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, were 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, Michle
Stanners has begun leaving her
mark

DANCING INTO THE FUTURE

Alberta Ballet Artistic Director Jean
Grand-Matre shares his vision in
a Q&A

A TREE THATS ALWAYS

10
GROWING
From a makeshift basement studio
to world-class dance company,
Alberta Ballets journey continues

17

TOP OF THE CLASS

Nancy and Murray Kilgourkeep
students on their toes at the School
of Alberta Ballet

20

MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

A trip behind the scenes of
Alice in
Wonderland

26

PORTFOLIO
The patrons, the champions, the
arts funders

A PERPETUAL, EVOLVING
34
CYCLE OF RENEWAL
Critic Michael Crabbs personal
journey alongside Alberta Ballet

36

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

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

38

A CHORUS OF MANY VOICES

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

41

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

43

THE RUBY SEASON

Innovative Dancing Joni headlines
Alberta Ballets 40th anniversary
lineup with Attitude

ARTIST PROFILES

46

LATITIA CLMENT

47

IGOR CHORNOVOL

48 SABRINA MATTHEWS
AMANDA AND PATRICK
49
CANNY
50

DEDICATION

ON THE COVER:
Hamilton Nieh, a talented new addition to
Alberta Ballets 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: DArcy 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-Matre, Artistic Director; Michle 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 Ofce Assistant; Christine Dechaine, Accounting Assistant; Jackie Sonntag, Ofce 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, Latitia Clment, 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 Ofce
Nat Christie Centre
141 18 Avenue SW
Calgary AB, T2S 0B8
Phone: (403) 245-4222
Fax: (403) 245-6573

Edmonton Ofce
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: Mi 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,
Nomi 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 Carses 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 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 Carses dream. And nally, to our
subscribers and audiences, we sincerely hope you enjoy our
40th anniversary season.
We share this celebration with all of you.

DArcy Levesque
Chair, Board of Directors

Portrait of the Artist

Boardroom
IN THE

Since taking the administrative helm

less than a year ago, Michle Stanners
has begun leaving her mark
BY NOMI LOPINTO

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLES HOPE

he new General Director of Alberta

Ballet believes the province is at a
tipping point. Art and culture,
argues Michle 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 Albertas 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 masters 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,
xing the foundations of the not-forpro t organizations she works for.
Managing a not-for-pro 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-Matre, the
Board and all the team have worked
to ensure that these values extend
through everything we do.
One of Alberta Ballets 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 scal surplus, its 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: its 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-Matre
shares his vision

BY NOMI LOPINTO

A powerful artistic vision

must go deep into the
human soul,

combining emotions with

contemporary realities

Jean Grand-Matre 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 Canadas 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 youve 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 reect 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 todays 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 inu- 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: Its 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 BALLETS

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 THATS ALWAYS

From a makeshift
basement studio
to world-class
dance company,
Alberta Ballets
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 signi cant theatre community
was still decades from the stage, and one of Edmontons
earliest cracks at opera wouldnt 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 traf c, would
bring that dif 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 ve chil-

10

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 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 Taylors

ballet skills but also the girls friendship, which would
remain strong after Taylors eventual departure for studies
in Vancouver and Los Angeles, and her teachers exit for
Toronto upon turning 21.
Out east, Carse studied and performed with the Volkoff
Canadian Ballet. She became accustomed to the dancers
life, virtually unpaid, scraping by on odd jobs, until nally
leaving for New York in 1949. Despite studying with
famed choreographer George Balanchine, life in America
wasnt 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
brie 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
Carses parents. Shed 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 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 lAcademie
Royale de Danse, the worlds rst ballet
school. Ballets 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
rst ballet, incorporating dance, song, verse and music.

1816

The rst touring ballet

performances are
welcomed in Canada.

11

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 ance
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 shed 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 ve, shed come to know Taylor as a surrogate mother, patient and caring. Carse wasnt much
different, despite a measured assertiveness this was, after
all, Royal Academy-certi 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, Carses 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 whats 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 nds its 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 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.

12

1938

1930s

The predecessor to the

Royal Winnipeg Ballet
forms; it will become
Canadas rst professional company.

Ballet dancers study their craft in Canada for

the rst time in studios such as that of Russian
migr 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 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 Edmontons 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 con des
with a laugh. She said she tried and it wasnt for her.)
Regardless of the demands Taylors 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 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 citys 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
Pacic , for which her mother bought New-Fooses 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 schools 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 hes 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 Tchaikovskys score
from the Nutcracker ballet.

Ruth Carse founds the Alberta

Ballet School at Edmontons
Victoria Composite High to train
professional-quality dancers.

1966

Continued growth sees the Alberta government request a

name change to re ect the scope of Edmonton Ballet. On
May 16, the company becomes the Alberta Ballet Company.

13

Ali Pourfarrokh

Mikko Nissinen

ALI POURFARROKH WAS REALLY TRYING TO

STRETCH THE LIMITS OF THE DANCERS.
HE WASNT 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 Taylors 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 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
Ballets 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.

14

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 Carses and Taylors 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 companys 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 Ballets principal dancer.
The following years, though dif cult, nonetheless contributed to the companys growth, even though the unbridled ambition of Carses 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
companys artistic achievement. Regardless of precarious
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 of 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 groups 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 wasnt playing to the lowest common
denominator. With the company again on stable 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
Pourfarrokhs international audience with tours to China,
his homeland of Finland, Atlantic Canada and Cairo.
Eager also to increase technical pro ciency, Nissinen

George Balanchines 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 Presidents Award from Londons 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 de cit, starting this season debt-free; its the only major dance company
in Canada without a de cit. The Alberta Ballet Foundation
is formed to create an endowment fund for the company.

1991-92

The season begins with John

Butlers 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 Ballets 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 ballets 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.

15

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. Its nice to
moods, and their varied repertory provides them with
know theres someone thinking about you in those terms.
opportunities for both lyricism and drama.
As Daigle puts it, Grand-Matre is one branch of a tree
New York Times , October 17, 1997 (referring to Ali
thats always growing. Alberta Ballet is doing a fantastic
Pourfarrokhs Butter y Dream and Mark Goddens Minor
job. Its that wonderful philosophy of reaching beyond
Threat, among other productions, at the Joyce Theatre)
what the company has been achieving. Its scary to always
be growing, but thats what Alberta Ballet is doing.
Its 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 con 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-Matre
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 companys readiness for Balanchines demand- really only limited
by imagination.
ing Rubies. After just two hours of teaching, she agreed
Born decades ago
that the company met the Trusts performance expectaof the dreams
tions, and Rubies became the 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-Matre, Artistic Director since 2002, she sees the
company in good hands. Grand-Matre, 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 ooding in China.

2002-2003

Jean Grand-Matre, 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.

16

Jean Grand-Matre

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 oor 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 theyre practicing.
Located in a former health club, with six dance studios,
the School of Alberta Ballet has been in existence since

18

1991. Its closely afliated 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 ve 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 Sadlers 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 Londons Royal Ballet School and Central School of
Ballet before coming to Calgary. Her ofce 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, its 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.
Weve been so lucky all over the world to meet the best
teachers and learn from them, to sit at their feet.
To enter the schools 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, its
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. Its 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 lmBilly Elliot, and Adam Cooper, who portrayed the adult Billy Elliot in the movie.
Michle Stanners, Alberta Ballets 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 were 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 nd work anywhere, says Murray. Im 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 a eld as well because its 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 didnt 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 ve

never have been able to achieve

his dream. I wasnt 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. Theyre the reason
Im here.
Marshalsay feels the Kilgours are not
only fantastic teachers, theyre 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

19

REFLECTION. Dancer Rie Ogura, dressed

for the 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

girls negotiation through a mysterious and frighteningly
magical land. The tale is delightful in its simplicity, yet not without
the rich depth that characterized last seasons Alberta Ballet production. Characters in the companys production seem to have walked
off the pages of a storybook. Choreographed by Edmund Stripe,
dancers such as Daniel Marshalsay and Latitia Clment showcased
their talent. But preparing for the production involved some
pretty fancy footwork, too. Mi Purvis

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE. Alice (Latitia Clment) 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 lled
the role of Ballet
Mistresses for Alice.

22

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 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 Alices butter y dance in
Calgarys Jubilee Auditorium. They are dancing on a new sprung 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. Its made a huge difference to the dancers, Stripe says about the 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.

23

WILD PARTY. Four

main characters
interact at the
Hatters Tea Party.
From left to right
are: the March Hare
(Igor Chornovol),
Alice (Latitia
Clment), the
Dormouse (Nadia
Iozzo) and the
Hatter (Blair Puente).

A CUT ABOVE. In costumes

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

24

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-Matre, Finnish-born
Mikko Nissinen established
a solid artistic foundation.
And Iranian Ali Pourfarrokh
took the ballet in new directions. Its been interesting
to watch how Alberta Ballet
continues to improve. It gets
more enjoyable each time.

26

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; its
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.

27

theC

HAMPIONS

Bonnie
DUPONT

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.

28

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
Canadas 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.

theC

HAMPIONS

John
MCWILLIAMS
For me, ballet is visual.
Its the movements, the
translation of feeling and
movement and back again
at the audience. Thats
what attracts me most.
Its 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.

30

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
dont 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
its just about beauty.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS NICHOLLS

theA

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. Youll see
children who have never seen live
ballet before thats almost as good
as the show itself. You can see the
magical transformation on their faces.

33

A Perpetual,
Evolving Cycle of

Renewal
One critics personal journey
alongside Alberta Ballet
BY MICHAEL CRABB

o its Alberta Ballets 40th anniversary. So what? Why should

anyone beyond a dedicated
ca dre of a 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 theres good reason
to celebrate.
You dont 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 signi 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 Canadas 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 Canadas

Romeo and Juliet

national media. Now Toronto critics

gladly journey west. The international
dance media similarly take note.
Ballet companies dont 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
nally pay attention. Alberta Ballet ts
the pattern perfectly.
Ruth Carse, Alberta Ballets
founder, had a big dream and grit
to spare. She could be prickly and
defensive, particularly in the face of
condescending criticism from beyond
Albertas borders. Carse nevertheless
genuinely believed that her edgling
troupe could one day be something.
Alberta Ballet and Ive been following its progress for more than 30
years has faced difcult 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? Isnt 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 Montreals Les Grands
Ballets Canadiens, the company
leaned towards traditional classicism
and storytelling. In part this reected
Paiges 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 Paiges approach and

called for more adventurous programming. Even so, under Paiges careful
stewardship the company truly emerged as a professional organization.
It was this foundation that allowed
Paiges 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 Cullbergs celebrated
Miss Julie and American modernist
John Butlers Carmina Burana to
Peter Puccis 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, nally, 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 signicant
upward step. The ambitious Nissinen,
a former star of San Francisco Ballet,
was determined to strengthen the
companys dancing. He introduced
guest teachers and challenged the
company with neo-classical choreography that called for speed, clarity and
nesse. Nissinen, an uncompromising taskmaster, worked his dancers as
hard as he worked himself. The result
was that Alberta Ballet nally shed its

lingering image as a provincial company and established its place more

rmly on the international map.
When Canadian choreographer
Jean Grand-Matre succeeded the
Boston-bound Nissinen in 2002,
there was much nancial fence mend
ing to be done. Yet, while necessarily
paying close attention to box-ofce
appeal, Alberta Ballet has remained
artistically adventurous. Popular new
works from its artistic director and
from ballet master Edmund Stripe
among these, Grand-Matres Romeo
and Juliet and Stripes Alice in
Wonderland are milestone produc tions have been balanced with
valuable revivals. Exciting contributions from, among others, Canadas
iconic Margie Gillis, Emily Molnar
and former company dancer Sabrina
Matthews a choreographic talent
nurtured within Alberta Ballet have
honed the companys 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? ISNT 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 aint seen nothing yet. AB
Michael Crabb is the National Posts
dance critic.

35

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, theres also
the necessity of building and maintaining relationships
with neighbours in both cities. Michle Stanners, Alberta
Ballets 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.
Its a challenge, but its also a unique opportunity,
says Stanners, who has handled marketing, nance, 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-prot 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. Theres 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

36

Scott, President and CEO of the Edmonton Economic

Development Corporation and the Alberta Art Gallerys
Board Chair. Calgary, on the other hand, home to one
of the highest concentrations of corporate head ofces in
Canada, easily matches the capitals appetite for culture.
Regardless of which side of the rivalry youre on, says Phil
Ponting, a Calgary lawyer and Chair of The Banff Centres
Board of Governors, We want to participate in a vibrant
and culturally signicant city.
Capitalizing on this demand for signicance, however,
isnt just a matter of performing. When you have headquarters in one city, says Stanners, theres always a chal
lenge to make sure youre 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 companys administrative and artistic staff based in
Calgary, Stanners has made elevating the companys capital
city prole 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 companys Edmonton ofce 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 falls 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 Ballets northern home city, says
Faulkner, and Im 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 doesnt 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
wont impress. Once you get outside the boundaries of
Alberta, says Scott, youve 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.
Were up for the challenge, Stanners says condently.
And with orchestras, Jubilee Auditoria and strong audiences available in both cities, the company is poised more
than ever to truly be the provinces ballet.
I think Alberta Ballet is showing it can be done, says
Ponting. Theyre working hard to make sure theyve 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 seasons 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 cant help but see
Alberta Ballet as an organization our communities abso
lutely need. AB

37

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

he night that Asani performed with Alberta Ballet

stands out clearly in singer Sarah Pocklingtons memory. We started with just the hand drums, recalls
the member of the Aboriginal womens 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 Julys
Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. Asani

38

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 owing
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-Matre. 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-Matre. The concept in Alberta is still develop
ing, but in Qubec, New York and Europe, its 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 Ballets shared
projects are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities; others, such
as the annual production of Tchaikovskys Nutcracker,

Alberta Ballet Music Director Peter Dala follows the tour

from city to city every year. He conducted the past ve
Nutcracker tours, with ve different orchestras and alter
nating dancers. Each orchestra is like an individual, says
Dala. Theyre comprised of many people, but they all have
their characteristics, which makes it all the more interest
ing. Its 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.

Tchaikovskys Nutcracker, Alberta Ballets 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 ve
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 Centres
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 wouldnt have been able to do it on its

39

EACH ORCHESTRA IS LIKE

AN INDIVIDUAL. THEYRE
COMPRISED OF MANY PEOPLE,
BUT THEY ALL HAVE THEIR
CHARACTERISTICS, WHICH MAKES
IT ALL THE MORE INTERESTING.
ITS 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 rst-hand experience building a new ballet production.
No one really has the funding to go it alone in the arts in
Canada. Its a better use of resources to share and partner
with someone else.
Creating Romeo and Juliet was a challenge for GrandMatre, 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 its 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 thats 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, shufing
gures was brought to life by Alberta
Ballet dancer and budding choreographer
Sabrina Mathews, in collaboration with
Calgarys Glenbow Museum, in 2004.
The sculpture was part of Rodin: A
Magnicent 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 Englands 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. Rodins sculpture shows the six
on their way to meet the king, stripped
down to their breeches, walking together

40

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-Matre.
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. Its
good for attendance, for the companies,
and for the audience.
Nomi LoPinto

Igor Chornoval, Alexis Maragozis

(on the oor), Michael Vallencourt
(looking down) and Nadia Iozzo
as Rodins Burghers of Calais

World

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

PHOTOGRAPH BY TRUDIE LEE

erforming in China was an eye-opener for

Alberta Ballet dancer Blair Puente. During
George Bizets Carmen, for instance, the
25-year-old was surprised to see camera 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.,

41

TOURING REALLY BROADENS YOUR HORIZONS. ITS A CLICH,

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 inu
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 inuence 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 Tchaikovskys Nutcracker,
which plays Edmonton, Calgary,
Victoria, Vancouver and Spokane,
Washington.
Most of these productions depend
on box-ofce 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 lled with cos
tumes, lighting and set equipment,
worry lines are still one of the perks
of Patersons 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. Its a clich, but you are
not in your comfort zone anymore.

42

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 Ballets Northern
Tights Tour, a ve-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 tours emcee.
Its 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. Its 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 re.
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 were 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 Ballets
40th anniversary lineup
BY NOMI LOPINTO

hen Kelley McKinlay rst heard singer Joni

Mitchells 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 cant 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 Ballets Artistic Director Jean
Grand-Matre. Inspired by her music, Grand-Matre 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-Matre initially envisioned a simple 40-minute
homage to the poetry and humanism in Mitchells songs.

43

44

Joni Mitchell

Watching Alberta Ballet grow is part of Michael Crabbs

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 denite 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-Matre
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
Mitchells 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 its 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 (Balanchines
Rubies, Jean Grand-Matres The Winter Room and Ali
Pourfarrokhs Buttery Dream), continues with the
Nutcracker in December, Dancing Joni: The Fiddle and
the Drum in February, Cinderella in March, the Royal
Winnipeg Ballets Dracula in April, and features
Romeo
AB
and Juliets 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.
Mitchells 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 ve 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 shes very selec
tive when choosing collaborators.
Joni Mitchell refuses a lot of projects, says GrandMatre. 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 Ballets 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 Balanchines 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 Ballets rst taped television special, a thrilling
prospect for General Director Michle 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-Matre 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 ATTITUDEs
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 programs innovative
approach to engaging youth has resulted
in generous sponsorship from EPCOR.
The most important thing about the
ATTITUDE program is that its directed at
young people, who do not know the sto
ries of the ballet, says Denise Carpenter,
EPCORs Senior Vice-President, Public and
Government Affairs. They get personal
interaction with Artistic Director Jean
Grand- Matre before the performance
theres a dialogue with him in an envi
ronment thats 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 rst 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. Nomi LoPinto

45

Artist Profiles

Your soul can really

express itself
BY SCOTT MESSENGER

atitia Clment hasnt always

known the joy of working with
a single ballet company. After
apprenticing with Les Grands Ballets
Canadiens in Montral, freelance
dancing introduced her to the trials of working contract by contract.
Travelling the world, Clment 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 Clment
left her birthplace of Orlans, 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

46

to France for three years at a private

school in Montpellier, near Marseille.
It was extremely hard, recalls
Clment, now 28. Dance school is
not easy. Theres 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 Clment.
Perhaps in light of these moves, her
desire for the stability shouldnt surprise. After a few years of freelancing
and auditioning around the world,
Clment happily signed on with
Alberta Ballet. Its a better lifestyle,
she says. You get that family feeling
that you often dont have when youre
a dancer by yourself.
Committing to a single company,
however, hasnt meant losing the variety of freelancing. Despite considering
herself more of a technical dancer,

Edmund StripesAlice in Wonderland

recently awakened in Clment a love
of theatrics.
When youre acting, she says of
playing Alice, her favourite Alberta
Ballet role to date, suddenly, many
doors open, and youre 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, Clment, 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 dont come without
hope and hard work, and, at times,
heartache. I enjoy it, Clment says
about the work. I really feel it makes
AB
a difference in a dancers life.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLES HOPE

Latitia Clment

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 Ballets Artistic
Director at the time, offered to make
room in the roster for one more
dancer. And when red tape threatened
to interfere with Chornovols move
to Calgary, his mentor-friend sprung
into action, dealing with government
ofcials to ensure the grateful dancer
could begin this new chapter.
I didnt 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 hed 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 hed caught a
glimpse of the somewhat elusive spirit
of dancing. Its not just dry move
ment, he remembers being told.
Its 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 Stripes
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-Matres
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 hasnt 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, hes got
the company. Its like my family,
AB
he says. Its my life.

47

Its an amazing
feeling, that I have
the chance to touch
people in that way
BY SCOTT MESSENGER

abrina Matthews hasnt 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 Ballets Noverre Societys
Young Choreographers event, where
her pas de deuxSoles drew accolades
from European critics.
Its been amazing to nally 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
Canadas National Ballet School
landed a spot with Alberta Ballet after
a brief performance for then Artistic

48

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
denitely 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
dancers ambition, awarding her the
Clifford E. Lee Award for choreography in 2005. Still, leaving wasnt easy.
Even though Jean Grand-Matre
(Alberta Ballets present Artistic
Director) had given me amazing

opportunities to choreograph, she

says, attributing her condence 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, shell
get plenty of such opportunities.
Invited back to restage Soles for their
annual gala, shell 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. Its 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 Torontos 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 shed been missing
since joining Bern six months earlier,
straight from Melbournes 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 others
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 citys 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 ance. Mikko Nissinen, then

Alberta Ballets artistic director, was

the rst 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.
Nissinens intense touring schedule
also fomented lasting friendships.
Its 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, GrandMatres 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 oral design and teaching at
the School of Alberta Ballet, happy to
share tips on technique and career. So
far, she doesnt 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.

49

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 companys rst 40 years.

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 companys annual shoe budget exceeds
$100,000. When ballet shoes are spent, dancers autograph them and the company sells them as souvenirs.

50