Latest news with #RoyalWinnipegBallet
Hamilton Spectator
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
A musical from Tomson Highway, dancing skateboarders among NAC's upcoming lineup
A long-awaited musical from playwright Tomson Highway, a '90s take on 'Macbeth' and skateboarding stunts are among the spectacles bound for the National Arts Centre. Canada's multidisciplinary home for the performing arts released a 2025-26 lineup Thursday that includes the return of holiday favourites including Handel's 'Messiah' by the NAC Orchestra and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's 'Nutcracker' in December. In between are dance, orchestral, pop music and drama productions from new voices and established veterans. Here's a look at some of the highlights. THEATRE Highway brings the third instalment of his 'Rez Cycle' to NAC's Indigenous Theatre program, with the world première of his musical 'Rose.' The 2003 play is set on the Wasaychigan Hill Reserve in 1992, and revisits several characters from 'The Rez Sisters' and 'Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing.' The story here centres on Emily Dictionary and her biker pals 'as they fight to reclaim their community.' NAC says the musical has never been staged 'due to its scale and ambition.' In the English Theatre lineup, artistic director Nina Lee Aquino directs two world premières: 'Copperbelt' by Natasha Mumba, a co-production with Soulpepper Theatre about the daughter of a powerful African family caught between ambition and the cost of success; and the eco-thriller 'cicadas,' created by David Yee and Chris Thornborrow and co-produced by Tarragon Theatre, in which a very strange house sinks into the earth. The English Theatre lineup also includes Marie Farsi's stage adaptation of 'Fifteen Dogs,' André Alexis's Giller Prize-winning novel about a group of dogs suddenly granted human consciousness. The French Theatre season closes with Shakespeare's 'Macbeth,' directed by Quebec visionary Robert Lepage. The original Stratford Festival production, created in collaboration with Lepage's company Ex Machina, set the action amid the biker wars of the 1990s. ORCHESTRA Music director Alexander Shelley's final season with the NAC Orchestra opens with Giacomo Puccini's opera 'Tosca' and boasts an all-Canadian edition of the Great Performers series, including Toronto's Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Quebec City-based chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy and recitals by Calgary-born pianist Jan Lisiecki and Grammy Award-winning violinist James Ehnes. Soloists include violinists Hilary Hahn and Joshua Bell, cellist Bryan Cheng, and pianists Lang Lang, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Hélène Grimaud. DANCE Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen unleashes what NAC describes as a 'zany' production dubbed 'Skatepark,' in which skateboarding thrill-seekers encounter a group of dancers. Also, Guillaume Côté and Lepage present a dance version of 'Hamlet,' the Royal Winnipeg Ballet offers up a surreal 'Hansel & Gretel' and the National Ballet of Canada presents a new work, 'Procession,' from choreographers Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber. POPULAR MUSIC AND VARIETY The Pops lineup will see singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright hit the stage Oct. 15, followed by Ariane Moffatt on Oct. 16 and Choir! Choir! Choir! on Nov. 23. There's also a tribute to Aretha Franklin featuring Broadway star Capathia Jenkins and soul singer Ryan Shaw, Troupe Vertigo fuses acrobatics and symphonic music, and live concerts of film scores from 'The Muppet Christmas Carol' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.' International artists include the Manchester-based instrumental trio Gogo Penguin on Oct. 17, the Soweto Gospel Choir on Nov. 29 and an onstage conversation and food demonstration with British chef, restaurateur and food writer Yotam Ottolenghi on March 1, 2026. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
A musical from Tomson Highway, dancing skateboarders among NAC's upcoming lineup
A long-awaited musical from playwright Tomson Highway, a '90s take on 'Macbeth' and skateboarding stunts are among the spectacles bound for the National Arts Centre. Canada's multidisciplinary home for the performing arts released a 2025-26 lineup Thursday that includes the return of holiday favourites including Handel's 'Messiah' by the NAC Orchestra and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's 'Nutcracker' in December. In between are dance, orchestral, pop music and drama productions from new voices and established veterans. Here's a look at some of the highlights. THEATRE Highway brings the third instalment of his 'Rez Cycle' to NAC's Indigenous Theatre program, with the world première of his musical 'Rose.' The 2003 play is set on the Wasaychigan Hill Reserve in 1992, and revisits several characters from 'The Rez Sisters' and 'Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing.' The story here centres on Emily Dictionary and her biker pals 'as they fight to reclaim their community.' NAC says the musical has never been staged 'due to its scale and ambition.' In the English Theatre lineup, artistic director Nina Lee Aquino directs two world premières: 'Copperbelt' by Natasha Mumba, a co-production with Soulpepper Theatre about the daughter of a powerful African family caught between ambition and the cost of success; and the eco-thriller 'cicadas,' created by David Yee and Chris Thornborrow and co-produced by Tarragon Theatre, in which a very strange house sinks into the earth. The English Theatre lineup also includes Marie Farsi's stage adaptation of 'Fifteen Dogs,' André Alexis's Giller Prize-winning novel about a group of dogs suddenly granted human consciousness. The French Theatre season closes with Shakespeare's 'Macbeth,' directed by Quebec visionary Robert Lepage. The original Stratford Festival production, created in collaboration with Lepage's company Ex Machina, set the action amid the biker wars of the 1990s. ORCHESTRA Music director Alexander Shelley's final season with the NAC Orchestra opens with Giacomo Puccini's opera 'Tosca' and boasts an all-Canadian edition of the Great Performers series, including Toronto's Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Quebec City-based chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy and recitals by Calgary-born pianist Jan Lisiecki and Grammy Award-winning violinist James Ehnes. Soloists include violinists Hilary Hahn and Joshua Bell, cellist Bryan Cheng, and pianists Lang Lang, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Hélène Grimaud. DANCE Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen unleashes what NAC describes as a 'zany' production dubbed 'Skatepark,' in which skateboarding thrill-seekers encounter a group of dancers. Also, Guillaume Côté and Lepage present a dance version of 'Hamlet,' the Royal Winnipeg Ballet offers up a surreal 'Hansel & Gretel' and the National Ballet of Canada presents a new work, 'Procession,' from choreographers Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. POPULAR MUSIC AND VARIETY The Pops lineup will see singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright hit the stage Oct. 15, followed by Ariane Moffatt on Oct. 16 and Choir! Choir! Choir! on Nov. 23. There's also a tribute to Aretha Franklin featuring Broadway star Capathia Jenkins and soul singer Ryan Shaw, Troupe Vertigo fuses acrobatics and symphonic music, and live concerts of film scores from 'The Muppet Christmas Carol' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.' International artists include the Manchester-based instrumental trio Gogo Penguin on Oct. 17, the Soweto Gospel Choir on Nov. 29 and an onstage conversation and food demonstration with British chef, restaurateur and food writer Yotam Ottolenghi on March 1, 2026. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Thrilling tribute to 50-year ballet legacy
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet closed its 85th season with the poetry of angels Thursday night, as it celebrated the 50-year legacy of outgoing artistic director André Lewis. The internationally renowned leader and former principal dancer — who was accepted into the RWB School's professional division in 1975 — steps down from his 30-year tenure at the helm this month, with the opening night crowd witnessing the poignant end of an era as Lewis passes the baton to incoming director Christopher Stowell. The mixed repertoire production, which runs through Sunday, features a trio of contemporary ballets reflecting different facets of Lewis's career as well as the resilience of the company, able to bend and flex with changing tastes and times — not to mention surviving the global pandemic of 2020. Principal dancer Stephan Azulay with soloist Jaimi Deleau and RWB company dancers in Angels in the Architecture Stephan Azulay's Bolero is the first of those, originally staged during the RWB's annual choreographic showcase Fast Forward in March 2022, with the principal dancer reworking it for its mainstage debut. One of the roughly 16-minute work's most significant changes is now the incorporation of live music, with guest conductor David Briskin masterfully leading the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra through Ravel's enthralling Bolero. Inspired by farruca, a style of Spanish flamenco dance, and paying homage to Azulay's familial roots, the slow-burn ballet unfolds as 24 nattily clad dancers deliver a series of full and smaller ensemble sections in turn, punctuated by effective solos, duos and trios. The piece is at its best during its more visceral moments, including the dancers's loud grunts and shouts of 'Ha!' and 'Whee!' as they punch the air while performing the choreographer's grounded movement lexicon, contrasted by more playful sections. However, as the hypnotic music builds, propelled by its iconic, repeated rat-a-tat-tat snare drum, so too should the choreography, which paradoxically lost its own momentum towards the end. A few more enthralling lifts might have mitigated this overall sense of anticlimax, though the piece nonetheless garnered a roaring standing ovation from the crowd. It's been far too long since the RWB last performed the blazing Hikarizatto by Itzik Galili (who was in attendance); the highly intricate work was given its local première in May 2007. The dancers, wearing soft ballet slippers, morph into a living, breathing kaleidoscope under razor sharp shafts of light. The high-octane, 18-minute work accompanied by a recording of Netherlands-based percussion ensemble Percossa's driving, same-titled score, particularly showcases the fierce artistry of these committed dancers with its core couples (with alternating leads): Julianna Generoux/Azulay; and Maggie Weatherdon/Logan Savard highlighted throughout. A special mention goes to Savard — who wowed audiences as Dr. Henry Jekyll in Jekyll and Hyde in March — for his equally dazzling solo, in which he first shoots onstage like an arrow, as well as a later solo by departing soloist Michel Lavoie, soon to be packing his ballet slippers for Houston Ballet. Corps de ballet dancer Maggie Weatherdon in Hikarizatto A significant part of Lewis's legacy has been commissioning/performing a treasure trove of internationally acclaimed, Montreal-based choreographer and former RWB soloist Mark Godden's mesmerizing ballets, including: Going Home Star — Truth and Reconciliation; Dracula; Svengali; and The Magic Flute, now part of the company's very DNA ('Miroirs' will forever remain a favourite of this writer). Angels in the Architecture — inspired by American Christian sect the Shakers and based on Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring — is part of that lineage. It's the program's oldest work, given its RWB world première just three years shy of 1995, when Lewis first assumed the reins as interim artistic director, thus adding a further grace note to the evening. The compelling ballet features an effective set design by Godden and his longtime collaborator Paul Daigle, the latter also creating flowing white skirts for the women and simple trousers and suspenders for the men. It teems with Godden's signature, highly theatrical choreographic style, juxtaposing classical ballet with more pedestrian influences, including angular, gestural movement, cocked wrists and fluttering, often flexed feet. Striking images and 'trompe-l'oeil' effects abound, including rustic corn brooms hung on upstage pegs being pushed by dancers to swing in the dark. One particularly magical moment sees the male dancers hoist wooden chairs onto their backs to become rocking chairs for the women. The moment when 1848 Shaker song Simple Gifts, more colloquially known as 'Tis a Gift to be Simple, begins to waft from the orchestra pit elicits chills. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. However, when the women billow their skirts like wings during the ballet's final moments as lights dim, one can't help but feel the presence of angels, creating a simple benediction for Lewis's inestimable service to this company he's given his heart and soul to for the last half-century. Corps de ballet dancer Maggie Weatherdon in Hikarizatto As expected, the full company of dancers — joined by an emotional Lewis, now taking the stage for his final curtain call — received another thunderous ovation by the appreciative crowd. Thank you, André, for 50 glorious years. You shall be missed.
Winnipeg Free Press
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Steady hand, bold vision: For 30 years, André Lewis steered Royal Winnipeg Ballet toward adventurous artistic choices
For 50 years, André Lewis has been part of the fabric of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, first as a ballet student, then as a company dancer, then finally as artistic director, a post he's held for 30 years. It's hard to imagine RWB without him. 'I can't actually picture it,' says associate artistic director and former principal dancer Tara Birtwhistle, who herself has been with the ballet for 35 years and was a student before that. 'He was always there — how do you even describe that? He was just this grounding force I knew was always with me.' In 2023, Lewis, 70, announced he would be stepping down in 2025. The 2023/24 season was dubbed the Living the Dream season — a wink to his catchphrase whenever anyone would ask how he was doing — as a celebration of Lewis's artistic vision and legacy. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS André Lewis is retiring from the RWB after a long career as a dancer and then artistic director. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS André Lewis is retiring from the RWB after a long career as a dancer and then artistic director. Now, here we are: this week's performances of Bolero With Angels in the Architecture & Hikarizatto at the Centennial Concert Hall will be the final shows of his final season. 'It went fast,' he says. 'I mean, 30 years went fast.' When a 40-year-old Lewis took the reins as artistic director — on an interim basis in 1995, then officially in 1996 — it was a turbulent time at the ballet. Three artistic directors had come and gone within the space of about five years after Arnold Spohr had been in the role for 30. Principal dancer Henny Jurriens was hired to succeed Spohr in 1988, but he and his wife were tragically killed in a car accident the following year. Jurriens was succeeded by John Meehan, who was artistic director from 1990 to 1993, followed by William Whitener, who was in the role from 1993 to 1995. Lewis had had his eye on the top job for a while and had been asked to step in on an interim basis in between Jurriens and Meehan and then again after Whitener. He'd also applied for the role twice and had been turned down because the board thought he was too young. RWB ARCHIVES But Lewis knew he could be a steady presence — like Spohr, whom he'd admired. 'I saw his commitment and his respect and support for the organization,' Lewis says of the late Spohr. 'He was an incredible person. He could be difficult, he could be sarcastic, he could be kind of poking, but generally speaking, I did not get that treatment.' Lewis appreciated how Spohr conducted himself with the board, too. 'I just didn't want to adopt his way of rehearsing,' Lewis says. Spohr was old-school. Lewis was much more aligned with Jurriens' approach. 'The old-fashioned way of doing things is you're at the very top and you shout and scream until the dancer reaches the level that you feel is appropriate,' Lewis says. 'Whereas Henny came and he went underneath the dancer and tried to lift them to their level. So it's a much more positive message, which is the way I felt needed to happen.' The 2024/25 season has been a banner one for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Stephan Azulay. Not only was this his first season as a principal dancer, the top rank in the company, but this week he will make his mainstage debut as a choreographer with Bolero, which will be presented on a mixed-repertoire triple bill including Mark Godden's Angels in the Architecture and Itzik Galili's Hikarizatto. 'I'm really excited,' Azulay says. 'It sounds silly when I say it, but it's special because in a lot of ways, when we did it, it kind of choreographed itself. So it just feels very comfortable — in a good way.' The 2024/25 season has been a banner one for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Stephan Azulay. Not only was this his first season as a principal dancer, the top rank in the company, but this week he will make his mainstage debut as a choreographer with Bolero, which will be presented on a mixed-repertoire triple bill including Mark Godden's Angels in the Architecture and Itzik Galili's Hikarizatto. 'I'm really excited,' Azulay says. 'It sounds silly when I say it, but it's special because in a lot of ways, when we did it, it kind of choreographed itself. So it just feels very comfortable — in a good way.' Bolero first debuted in 2022 at Fast Forward, the RWB's black-box theatre showcase. The move to the big stage will allow for some extra flourishes, including more dancers and, crucially, a live orchestra. 'That's just the kicker,' he says of having live music. 'It's going to be amazing. It's just a piece of music that's iconic.' Bolero is set to Maurice Ravel's 1928 work of the same name and is among the French composer's most famous compositions. 'I have this playlist of things I want to choreograph to and it was sitting at the top for a long time,' says Azukay, who has choreographed several other pieces on members of the company, including Bleecker & 6th, Compound, Summer, Intersperse and Kick, Kick, Snare. But he had another reason for the selection. 'I really wanted to do something loosely flamenco-inspired,' Azulay says. That's a nod to his childhood. His father, Antonio Vargas, is a famed flamenco dancer, and a young Azulay, who was born in London, England, was steeped in the culture. 'When I was very young, I would just imitate him — and this was when I could barely walk,' he says. 'My mom and dad would tour Europe with these contemporary flamenco productions and I would just tag along with them. 'I have photos of me as a two or three year old doing flamenco and the one I was famous for among my dad's colleagues and friends was doing the farruca, which is a subset of flamenco dance that's usually done with a chair and a cane and a hat. It was just a funny thing I did — and was a very good imitation, I hear,' he says with a laugh. Bolero, naturally, borrows elements of the farruca — right down to the chairs — to create a dynamic, contemporary work. 'It's not like I'm using a piece of flamenco music, but there's definitely a kind of Spanish influence within Bolero,' Azulay says. 'It's a good vessel for a lot of styles. And I think for me, it was able to bridge flamenco with ballet very well.' — Jen Zoratti Lewis was also interested in taking the company in a more contemporary direction. '(Artistic) vision is most clearly expressed through the repertoire you do. It was really important for us, I felt, to go into contemporary full-lengths, like we did with The Handmaid's Tale or Dracula or Snow White or Jekyll and Hyde, Peter Pan, Moulin Rouge, Magic Flute — none of that existed in my days as a dancer,' Lewis says of a time when the RWB focused mostly on mixed-repertoire programs. And it all began with Mark Godden's Dracula in 1998. It was the RWB's first contemporary full-length ballet — as well as first full-length choreographed by Godden, a former company soloist. (Godden also choreographed Angels in the Architecture, which is part of this week's mixed-repertoire bill.) Dracula didn't just cement a new artistic vision for the ballet, laying the groundwork for all the bold commissions that followed. It also established Lewis as someone who could work well with choreographers because he trusts their vision. 'I'm not a choreographer, so I wasn't gonna sit beside a choreographer and argue with them,' Lewis says. Lewis recalls a bit of a flap around Dracula and Godden — with whom Lewis would work many, many times — wanting to use the music of Gustav Mahler for the score. 'Lots of people said, 'Oh, this is so boring,' Lewis recalls. 'Shockingly. But I felt it was the right choice. And I wouldn't have told Mark, 'No, you can't use Mahler.'' Dracula was a hit, and the ballet was adapted into a film by Guy Maddin. Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (2002) won an International Emmy. Birtwhistle always lists Lucy in Dracula as among her favourite roles during her time as a company dancer. Lewis promoted her to principal shortly thereafter. 'I can't picture my career without André,' Birtwhistle says, describing his leadership style as calm and steady. 'Our relationship changed too, obviously, because you go from a dancer to artistic staff to, ultimately associate director. It evolved into very much a partnership.' DAVID COOPER PHOTO In 1999, Lewis commissioned the Canadian-themed Nutcracker — choreographed by Galina Yordanova and Nina Menon, and set at Christmastime in Winnipeg at the turn of the last century — that, 25 years on, continues to be a juggernaut holiday tradition. He also commissioned timely works such as Lila York's adaptation of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale in 2013, and Godden's Going Home Star — Truth and Reconciliation in 2014, a work about intergenerational trauma experienced by Indian residential school survivors and their families. 'I think we were able to create or bring about some really unique works to the organization that have redefined or advanced the concept of what ballet can be,' Lewis says. That is, in large part, because Lewis is not afraid to take a chance on an idea. 'Sometimes it's a riskier idea — but creation is risky,' he says. He thinks back to the Dracula days, when he was a newly minted artistic director wanting to do something different. 'At the time, there were a lot of people pushing, saying that we had no business in the full-length business. Well, I disagree, and ultimately, I did it my way. 'That's why we've got André Lewis Way,' Lewis jokes, referring to the stretch of Graham Avenue between Edmonton and Carlton streets that now bears his name. RWB ARCHIVES Lewis was only supposed to stay in Winnipeg for a summer. It was 1975, and he had a girlfriend at the time whose parents lived in Australia. 'The idea is we were going to travel across Canada, stop in Winnipeg, do a summer school, then move on to Australia, where we were going to figure things out,' Lewis says. One of those things was the language: the Gatineau, Que.-born and -raised Lewis didn't speak any English in those days, only French. But then, his girlfriend got injured and had to go back to Ottawa, where the pair were studying ballet. The Australia plan was dead. 'I didn't have a penny. I did not have parental support. I was meant to go to the University of Ottawa in kinesiology,' Lewis says. Instead, he ended up staying in Winnipeg to pursue his ballet training after being accepted into the RWB School's Professional Division, studying under Jacqueline Weber and David Moroni. In the evenings, he worked at Canada Packers' chicken plant as a shipper. 'I had to work in a freezer, in a deep freezer. Here I come to Winnipeg, where three-quarters of the year is a deep freeze, and there I was,' he says with a laugh. 'I did that for four years.' DAVID COOPER PHOTO André Lewis with Elizabeth Olds in a performance of The Hands for the RWB. DAVID COOPER PHOTO In 1979, he was accepted into the company as a corps de ballet member and was promoted to soloist in 1982. Among the highlights from his dance career are partnering with Evelyn Hart, as well as performing in the Winnipeg première of Rudi van Dantzig's Romeo & Juliet in 1981. The RWB still performs that version. The RWB changed the trajectory of Lewis's life — and not just professionally. It's where he met his wife, Caroline Gruber, a former RWB company dancer and ballet master. They have two children, now adults. Their son, Daniel, is studying law. But their daughter, Emilie, is in the family business. A member of the corps de ballet, Emilie Lewis trained in the RWB School starting in Level 1 and joined the company in 2020. Being the artistic director's daughter doesn't confer any special treatment. In fact, Lewis expects his role could be a challenge for her. 'She's always had the fact that her dad was the artistic director, her mom was a ballet master, so it can create that sense of nepotism,' Lewis says. 'But I can tell you she worked twice as hard because of that and has proven time and again that she was up to the parts that were given to her, because she's a very strong dancer.' 'It's definitely a different situation,' Emilie says. 'But we really figured out a balance of working together, but also not taking it home and really balancing a normal life together and supporting each other through the normal things — like just going for a walk with the dog and enjoying that time together.' DAVID COOPER PHOTO André Lewis partnered with Evelyn Hart in Nuages for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. DAVID COOPER PHOTO Emilie looks up to her father as a leader. 'He's a lover of stories and he has such a strong vision of how he wants to portray the organization,' she says. 'I always say that he holds himself very calmly and that's something I admire.' Like Birtwhistle, it hasn't quite hit her that Lewis will not be a daily presence at the ballet. But to Emilie, he's not just André Lewis, artistic director. He's also dad. 'I'm excited for him to come see performances as a parent,' she says. 'And see shows and enjoy the work that he's done for the organization — to just come into the building with a sense of pride, of course, because this is what he's built and worked hard towards. 'Yes, I'm one of the dancers, but I am very proud as a daughter and as a family member of what he's accomplished.' Lewis's tenure hasn't been without challenges — from naysayers right on up to a global pandemic that effectively killed live performance — but he has risen to them, without compromising his artistic vision. 'I don't think there's a single work that I have brought to this organization or created or acquired or revived that some people didn't have a varying view from where I was — and fair enough,' he says. 'But at the end of the day, I've got thick enough skin to say, 'Well, I did it my way.'' There are many ways the public can celebrate André Lewis at the Centennial Concert Hall this week. Roses for André: Patrons can purchase a rose at any performance to contribute to a nightly on-stage bouquet presented to Lewis. Tags will be attached to add a personal note. Guest Book: Patrons can sign a guest book for Lewis that will be located in the lobby near the photo booth or merchandise area. On Saturday, the guest book will move upstairs to the Piano Nobile. Saturday Meet & Greet: After Saturday's performance, the RWB will host a meet-and-greet with Lewis on the Piano Nobile. Bolero with Angels in the Architecture & Hikarizatto Centennial Concert Hall Thursday to Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m. Tickets start at $39 at Jen ZorattiColumnist Jen Zoratti is a columnist and feature writer working in the Arts & Life department, as well as the author of the weekly newsletter NEXT. A National Newspaper Award finalist for arts and entertainment writing, Jen is a graduate of the Creative Communications program at RRC Polytech and was a music writer before joining the Free Press in 2013. Read more about Jen. Every piece of reporting Jen produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print – part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
15-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
'We've been tokenized': Royal Winnipeg Ballet's entire Indigenous advisory circle resigns
Social Sharing Members of an Indigenous advisory committee at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet say they're cutting ties with the organization after seven years. The Indigenous advisory circle — comprising lawyer Danielle Morrison, two-spirit elder Albert McLeod and University of Winnipeg professor Kevin Lamoureaux — resigned en masse along with a board member via letter on Friday afternoon. The advisory circle, formed in 2018, was intended to make Canada's oldest ballet company "a more equitable, diverse and inclusive organization," the ballet's website says. But that goal was at odds with the advisory circle's experience with the ballet's management and board of directors, said Morrison, the advisory circle's co-founder. "Essentially, what it boils down to is that we've had this Indigenous advisory circle since 2018, and we have never been invited to have board representation," she told CBC News. "It's really hard to provide any recommendations about the direction of where the organization is going if we're not part of the strategic planning." Morrison said the advisory circle told the ballet's leadership that they should have board representation in 2018 and again in 2023, but that didn't happen. She described the advisory circle's communication with the ballet's management and board as subpar. "Leadership and your board is a reflection of your organization, and I'm really sorry to say that the relationship simply was not there," she said. The group was typically called on to make appearances at the opening and closing ceremonies of the ballet's season, according to Morrison. "We're not seen as equal partners. We're seen as people that need to be consulted with," she said. "We're only called upon when we're needed. It's usually when something bad is happening in the organization, or their reputation might be at risk." Ballet 'will listen and learn' Morrison says she wants the ballet company to offer the group a formal apology. John Osler, chair of the ballet's board, said in a statement to CBC News that the company respects the advisory circle's decision and offers its gratitude for their guidance. "We will continue to seek meaningful relationships within the Indigenous community, we will listen and learn from what has been respectfully shared on where we must do better, and we will work with Indigenous advisers and communities on finding new pathways to reconciliation," he said. Albert McLeod, who joined the advisory circle about a few years ago, says the group wanted to be involved in the hiring of the ballet's new artistic director, but no one engaged with them during that process. They learned Christopher Stowell was taking the job through the news last month. "It's come to this because we've been tokenized and people don't really care what we think," he said. Indigenous people have been dancing in North America for centuries, and the advisory circle was a chance for the ballet company to understand how Indigenous people wanted to see themselves represented in the company's productions, McLeod said. It was also an opportunity for the ballet to incorporate the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' 231 Calls to Justice into its operations. However, McLeod says, the ballet is stuck in its own bubble. "This is the time for change, and you have to have confidence and ability to do that, and certainly ballet has done that for centuries, but it's not evident here." The end of the advisory circle is also a loss for McLeod. "I really appreciated the opportunities to see the ballet performances, to see the dancers, the artistry," he said.
