A Streetcar Named Desire to wrap up Ballet Kelowna season
Dancers hit the Community Theatre stage at 7:30 p.m.
Stanley and Blanche will help Ballet Kelowna dance away its landmark 15th season with power and passion, grace and grit.
The glaring contrast and fierce struggle between the two worlds of Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois are the main themes of Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire.
Tonight and Wednesday at the Kelowna Community Theatre, Ballet Kelowna presents A Streetcar Named Desire as the season finale, starting at 7:30 p.m.
Choreographed by John Alleyne, for Ballet BC’s 2005/06 season, the Pulitzer Prize winning classic tells the story of two sisters — one clinging to a bygone era, the other embracing the reality of post Second World War life in America.
Dancing as it does between present and past, between real-time New Orleans and old-world Mississippi, the work’s dreamlike transitions are particularly well-suited to balletic interpretation.
Considered Williams’ greatest drama, A Streetcar Named Desire explores poignant themes that echo today’s headlines: shifting social mores; power and dominance; gender stereotyping; and politics. Orlando says this presentation of former Ballet BC artistic director Alleyne’s timeless adaptation aligns with Ballet Kelowna’s mandate to encourage and promote the work of Canadian choreographers.
“John Alleyne is one of Canada’s most established and renowned choreographers,” said Ballet Kelowna artistic director Simone Orlando.
“By presenting the monumental ballet, A Streetcar Named Desire, we are acknowledging his significant contribution to dance in Canada, while honouring his enormous legacy to the art form,” says Orlando.
Hailed as “an impressive achievement” following its world premiere in 2006, the remount of the work for Ballet Kelowna’s 15th anniversary season is a particularly poignant undertaking for Orlando, who performed the principal role of Blanche Dubois, the older sister trying desperately to flee the present, at its premiere in Vancouver.
Just as Blanche’s character attempted to escape her fate, undoubtedly Orlando hoped to escape hers. After suffering a hip injury in 2007 that required surgery, Orlando reprised the role the following season during her tenure at Ballet BC, but dancing in significant pain, learned in the summer of 2009 that her injury necessitated a complete hip replacement, ending her career as a professional dancer.
“On a personal note, I hope coaching the role of Blanche Dubois, set to be performed by Kelowna native and Ballet Kelowna company dancer Desiree Bortolussi, will help me find closure on my own career as a dancer,” Orlando explains.
“My body still remembers what it feels like to act and dance as Blanche, and while I can no longer perform this demanding role, it is liberating for me to know my ‘spirit’ of Blanche, as well as the intricacies of the large-scale production, will live on in Desiree, coupled with the remarkable company artists of Ballet Kelowna.”
Alongside Orlando, Alleyne will work closely on the nuances of the ballet with nine Ballet Kelowna dancers — supported by post-secondary students from the Victoria Academy of Ballet, and guest dancer, Etienne Gagnon-Delorme from Montreal’s prestigious L’École supérieure de ballet du Québec.
Produced with the generous support of Ballet BC, A Streetcar Named Desire will be performed to the original jazz score by B.C.-based composer Tobin Stokes.
Gerald King, the ballet’s original lighting designer, will be working with the company in Kelowna for this presentation, and the dancers will wear lavish Ballet BC costumes by Kim Nielsen.
Noted Okanagan set designer and builder Eugene Levesque brings his own brand of creativity to reconstructing an important set piece – a rolling bed that transforms into an oversized king bed in Act II, becoming an elevated platform for several duets.
“With John and I back in the studio together after so many years, this remount has far greater meaning than simply teaching the choreography to the dancers,” says Orlando.
“It is about passing years of experience and artistry from one generation to the next. I can’t put into words how extraordinary this process has been for me — this work has seen my career come full circle.”
Tickets are on sale at: balletkelowna.ca