Kirsten Wicklund & Peter Smida

Vancouver-based Artists in Residence

Kirsten Wicklund
Kirsten Wicklund
Peter Smida, residency
Peter Smida

Kirsten (she/her) is dance artist, creator and movement educator who is privileged to live & work on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples: Sḵwxw̱ ú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səlí̓lwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. Kirsten has been a full time artist at Ballet BC since 2014 where she has danced and performed internationally in works by Lesley Telford, Medhi Walerski, William Forsythe, Emmanuel Gat, Wen Wei Wang, Cayetano Soto, Adi Salant, Aszure Barton, Company 605, Johan Inger, Serge Bennathan, Jorma Elo, Jacopo Godani, Walter Mateini, Emily Molnar, Crystal Pite, Ohad Naharin, Sharon Eyal, and others. As an independent choreographer, she has created works for Dances for a Small Stage, the Dance Deck Series, Arts Umbrella, Goh Ballet, Lamon Dance, Dancing on the Edge Festival, The UBC Choir, Move: The Company, Ballet BC’s Choreographic Lab and Ballet Kelowna. Kirsten’s recent work “Overcast” was one of only 20 works selected worldwide as part of the International Choreography Competition Hannover which was presented digitally in June 2021. In August 2021, Kirsten will be relocating to Antwerp, Belgium to join the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen as a dancer for their 2021/22 Season.

Peter (he/him) is an independent dancer, choreographer and emerging filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC. He is currently the Creative Content Producer at Ballet BC after having an 11 season career as a dancer with the company.

As a dancer with Ballet BC Peter has created, collaborated, and performed works by Crystal Pite, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, Jorma Elo, Itzik Galili, Sharon Eyal and Medhi Walerski, among several others. In addition to dancing, Peter has choreographed works and produced films for several workshops and labs as part of the company’s operations and outreach. He has also served as a rehearsal director and coach and was Artist in Residence during the 2020/21 season.

Peter’s most recent independent choreographic work and short film were both presented at Dancing on the Edge Festival 2021. His passion and underlying mission is to explore new ways to create and tell stories with the physical body through the mediums of dance, theatre and film.