutch National Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. He is the Artistic Director of Boston Ballet, a position he has held since 2002.
Born and raised in Finland, N ...
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.
]
Choreography
Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître has choreographed ''Carmen'', which toured China, and ''Fiddle and the Drum'', a collaboration with Joni Mitchell
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...
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 OBE (born 22 March 1973) is an English international choreographer of contemporary ballet.
Life and career
Born in Yeovil, Somerset, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dan ...
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' ...
. 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 Euverin ...
, 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. I ...
.
Canadian choreographer Sabrina Matthews
Sabrina Matthews (born 1977) is a Canadian ballet choreographer. She has created pieces for some of the most prestigious ballet companies in the world, including multiple pieces for the renowned Stuttgart Ballet. This in-demand choreographer ha ...
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
Yukichi Hattori is a Japanese-Canadian ballet dancer, dance teacher and choreographer based in Calgary, Alberta. He is a former principal dancer with the Alberta Ballet Company.
Early life
Hattori grew up in Tokyo, Japan; his parents were actors.< ...
in the role of Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
.
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. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960 ...
. ''Dracula'' was on-loan from Texas Ballet Theater The Texas Ballet Theater was founded by Margo Dean in 1961 as the Fort Worth Ballet Association, in Fort Worth, Texas. At the invitation of Dean, Fernando Schaffenburg was invited to direct the company the following year. It became a fully professio ...
and choreographed by their artistic director, Ben Stevenson (dancer)
Ben Stevenson OBE (born 4 April 1936), is a former ballet dancer with Britain's Royal Ballet and English National Ballet, co-director of National Ballet of Washington, D.C. (1971–1974), artistic director of Chicago Ballet (1974-1975), artistic ...
.
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 ho ...
), a mixed bill from dance company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is an all-male drag ballet troupe that parodies the conventions of romantic and classical ballet. The company's current artistic director is Tory Dobrin.
The dancers portray both male and female roles in a h ...
, and ''Life'' (performed by BalletBoyz BalletBoyz or Ballet Boyz are a London-based all-male dance company.
BalletBoyz was founded in 1999 by Michael Nunn and William Trevitt
William Trevitt (February 7, 1809 – February 8, 1881) was a doctor, politician, diplomat, and newspaper p ...
).
Dancers
Company artists of Alberta Ballet (2021/22):
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 David Adams Musical Theatre Performer
Starlight Express, Avenue Q, Les Miserables,
Government officials
* David S. Adams (State Department) (born 1961), Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs
* David Adams (Labour politician) ( ...
*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 Sa ...
*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