Edge of glory

Downtown

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This article was published 31/05/2023 (1094 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With sure, confident form, aspiring Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancers are preparing to grace the stage of the RWB Founders’ Studio theatre to demonstrate the skills they’ve learned.

On the Edge is an annual compilation of original dances meant to highlight the talent of participants in the Anna McCowan-Johnson Aspirant program, which is a two-year, post-secondary training program for dancers making the transition from students to professional dancers.

The show, which runs June 7 to 9, will feature 16 dancers who will perform excerpts from the Russian ballet Fairy Doll and La Bayadère, by French choreographer Marius Petipa. It will also feature new works choreographed by RWB School choreographer Gabriela Rehak, RWB School instructor Maritel Centurion, Lesley Telford, guest choreographer Portia Adams, and Myles Mackesy, one of the dancers in the Aspirant programs.

Similar to the recent RWB professional division’s show, Spotlight, which ran May 26-27, On the Edge will feature dancers who hope to grace the RWB stage in coming years.

This year, dancers will perform a broad range of styles, from contemporary to neo-classical. The first half of the show will feature the original work, while the second is a spin on classic dance.

“It’s a university of dance, I guess you could say,” said Vanessa Léonard, Aspirant program director, of what the program entails and what the students will be showcasing. “The students have been training very hard for this, (and) the performance has a wide variety of different dance styles.”

She said the show showcases the versatility of the dancers’ training, while also creating a relatable experience for the audience.

“These pieces we’ve been rehearsing and working on for the past few months, they were actually choreographed over 100 years ago and have been performed by professional companies all over the world since then,” she said.

Where their future lies…

Overall, the performances meant to highlight the new dancers are refreshed takes on the classic from day’s old.

“Today’s world is at such a fast pace that often the contemporary works, they see the stage only once, and then that’s over and on to the new creation,” said Stéphane Léonard, who has been director of the RWB School since 2020, explaining. “Which is always fun to do…But I do believe it’s important for our new generation to create a little bit of a legacy and see what they have done throughout their career or life.”

Léonard said that, in order to prepare dancers for the professional world, it’s important for theme to be versatile. The Spotlight program was able to do that by presenting dances not often performed in North America, and On the Edge will do so through mixing original and classic work.

“This is where their future lies,” he said. “To be performing in front of big houses and in the real theatre. For them it’s always (the) culmination of the year, it’s stimulating and it’s fun.”

On the Edge runs from June 7-9 at the RWB Founders’ Studio, located in the RWB’s Graham Avenue headquarters. Showtime is 7:30 each night. More information and tickets are available online at www.rwb.org