Ballet Kelowna Will Debut RESTLESS BALANCE With Original Choreography
The program will feature Threefold Beat, a new piece inspired by the rhythm and flow of the body's cardiovascular system.
Ballet Kelowna will present three evocative works this Valentine's Day weekend with its mixed program, Restless Balance, on stage February 13, 2026 at 7:30pm and February 14, 2026 at 1:30pm and 7:30pm, at the Kelowna Community Theatre.
The program will feature Threefold Beat, a new piece inspired by the rhythm and flow of the body's cardiovascular system. Choreographed collaboratively by Ballet Kelowna Rehearsal Director Joanna Lige and company dancers Kurt Werner and Donaldo Nava, their first-ever work for the company celebrates the athleticism and virtuosity of ballet. Restless Balance also includes the return of the contemporary favourite taqəš by Associate Artist Cameron sinkʷə Fraser-Monroe, and Schubert, a neoclassical reflection on the life of a ballerina created by esteemed Canadian choreographer John Alleyne.
“We are thrilled to welcome a New Year with a mixed program that showcases the brilliant versatility and depth of Ballet Kelowna's company of dancers,” says Simone Orlando, Ballet Kelowna's Artistic Director and CEO. “Not only will they demonstrate their technical artistry on stage, moving between classical and contemporary works, but they will also have the unique opportunity to perform a world premiere choreographed by their beloved peers Kurt Werner and Donaldo Nava and Rehearsal Director Joanna Lige. We are simply delighted to invite Kelowna audiences to experience the many facets of Ballet Kelowna, from artistic performance to choreographic creation.”
Threefold Beat will present a breathtaking reflection on the cardiovascular system – the body's engine of motion and exchange – set to Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. At its core is the heart: a relentless pump that governs pace and pressure, shaping how we move through space and life. Together, Ballet Kelowna's Lige, Nava, and Werner will each develop their own distinct choreography, with each perspective circulating, intersecting, and diverging through the work. Ballet Kelowna's ensemble of dancers function as the living system they are referencing, with each body both an independent force and a vital conduit of the greater whole.
The dynamic program will also feature the contemporary work taqəš by Fraser-Monroe, who combines his training and knowledge of classical ballet coupled with Grass and Hoop dance to follow the traditional story of “Raven Returns the Water,” when p̓oho (raven) goes in search of the world's water, which has mysteriously disappeared. Featuring music by Polaris Prize-winning composer and singer Jeremy Dutcher, taqəš premiered digitally in 2021, and has since toured extensively across Canada.
A member of the Tla'amin First Nation, Fraser-Monroe was Ballet Kelowna's first Artist in Residence (2022/23) and a Choreographer in Residence with Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet (2023/24), where he created T'əl: The Wild Man of the Woods. Fraser-Monroe has created four works for Ballet Kelowna, including taqəš, ʔɛmaxwiygə, payɛčot yɛχət, and The Cowboy Act Suite.
The program will conclude with the remount of John Alleyne's Schubert, originally commissioned by Ballet BC in 2000. Set to Franz Schubert's luminous Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major, the neoclassical piece honours three pillars of a dancer's experience: youth, beauty, and wisdom as it reflects on the central role women play in the evolution of the art form. The graceful work brings a “sensuousness and sophistication” (The Georgia Straight) to its rhythmic and emotionally resonant portrayal of the stages of a dancer's career.
A graduate of The National Ballet School, Alleyne was a dancer with Stuttgart Ballet and The National Ballet of Canada, later becoming resident choreographer at The National Ballet in 1990. He was appointed Artistic Director of Ballet BC in 1992, where he led the company until 2009.
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