Ballet Jörgen Canada in Atlantic Canada

Ballet Jörgen Canada in Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Advisory Board
Mary Balkam
Management Consultant
candice j. prior
Artist and Dancer
Lauren Brown
CIBC Commercial Banking Atlantic Region
Dr. Jim Smith
MedMira Inc.
Leila Kovacevic
Keller Williams Realty
Ex Officio Members
Bengt Jörgen
Artistic Director and CEO
Ballet Jörgen Canada
David Aylward
Chair, Ballet Jörgen Canada
RBC Law, RBC Financial Group
Peggy Walt
Atlantic Canada Coordinator
Contact BJC Atlantic:
Phone: 902-422-5403
E-mail: pwalt@eastlink.ca
Join our mailing list: Facebook -or- www.balletjorgen.ca
Ballet Jörgen Canada
in Atlantic Canada
1994 – 2010
BJC’s mission:
To advance the art and appreciation of ballet and Canadian choreography through performance, educational
experiences and outreach.
BJC’s vision:
To connect with Canadian communities and audiences, making ballet a familiar, ongoing and shared experience.
Ballet Jörgen Canada is becoming a true national company anchored by its links to communities across Canada, and built on a
foundation that reflects our various regions. We are a company that works on an equal footing with all our partners to make
ballet relevant, comfortable, a part of growing up - part of the fabric of regular life in our communities coast to coast, as
community friendly as hockey or curling.
Milestones to date:
Artistic Director’s message:
Ballet Jörgen Canada is committed to bringing dance and people
together by putting down roots in the communities we serve to
ensure that all Canadians have access to and can enjoy the very
best quality classical and contemporary ballet. We particularly
want to engage new audiences, reaching out to young people
and those that are disengaged from the arts. We want to
showcase ballet as an exciting experience relevant to
contemporary audiences, a part of their daily lives.
With a commitment to connecting with underserved
communities, Ballet Jörgen Canada has the most extensive
performance reach in Atlantic Canada of any Canadian dance
company. This includes Bathurst, Centreville, Fredericton,
Moncton, Sackville, Saint John and Sussex in New Brunswick;
Charlottetown and Summerside in PEI; Bedford, Church Point,
Dartmouth, Glace Bay, Hammonds Plains, Halifax, Liverpool,
Mabou, Neil’s Harbour, New Glasgow, Pictou, Port Hawkesbury,
Sydney, Truro, Upper Tantallon, and Wolfville in Nova Scotia;
Carbonear, Corner Brook, Gander, Goose Bay, Grand Falls/Windsor,
Labrador City and St. John’s in Newfoundland.
You are the true “national ballet” reaching out and engaging all of
Canada with your touring, your repertory dance practice, your
inclusion of young local ballet dancers, and your commitment to
original works.
The company involves local dance students in all its full-length
performances such as fairies and ballroom attendants in
Cinderella, squirrels and chipmunks in The Nutcracker or
revolutionaries and soldiers in Anastasia.
My daughter was in the production here in Charlottetown, but
even if she was not chosen to be in it, it was still a wonderful
show. I must also thank you for including local talent in your
show. I can speak for the other parents and their children and say
that the experience they had being a part of your show was just
amazing. The girls all had a great time rehearsing and a very good
experience the day of the show. Thank you very much for giving
them the opportunity to be part of something very special. We
hope to see you again on our Island.
Full-length classical ballet including two world premieres Anastasia with a commissioned score played live by Symphony
Nova Scotia in October 2007 in Halifax; and The Group of Seven
Nutcracker - A Canadian Tradition in November 2008 in
Charlottetown.
— Bengt Jörgen
Cinderella casts magical spell
Andrea Nemetz – Halifax’s Chronicle Herald
I was really impressed with the beauty of the show; at times my
breath was literally taken away.
The ballet finally made it to the tip of the Cabot Trail! We enjoyed
the Emperor's New Clothes very much today. I can't thank you
enough for making this opportunity possible for our small school.
It was such a wonderful opportunity for our students and it was
truly appreciated.
— Barb Costelo, Principal, Cabot Junior-Senior High School
Victoria County, NS
— Heather Ross, Charlottetown, PEI
— Pat Kidd, Halifax
Having worked in Atlantic Canada since 1994, Ballet Jörgen
Canada moved closer to our stakeholders by making Halifax its
first “hub” in 2007, serving Nova Scotia as a home community.
We are committed to deliver diversity of programming and
intensity of activities as a home company. We want to make
sure that every child in Nova Scotia has seen ballet and
dance at least twice before they leave the school system.
We want to make sure we play a part in growing both the dance
community and the interest for dance in Nova Scotia; we already
play a crucial role in expanding the voice of dance artists in the
school system and increasing the artistic opportunities for local
dance makers in Nova Scotia. With a local advisory board and
staff person, the Halifax hub anchors programming throughout
Atlantic Canada and helps to shape the overall direction of BJC Canada’s number one company in performances and
communities served. As we look to the future, our home in
Halifax is the cornerstone of our national identify and ability to
touch people in a truly meaningful way across Atlantic Canada.
Ballet in the Schools programming of children’s ballets across
Atlantic Canada. Ballet Jörgen Canada specializes in bringing
ballet to schools, many in underserved or economically
depressed areas. The company has performed these programs
across Atlantic Canada including in 14 schools in Nova Scotia in
the past two years.
Development of Atlantic Canada choreographers through annual
development program of new works called Solos & Duets started
in 2009. To date 10 choreographers from New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia have participated creating 14 new works at no cost
to the choreographers. Frog & Toad by Haligonian Ruth-Ellen
Kroll Jackson entered Ballet Jörgen Canada’s touring repertoire in
October 2010 and will be seen across Canada.
We appreciate all you are doing to reach out to our dance
community! It is an important gift that you give to our
community.
— Catherine Walker, Halifax Dance, NS
— Jane Wheeler, Fredericton, NB
Workshops, master classes and residencies across Atlantic
Canada including special Student for a Day Workshops giving
students looking to pursue post-secondary and professional
dance training the opportunities to experience what it is like to
train in these programs without having to travel to central or
Western Canada.
I would like to thank you, the men of Ballet Jörgen Canada, who
worked with my son in the production of Anastasia in Halifax in
October 2007. Each time you have returned to Halifax, you have
greeted him so warmly and enthusiastically and spent some time
talking with him. This has, over the last year and a half, made him
feel a part of a dance community. For your generosity of spirit, I
send you a mother's outpouring of gratitude.
— Liz Naylor, Halifax, NS
Original dance programs consisting of cutting edge works
including two world premieres in Halifax in April 2009 including
Happiness Is An Inch Closer, Halifax’s Ruth-Ellen Kroll Jackson’s
first commission for a ballet company.
Extensive outreach programming including free performances at
the IWK Hospital, the Alderney Landing Theatre and a free
student matinee for schools from at-risk neighbourhoods at the
Rebecca Cohn in Halifax Regional Municipality.
Such an amazing mix of artistry and prowess
Thank you for re-inspiring my enjoyment of contemporary ballet
dance. The show was a wonderful treat. Come back to Halifax!
— Vino Wijeratne, Halifax, NS
— Théa Meeson, Halifax, NS
Collaborative partnership with local arts organizations including
Live Art Dance Productions, Halifax Dance, The Maritime
Conservatory of the Performing Arts and Symphony Nova Scotia.
Presentations of Ballet in the Studio performances for last three
years; low-cost, accessible introductions to our repertoire allowing
audiences to meet the dancers and Artistic Director, sample our
programming, and see dance in an informal, studio setting.