The season concludes with a program that celebrates artistic growth, shared histories, and the next generation of creative voices. Bringing together works by Ariana Barr, Artistic Director Diego Ramalho and one of Ballet Edmonton’s emerging choreographers, the evening reflects on the company’s past while looking boldly toward its future.
Ariana Barr returns to Ballet Edmonton as a choreographer after dancing with the company for six seasons from 2018 to 2024. Raised in Victoria, BC, and a celebrated artist within the Canadian dance community, Barr has developed a distinctive artistic voice shaped by her extensive performing career and deep curiosity about the body, care and human experience. Her return marks a meaningful homecoming and an exciting new chapter in her creative journey.
The program also features a new work by Diego Ramalho. Ramalho and Barr joined Ballet Edmonton together in 2018 as the first two dancers invited by Artistic Director Wen Wei Wang to help shape a new era for the company. Now, years later, their artistic paths reunite on stage in a celebration of two voices that have grown alongside Ballet Edmonton and continue to evolve in different and exciting directions.
Completing the program is a new creation by one of Ballet Edmonton’s emerging choreographers, reaffirming the company’s commitment to nurturing new artistic voices and creating opportunities for the next generation of dance-makers.
A celebration of continuity, transformation and creative possibility, this season finale honours the artists who have helped shape Ballet Edmonton’s story while embracing those who will carry it forward.
Raised in Victoria, B.C., Ariana’s formal training began at the Pacific Dance Center and continued through the Arts Umbrella Graduate Program. In addition to performing with Ballet Edmonton for six seasons under the artistic direction of Wen Wei Wang, Ariana has worked with several Vancouver-based companies including Inverso Productions, Vision Impure, Belle Spirale, Rachel Meyers, Wen Wei Dance, Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY and Ballet Vancouver. In 2023, she was honoured to receive the Edmonton Artist’s Trust Fund Award for her contributions to the Edmonton arts community. Alongside her work as a performing artist, she is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Health Sciences at Queen’s University, bringing a parallel curiosity to the body, care, and lived experience. Ariana now lives and dances as a guest on the traditional, unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples in Vancouver, B.C. She is deeply grateful to spend her life being continuously shaped by the people she works with and by the transformative power of movement itself.
Diego Ramalho is a Brazilian born choreographer, performer, and Artistic Director of Ballet Edmonton. Since joining the company in 2018, he has played a key role in its artistic evolution, contributing both as a dancer and as a choreographic voice.
His original works include Valei-Me (2021), which toured nationally and was presented at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, as well as Misericordiae (2019), ’Til Leaves Fall (2022), and Indelible Stain (2026). His choreography is recognized for its physicality, musicality, and contemporary sensibility.
Originally trained in Brazil with roots in breakdance and Capoeira, Diego brings a dynamic and collaborative approach to creation. His artistic voice has been shaped through collaborations with a wide range of established and emerging choreographers, helping to define a practice that is both grounded and exploratory.
As Artistic Director, Diego is committed to fostering a creative environment where artists are supported and challenged, while continuing to expand Ballet Edmonton’s presence locally and nationally. His leadership reflects a belief in the power of contemporary ballet to connect with audiences and build community through shared experience.
