Art that Moves

“Stretching is good for the soul.” 

 

In August, we were fortunate to have Citie Ballet join our club to share their growth and how it is nourishing Edmonton’s culture. 

 

Ballet has not been the top priority for me as I not often find myself attending these types of performances – this definitely shows my uncultured side.  However, I am proud to say that I did have the opportunity to attend the opening of the 2012 Nutcracker at the Jubilee Auditorium – FANTASTIC!  I am now looking forward to attending other performances to ensure I get a little culture under my belt.

 

Citie Ballet  is offering three performances during the 2013/2014 year, including HereAfter, Mosaic III: Cave Beat and Paquita vs. Carmen.  In addition, you can also invite a Citie Ballet ballerina for an hour-long visit too!  Tickets and season subscriptions are extremely reasonable.  For more information, please feel free to contact Citie Ballet directly at info@citieballet.ca, 780.472.7774 or visit www.citieballet.ca

 

Oct 5, 7:30 p.m. Oct 6, 2:30 p.m.

HereAfter combines a reunion of friends, laughter and classical and contemporary creations. It is a mixed program featuring performances by four choreographers:
Laurence Menotti-Chevennement: Swan Lake’s pas de trios
François Chevennement: Once Upon a Pond
Paul Destrooper: Carmina Burana
Heather Myers: An original work, HereAfter

 

Feb 22, 7:30 p.m. Feb 23, 2:30 p.m.

Inspired by the ancient cave paintings of France, this original ballet blends Tony Olivares’ modern choreography and François Chevennement’s ballet choreography, Pēteris Vasks’ music and the live on-stage painting of Levi Etherington bring audiences a reimagining of our primal connection with the first people of Earth and our evolution.

 

April 12, 7:30 p.m. April 13, 2:30 p.m.

Two classic stories of feisty women from Spain — both vastly different tales about an officer and a gypsy girl — round out the season. Paquita, set to the music of Leon Minkus, and François Chevennement’s adaptation of Prosper Mérimée’s novel Carmen, set to Peter Breiner’s “Carmen Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra,” both bring stunning visuals and compelling performances.

 

 

 

In 1998, a group of concerned ballet enthusiasts, led by Hanne Livingstone (then-owner and artistic director of Edmonton’s Cecchetti Dance Theatre) and Alex McCready, joined together to form a new ballet company.  The express purpose and mandate for the company was to offer professional-level training and performing experience for all advanced dancers in Edmonton and surrounding area.

 

Citie Ballet was established as a separate organization independent of any particular dance school. In the early years, the bulk of the dancers came from Cecchetti Dance Theatre. Indeed, many in the local dance community mistakenly assumed that the two organizations were linked, since they shared rehearsal space in the Barre Room of the Jubilee Auditorium. In fact, there were also numerous dancers from other local and regional studios. When the Jubilee closed in 2004 for renovations, Citie Ballet moved to rented studio space at Marr-Mac Dance and Theatre Arts. This separation helped to further establish Citie Ballet’s independence, and with annual open auditions more dancers came from other studios. These studios received proper recognition in Citie Ballet’s performance programs for the training they provided.

 

In addition, a number of young, emerging Alberta choreographers were offered opportunities to create new original works on Citie Ballet. This also offered the dancers exposure to other styles and methods of working, and further developed their performing skills. The most promising of those choreographers was Solveig Groenland, who created several successful works. Mr. Thompson offered her a staff position as resident modern dance choreographer in 2003.

 

With approval from the board, a Citie Ballet website was developed early in 2001. This was to promote awareness of the company and to advertise performances, workshops and summer schools.

 

Mr. Thompson announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2005-06 seasons, and a search committee was formed with Mr. Thompson as an artistic advisor and subsequently as artistic director emeritus. François Chevennement succeeded Mr. Thompson in July of 2006.

 

Under Mr. Chevennement, Citie Ballet continued to distinguish itself with a consistently innovative slate of productions showcasing promising dancers executing demanding choreography. Each season, Citie Ballet created original work choreographed by Mr. Chevennement, by Ms. Groenland and by such guest choreographers as Europe’s Waldemar Bartkowski. Original works also featured collaborations with local artists of many diverse disciplines from outside the world of ballet.

 

Notable productions included 2010’s new and contemporary interpretation of Carmen, featuring a modern guitar concerto, and 2011’s Murder At the Strand, a multimedia blend of ballet and can-can, based on an unsolved murder at Edmonton’s famed Strand Theatre, and set in the tumultuous era between vaudeville and cinema.

 

In 2010, the company based all of its performances at the Timms Centre for the Arts, on the University of Alberta campus. Its rehearsal space continued to be Marr-Mac Dance and Theatre Arts, in Edmonton’s Old Strathcona district.

 

Just prior to its 2012 / 2013 season, Citie Ballet passed a significant milestone when it graduated from a semi-professional to professional company. This change in status was accompanied by the contracting of an entirely new company of dancers — six in all. They hail from across Canada and, in the case of Mingyi Liang, from China.

 

After 12 years of tenacious creativity, Citie Ballet has restored to Edmonton something it has not had since 1990, a resident company of full-time professional ballet dancers!

 

History Written by William Thompson, Artistic Director Emeritus.