Triple-A LIVE! presents…

Dance Discovery

with CITIE BALLET

Sunday, March 21, 7:30 p.m. Nancy Appleby Theatre

Tickets $20 at Value Drug Mart, the Riverhouse, and at the Athabasca Dance Festival.

Citie Ballet, a young professional dance company from Edmonton, is coming to Athabasca March 21 to perform in the Nancy Appleby Theatre.

For the past 10 years Citie Ballet has been dedicated to providing ballet and contemporary performing challenges for aspiring young dancers. Its tradition of commissioning and staging a wide range of new works began under its first artistic director and now Artistic Director Emeritus, William (Bill) Thompson in 1999. The young company is currently under the direction of François Chevennement and continues its commitment to providing opportunities for emerging choreographers and performers alike.

Chevennement began his professional career with the Opera Avignon before continuing on to Ballet du Nord (France) and the Alberta Ballet as a principal dancer. Over the past 15 years he has performed principal and soloist roles in many of the great classical ballets from the repertoire and in the ballets of major choreographers of this century including George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, John Butler,and Jose Limon. He has begun to establish himself as a choreographer of note in his own right. In 2005, he collaborated with Citie Ballet to create the very successful Woman in a Mirror to the poetry of Gerald St. Maur.

Speaking about his company of 12 dancers, who range from 16 to 27 years of age, Chevennement portrays the passion that underlies the work of Citie Ballet. “I am so proud of our dancers. A choreographer watching his work performed by them feels such a rush of emotion, and I continue to experience them all: pride in the dancers, the choreography, the sets, the costumes; satisfaction in a job well done and in our accomplishments.”

Citie Ballet has a significant connection with Athabasca through one of its resident choreographers, Solveig Groenland. Solveig was born in Edmonton, but moved to Athabasca at a young age. At the time, there was no formal ballet training in town, so any formal dance training involved a commute. After several years of this, Athabasca was lucky enough to aquire a qualified Cecchetti Ballet teacher, Karen Doidge, who created and developed a dance training program.

Although Solveig’s dance training was in the Cecchetti Ballet Method, her true love is in the area of modern dance. She moved to Edmonton and graduated from Grant MacEwan’s Modern Dance and choreography program, after which she has danced and choreographed throughout North America including with BJM Danse (Formerly known as Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal), O Vertigo Danse, and with New York’s Isabele Gotzkowski.

Solveig has returned to Athabasca professionally over the years but she is very much looking forward to the Citie Ballet tour in April 2010, when two of her pieces will be performed by the company. Meridian is a piece that is based on physical trauma, and the process of recovery – both on an emotional and physical level. The second piece, Zora, is based on a piece of Russian music and, in its most simplistic form, is about, “the movement of beautiful, talented dancers to a spectacular piece of music.”

Over the years, Citie Ballet has provided dance opportunities at a professional level, and acted as a stepping stone to a professional career. Professional experiences offered by the company help build the confidence and performance abilities of aspiring dancers. Former Citie Ballet dancers have gone on to professional careers with companies such as Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Toronto Dance Theatre, and Colorado Ballet.

“With our milestone anniversary, Citie Ballet has reached a coming of age. The birth of an idea 10 years ago has grown up to become a reality in Edmonton. We survived and succeeded because of volunteers, dancers, teachers and choreographers,” Chevennement said. “The next 10 years will bring continued growth and improvement. I look forward to a rewarding partnership with the Edmonton dance and artistic community, as well as the education community.”

Written by Roma Minenko

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