Alberta Ballet to lose creative director after one full season on the helm

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Christopher Anderson and Alberta Ballet “have determined to half methods” after just one full season in cost.

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Anderson will go away his publish as creative director efficient Dec. 31. No different particulars have been supplied and neither Anderson nor Alberta Ballet officers can be found for remark.

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“With plentiful appreciation and conflicting feelings, I share that I plan to depart Alberta Ballet,” Anderson acknowledged. “After eight years, the time has come to hunt out new alternatives. I’m so grateful for the various stunning experiences I’ve had, and I look ahead to celebrating Alberta Ballet’s continued successes.”

In an interview simply final week, Anderson spoke enthusiastically concerning the upcoming season, which is to function his personal interpretation of Sleeping Magnificence, Der Wolf’s darkish reimagining of Little Pink Using Hood, and Hansel & Gretel, interspersed with a portrait piece of Argentina’s first woman Eva Perón and the basic Hamlet.

That is our most progressive and impressive program of the season, within the sense of actually placing the artwork type ahead, Anderson mentioned. The curtain comes down and it’s arresting in the way it kind of instantly units a tone.

In 2018, Christopher Anderson was affiliate creative director of Alberta Ballet and choreographed the corporate’s manufacturing of Sleeping Magnificence.  Courtesy, Paul McGrath Paul McGrath

Anderson began with Alberta Ballet in 2015 as rehearsal director and, after a three-year transition, assumed the title of creative director for the 2022-23 season. Anderson had been co-artistic director in 2021 alongside longtime creative director Jean Grand-Maitre, who had helmed the ballet for 20 years. Within the 2022-23 season, Anderson took over as creative director and put his stamp on the corps {of professional} dancers. Grand-Maître remained as an artist-in-residence for the corporate.

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Daryl Fridhandler, chair of the board of administrators, mentioned Anderson was instrumental within the Ballet’s successes via a tumultuous pandemic interval. “Together with his considerate steering, imaginative and prescient and fortitude, Alberta Ballet was the primary performing arts firm to return to the Jubilee after the COVID-19 shutdown, with Christopher’s world premiere of Swan Lake.”

President and CEO Chris George added, “Christopher has fostered many useful worldwide connections for Alberta Ballet, and the Ballet’s 2022-2023 season was a sequence of creative successes, with a number of excellent collaborations with world-renowned choreographers. The Ballet is grateful to have his regular, considerate hand, continuity and assist as we glance to Alberta Ballet’s subsequent creative director. We look ahead to seeing how a brand new chapter unfolds for him and want him all the most effective within the years forward.”

The Alberta Ballet board of administrators has engaged Arts Consulting Group to recruit a brand new creative director and can type a search committee within the coming weeks.