Dancers
Alexander Burton
Alexander Burton was born in Vancouver where he started studying dance at Arts Umbrella under the direction of Artemis Gordon. As a member of the Arts Umbrella Dance Company, Alexander danced works by James Kudelka, Aszure Barton, Gioconda Barbuto and John Alleyne. In 2010, Alexander started an apprenticeship with Ballet BC and joined the company the following season. In the past three years, he has performed choreography by José Navas, Johan Inger, Walter Matteini and Crystal Pite, among others.
Darren Devaney
Born in Edmonton, Darren Devaney began dance training at a young age. After graduating from the Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts, he attended the Boston Conservatory where, among others, he performed the works of Tudor, Limon and Sokolow. Since receiving his BFA, he has danced with Robert Moses’ Kin, Zhukov Dance Theater and Alberta Ballet. This is Darren’s first season as a full-company member of Ballet BC.
Dario Dinuzzi
Before his career as a professional dancer, Dario Giuseppe Dinuzzi’s was performing as a juggler and flame-spitter in southern Italy. After his dance studies, Dario joined the Astra Roma Ballet and the junior company of Balletto di Toscana in Florence. As a member of Aterballetto, he danced in works by Mauro Bigonzetti and Walter Matteini as well as the company repertoire. For Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, he danced in works by Kim Brandstrup, Stijn Celis, Shen Wei, Mats Ek, Mauro Bigonzetti, Jean-Cristophe Maillot, Ohad Naharin, and Jiri Kylian. Since joining Ballet BC, Dario has performed in works by Gioconda Barbuto, Aszure Burton, Serge Bennathan, Jorma Elo, Johan Inger, Shawn Hounsell, Emily Molnar, José Navas, Kevin O’Day, Medhi Walerski and Wen Wei Wang. As a choreographer, he presented works in Serata Carta Bianca with Aterballetto, part of Otello by Walter Matteini and for the Junior Arts Umbrella Company. He has also created for Les Grands Ballets’ annual choreographic workshop and continues to crete new works as an independent artist in Vancouver. This is his 3rd year with Ballet BC. “Dancing everyday reminds me of who I am.”
Livona Ellis
Vancouver-born Livona Ellis started dancing at the age of 11 at Arts Umbrella under the direction of Artemis Gordon, joining the Arts Umbrella Dance Company soon afterward. Under the guidance of Gordon, Lynn Sheppard, and Emily Molnar, Livona has been fortunate to work with world-renowned artists Aszure Barton, Gioconda Barbuto, and James Kudelka. Recently she was a part of Springboard Danse Montreal, Movement Invention Project, The Banff Professional Dance Program, and San Francisco Conservatory of Dance Summer Program. This is her third season withBallet BC.
Alexis Fletcher
Alexis Fletcher was born in Vancouver and raised in the Comox Valley where she received her early training before attending Arts Umbrella’s Professional Training Program. Alexis was a member of the Arts Umbrella’s student company and attended Springboard Danse Montreal. After graduating in 2005, she joined Ballet BC. Both with the company and independently, she has had the privilege of performing works by John Alleyne, Emily Molnar, Crystal Pite, José Navas, William Forsythe, Itzik Galili, Dominique Dumais, Wen Wei Wang, Serge Bennathan, Kevin O’Day, Aszure Barton, Rob Kitsos, Sidra Bell, Medhi Walerski, Johan Inger, and Gioconda Barbuto, among others. This is in her 8th season with Ballet BC.
Maggie Forgeron
Born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Maggie Forgeron graduated from the National Ballet School in 2001 with a personal achievement award. She danced for two years with the National Ballet of Canada; attended three summer programs at the Banff Centre for the Performing Arts; danced with the Veronica Tennant and Anna Pavlova Dance Project; helped to create a new work with DNA Theatre and taught at the York School of Dance. Personal highlights include performing in Fokine’s Les Sylphides, James Kudelka’s Nutcracker (lead child role) and Swan Lake as well as John Alleyne’s Four Seasons, Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs and Ballet BC’s production of Septime Webre’s Peter Pan. More recently she danced in the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games and in a collaborative solo project with Margie Gillis called Moon on White Crow. This is Maggie’s 7th Season with Ballet BC. “I dance to become quiet with a greater impact in the world.”
Alyson Fretz
Alyson Fretz was born in London Ontario, and received her training at Arts Umbrella in Vancouver BC. As well as dancing for Ballet BC she has also danced with Pro Arte Danza in Toronto, Emily Molnar Dance, for Donald Sales, the Banff Summer Dance Company, and performed in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremony. Some of her career highlights include working with and performing choreography by Gioconda Barbuto, Leslie Telford, Crystal Pite, Jorma Elo, Donald Sales, and performing a solo from Jiri Kylian’s ‘Toss of a Dice’. Alyson is in her 5th season with Ballet BC.
Connor Gnam
Born and raised in the Vancouver area, Connor Gnam completed his professional training at Arts Umbrella. He then spent a season working with Ballet Kelowna, before moving back to Vancouver to join Ballet BC. Personal highlights as a dancer with Ballet BC include performing works by great choreographers such as, William Forsythe, Crystal Pite, Jorma Elo, Itzik Galili, George Balanchine, Gioconda Barbuto, and Medhi Walerski, among others. Connor is excited to be in his 7th season with Ballet BC. He is also thrilled to be working in one of the most beautiful places on earth, Vancouver, BC.
Daniel Marshalsay
Born and raised in Calgary, Daniel Marshalsay trained at the School of Alberta Ballet and danced with Ballet Kelowna before joining Alberta Ballet.Three years later, he joined Ballet Arizona under the direction of Ib Anderson, dancing soloist and principal roles in works by many choreographers, including Twyla Tharp, George Balanchine, Alejandro Cerrudo, Christopher Wheeldon, Jerome Robbins, Robert Dekkers, Crystal Pite, Gioconda Barbuto and Emily Molnar. Daniel is looking forward to his 2nd season with Ballet BC, and continuing to build his artistry. He is thankful for the support and inspiration he gets from his wife and two-year old daughter.
Rachel Meyer
Rachel Meyer grew up in Collinsville, Illinois, trained with St. Louis Ballet and received her BFA at the University of Utah. She danced with Utah Regional Ballet from 2007-08 and trained at the Northwest Professional Dance Project and the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. She joined Dominic Walsh Dance Theater in 2009 and was a guest artist with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal in The Nutcracker. During the summer of 2011, she performed in Li Galli, Italy and in 2011 danced at the Tate Modern in London with the Michael Clark Company. She was awarded a Princess Grace Award in 2010. With Ballet BC she has performed works by Emily Molnar, José Navas, Simone Orlando, Walter Matteini, Johan Inger, Robert Glumbek and Aszure Barton. This is her 2nd season with
Ballet BC.
Racheal Prince
Racheal Prince was raised in Wasaga Beach, ON and received her early training at the Quinte Ballet School under the direction of Brian Scott. She attended the School of Alberta Ballet’s Pre Professional Program with Murray and Nancy Kilgour and received the prestigious Ali Pourfarrokh scholarship. Racheal began her professional career with the Alberta Ballet Company where she danced for four years. She is now in her 6th season with Ballet BC. She has performed works by William Forsythe, Crystal Pite, Itzik Galili, and Lar Lubovitch among many others. Her performance highlights include George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Rubies, and Serenade, Emily Molnar’s Dedica, Domani in Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs and Jorma Elo’s 1st Flash. In 2009 Racheal performed with Avi Scher and Dancers in New York at Jacob’s Pillow and received outstanding reviews for her role in acclaimed choreographer Val Caniparoli’s Aquilarco. Racheal is looking forward to an exciting season at Ballet BC and working with so many wonderful choreographers.
Gilbert Small
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Gilbert Small started his professional ballet training at the age of 10 at the Baltimore School for the Arts. He has studied at various summer programs, including Dance Theater of Harlem, Nutmeg Conservatory, Miami City Ballet, American Ballet Theater and Springboard Danse Montreal. After graduating from the Baltimore School for the Arts, he continued his studies at the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. Gilbert has also studied abroad at the Hogeschool voor Muziek en Dans in Rotterdam, Holland. While attending the Rotterdamse Danseacademie, he performed an excerpt from Jiri Kylian’s Wings of Wax in the Hollands Dans Festival. Gilbert has also performed with Toronto based ProArte Danza. This is his 4th year with Ballet BC.
Peter Smida
A native of Kingston, Ontario, Peter Smida began his professional ballet training at 16 at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, studying with the support of scholarships, including the Paddy Stone Scholarship for Choreography. He graduated in 2007 before joining the aspirant program. Prior to Ballet BC, he performed with the RWB and Ballet Victoria. In his professional career, Peter has performed works by Twyla Tharp, John Alleyne, Emily Molnar, Crystal Pite and Itzik Galili. Performance highlights include Jorma Elo’s 1st Flash, Medhi Walerski’s Petite Ceremonie and Donald Sales’ Moth. He performed in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies and at the Banff Summer Arts Festival in excerpts from works by Jiri Kylian and a new creation by Kevin O’Day. Peter is excited to begin his 5th season with Ballet BC and would like to thank his family for their incredible and constant support.
Makaila Wallace
A Canadian born in Vallejo, California, Makaila Wallace started professional dance training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet school at age 14 and in the summers attended Bolshoi Ballet summer programs. She danced with the RWB as an apprentice touring nationally and internationally before moving to Stockholm, Sweden to join the Royal Swedish Ballet. There she performed many lead roles including Myrtha in Natalia Makarova's Giselle. Returning to Canada, she joined Ballet BC where she is now in her 10th season. Her personal performance highlights have included works by choreographers Johan Inger, Aszure Barton, Crystal Pite, Serge Bennathan, Wen Wei Wang and Jiri Kylian, among others. In 2009 she had the opportunity to work with Roberto Campanella and Robert Glumbek (ProArteDanza) and also taught the modern program at the Okanagan Summer Dance intensive in Kelowna. Another memorable experience was dancing in the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Makaila would like to thank her friends and family for their unconditional support. “Life is the dancer and we are the dance” — E. Tolle
Guest Artist
Thibaut Eiferman
Thibaut Eiferman was born in Paris, France. He received his classical training at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre in New York City and then attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, where he was led to push through new limits of physical territory and self-expression. He was recently a member of Company E in Washington, D.C., where he performed a program of acclaimed Israeli work in both the US and Israel. He has participated in programs such as Jacob's Pillow, Springboard Danse Montréal, Gaga Intensive in Tel Aviv and Nederlands Dans Theatre Summer Intensive.
Apprentices
Emily Chessa
Emily Chessa was raised in Richmond, BC and began her professional dance training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School at age 15 where she received the Paddy Stone Scholarship for choreography and the Arnold Spohr Scholarship. After graduating in 2010, she danced in the graduate program at Arts Umbrella. As a Senior Dance Company member, Emily had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as James Kudelka, Lesley Telford, Wen Wei Wang, Cherice Barton, Aszure Barton, Gioconda Barbuto and Stephen Shropshire. Performance highlights include Swanhilda in the RWB school production of Coppelia, the lead in Jordan Morris’ Deverell and excerpts from Aszure Barton’s Les Chambres des Jacques. This is her first year as an apprentice with Ballet BC.
Kiera Hill
Born in Vancouver, Kiera Hill began her formal dance training at Arts Umbrella under the direction of Artemis Gordon. As a member of the Arts Umbrella Dance Company, she performed works by James Kudelka, Emily Molnar, Aszure Barton, Lesley Telford, Gioconda Barbuto and Wen Wei Wang among others. In 2011 she was proud to receive the British Columbia Arts Council Scholarship for excellence in dance. Kiera is in her first year as an apprentice with Ballet BC.
Scott Fowler
Born in Vancouver, Scott Fowler was in the first Boys Only program at Arts Umbrella with Edmond Kilpatrick
and continued there under the direction of Artemis Gordon, entering the graduate program in 2011. He has
attended summer intensive programs at American Ballet Theatre and the National Ballet School, and has
performed in Alberta Ballet’s Nutcracker, Ballet BC’s Peter Pan and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Opening
Ceremonies. In 2011, he toured the Netherlands with Arts Umbrella Dance Company, performing at Codarts
and working with Noord Nederlandse Dans, Conny Janssen and NDT2. Scott has worked with many choreographers,
including John Alleyne, Gioconda Barbuto, Aszure Barton, James Kudelka, Emily Molnar, Donald Sales and Lesley
Telford. This is his first year as an apprentice with
Ballet BC.
Photos: Michael Slobodian