BALLET
KELOWNA
« Through our signature programming, Ballet Kelowna is proud to bring full expression to Canada’s creative spirit and celebrate the talent and diversity of our country’s dance artists. »
© Nina Maria Photography
Ballet Kelowna Company Dancers
©Laurent_Paillier
Founded in 2002, and under the leadership of Artistic Director and CEO (AD/CEO) Simone Orlando since 2014, Ballet Kelowna delivers compelling and inspiring performances to regional, national, and international audiences. The Company presents numerous styles of dance from Canada’s finest emerging and established choreographers, and embraces the precision and athleticism of ballet technique to create original new works that captivate and engage today’s diverse audiences. Serving as the only professional dance company in BC’s Interior, Ballet Kelowna is committed to its role as a leader in the region through encouraging, promoting, and developing Canadian dancers and choreographers. The Company performs annually for over 12,000 audience members in Kelowna and on tour, while also providing unique dance training opportunities and outreach programs.
AD/CEO Simone Orlando is an award-winning choreographer and former dancer with Ballet BC and The National Ballet of Canada. Ms. Orlando is actively leading Ballet Kelowna in collaborations with other community organizations, to educate and cultivate new dance audiences, and to enhance the impact of performances and programs.
Photo : Bruce Zinger Dancers : BALLET KELOWNA
Photo : Kenny Tai Dancers : BALLET KELOWNA with invited artist Greta Hodgkinson
Photo : Grant Robinson Dancers : Desiree Bortolussi & Valentin Chou
Photo : Bruce Zinger Dancers : BALLET KELOWNA
MAMBO
AND OTHER WORKS
MIXED PROGRAM-2018
CONTEMPORARY BALLET
BOLERO :
CHOREOGRAPHY Guillaume Côté
MUSIC Maurice Ravel, Bolero
LENGTH 14 minutes
CUATRO ESTACIONES :
CHOREOGRAPHY Simone Orlando
MUSIC Astor Piazzolla, Four Seasons of Buenos Aires and Antonio Vivaldi, The Four Seasons
LENGHT 34 minutes
MAMBO :
CHOREOGRAPHY Alysa PiresMUSIC Perry Como, Rosemary Clooney, Julie London, Xavier Cugat, Sarah Vaughan,
Dean Martin, and Louis Prima
LENGHT 20 minutes
« A riveting tour de force »
- Dance Magazine
« Passionate, fiery, exquisite, breathtaking. »
- The Daily Courier
« MAMBO was da bomb and a slightly kitschy gift that kept on giving to an audience that was eating it up. »
- Regular Guy Reviewer
DURATION : Approximately 110 minutes (including one intermission)
CREW : 9 Dancers + 1 Artistic Director + 1 Lighting Director +
1 Rehearsal Director + 1 Production-Stage Manager
SET-UP : 12 hours
STAGE DIMENSIONS : Width 35’ / Depth 25’ / Height 18’
(11m x 8m x 5.5m)
AUDIENCE SIZE : Small, medium and large venues
OUTREACH :
-MAMBO and Other Works may be excerpted and presented as a 1 hour student performance.
-Master class series in ballet or contemporary dance for students 12 years old and up.
The MAMBO and Other Works program features a meticulous blend of contemporary and neo classical works from Ballet Kelowna’s signature repertoire.
Works such as Bolero by acclaimed Quebec choreographer Guillaume Côté or Cuatro Estaciones by Ballet Kelowna’s visionary Artistic Director Simone Orlando, may be paired with Alysa Pires “crowd-pleasing MAMBO” (The Globe and Mail) to customize a program for your needs.
With a variety of refreshing works inspired by tango, swing, jazz, and classical ballet, the MAMBO and Other Works program promises to please a wide range of spectators.
National Ballet of Canada Choreographic Associate Guillaume Côté brings strength and fragility to a fascinating interpretation of the beloved Bolero by Maurice Ravel, one of music’s most famous and identifiable melodies. A “riveting tour de force” (Dance Magazine), Bolero (2012) features breath-taking lifts and virtuosic choreography.
Cuatro Estaciones (2019), is an evocative tango-inspired ensemble piece by Ballet Kelowna’s visionary Artistic Director Simone Orlando, set to virtuoso composer Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Orlando’s choreography infuses ballet’s contemporary lines with the intricate, expressive elements of Argentine Tango and features the full company performing fiery steps in stunning group formations and seductive duets.
MAMBO (2018) gained worldwide acclaim after performances at Beijing’s China International Performing Arts Expo and Toronto’s Fall For Dance North Festival in 2018. Pires’ “crowd-pleasing MAMBO” (The Globe and Mail), is a colourful joie de vivre set to a vibrant soundtrack of Latin, swing, and jazz standards by musical legends such as Dean Martin, Perry Como, Rosemary Clooney, Sarah Vaughn, and more.
Photo : Emily Cooper Dancers : Desiree Bortolussi & Valentin Chou
Photo : Emily Cooper Dancers : Desiree Bortolussi & Valentin Chou
Photo : Emily Cooper Dancers : Desiree Bortolussi & Valentin Chou
MACBETH-2021
CONTEMPORARY BALLET
WORLD PREMIERE IN 2021
EXACT DATE TO BE CONFIRMED
CHOREOGRAPHER Alysa Pires
MUSIC Adam Sakiyama
VISUAL DESIGN Jane Everett
_2019_0114_photo%C2%A9Emily_Co.jpg)
DURATION : approximatively 90 minutes
CREW : 10 Dancers + 1 Artistic Director + 1 Rehearsal Director
+ 1 Technical Director + 1 Production-Stage Manager
SET-UP : 12 hours
STAGE DIMENSIONS : Width 40’ / Depth 35’ / Height 25’
(12.2m x 10.7m x 7.7m)
AUDIENCE SIZE : Small, medium and large venues
OUTREACH : Master class series in ballet or contemporary dance for students 12 years old and up.
Ballet Kelowna is proud to be the first Canadian ballet company in over forty years to commission a female Canadian choreographer to create a full-length work. In 2021, the Company will premiere Macbeth by Canadian dance luminary Alysa Pires. An original score of toil and trouble by Canadian composer Adam Sakiyama and stunning visuals by Okanagan artist Jane Everett set the scene for this exploration of psychological decay.
Pires’ adaptation of Macbeth will explore its themes of ambition, corruption, and gender through a contemporary lens. Instead of the King of medieval Scotland, Macbeth’s quest for power sees him become the leader of an autocratic government. Her version reimagines some key characters as women and investigates gender roles and expectations in a post #metoo era. Through athletic and evocative movement, this work blends the worlds of contemporary ballet and dance theatre.
« What’s done cannot be undone. »
- Macbeth
WHERE TO SEE
BALLET KELOWNA NEXT
Since COVID-19 has affected the entire 20-21 season – Dates will be announced shortly after the cultural field returns to normal.