RWB’s 81st season tiptoes around Virtue & Villainy

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The Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s 81st season is set to be a campaign of good versus evil told through classic tales.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/02/2020 (2395 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s 81st season is set to be a campaign of good versus evil told through classic tales.

The company unveiled its 2020-21 lineup — dubbed Virtue & Villainy — on Wednesday evening at a launch event in the RWB Founders’ Studio on Graham Avenue.

The season kicks off on Oct. 21 with the Canadian première of Septime Webre’s Alice (in wonderland). This mainstage performance is a reimagining of Lewis Carroll’s lush fairytale paired with challenging choreography from Webre, who is also known for his ballet adaptation of The Wizard of Oz.

Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press
RWB School Professional Division students perform Wedding Pas de Deux from Don Quixote, featuring Emilie Lewis (right) as Kitri and Cameron Fraser-Monroe (left) as Basilio at the RWB 81st season launch, Wednesday.
Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press RWB School Professional Division students perform Wedding Pas de Deux from Don Quixote, featuring Emilie Lewis (right) as Kitri and Cameron Fraser-Monroe (left) as Basilio at the RWB 81st season launch, Wednesday.

Perennial holiday favourite the Nutcracker returns to Winnipeg from Dec. 19 to 27.

Swan Princess Odette and Prince Siegfried will have their love tested in March 2021 by the evil sorcerer Baron Von Rothbart in the company’s presentation of Swan Lake. Wednesday’s audience got a taste of the classic story of light versus dark with a performance by RWB soloist Chenxin Liu as Odette.

The mainstage performances wrap up on April 28, 2021 with Mozart’s opera-turned-ballet, The Magic Flute.

The RWB School Professional Division celebrates its 50th anniversary in May 2021 with special showcase performances that will see current students share the stage with well-known alumni. Student dancers Emilie Lewis and Cameron Fraser-Monroe presented an excerpt of Don Quixote during the season launch.

Up and coming talent will also be on display during the ballet’s On The Edge series. Participants in the Aspirant Program — a two-year post-secondary training program for those making the transition from student to professional dancer — will perform new and old works by some of Canada’s top choreographers from Jun 10 to 12, 2021.

Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press
Royal Winnipeg Ballet Soloist Chenxin Liu performs as Odette from Swan Lake at the RWB 81st season launch, Wednesday.
Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press Royal Winnipeg Ballet Soloist Chenxin Liu performs as Odette from Swan Lake at the RWB 81st season launch, Wednesday.

Tickets for the RWB’s 81st season are available at rwb.org or through the box office at 204-956-2792 weekdays from noon to 8 p.m. and weekends from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney

Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press
Isabelle Ly looks at still photographs from the RWB 81st season video shoot on display in the RWB building atrium after the RWB 81st season launch.
Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press Isabelle Ly looks at still photographs from the RWB 81st season video shoot on display in the RWB building atrium after the RWB 81st season launch.
Eva Wasney

Eva Wasney
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Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva.

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