Ballet dancers return to the stage at Calgary's Jubilee Auditorium
Alberta Ballet is back after a forced hiatus due to the pandemic and it's starting with a fan favourite, Swan Lake, that opens Oct. 21.
It tells the tale of Prince Siegfried and the Swan Queen and is considered a hallmark of classical ballet.
The ballet company had originally intended to perform Swan Lake in its 2019/20 season and the empty seats at the Jubilee will be filled with many patrons who purchased tickets as far back as the summer 2019.
Co-artistic director Christopher Anderson says society has been without the emotional power of live performance a long time and Swan Lake is deeply expressive and passionate.
"I would say that the version that we are sharing now is a far more intimate and vulnerable interpretation but it's really living and breathing with them, I see myself as a guide more than anything," said Anderson.
He's been challenged preparing for the show by pandemic restrictions.
"We've been everywhere from our studios closed to open for single dancers," he said. "We've recorded a series of classes that they can access digitally and then we've gone from working in groups of two to three to four and then eventually before we came into the Jubilee, we were all the way up to groups of 15."
This iconic production also ushers in a new era for Alberta Ballet that includes a new vision to create impact all over the province and an endowment campaign to support these goals.
"Arts organizations needs an endowment," said co-artistic director Jean Grand-Maître. "Because they're saying in the coming decades hundreds of us will disappear without those endowments so it makes us very vulnerable to the future."
Grand-Maître says the campaign kicked off with a $3 million donation from supporter Barbara Palmer.
"We were asking some of our major donors during the pandemic to sustain us," he said. "I think something happened magical throughout all the hardships of the pandemic, it opened the hearts of a lot of people and so donations have been coming in, in the way I haven't seen in 20 years."
As a resident company of the Jubilee Auditorium, Alberta Ballet is following the Jubilee’s COVID-19 health and safety policies. The facility will operate at full capacity for performances under the Restriction Exemption Program and will follow all requirements, municipal and provincial, for in-person events.
"Come in show either your proof of vaccination or the QR code, we are set up to scan, or a negative rapid test, if that's the route that you that you're going and then line up at the bar, grab a drink, go to your seat and enjoy the show," said the Jubilee's acting general manager Scott Mctavish.
Alberta Ballet has also implemented a Relaxed Refund Policy for the duration of the 2021-22 season to give patrons greater flexibility as they consider returning to live events.
Swan Lake will run at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary from Oct. 21 to 30, and in Edmonton at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium from Nov. 5 to 7.
Tickets are available at AlbertaBallet.com.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Three dead, two hospitalized, following collision in Fredericton: police
Three people have died and two have been hospitalized after a speeding car struck a tree and landed on another vehicle in Fredericton Sunday morning.
Amid climate change warnings, Canadians lukewarm on electric vehicles
Amid scientists' warnings that nations need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change, Canadians are still lukewarm on electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Madonna's biggest-ever concert transforms Rio's Copacabana beach into a massive dance floor
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
1 person killed and 23 injured in a bus crash in northern Maryland, police say
One person was killed and 23 others were injured when a bus crashed early Sunday on Interstate 95 in northern Maryland, police said.
Nylander defends Leafs' core after playoff exit, Toronto again picks up the pieces
William Nylander stood in a solemn visitors locker room at TD Garden just before midnight. The Maple Leafs had battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss. Nylander's message was emphatic.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
‘Love has no boundaries’: Sask. couple in their 90s and 80s get married
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Video shows gaggle of geese stopping traffic on Highway 1 near Vancouver
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.