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Alberta Ballet is preparing some fairytale favourites with a twist for its audiences in Calgary and Edmonton next year.
A fantastical, interpretation of Hansel and Gretel, Der Wolf’s dark reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood, and the age-old tale of The Sleeping Beauty are interspersed with a portrait piece of Argentina’s first lady Eva Perón and the classic Hamlet in the 2023–24 program.
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“This is our most progressive and ambitious program of the season, in the sense of really putting the art form forward,” says Christopher Anderson, artistic director of Alberta Ballet. “The curtain comes down and it’s arresting in how it sort of immediately sets a tone.”
The season opens with Doña Perón, a portrait piece by Ballet Hispánico about Eva “Evita” Perón, Argentina’s First Lady from 1946 to 1952. This new exploration of her short life and her activism, also examined in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita, was developed by Annabelle Ochoa Lopez, whose world premiere of Botero wowed Edmonton audiences in May.
“She is electrifying,” Anderson says of Ochoa Lopez. “The way that she moves around in the studio and generates the work — she’s a true force.”
In February, Beijing Dance Theatre’s Hamlet hits the stage, long-awaited after the 2021 show was cancelled due to the pandemic. With an original score by Dirk Haubrich, choreographer Yuanyuan Wang brings one of Shakespeare’s most well-known characters to life in this Canadian debut.
Projections lend the feel of an old-fashioned film to March’s Canadian premiere of Hansel & Gretel, by Royal New Zealand Ballet’s choreographer-in-residence, Loughlan Prior. Large, exaggerated costumes add a cartoonish element, and as with the best family-friendly productions, it will surprise and delight audiences of all ages in both its aesthetic and temperament.
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“It’s so playful and there is so much humour in it,” says Anderson.
The Sleeping Beauty, a fan favourite last seen in 2018, returns to the stage in October, this time set in the Rocky Mountains. As in The Nutcracker, a holiday necessity for many balletgoers, audiences can expect a warm, familiar story with a large cast.
And the double bill of Der Wolf & The Rite of Spring combines two intense works for a season capper that’s set to be unforgettable. In this Canadian dual premiere, choreographer Morgan Runacre-Temple builds on Austrian opera house Oper Graz’s 2021 moody interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood, while choreographer Nicolo Fonte brings a fresh lens to 1913’s controversial The Right of Spring, which still features the original score by Igor Stravinsky.
Alberta Ballet performs at the Jubilee Auditoriums in Calgary and Edmonton, and tickets for the season go on sale Saturday. Find the full program and tickets at albertaballet.com.
