Royal Winnipeg Ballet leaps to new creative leadership

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This article was published 24/01/2025 (625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Even as a teenage ballet student in Seattle, Christopher Stowell knew the long history and reputation of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

And now, he’ll play a key role in shaping its future. In June, Stowell will begin his tenure as the new artistic director of the 85-year-old company.

Stowell, 58, will take over the artistic helm from André Lewis, who has been in that role for nearly 30 years. Lewis announced in early 2023 that he would be stepping down at the end of the 2024/25 season.

Stowell’s appointment follows an extensive nine-month international search that attracted candidates from Canada, the United States, Australia and Europe.

“I’m incredibly excited and honoured,” Stowell told the Free Press Thursday over the phone from Toronto before boarding a flight to Winnipeg for the official announcement on Friday, commending both the RWB board and recruiting firm Caldwell Partners on the process.

“I know it’s just such a big deal for the arts landscape in Canada, and I don’t take that lightly. First of all, the organization is the oldest existing dance organization in the country — and then its leader has been there for 30 years. So this is a real sea change.”

A former principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet, Stowell became the artistic director of Portland’s Oregon Ballet Theatre in 2003 following his retirement from dance in 2001.

He’s widely credited with expanding the scope of OBT during his nearly decade-long tenure, adding more than 50 works to its repertoire, including two-dozen world premières.

Stowell was born in New York City to Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, also former dancers who ascended to top artistic leadership positions at the Frankfurt Ballet — “I grew up as a little German-speaking kid,” Stowell says with a laugh — before becoming founding artistic directors of the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle in the late 1970s. That’s also when he began his own dance training at the Pacific Northwest Ballet school.

Ballet is in his DNA.

“It’s the family business. And, you know, like any family business, it seems normal to us, but of course it is a somewhat unique scenario,” he says.

In 2017, his career brought him to Canada. Stowell served as the associate artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada at the invitation of former prima ballerina and artistic director emerita Karen Kain, with whom he worked closely until her retirement in 2021. He returned to the U.S. in 2022.

“I had no history with with the National Ballet, but in taking on that role and developing a relationship with her, and then consequently understanding and being a part of the whole Canadian dance landscape, I just really have grown a deep attraction for the country, for my colleagues and for the big network I now have,” he says.

Stowell also has a personal connection to this country: his husband Chris is Canadian. They are currently based in the Pacific Northwest and will be moving to Winnipeg in the spring.

“We met when I first moved to Toronto. His family is here. I’m already a permanent resident and look forward to becoming a citizen,” Stowell says.

He’s also looking forward to getting started at the RWB.

“It has, already, such a storied history, so it’s not like building anything from scratch at all. In fact, you want to make sure that the reputation and standards of the organization are upheld and then, of course, expanded,” he says.

“What’s interesting (about RWB) to me in particular is it’s different from the National Ballet, really thinking of it as the other national company of Canada, but it has a very, very different personality and character. And I love that. I love that it’s more malleable. It’s more flexible. It’s not like turning around an ocean liner. There’s a nimbleness to it and I think the possibilities for it are great.”

Stowell is an admirer of Lewis’s work at the RWB and says he has big shoes to fill.

“There’s two things about being a new leader after someone has been there a long time. One, I guess, challenging, because a lot of things have been firmly established. So in wanting to possibly do things in a different way, that conversation has to be a very open one and a gradual one,” he says.

“The other side of that is, it will spark instant change and excitement I hope, too, in that we can re-imagine the RWB now a little bit. What I’m really looking forward to is just getting into the studio and into the offices with the actual people I’m going to be working with and start a dialogue.”

For his part, Lewis — who was not involved in the selection process — believes the company will be in good hands.

“I think Christopher has the personality, he has the power, he has such an incredible background, and I think he will bring a strong vision, a strong commitment to the organization,” Lewis says.

“People say whomever takes over has big shoes to fill, and my expectation is they’ll bring their own shoes and figure it out on their own, build on the legacy of mixed repertoire, contemporary full-length and classical full-length. I don’t suspect that Christopher in any way, shape or form will just tear the whole place down and start it from scratch.”

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Lewis says he’s excited about a new beginning at the organization.

“I think it’s always nice when you have new blood. Also, I think it’s good to have a fresh perspective from the outside. It brings a new impetus.”

And Stowell is thrilled to have the chance to provide that forward momentum.

“I feel very, very honoured that I have been selected to lead the organization into the next chapter, and one that I have a strong feeling is going to be a particularly vibrant one,” he said. “There’s so many beautiful things in place and so much more that can still be accomplished.”

jen.zoratti@winnipegfreepress.com

Jen Zoratti
Columnist

Jen Zoratti is a columnist and feature writer working in the Arts & Life department, as well as the author of the weekly newsletter NEXT. A National Newspaper Award finalist for arts and entertainment writing, Jen is a graduate of the Creative Communications program at RRC Polytech and was a music writer before joining the Free Press in 2013. Read more about Jen.

Every piece of reporting Jen produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print – part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.