Royal Theatre, April 23, 2:30 pm + April 24, 7:30 pm
The exquisite artists of Ballet Edmonton, led by Artistic Director Wen Wei Wang, arrive to set Music in Motion with a dazzling choreographic collection on April 23 and April 24, 2023, at the Royal Theatre. Music in Motion is the first production co-produced by Dance Victoria and Victoria Symphony together.
For the Music in Motion program, Wang will share The Four Seasons Recomposed to Max Richter’s treatment of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, the first time Ballet Edmonton will perform this work with live orchestra. Wang was also commissioned to create new choreography for Ian Cusson’s instrumental telling of the legend Le loup de Lafontaine, performed by Victoria Symphony. In between these two choreographed works, the Symphony will present Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite (Ma mère l’oye suite), his fond tribute to children’s fairy tales.
Max Richter’s recomposition of Vivaldi’s score, performed by the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, was among the best-selling classical records of 2012, for its combination of cutting-edge electronic technology and Vivaldi’s tunes.
“We hear it everywhere-when you’re on hold, you hear it in the shopping centre, in advertising; it’s everywhere,” Richter has said of his remix. “For me, the record and the project are trying to reclaim the piece, to fall in love with it again.”
Ballet Edmonton Artistic Director Wen Wei Wang’s choreographic interpretation of Richter’s sleekly digitized postmodernism will be new to Victoria audiences, as the music takes us through the changing seasons. Using the music as inspiration, Wang’s choreography invokes images of nature, evolving weather, and the emotions they produce. After the Ravel interlude, nature returns with ferocity in Ian Cusson’s Le loup de Lafontaine: Suite for Orchestra in Three Scenes.
Cusson is a composer of art song, opera, and orchestral work. Of Métis and French-Canadian descent, his work explores Canadian Indigenous experience including the history of the Métis people, the hybridity of mixed-racial identity, and the intersection of Western and Indigenous cultures. His musical composition is inspired by Le loup de Lafontaine by Thomas Marchildon, a cautionary tale that takes place in the small French-speaking Ontario community of Lafontaine in 1902. During the time of Marchildon’s story, various settler and Indigenous communities lived in close proximity, rarely intermixing. Each had a deep mistrust of the other. When a wolf arrives, they unite (but at a cost) with the common goal of ridding the community of the intruder. “I have known this story all my life – the terrifying wolf and the frightened community,” explains Cusson. ”But the story has always given me pause. The wolf isn’t quite the monster the people make it out to be. It is gentle with children, it keeps to itself, and except for killing sheep for food, it does no harm. The wolf is the feared and hated outsider – the ultimate scapegoat – whose expulsion from the community will be the means to the restoration of the divided peoples.”
BALLET EDMONTON
Music in Motion
Choreographer & Artistic Director: Wen Wei Wang
Conductor: Giuseppe Pietraroia
Vivaldi/Recomposed by Max Richter • The Four Seasons Recomposed
Ravel • Ma mère l’oye suite
Ian Cusson • Le loup de Lafontaine – Suite for orchestra in three scenes
Sunday, April 23, 2:30 pm
Monday, April 24, 7:30 pm
Join us for a free, pre-show chat in the lobby 45 minutes before each performance.
Royal Theatre
How to Buy
Phone the Royal Box Office: 250-386-6121 or Toll Free 1-888-717-6121, Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (closed 1:00 to 1:30 pm)
Online: DanceVictoria.com or VictoriaSymphony.ca
Visit the Royal and McPherson Theatres website for current Box Office hours.
Tickets: $29-98
About Ballet Edmonton
Ballet Edmonton is a contemporary ballet ensemble of company dancers under the leadership of Artistic Director Wen Wei Wang. The company commissions original work each season from a variety of choreographic voices for its main stage performance series. Its repertoire is primarily Canadian, with new creations by nationally recognized and emerging choreographers with distinctive voices. Ballet Edmonton is committed to advancing the work of female and diverse creators to ensure our artistic product reflects the world in which we live. The company contributes to the evolution of ballet in Canada by expressing the unique narratives of the artists whose vision it helps bring to life. BalletEdmonton.ca
About Dance Victoria
Dance Victoria brings the World’s Best Dance to the Royal Theatre and supports the development of new dance for the international stage from its studios in Quadra Village. As a non-profit charitable society, Dance Victoria operates with the mission to promote the appreciation of dance by developing and presenting diverse local, Canadian, and international artists, and by engaging the community in the celebration of dance. DanceVictoria.com
Media Materials
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Media Contact
Tracy Smith
Marketing Manager, Dance Victoria
[email protected]
250-595-1829