Kelowna Daily Courier: Ballet Kelowna hits spring with three premieres

By JP Squire

1 May 2019

Spring has always represented the re-awakening of nature so Ballet Kelowna is celebrating that fresh beginning with three premieres of re-imagined 100-year-old works at 7:30 p.m. on May 3-4 at Kelowna Community Theatre.

The presentation of Spring, following Autumn on Nov. 16-17 and Winter on Feb. 1, wraps up the 2018-19 season with works from a trio of esteemed Canadian female choreographers who will introduce refreshing takes on works by Igor Stravinsky, originally commissioned for Paris’ Ballet Russes between 1910 and 1913. Tickets are available at: balletkelowna.ca.

Ballet Kelowna artistic director Simone Orlando’s Rite of Spring, Heather Dotto’s Petrushka and Amber Funk Barton’s Firebird all feature contemporary dance rather than going back to the original material from more than a century ago. The fourth work is the Kelowna ballet company’s premiere of Spring from one of Canada’s top emerging talents, Alysa Pires, creator of the effervescent fan-favourite Mambo.

A Studio Series presentation at the 2283 Leckie Rd. studio and headquarters on Thursday teased about 100 young people with the company’s goal of attracting a younger audience, not only to ballet but other artistic endeavours in the Okanagan.

Dancers highlighted segments from the four exquisite pieces, each distinctly different from the other, yet each mesmerizing. The choreographers each found different ways for dancers to interconnect through intertwining bodies, innovative lifts, and intricate individual and ensemble movements that portray a wide range of emotions and plot development.

Read the full article in the Kelowna Daily Courier.