The Ballet Store - SUMMER INTENSIVES AT BALLET JORGEN

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As the 2009/2010 season draws to a close, we look back on a fantastic year with wonderful dance moments and new directions for the company. It was truly invigorating to see so many choreographers participate in our Solos & Duets program, which resulted in 15 creations by 13 artists! Keep an eye out for some of these works in next season's programming.

With an increased focus on education and outreach, we have added classes and workshops in every community we perform in, right across the country, and we also developed several new outreach programs.One of my best memories is working with a team of 30 or so Grade 12 boys who had come straight from the Ball Hockey field at Corner Brook High School in Newfoundland. They were the best ever Gargoyles from Cinderella. Now, if I could only have managed to get them to "pointe" their feet, the possibilities would be endless...

Before we lower the curtain on this season, we still have two new major initiatives debuting in June - an advanced summer intensive for talented students, and the Ballet Jörgen Canada Junior Company, which will support young dancers transitioning into a professional career. Composed of talented dancers from across Canada working alongside BJC professional dancers, these artists will perform existing repertoire and create a new work during the month of July. We will also present a range of summer programs for younger dancers under the George Brown Dance banner.

Perhaps at no time during our 22 year history have we had a stronger company than today! Our dancers are exceptional, able to effortlessly go from one ballet to another, work in any setting, and deliver extraordinary performances day in and day out. Their passion and commitment seeps through everything we do and it is a privilege to lead this talented group of artists. As we continue to broaden our repertoire in the upcoming season, I am looking forward to seeing many of them step into new roles. Stay tuned for our 2010/2011 season announcement which will include some very exciting new ballets!

With best regards,

Bengt Jörgen,
Artistic Director & CEO

Photo credits: Hiroto Saito and Taylor Gill, photo taken by Irina Popova

special: summer dancing, an artist's perspective

Summer programs are an important aspect of any dancer's aspiring career; after all, there is little mystery behind the importance of dancing to a dancer, whether it is in the studio, on the stage, or participating in summer programs. Alyssa Stevens, a company member, had her first personal experience with summer dancing at the renowned Banff program. Jennifer Lee, currently a dance student, is joining us in the upcoming Ballet Jörgen Canada Summer Ballet Intensive. Here are their thoughts about summer programs.

Alyssa Stevens:

"The very first summer program I attended was the Banff Summer Intensive Training program. It is really where I realized that I wanted to be a ballet dancer, mostly because summer programs give you the opportunity to feel what it’s like to be a professional dancer. When I attended the Banff program I was only 13 years old, and was used to dancing a couple hours a day after school. Here I got the chance to work with amazing teachers and choreographers, and I was dancing all day; it was such an eye opener for me and I remember going away feeling so inspired and driven. It was also where I met so many good friends and people who were after the same thing I was; I am still friends with a lot of them today. During the five-week program I danced all day, 6 days a week, and I had never been happier. It was so much fun to be able to stay in a dorm with those close friends. It made me feel so grown up, even though I was just a kid. Every summer I would look forward to dancing and just being able to taste the life of a professional dancer. I was learning repertoire from great ballets like Giselle, La Bayadère, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, and A Mid-Summer Night's Dream. After attending the Banff program for two summers, I then went on to the Goh Ballet summer program and Boston Ballet’s summer intensive. Through these summer programs I decided that I needed to take my dancing to the next level. I started a year round professional ballet program at Goh ballet. The memories and experiences I take away from these summers I could never replace. Even though it was probably not your regular summer of playing in a park and being at camp, for me there was nothing better."

Jennifer Lee:

I am really looking forward to Ballet Jörgen Canada's upcoming summer intensive because it is the first I have come across since moving to Toronto last year that is entirely 100% ballet. Being taught by members of the company will give us insight to company environment as well as push us farther than we think we can go.

Information:

For more information on the Ballet Jörgen Canada Summer Ballet Intensive, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
For more information on the Ballet Jörgen Canada Junior Company, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Photo credits
Dancers: (top photo) Preston McBain, Tara Butler, Taylor Gill, Yoo Sang Hong (bottom photos, left to right) Alyssa Stevens and Danielle Rosengren
Photographers: (top photo) Linda Schettle, (bottom photos, left to right) Irina Popova, Irina Popova, and Linda Schettle

special: summer dancing, the George Brown Dance summer classes

Sometimes, the young dancers who work with us at Ballet Jörgen Canada are so utterly fantastic that it is really hard to remember that being a ballroom attendant, tree fairy, frog, or bear cub is not a completely natural thing for them! We owe a great debt to those who participate because they offer such a vivid perspective of how important our work is to younger generations. You cannot under-estimate the importance of dance in a young person's life. Ballet Jörgen Canada has an excellent record of developing quality dance education programs, and one of the best kept secrets is the innovative and unique George Brown Dance summer programs, where we see young artists featured in learning opportunities as immersive as faculty-taught dance classes. This summer, George Brown Dance is running its programs from August 3-13 for a range of dance students, including those as young as 9 years old! If you have, or know, any past Cinderella court attendants, chipmunks or dragonflies (or any aspiring ones!), an opportunity for them to work on their Ballet, Jazz and Hip-Hop would be a fantastic way to spend a summer week!

Pre-professional Program
Ages 15 and up
August 3-13, 2010

Youth Program
Ages 12-14
August 9-13, 2010

Junior Program
Ages 9-11
August 6-9, 2010

Ballet Jörgen Canada is pleased to give a 15% Discount off of these summer program fees for George Brown Dance Students and Graduates, 2009 Nutcracker Youth Cast members, and our 2009/2010 Local Participants from across the country. For more information, contact Clea Iveson at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

what our audiences say: Cinderella in Atlantic Canada

We receive tons of letters and emails from audiences across Canada, and having just returned from Atlantic Canada, we were delighted to receive this message:

"Thank you once again Bengt Jörgen.

Your production of Cinderella at the Rebecca Cohn in Halifax once more lifted my spirits and filled my soul with healing, humour, and beauty. From the opening to the final scene, I was enthralled.

Your choreography as usual, is breathtaking. How you capture, not just through acting but through movement, dance steps, and motion, the essence of speech without words is a mystery to us, the lay audience. The transitions from movement to movement are impeccable and surely what Prokofiev must have felt in creating his music. I particularly loved what you did with 'the Love of Three Oranges' section; you dared to tread that fine balance between subtle and broad strokes at the same time. Brilliant! Both humorous and refined! Incredibly evocative yet filled with amusement.

Which brings me to the subject of your dynamic and finely-tuned dancers. Tara Butler is, as you know better than us, a non pariel, and not enough can be said about her engaging and eloquent excellence - a delight that takes us with her through her enormous emotional range and leaves us wrung out, just as if we had experienced what she has throughout her performance. However, it is your corps de ballet that is truly the coeur de ballet of your company. Each dancer contributes more than style, but an all out and fully extended performance, so much so, that his/her subtle moves draw the eye towards the character that each has created upon the stage. Exciting that in so little time we have learned to make them personal - and even our friends. And of course the tremendous performance, artistic, acting, and athletic, of Iveson and Stevens was nothing short of extraordinary. They must lose weight after each performance! Your own performance was a most enjoyable character interpretation. I hope that you enjoyed it as much as we did. Your dance master teachers must be congratulated!

The cleverly mobile tress were as masterful as the costumes which helped to cast the characters. The combination of modern (fairies) and traditional (regency wigs and dress) was daring and worked extremely well.

Again, I thank you for the humour which alleviated the tears as I watched the sheer beauty of Tara Butler's performance!

As you can tell, I am a fan of Ballet Jörgen Canada, and make it my goal to see you when you come to Halifax, whether I can afford it or not. And perhaps, now that I know you have a charitable status, when I have a little to spare I will be able to support you in some small way.

I have only one complaint. You too must present yourself, whether in costume or not, to accept our thanks and sign autographs at the end of the performance.

Continue to create,"
Pat Kidd, Halifax

Photo Credits
Dancers: (top photo) Tara Butler (bottom photos, left to right): Tara Butler, Clea Iveson, Alyssa Stevens, Cristina Tucciarone
Photographers: (top photo) Bill Wang (bottom photos) Yi Jiang

news

The Spring Graduation Showcase
By Ray Hogg

Early in April, George Brown Dance's Artistic Coordinator Christine Heath asked me if I would take over the Artistic Directorship of the 2010 George Brown Dance Spring Showcase. I was thrilled, honoured, and eager to jump in with both feet! We agreed that we would discuss the myriad of details related to getting the show up and running after the audition for incoming students. Monday at noon seemed like a good time to sit down and hash it all out.

Imagine my increasing sense of shock when Monday came and went with no sign of Christine. We joked around the office that "Maybe she had her little one today - nah, not possible! She's probably just feeling under the weather... Yeah, she probably caught that little flu bug that's been going around..." After all, her leave was scheduled to begin - two days later. Well, as we all now know, Christine had her baby and my shock was replaced with delight for our friend and colleague and her newly expanded family. Its worth saying that, yes, she had her baby on time but two days before she could fill me in on all of the things I needed to know! So as far as I was concerned that little one came early - too early!

My choices were to keep on keeping on, or throw in the towel.

I decided to draw on my experience as a long time performer and do my best to put on a really good show. It is with tremendous pride and thanks to all of the remarkable contributors, volunteers, choreographers, fellow faculty members, dancers, and audience members that I say this: Our show was a hit!

The audience support was long, loud, and limitless, and I am confident in saying that our students were able to experience first-hand the rigors and glories of a high-caliber performance situation. (OK, it wasn't exactly limitless applause... the audience did quiet down when the house lights came up between dances, but it was still a really strong response.)

It is my belief that an essential part of dance training is exposure to high-quality repertoire, and performance in a professional venue. Our students had the opportunity to perform an excerpt from Ballet Jörgen Canada's Petrushka, and dance in four new commissions that ran the gamut from rousing and emotional Classical Ballet by Jane Wooding, stunning Contact Improv-based Contemporary Dance by Kathleen Rea, rockin' and rollin' Contemporary Jazz by yours truly and a look at world events and cosmic struggles as seen by Jazz master Derek Sangster. I am pleased to report that the students rose to the occasion and turned out some really inspired performances at the Betty Oliphant Theatre.

I think I will always remember the image of Ellen Macdonald in white with the 15-foot long train of her dress being maniacally and wildly manipulated by a cast of thousands (or so it seemed) while Eric Solu danced, writhed and ran in an increasingly desperate bid for her attention and release, or the intense heat generated by the Dance Performance Preparation class of 2010's barely clad, nose-to-nose slow dancing to the sounds of Led Zeppelin while the lights slowly faded from noon-time brightness to the orange-gold glory of a gorgeous sunset.

I will never forget the delicious simplicity of the pas-de-quatre choreographed for and danced lovingly, tenderly, and with technical clarity by Matthew Johnson, Jennifer Lee, Shane McMackin and Adrianna Calvo. Neither will I ever relive again the surprise delight, pride, and professional jealousy I felt at the inventive jazz pas-de-deux so creatively composed by Derek Sangster for his wonderful dancers. (I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish I had thought of some of those lifts first.)

What better way to introduce our graduates to the dance community and to prepare our first year students for the challenge that awaits them in the fall when they return to complete their training?

Three cheers for our wonderful students, and the faculty that nurtures them so well!

Ray Hogg
2010 Spring Showcase Artistic Director
Jazz, Chorus Repertoire & Introduction to Commercial Dance Careers Teacher
George Brown Dance

Photo Credits
Dancers: (top photo) Eric Solu (bottom photos, left to right): Ellen McDonald, Trevor Patt, and Brittany Szwedyk
Photos by Linda Schettle

Thank you Creative Trust

Photo: Tara Butler, taken by Andrew Oxenham

"Imagine what Toronto would be without its creative theatre, music and dance companies. They originate the most vibrant work in the city, break new artistic ground on a daily basis, and welcome a cross section of society to their theatres.”

Ballet Jörgen Canada was extremely fortunate to be part of the first group of mid-sized companies invited to participate in Creative Trust’s Working Capital for the Arts program which promotes the belief that the artistic vision is at the heart of every successful arts organization, economic balance is essential to allowing us to advance and sustain missions, and we should be encouraged and assisted to find an appropriate path to a sustainable future.

The program’s success has made it a model for capacity building in the cultural sector. For Ballet Jörgen Canada, it has allowed us to develop Anastasia and our new Nutcracker set in Canada and inspired by Group of Seven Paintings. We are already presenting these new ballets in communities across the country and this new work could not have been possible without the support of Creative Trust.

Creative Trust was born out of a desire on the part of mid-size dance, music and theatre companies to work collectively to improve their financial standing. After a successful three-year drive to raise endowment funds, Creative Trust turned its attention to the organizational health and sustainability of participating companies through the Working Capital for the Arts program which has now assisted numerous companies in eliminating deficits, creating working capital reserves and improving governance, planning and management skills.

Creative Trust is currently engaged in a drive to engage companies in a comprehensive audience development program. This goal, like the Working Capital for the Arts program, is to ensure a thriving performing arts community whose work is available to inspire audiences for years to come.

We sincerely thank Creative Trust’s supporters whose generosity has made it possible for this important organization to provide meaningful and lasting assistance to Ballet Jörgen Canada and our creative performing arts company peers in Toronto. For more information or to contact Creative Trust, visit www.creativetrust.ca.

WORKING CAPITAL FOR THE ARTS MAJOR SUPPORTERS

Creative Trust warmly thanks its supporters, whose generosity has made it possible for it to provide meaningful and lasting assistance to Toronto’s creative performing arts companies.

Government
Department of Canadian Heritage
Ontario Arts Council Ontario
Trillium Foundation
The Government of Ontario, through the Ministry of Culture
City of Toronto, Economic Development Sector Initiatives Program

Foundations
George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation
Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation
John McKellar Charitable Foundation
Henry White Kinnear Foundation
The McLean Foundation
The Harbinger Foundation
Toronto Community Foundation
Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation
T.R. Meighen Family Foundation
Laidlaw Foundation
Percy R. Gardiner Foundation
The J. W. McConnell Family Foundation
The K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation
Joan and Clifford Hatch Foundation
The Ed Mirvish Family Foundation
The Bennett Family Foundation
Harold A. Kopas Charitable Foundation
The Geoffery B. Scott Memorial
Flowthrough Fund
R. Howard Webster Foundation
Rotman Family Foundation

Corporations
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
RBC Foundation
TD Financial Group
Brookfield (Brascan) Foundation
GJP Advertising
Sun Life Financial
The Great-West Life Assurance Company
Anonymous
BMO Financial Group
AGF
Scotiabank
Brimstone Holdings
Rogers Communications
Dinnick & Howells
CIBC Mellon
Cole & Partners Ltd.

Individuals
$100,000 and over
Jim and Sandra Pitblado
Tim and Frances Price

$50,000-$100,000
Gail and Bob Farquharson
Margaret Marshall
Wilmot and Judy Matthews

$25,000-$49,999
Roger and Kevin Garland
Hon. Margaret McCain

$10,000-$24,999
J. Alexander Houston
David and Sheryl Kerr
Goulding and Elizabeth Lambert
Phil Lind
Brett Ledger and Patricia Olasker

$5,000-$9,999
Mark and Ann Curry
Michael and Honor de Pencier
John and Gay Evans
Scott and Krystine Griffin
Derek C. Hayes
Roger D. Moore

$2,000-$4,999
Ernest Balmer
Margaret Bindhardt
Peter D.R. Brown Rupert
Field Marsham and Lindsay Dale Harris
Claire Hopkinson
Jini Stolk and John Gladki
Maureen and Phillip Tingley

And many other generous individual donors. Visit the Creative Trust website at www.creativetrust.ca to view the full list.

Ballet Jörgen Canada receives support from