Latest news with #AlbertaBallet
Calgary Herald
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Alberta government announces $4.5 million boost to arts funding
Article content The Alberta government announced today it is increasing its annual investment in the arts sector to more than $36 million, including a $4.5 million increase to funding for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA). Article content Joined by leaders in the arts community, Tanya Fir, Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women, made the announcement Thursday morning at Calgary's Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Article content Article content Article content Fir said the increase is part of a multi-year commitment that will grow AFA funding to a record-breaking amount of over $43 million annually by 2027. Article content Article content 'The AFA plays a vital role in sustaining our province's cultural vibrancy,' said Fir. 'They provide artists access to resources that help them pursue meaningful work, grow their careers and bring their visions to life.' Article content Fir said the funding increase reflects the cultural and economic importance of Alberta's arts sector, which contributes over a $1.3 billion annually to the provincial economy and supports tens and thousands of jobs. The AFA distributes grants to organizations and individual artists across the province. So far this year, the agency has awarded $19.1 million to more than 400 organizations and nearly 200 individuals. Article content AFA board chair Cynthia Moore said the 10 per cent increase in grant funding will help sustain a variety of community arts initiatives including festivals and galleries. Article content Article content 'If you belong to a pottery arts guild, a singing choir or a social dance club, the AFA's 10 per cent increase in grant funding may apply to your organization too,' said Moore. Article content Alberta Ballet CEO Chris George said the AFA is the organization's largest source of operational funding and is essential to delivering professional performances and outreach initiatives. Article content Alberta Ballet plans to deliver over 60 shows next season, according to George, along with free ticket programs and beginner dance lessons for youth in nine Alberta communities including Medicine Hat, Grand Prairie and Fort McMurray. Article content He said the AFA's Alberta Valley school, a full-time academic and artistic training program for students from grades 7-12, also benefits directly from the funding. Article content Natasha Orysiuk, artistic director of Ukranian Shumka Dancers, said the funding will help them to support new choreography, community engagement and an upcoming tour of Canada's Ukranian Nutcracker. Article content 'It's an investment in creativity, cultural heritage, and in the people who bring stories to life through dance,' she said.
Edmonton Journal
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Edmonton Journal
Alberta Ballet heads to the Badlands for special show
Article content Alberta Ballet is taking its dancers from the Jubilee Auditorium stage and travelling to the majestic badlands near Drumheller for a one-night-only performance, July 25. Article content Ballet in the Badlands is a mixed repertoire event in the Badlands Amphitheatre – the same large outdoor venue used for the annual summertime Badlands Passion Play. Article content Article content The program is curated by artistic director Francesco Ventriglia, and fitingly, is a majestic tribute to the power of place – guiding the audience through an immersive journey of feeling and form that stirs the soul. The show features four pieces chosen for the depth and expression to mirror the landscape, and take advantage of the outdoor venue. Article content 'This collaboration is a celebration of Alberta's artistic and natural heritage,' says Ventriglia. 'There is something deeply powerful about dancers performing surrounded by ancient stone and open sky. I hope this can be the first of an annual tradition!' Article content Badlands Amphitheatre artistic director Alyssa Neudorf adds: 'This is a dream realized – bringing Alberta Ballet to this stage unites two powerful storytellers: the land, shaped by time and the body in motion, shaped by art.'
Calgary Herald
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Alberta Ballet heads to the Badlands for special show
It may seem out of context but it might just be the dance event of the year. Article content Alberta Ballet is taking its dancers from the Jubilee Auditorium stage and travelling to the majestic badlands near Drumheller for a one-night-only performance, July 25. Article content Article content Ballet in the Badlands is a mixed repertoire event in the Badlands Amphitheatre – the same large outdoor venue used for the annual summertime Badlands Passion Play. Article content Article content The program is curated by artistic director Francesco Ventriglia, and fitingly, is a majestic tribute to the power of place – guiding the audience through an immersive journey of feeling and form that stirs the soul. The show features four pieces chosen for the depth and expression to mirror the landscape, and take advantage of the outdoor venue. Article content 'This collaboration is a celebration of Alberta's artistic and natural heritage,' says Ventriglia. 'There is something deeply powerful about dancers performing surrounded by ancient stone and open sky. I hope this can be the first of an annual tradition!' Article content Badlands Amphitheatre artistic director Alyssa Neudorf adds: 'This is a dream realized – bringing Alberta Ballet to this stage unites two powerful storytellers: the land, shaped by time and the body in motion, shaped by art.' Article content
Calgary Herald
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Review: Alberta Ballet shines with whimsy and charm in updated version of classic Don Quixote
Article content Alberta Ballet artistic director Francesco Ventriglia promised that his 2025 season finale production of Don Quixote would be an 'over-the-top rainbow of colours' world premiere, and the company certainly delivered on that for opening night. Article content Article content The Jubilee Auditorium was alive with Spanish dance, fine handmade costumes, bejewelled traditional tutus and waistcoats, and replete with some pretty slick traditional ballet. While it has been a long and gruelling season for Alberta Ballet, requiring fine-tuning and upgrades of personnel throughout the year, the results Thursday night largely spoke for themselves. A young corps and an established group of veteran soloists took on the challenge of performing Ventriglia's re-imagining of Petipa's 1869 masterpiece with a lucidity and grace that blended well into often nuanced extravagance, thanks in large part to Gianluca Falaschi's eye-catching costumes and Italo Grassi's bright set designs. Article content The goal of this splashy production was pure fun, and there was a lot to be had from the very start. Starting in the Act I square set in Barcelona, filled with as much local colour as we might expect to see, the ballet made its immediate impact on an attentive audience. Article content We were plunged into more of a fantasy of Spain, one more likely to be dreamed out of a novel by a cheerfully dreamy Quixote pursuing his ideal love, Dulcinea. Don Quixote's character was danced and acted with a sympathy rarely found in a young Quixote by a remarkably evocative Yaroslav Khudych, who ably substituted the traditional 'old man' role for a young dreamer. I think I prefer it this way: A young Quixote off on his dream adventure, surrounded by a young dance company projecting a youthful and vibrant atmosphere. It worked well throughout and displayed more of Ventriglia's vision of the company's future for the next decade, one that restocks the pond with new talent. Article content Article content Article content However, it is usual in Quixote to focus on the lovers Kitri and Basilio, danced with a practised aplomb by Alexandra Hughes and Aaron Anker. Their onstage romance is offset by a strong corps of supporters, sailors and fisherwomen, ladies and bridesmaids, matadors and, in Act II, some very nattily attired Romani (gypsies), who all seemed to collectively nurture the young lovers despite blocking figures Gamache and Lorenzo (Rikuto Kubota and Zachary Boresow). Through it all was the commedia dell'arte troupe led by Sancho Panza (Mirko Melandri) and assorted Friends (Hinata Takahara, Hotaru Maruyama). Article content Article content The action remained convincing throughout: It is a tricky matter to make the narrative thread of the lovers' story flow unbroken from start to finish, and often directors lose the thread through the labyrinth of so much choreography. By Act III, when we are presented with variation after variation and one pas de deux followed by a grand solo followed by the next at the wedding scene, it can feel overwhelming, but entirely in a way that ballet fans enjoy. What I appreciate about Ventriglia is his not making complexity feel like a burden, but rather conveying the simpler tone of an art that conceals art. There is more work and time poured into this production than meets the eye, and the grand ballets of Act III, which rounded out the love story with unexpected pith and welcomed nuance, brought the story full circle and to a satisfactory close. Article content Article content The hardworking corps de ballet seemed to respond well to this approach, paying fastidious attention to the choreography's avalanche of detail. And make no mistake – there is a lot of choreography throughout this show, enough for both the eye and ear to provide an aesthetic feast. Ludwig Minkus' music, so often looked down upon in ballet circles as too trite or supremely melodic at best, is certainly a mischaracterization. We do not pay adequate attention to the richness of Minkus' harmonic rhythm combined with lush orchestration. Article content Quixote is a polished mid-Romantic era score. To hear Minkus is to hear and see pure colour, and it is that colour that moves a musically trained Ventriglia to design a show around the supremacy of light and hue in which both sonic colour and costume colour direct his choreographic intent. Article content And yet, regardless of the sheer volume of dance this show has to offer, the centrepiece still fell squarely on Act II, featuring Quixote's shimmering dream within his fantasy: the Kingdom of Dryads, one of the most moving scenes in all of classical ballet. Here, the company was at its best, especially Luna Sasaki's ethereal Cupid, my favourite of the whole night. Alexandra Hughes was splendid again, playing her own double in the Dulcinea variation. While not quite the dreamy underworld of La Bayadère, the Act II Dryads scenes are a balm of soft light. Traditional yet restrained choreography created for each of the soloists, and especially a divine corps de ballet of 12, is quite an accomplishment for dancers and stagers alike. It led easily to the fun Tavern scene in Act III and the wedding scene's elegant joy, thanks to an excellent corps of bridesmaids and a very fine lovers' pas de deux. Article content However, it was the overall feel of the ballet that gave us a lot to celebrate. Matadors and, in particular, a very fine Espada – danced and acted consummately by Caleb Durbin – blended fine staging with groove and engaging accent. Perhaps the best of all were the Fandango dancers who took balletic colour to a whole new height. The resplendent Fandango scene reminded us that music, literature, movement and merriment are the healing miracles acted out through dance to soothe our conflicts, especially those gargantuan windmills that exist within all our minds, waiting to be conquered with art.
Calgary Herald
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
'Mariko is a diamond': After 17 seasons, Alberta Ballet principal dancer Mariko Kondo's final performance will be in Don Quixote
Article content Mariko Kondo says she is trying not to think about the end. Article content Article content As the date nears for her final bow as a principal dancer at Alberta Ballet in Don Quixote, she is attempting to keep her mind on the task at hand. But sometimes the reality sinks in. Article content 'For now, I still feel the same,' says Kondo, in an interview with Postmedia. 'I'm just going through my daily routine. Nothing has changed. But recently, I have been going through my photos and my memories. It's quite emotional. It's bittersweet.' Article content Article content After 18 years with Alberta Ballet, Kondo's final Calgary performance will take place on Saturday at the Jubilee Auditorium. She is performing the role of Mercedes in artistic director Francesco Ventriglia's new adaptation of the famous ballet, which will run from Thursday to Saturday. Mercedes dances with bullfighter Espada in the ballet, firing up the production with a sultry and celebratory dance backed by an entourage. Article content Article content After performing in the Nutcracker in 2023, Kondo took a year off after a dance injury. While she initially thought the injury would put an end to her career, she battled back because she was determined to finish on her terms and 'say goodbye from the stage.' Article content Article content Most recently, she performed as Glinda in last month's Alberta Ballet production of The Wizard of Oz. Earlier this month, she performed in Dubai after Alberta Ballet was invited by the United Arab Emirates to perform A Thousand Tales Ballet. Choreographed by Ventriglia, it included pieces from Aladdin, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. Article content Article content Kondo played the White Swan. Article content 'I didn't think of going to Dubai at the end of my career,' she says with a laugh, 'But it was something I had never experienced before. The city and the beautiful opera house. Everything was more than I imagined.' Article content But Kondo says the timing feels right for her to take her final bow. Article content 'The injury was a big thing for me,' she says. 'I was injured in 2022 and I had pain since, but somehow I danced. But it is time for me. I don't know, but I just feel physically and mentally, it's a good time.'
