2024/2025 Season
Ballet Edmonton creates contemporary dance that provokes and inspires. Join us for incoming Artistic Director Kirsten Wicklund’s first season.
This season, we present an ensemble of new works from the brilliant Canadian icons, Anne Plamondon and Shay Kuebler, and the burgeoning talents of emerging creator Anya Allegra Saugstad.
We also introduce the captivating international voice of Emilie Leriche for the first time ever in Canada, and support the choreographic voices of the artists of Ballet Edmonton whose works will be seen alongside those of our Artistic Director, Kirsten Wicklund.
In the Wake
October 18 & 19, 2024
Choreography by Anne Plamondon, Anya Allegra Saugstad & Kirsten Wicklund
“In The Wake” brings to life the vibrant works of three voices. Veteran choreographer Anne Plamondon and her creative vision resonates deeply with audiences, rooted in authenticity and tackling subjects close to her heart. Ballet Edmonton Artistic Director Kirsten Wicklund brings a new duet work to life featuring the classical virtuosity of the dancers of Ballet Edmonton. Emerging creator Anya Saugstad steps into a fresh moment – collaborating with the Ballet Edmonton dancers for the first time.
Feel no More — Edmonton Premiere
Choreography Anne Plamondon
Sound design: Rafa Aslan and Zach Frampton
Renowned Canadian dance maker Anne Plamondon will create new work with Ballet Edmonton for the first time. Plamadon leaves an unforgettable mark with each piece she crafts, imprinting profound impressions on those who witness her work.
See. Reach. Grab. Tension. Release.
Fleeting certainties. Weathering emotions.
Stoned. We feel no more.
So much to do. So much to heal.
From this moment, push the worrisome away.
Move. Sweat. Shiver. Cry. Whisper.
Reach. Grab. Tension. Release. … and Listen.
The body holds all the answers.
Beautiful Beasts — World Premiere
Choreography Anya Allegra Saugstad
Sound design: Stefan Nazarevich
Emerging Choreographer Anya Saugstad is an up-and-coming voice in the Canadian dance community. Her work incorporates an interdisciplinary exploration of dance and theatre. Saugstad creates live ensemble performance works that tell stories through movement. Her intention is to build vigorous, collaborative, and physical choreography to express stories that encompass urgency, celebration, and yearning.“A forest dies and dies and dies again, and so it lives. What is left unchanged destroys itself.”
Meteorite — World Premiere
Choreography: Kirsten Wicklund
Artistic Director of Ballet Edmonton creates a World Premiere duet work inspired by the virtuosity of the classical form. Kirsten explores the idea of channeling potent energy towards a physical expression that leans towards and away from the classical language.
Escape
February 14 & 15, 2025
Choreography by Shay Kuebler and Emilie Leriche
We redefine the existing boundaries of dance this season. Entrusted with the freedom to explore the depths of their imagination, each of these two experimental and dynamic creators have been invited to unfurl narratives that resonate with their own sensitivities and reflect the pulse of today’s ever-evolving world. These works are sure to break the bounds of what we know and take you, our audience on an exciting escape into the unknown.
WORLD PREMIERE – ANGEL
Choreography: Shay Keubler in collaboration with the Artists of Ballet Edmonton
Music/Sound: Shay Kuebler
Rehearsal Director/Creative Associate: Peter Smida
Lighting Design: Dorrie Deutchendorf
Performers: Full Company
Description : ANGEL comes from my love for films and storytelling. It’s a story of good vs. evil – the meeting of right and wrong. ANGEL’s storytelling blurs the fantasy genre with a tale of love and betrayal.
Thank you to the artists at Ballet Edmonton for all their contributions to this piece. Their artistry and creativity was essential to ANGEL reaching the stage.
WORLD PREMIERE Terrific, and Everywhere
Choreography: Emilie Leriche
Music/Sound: Wolff Bergen mixed and mastered by Nicolas Zappa
Rehearsal Director/Creative Associate: Peter Smida
Lighting Design: Dorrie Deutchendorf
Performers: Full Company
Description: The mind is a beautiful thing: Pulling us from this to that, pulling us deep, pulling us further from the already frayed edge of reality. I see you there, standing just beyond the Shore; both what unfastens my feet from the earth and what calls me back. If I see it once, I can see it a thousand times. It’s terrific. If heard, welcome to the echo chamber. But you insist: “Stay, stay here,” you say, “It is true, but it is happening.”
Precipice
May 2 & 3, 2025
Choreography by Kirsten Wicklund and the Emerging Choreographers of Ballet Edmonton
This program marks the edge of a season forging toward new territory. Artistic Director Kirsten Wicklund crafts a new creation, reflecting on the brink of potential, the tipping point — the moment of change itself. Alongside this work, two emerging voices of Ballet Edmonton are offered creation, mentorship support and a platform to share their own perspectives as makers. This precipice of possibility paves the way for future dance-makers of our time.
WORLD PREMIERE – Sleepless Visions
**Presented through the Emerging Choreographic Platform Initiative
Choreography: Matthew Wyllie in collaboration with the Artists of Ballet Edmonton
Sound/Set Design: Matthew Wyllie
Lighting Design: Dorrie Deutchendorf
Performers: Nevan Boyden, Fiona Dorr, Devon McLean
Lead Choreographic Mentor: Kevin O’Day
Description : A dream state, where conscious control is weakened, boundaries blur and we encounter aspects of ourselves that remain hidden in waking life. Light and darkness take on symbolic meaning, representing dualities like consciousness and unconsciousness, good and evil, or control and surrender.
WORLD PREMIERE – Indelible Stain
**Presented through the Emerging Choreographic Platform Initiative
Choreography: Diego Ramalho
Sound Design/Composition: Diego Ramalho
Vocals: Mackenzie Spencer
Music: Vetle Naero, Harold Budd
Lighting Design: Dorrie Deutchendorf
Performers: Gabrielle Barboux, Chloe Bennett, Paula Cobo Botello, Adrian DeLeeuw, Diego Ramalho, Ben Waters
Lead Choreographic Mentor: Kevin O’Day
Description : “Indelible Stain” is a piece that delves into the profound journey of solitude and resilience. It reflects on the challenges and experiences that leave lasting imprints on our lives. Through movement, it invites the audience to reflect on their own journeys, finding connection and understanding in shared human experiences.
WORLD PREMIERE – Hush, hush.
Choreography: Kirsten Wicklund
Rehearsal Director & Creative Associate: Peter Smida
Recordings by: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tõnu Kaljuste, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Håkan Hardenberger, Gothenburg Symphony, Neeme Järvi, Christoph Maria Moosmann, Benjamin Saunders, Leeds Cathedral Choir, Thomas Leech
Composer: Arvo Pärt
Sound Design: Niharika Senapati
Lighting Design: Dorrie Deutchendorf
Performers: Full Company
Description : I came a long way. I came a very very long way.
I contemplate my essence.
I move – I am real.
I came to see you.
Sightlines clear.
Nothing but vivid green – my wildest fern.
I ran for a long time. I ran for a very very very long time.
I see a wet earth, upturned
I sink beneath.
I ran to meet you.
A Grove…
Did you see me when I ran?
How far and how fast I went.
This weeping which strays me.
Hush now, hush.