Alberta Ballet Tickets

The Alberta Ballet is a Canadian ballet company founded in 1966 and led today by artistic director Jean Grand-Maitre and music director Peter Dala. Its official school is the School of Alberta Ballet and its dancers are famous worldwide for some of the most breathtaking displays of ballet, with many people often ordering Alberta Ballet tickets again and again for a look at their ballets. This is a ballet company renowned in the nation as the third largest dance company.
 
The Alberta Ballet was founded in 1958 by Dr. Ruth Carse leading to a vibrant ballet scene in Alberta. In 1966, the company went professional with Dr. Ruth Carse leading it as the director until 1975. The next director of the ballet was Brydon Paige, who led the ballet from 1976 until 1988, with many a milestones passed under his leadership. In 1988, Ali Pourfarrokh took over and was the director of the ballet company until 1998. Under his leadership, the ballet company went on with a memger with the Calgary City Ballet and began performing at Calgary's Nat Christie Centre.
 
The Alberta Ballet then saw Mikko Nissinen, former dancer at the San Francisco Ballet, lead the company as the director until 2002. During his tenure, he commissioned new work from international and Canadian choreographers as well as introduced the works of the iconic George Balanchine. He also led the company on international tours, to China, Egypt and Finland amongst others. In 2002, Jean Grand-Maitre became the company's new artistic director, a role he continues to play today. He has led the company to many a performances in Canada, the US and as far off as China.
 
Jean Grand-Maitre, artistic director of the company, has choreographed such works as Carmen and Fiddle and the Drum with Joni Mitchell. Carmen, a sensational ballet, has not only been staged in Canada but has also gone on tours of China. In 2010, the company staged a spectacular ballet titled Elton: Love Lies Bleeding, an Elton John production. This was after the iconic Elton John saw the company's production, Fiddle and the Drum, and asked the company to work on a ballet.
 
The company also became the first ever in Canada asked to stage a ballet by the famous Christopher Wheeldon, of one of the US's finest ballet companies, the New York City Ballet. Christopher Wheldon worked with the company as a choreographer on A Midsummer Night's Dream. The ballet also worked on two productions commissioned by the Boston Ballet's Jorma Elo. Sabrina Mathews, a famous Canadian choreographer, has also worked on ballets with the company, all of which have gone on to receive rave reviews.
 
During the 2009 to 2010 season, a number of balalets were staged. This included The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge: The Ballet which was performed by the prestigious Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the world premiere of Songs of a Wayfarer, the world premiere of ELTON with Sir Elton John and the world premiere of The Seven Deadly Sins. Today, the ballet is home to many famous dancers, including Skye Balfour-Ducharme, Andreamaria Battaggia, Eli Barnes, Reilley Bell, Nicole Caron, Elier Bourzac, Natalie Chui and Alison Dubsky.
 
The School of Alberta Ballet is also notable as the official training grounds of the ballet company, which has spawned many accomplished dancers since its founding in 1991. It has two divisions and a number of program choices, based upon the Cecchetti method and the Vaganova system. It also teaches contemporary dance, including character dance, modern dance and jazz dancer. Committed to diversity, the school is led by principal Murray Kilgour and senior pedagogue Nancy Kilgour. Members of the school are often seen performing with members of the ballet, with Alberta Ballet tickets in hand.