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Dance by Jeff Goffin Festival of New Works Alberta Ballet October 27 & 28 Jubilee Auditorium The Nat Christie Centre, home of Alberta Ballet, is alive with inspiration and plenty of perspiration these days. The company’s first ever Festival of New Works is set to hit the stage at the Jubilee Auditorium this week. Dancers and choreographers are literally stretching themselves to the limit to prepare for the premiere of five new ballets. The Festival of New Works is quite an event for the Calgary dance scene. Artistic director Mikko Nissinen is taking a big gamble using the opening show of the season to showcase the work of five different choreographers. While some are established choreographers, such as Dominique Dumais of the National Ballet of Canada and Jorma Elo of the Nederlands Dans Theater, the show also includes the work of novice choreographer Sabrina Matthews. A dancer with Alberta Ballet for six seasons, Matthews is a product of the company’s choreographic workshops. For her, the festival couldn’t be more exciting– she’ll get to see her ballet Delude performed in a major show, and right after it, she’ll be dancing in Elo’s Blank Snow. "It’ll be a little bit nerve-wracking," she admits. Delude features four dancers performing to music by Henryk Gorecki, presented live on stage by four musicians. "It’s about the façades that people put on in society to ignore the problems they have," explains Matthews. "They try to escape reality time and time again. It’s kind of the struggle between knowing what you’re like and putting on a face for everyone." Dancer Tanya Dobler is preparing to dance in two of the festival’s ballets including Matthews’s Delude. An eight-year company member, she is enthusiastic about working with the new choreographer. "I’ve worked with Sabrina a few times and each time her skills, her vocabulary have expanded. It’s more intricate each time. She’s great to work for. She’s tough, but she draws out of you exactly what she wants to get." Like a box of chocolates, it is the variety of delights packed into one evening that makes the Festival of New Works such an attraction. If one isn’t to your taste, perhaps the next will do. The five ballets offer a range of dance from classical to contemporary. "It should be quite an exciting evening," adds Dobler. "There are five pieces and they are all quite different. If you are deterred by the prospect of tutus and tights, this is different." "The range of pieces is going to make the evening really interesting," agrees Matthews. "Each of the five choreographers have a completely different idea in mind. It will give a good versatility to the show." There are pieces that contain classical ballet, like Rhonda Nychka’s Virtues and Vices but it also contains contemporary movement. In addition there are pieces on point, and others, like Elo’s, on flat shoes. Costumes among the various pieces range from unitards and tutus to almost none at all. Though some may see the Festival of New Works as a big risk, Nissinen should be applauded for putting the spotlight on new original dance. It is exciting to see classic works, but taking an evening to showcase home-grown talent, while adding to the company’s repertoire, is part of Alberta Ballet’s reason for being. Perhaps some of these works will become famous and we will be able to say with pride that we were there to see the first performance. It’s possible this will be come to be known as the "first annual festival" from Alberta Ballet. The format of the event also has the advantage of providing a good introduction to those unfamiliar with ballet. "People are almost scared," says Matthews. "They think if they don’t know a lot about ballet they won’t enjoy it, but that’s completely the opposite. Everyone can get something out of dance. Someone can interpret something completely differently from another and they’ll still enjoy it."

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