Onward and upward As two principals take their leave, the RWB raises up and gathers in new crop of dancers By: Jen Zoratti Posted: 2:30 PM CDT Friday, Aug. 25, 2023

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This article was published 25/08/2023 (1115 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A crop of new dancers are joining the ranks of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet while several others are climbing on up as the company heads into its 84th season.

The 2023-24 season will feature just two principal dancers, Elizabeth Lamont and Alanna McAdie, following the departures of Chenxin Liu and Yue Shi, who have joined the Boston Ballet. Principal is the company’s highest rank.

Promoted to soloist from second soloist are Peter Lancksweerdt and Michel Lavoie. Lancksweerdt, 29, was born in Belgium and studied at the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp. He joined the corps de ballet in 2017 after three years with the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada and was promoted to second soloist in 2021.

He was surprised about this latest promotion. “It’s pretty high up (in the ranks) already,” he says with a laugh. “You don’t always expect it when it happens. I was pleasantly surprised.”

Lancksweerdt has been with the company long enough that some of the repertoire he’s performed in the past is returning this season, including Romeo & Juliet in February 2024. “You get to perfect it, or see it differently,” he says.

“You don’t always expect it when it happens. I was pleasantly surprised.”–Peter Lancksweerdt

While a dearth of male principal dancers may mean meatier roles for male soloists, Lancksweerdt isn’t thinking too far ahead about the potential roles he’ll be cast in. “I just always try to work my hardest, regardless,” he says.

Lavoie, 23, has received back-to-back promotions, having been called up from the corps de ballet to second soloist just last year.

While a quick succession of promotions comes with its own pressures, Lavoie is trying to stay focused on the present.

“I try not to think about stuff that I can’t control too much,” says the born-and-raised Winnipegger, who came up through the RWB School’s Professional Division and did one year in the post-secondary Anna McCowan-Johnson aspirant program before joining the corps de ballet in 2019.

“I feel like a lot of people go through a little bit of impostor syndrome, like, ‘Can I really do this? Is this something that I can actually do well?’”

For Lavoie, it was being cast as Prince Siegfried in last season’s production of Swan Lake that made him feel ready to take the next step in his career. “I really felt like I came into my own,” he says.

Promoted to second soloist from the corps de ballet are Liam Saito and Katie Simpson.

“It’s nice validation for the hard work during the last few years. It’s nice to take that first step out of the corps,” says the Washington D.C.-born, Massachusetts-raised Saito, 26, who had been a corps de ballet member since 2018. Last season, he performed the title role of Peter Pan.

The promotion to second soloist is also another step toward becoming the dancer he wants to be, he says.

“We always want to make sure that our work matches our rank,” says Saito, who joined the company as an apprentice in 2017 after completing the aspirant program.

“And so having this new title is motivation to continue working and pushing myself to achieve the level I desire.”

Simpson, who came to Winnipeg from Cranbrook, B.C., when she was 11 to study in the RWB School’s Professional Division, is thrilled to continue building her career with the RWB, which she joined as an apprentice in 2018 after completing the aspirant program.

“I’ve been here a really long time, and so it’s fulfilling that dream,” says Simpson, 26, who was promoted to corps de ballet in 2020.

“I’m hoping for some more opportunities and bigger roles so I can expand my artistry and technique levels — the demand gets higher,” she says. “Hopefully, I’ll be featured more, and maybe audiences will recognize me more.”

New to the company this season is Marco Lo Presti, who joins the RWB company as a second soloist from Rome.

“One of my dreams as a European was to move my career to the other side of the world,” says Lo Presti, 25, who has been in Winnipeg just shy of a month.

“I think here you have this for Europe, but we always look at the other side of the world for fame, and a step forward in your career. So, when André (Lewis, RWB’s CEO and artistic director) told me he would give me the contract, it was incredible.”

Lo Presti, who trained at the National Academy of Dance in Rome and, prior to the RWB, was performing with TanzCompany Innsbruck in Austria, knew about Winnipeg because he follows former principal dancer Yue Shi on Instagram.

“So, I knew that the company was at a good level, they were doing good stuff,” he says. “I’m really grateful to be here and I really can’t wait to have fun on stage with my colleagues.”

Three apprentices who joined the company in 2022, Cleighden Butler, Julianna Generoux and Maggie Weatherdon, will move up to the corps de ballet this season.

Butler, 22, is an Ottawa native who decided to pursue a professional career at 12 and began his training at Canada’s National Ballet School before coming to the RWB School’s Professional Division and aspirant program.

“I know that going to ballet school for so many years and starting out at a very young age, I’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices, my parents have had to make a lot of sacrifices,” he says. “So it feels like all that sacrifice was worth it.”

Generoux, 20, is originally from Okotoks, Alta., and trained in both the recreational and professional divisions at the Alberta Ballet School in Calgary starting at 10 years old before moving to Winnipeg to continue in the RWB School’s Professional Division and aspirant program.

“I’ve been here since I was 13, so it’s really cool,” she says. “Like, as a kid, I would see the company dancers and it’s like a whole other world, you know? So to actually be here and achieving it, it feels really, really good.”

North Carolina-born, Ontario-raised Weatherdon, 21, who studied in Buffalo, N.Y. before furthering her training in the aspirant program, says she felt a mixture of excitement and relief when she found out she was headed to the corps.

“It’s sort of a sense of job security, almost,” she says. “Like, as an apprentice I feel like you’re on sort of a trial run. It’s brought a bit more confidence, too.”

Four fresh faces will be joining the company this season as apprentices: Felix Jinga, Taisi Tollasepp, Myles Mackesy and Rafe Perry. All four trained in the RWB School’s Professional Division, with Jinga, Tollasepp and Mackesy coming from the aspirant program.

Jinga, 18, says joining the company is a dream come true.

“Obviously the company setting is a little bit different from a school setting, but honestly, I just want to be able to dance and to express myself,” says Jinga, who is from London, Ont. “And it’s incredible to be in this space, which is very welcoming. It’s almost been like a family since I’ve been here for so many years.”

Tollasepp, 18, is also eager to make the transition out of the school and into company life.

“I’ve been so fortunate to work with the company multiple times through the school and as an aspirant last year, so I feel like I got a little bit of a taste of what it’s like,” says the Toronto native, who was cast in her first professional role as Young Clara in Nutcracker in 2018 at 13. “I’m just so excited to start.”

Mackesy, 20, who is from Stoney Creek, Ont., says joining the company feels like a natural progression. “It feels very good to feel comfortable in an environment already, and then just to keep growing from there.”

Perry, 19, who is from Comox, B.C., was promoted directly from Level 7 in the RWB School Professional Division’s ballet academic program to apprentice, bypassing the aspirant program.

“I was really shocked when I heard the news because it wasn’t something I was expecting at all,” he says with a laugh.

“It’s always nice to have more training, but it’s hard to pass up a good opportunity. And you’re always going to be improving in the studio.”

The company is in rehearsals for its mainstage season opener Snow White, which makes its Canadian première Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 at the Centennial Concert Hall.

jen.zoratti@winnipegfreepress.com