A more intimate dance RWB’s Studio Series offers up-close ballet experience By: Jen Zoratti Posted: 4:46 PM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2026

If you’ve ever been curious about checking out the ballet, but have also felt like spending two or more hours at the concert hall is too big a commitment or too intimidating, Christopher Stowell gets it.

That’s just one of several reasons the artistic director of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet wanted to introduce the Studio Series, a black-box theatre series that offers a more intimate and approachable way to experience the art form.

The inaugural edition, which runs Thursday through Saturday at the RWB Founders Studio and Sunday at Desautels Concert Hall, features a performance of George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, set to George Gershwin’s songs as performed by a jazz musicians from the University of Manitoba’s Desautels faculty of music.

Audiences will be able to ask questions, meet the dancers and get an up-close look at their craft.

“So much of what we do is supposed to look ethereal or easy or mysterious or all of that, but the truth is, a ton of physical effort goes into it,” Stowell says.

“Now, I don’t want people to only walk away with that, but also just seeing that these are not just artists, but they’re athletes. The physical prowess that they have is really incredible and I think that is more apparent close up.”

The Studio Series is also another way to put dancers in front of more audiences, more often, Stowell says. It joins other initiatives such as Ballet in the Park and last month’s RWB Revealed, which transformed True North Square into a working outdoor dance studio.

“They’re very hungry to perform, and I want to offer them more opportunities and more access to different works, so I can add more pieces to the season,” Stowell says.

That includes the jazzy, joyful Who Cares? which premièred in 1970 with the New York City Ballet and is a crowd-pleaser.

“It’s sort of like a tap dance on pointe,” as original dancer Karin von Aroldingen once described it.

“Who Cares? is one of the few Balanchine ballets that I never danced, but always really, really loved,” Stowell says.

“It’s a great combination of using classical technique, but really through the spirit of Gershwin songs. One needs to have the sense of being in a musical comedy or a golden age of Hollywood movie — that kind of esthetic, that spirit, those are the kind of characters who are dancing Who Cares? but they have to be excellent ballet dancers.”

And, in a departure from tradition, Gershwin’s works will be performed as songs, not instrumental arrangements, by singer Karly Epp, pianist Will Bonness, bassist Karl Kohut and drummer Fabio Ragnelli.

“I wanted to explore doing it differently — and have people remember that these are songs originally, so I got in touch with the Balanchine Trust (the entity responsible for licensing the works of the late Russian-American choreographer) and said, ‘I would like to do this with only a jazz trio and a singer, so we can hear the lyrics again.’ And they agreed to it. As far as I know, this is the first time the ballet has been done this way,” Stowell says.

The Studio Series isn’t the only new thing about this season.

Nine new dancers — including principal dancer Skylar Campbell, a former principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada — have joined the company, while seven dancers received promotions within the ranks.

“It’s always fun to have new artists in the company, bringing a different energy; it sort of mixes things up. I have to say, the dancers of this company — and I inherited this culture, which I’m so grateful for — are so welcoming and supportive of new members,” Stowell says

Eagle-eyed balletomanes will notice that one of the ranks has been renamed. Dancers who were once members of the “corps de ballet” are now called “company artists.” This change better reflects both the size and ensemble nature of the RWB, Stowell says.

“We’re not a huge company. I mean, it’s one thing if you have 80 dancers and literally 30 of them are always in what is called the corps de ballet, but that is not the case with us. Everyone has the opportunity to do leading roles. We do a lot of repertoire that isn’t ranked the way a traditional classical ballet is. So I really wanted dancers joining this company to not feel like they were being relegated to the back row, because that’s not in fact what they’re going to do at all,” he says.

“And I want our public to understand that they’re all high-quality artists capable of doing a broad range of roles.”

The RWB also has a new look. The organization worked with Toronto’s Bruce Mau Design to create a contemporary new logo and branding, retiring the creative that had been in place for nearly 20 years.

“It just felt important, with the cultural changes and direction the company is going and new priorities and, I would say, new energy and approach to things, that that was visible to anyone connecting with us,” Stowell says.

jen.zoratti@winnipegfreepress.com

 

Studios named for visionaries

The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity has named two dance studios after the visionary women who co-founded the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and helped establish the Banff Centre’s dance program.

“The history of dance at Banff Centre is inseparable from the vision of Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally,” said Chris Lorway, president and CEO of Banff Centre, in a media release.

“Their leadership helped establish foundations that continue to shape artists and audiences today. Naming these studios in their honour recognizes a remarkable legacy while inspiring future generations of artists who come here to create, learn and collaborate.”

The naming occurred in tandem with this summer’s inaugural Banff Centre residency as part of the Northern Lights Project, a new national initiative focused on collaborative, interdisciplinary ballet creation led by the RWB in partnership with the National Arts Centre, the Banff Centre and Fall for Dance North.

This year’s participating artists include:

• Toronto choreographers Esie Mensah and Alyssa Martin, and Canadian-born, Netherlands-based choreographer Charlie Skuy;
• Canadian-born, New York-based sound designer Ben Sellick;
• Winnipeg sound artist/musician Ashley Au;
• Winnipeg playwright/director/actor Debbie Patterson;
• Vancouver-based designer Evan Ducharme;
• and Plains Cree musician Jason Burnstick.

The group was led by Robert Binet, artistic director and co-CEO of Fall for Dance North.

Work developed during the residency will be debuted in Winnipeg by the RWB later in the 2026/27 season.