Artists

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  Featuring Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet

  

  Featuring Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet

  Founded in 1939, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet holds the double distinction of being Canada’s premier ballet company and one of the oldest ballet companies in North America. Under the artistic direction of André Lewis, O.M., versatility, technical excellence and a captivating style are the trademarks of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, qualities that have garnered both critical and audience acclaim. RWB’s superlative standards keep the Company in demand across North America. In addition to the Company, the RWB is home to the RWB School, consisting of both a professional division which trains young artists for a professional career in dance, and a recreational division which provides classes to over 1,500 students each week.

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  Featuring NAC Orchestra

  

  Featuring NAC Orchestra

  Since its debut in 1969, the National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra has been praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary educational programs, and its prominent role in nurturing Canadian creativity. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra reflects the fabric and values of Canada, reaching and representing the diverse communities we live in with daring programming, powerful storytelling, inspiring artistry, and innovative partnerships.

  Alexander Shelley began his tenure as Music Director in 2015, following Pinchas Zukerman’s 16 seasons at the helm. Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and former Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (2009–2017), he has been in demand around the world, conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Stockholm Philharmonic, among others, and maintains a regular relationship with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and the German National Youth Orchestra.

  Each season, the NAC Orchestra features world-class artists such as the newly appointed Artist-in-Residence James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Joshua Bell, Xian Zhang, Gabriela Montero, Stewart Goodyear, Jan Lisiecki, and Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds. As one of the most accessible, inclusive, and collaborative orchestras in the world, the NAC Orchestra uses music as a universal language to communicate the deepest of human emotions and connect people through shared experiences.

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  Choreographer Nina Menon

  

  Choreographer Nina Menon

  Nina Menon joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet after graduating from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School’s Professional Division. As a member of the corps de ballet, she danced numerous soloist roles and, in 1990, she made her choreographic debut at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s choreographic workshop. The success of this ballet and others, plus the commissioning by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet of her popular ballet La Soif, led Artistic Director André Lewis to appoint Nina Menon Resident Choreographer.

  Highlights of Menon’s residency include Drunken Butterflies, a ballet choreographed to polish composer Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki. This ballet explores the life of an immigrant family through dance and film. In 1999, she collaborated with Galina Yordanova on the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s new version of Nutcracker which premiered in Ottawa at the NAC. In the same season, Menon shared with the world her East Indian ancestral roots by creating a ballet to The Gita Govinda. Collaborating with composer Mychael Danna (Felicia’s Journey, Monsoon Wedding, Vanity Fair), Menon’s ballet, The Gitagovinda, told an ancient story from her personal connection with the poem. The sacred poem was passed down to the choreographer by her grandmother.

  During her residency, Nina Menon choreographed several ballets for the Professional Division students and taught dance at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Recreational Division. She now lives in Montreal with life partner Mark Godden and their two sons. She teaches ballet at Sheila Parkins Dance Academy and several Montessori schools. In her spare time, she loves to garden.

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  Choreographer Galina Yordanova

  

  Choreographer Galina Yordanova

  The late Galina Yordanova trained for nine years at Baku in the USSR and for five years with the Bolshoi Ballet where she received her teacher’s diploma in 1960. She held diplomas in Choreography and Teacher Training from the G.I.T.S. in Moscow. In 1960, Madame Yordanova was Ballet Mistress of the Varna Norodna Opera in Bulgaria where she staged a number of classics including Romeo and Juliet, Raymonda, Le Corsaire, Coppélia, Les Sylphides, Giselle and Nutcracker. She has also worked extensively with the Ballet der Deutschen Oper, Berlin and with companies in Madrid and Valencia, Spain and in Nagoya and Kyoto, Japan.

  In 1980, Yordanova began to spend a portion of each year in Winnipeg, teaching at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School’s Professional Division Summer Session. Her expert teaching of the Russian style was an important component of the development of the teaching style of the school.

  In 1995, she joined the artistic faculty as resident Guest Teacher. She worked extensively with the RWB dancers to prepare them for the Company’s 1987 premiere of Swan Lake, which she staged in the Russian style. In 1990, Yordanova shared her expertise and talent in the staging of the RWB’s premiere of La Bayadère, Act II, featuring members of the Company together with young artists from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School.

  In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the RWB School in 1996, she staged Don Quixote, with the School’s entire student body performing alongside Company members who were school graduates in the lead roles.

  For the RWB’s 1999–2000 season, Galina Yordanova, along with Nina Menon, choreographed a new version of Nutcracker for the Company which premiered in Ottawa at the NAC on December 2, 1999.

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  Artistic Director André Lewis, O.M.

  

  Artistic Director André Lewis, O.M.

  In 2025, André Lewis will celebrate 50 years with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Under his dynamic leadership, the RWB has secured a place among the world’s premiere dance companies and its School has established an equally respected international reputation. Lewis has become the face of the RWB, its inspirational guide, and its conscience.

  Born in Gatineau, Québec, Lewis began ballet training at the Classical Ballet Studio in Ottawa. In 1975, he was accepted into the Professional Division of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. After completing his training under the direction of David Moroni he joined the Company as a Corps de Ballet member and was promoted to Soloist in 1982. During his career, Lewis worked with many eminent teachers, coaches and choreographers including Galina Yordanova, Rudi Van Dantzig, Jiří Kylián and Agnes de Mille. As a dancer, Lewis was well known for his strength as a soloist and as a partner. He has said that partnering with the inspiring Evelyn Hart was a career highlight.

  During his tenure with the Company, under the mentorship of then Artistic Director Arnold Spohr, Lewis was identified by RWB leadership as an exceptional individual whose passion for the art form, commitment to excellence and bold artistic vision could provide strong, dedicated leadership to an organization as prestigious as the RWB. On his retirement from dance in 1990, he was welcomed into the position of Associate Artistic Director before assuming the role of Artistic Director in 1996. From the moment he became Artistic Director, Lewis has been the driving force behind innovative works and classical recreations. He has commissioned both new and experienced choreographers to create original works, while maintaining a distinct Canadian identity, which have been shared with generations of dance enthusiasts in Manitoba, across our country and around the globe. In 2018, Lewis was also appointed the RWB’s Chief Executive Officer.

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  Executive Director Elena Tupyseva

  

  Executive Director Elena Tupyseva

  On November 6, 2023 Elena Tupyseva started with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet as the Executive Director. Tupyseva is an innovative, dedicated and proven leader with over 20 years of experience in managing performing arts organizations and projects.

  Born in Moscow (Russia), she has been a producer, curator and arts leader in the field of contemporary dance and ballet since 1999. Tupyseva earned a Graduate Certificate in Leadership and Management, Royal Roads University, 2022, a Master’s Degree in Performing Arts Management, State Academy of Theatre Arts, Russia, 2005 and a Master’s Degree in Law, State University of Oil and Gas, Russia, 1998.

  Tupyseva became co-founder and director of the Contemporary Dance Centre TsEKh (Moscow) in 2001. Primary projects included the International Contemporary Dance Festival TsEKh and the International Contemporary Dance Summer School. From 2000 - 2021, Elena was a Russian partner of the European Dance Network Aerowaves.

  Tupyseva then moved on to become Artistic Director and CEO of the Theatre Ballet Moscow, a city repertoire contemporary dance and ballet company from 2012 to 2022. Under her direction, the company commissioned more than 30 new ballets (full length and one act) created by Russian and international choreographers. During 2020, the company launched several online projects and performances. The company was nominated six times to the prestigious Russian Theatre Award Golden Mask and two productions won the prize as a best dance production of the year.

  In 2022, Tupyseva was appointed Producer of Dance Umbrella of Ontario based in Toronto, where she and her colleagues served independent artists by assisting with management services – from non-profit finances and production to administration and marketing.

  Tupyseva’s entrepreneurial skills and flair played a huge role in setting up and leading independent arts organizations and various artistic projects throughout her career. Her artistic curiosity, coupled with strategic thinking, talent development, human relations, networking, and inter-cultural communication skills, have paved the way for successfully executing numerous ballet, dance and multidisciplinary projects on local, national and international levels.

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  Costume Designer Paul Daigle

  

  Costume Designer Paul Daigle

  Paul Daigle has a first-hand understanding of the intricacies of designing for dance. A graduate of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Daigle went on to perform for two seasons with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet before leaving in 1988 to pursue a career in design.

  Daigle has established a very creative and productive relationship with choreographer Mark Godden. Together they have collaborated on a variety of creations for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, including sets and costumes for Sequoia, Godden’s 1989 Clifford E. Lee Choreographic Award winning ballet, Godden’s two award-winning pas de deux, Myth and La Princesse et le Soldat, as well as Forms of Distinction, Rapsodie espagnole, and seven one-act Godden ballets: Symphony No. 1, Angels in the Architecture, Dame aux Fruits, La Folía, A Darkness Between Us, Shepherd’s Wake and Miroirs.

  During the 1997–1998 RWB season, he redesigned the sets for Antony Tudor’s The Leaves Are Fading and the costumes for Paquita. He also collaborated with Mark Godden on two new works, The Rite of Spring and Anywhere But London.

  During the 1998–1999 season, Daigle designed the scenery and costumes for Mark Godden’s first full-length ballet, Dracula. In 2003, he went on to win the Manitoba Motion Picture Industry Association Blizzard Award for best costume design for Guy Maddin’s film adaptation of Godden’s Dracula.

  Daigle designed the costumes for the RWB’s Nutcracker, which premiered at Ottawa’s NAC on December 2, 1999. In 2003, he was reunited with Mark Godden to create the scenery and costume design for Godden’s full-length creation The Magic Flute, which premiered in Winnipeg.

  Daigle has created set and costume designs for numerous ballet and theatre companies including Ballet British Columbia, Ballet Jörgen, Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada, Alberta Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Kiev Ballet, Compañía Nacional de Danza (Mexico City), Theatre New Brunswick (Fredericton), Neptune Theatre (Halifax) and Theatre Aquarius (Hamilton). Daigle has had the honour to design new creations for world renowned choreographers Mark Morris, Kevin O’Day and Alexei Ratmansky.

  Paul Daigle’s most recent work includes costume designs for Mark Godden’s Svengalli and costume designs for Michael Pink’s critically acclaimed full-length production of La Boheme for Milwaukee Ballet which premiered in October 2012.

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  Principal Conductor Julian Pellicano

  

  Principal Conductor Julian Pellicano

  Known for his versatility across a broad spectrum of genres, dynamic interpretations and meticulous technique, American-Canadian conductor Julian Pellicano is the Musical Director and Principal Conductor of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Associate Conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Bringing an incisive musicality and collaborative spirit to every performance, he has built a wide-ranging international career leading the Winnipeg Free Press to proclaim that “his versatility is truly astonishing.”

  As a guest he has conducted orchestras in North America and abroad including the Seattle Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Orquestra de Valencia, Edmonton Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre, the Hartford Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and the Vermont Symphony among others.

  Passionate about the intersection of music and dance, Pellicano has collaborated with internationally renowned dancers and choreographers. Upcoming ballet performances include a debut with the National Ballet of Canada, a return to Orlando Ballet as well as extensive performing and touring with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

  A specialist in performing films live with an orchestra, Mr. Pellicano’s catalogue of film projects encompasses over 20 titles including the Star Wars and Harry Potter series, E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Jurassic Park, Home Alone, Miloš Forman’s award-winning film Amadeus, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis with its original 1927 score, Casablanca, Singin’ in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, Disney’s Fantasia, The Nightmare Before Christmas, plus several of Charlie Chaplin’s silent classics.

  Julian Pellicano studied conducting at the Yale School of Music, and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, and has conducted masterclasses with Kurt Masur, Peter Eötvös, Zsolt Nagy, Martyn Brabbins, Carl St. Clair, L’Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

  Julian Pellicano’s career grew out of unconventional beginnings, performing as a primarily self taught percussionist, timpanist, drummer and accordionist, in styles ranging from folk music to blues and jazz, rock and punk, as well as more traditional ensembles and orchestras. As a percussionist, he has performed in concert halls and festivals in North America, Europe and Asia. He also holds a degree in philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University

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  Scenic Designer Brian Perchaluk

  

  Scenic Designer Brian Perchaluk

  Brian Perchaluk is a set and costume designer based in Winnipeg. Born and raised in rural Manitoba, Perchaluk graduated from the University of Winnipeg and the National Theatre School of Canada and later went on to apprentice at the Banff Centre. His designs have been featured on stages across the country including the Neptune Theatre, Atlantic Ballet Theatre, Canadian Stage, Theatre Passe Muraille, the Grand Theatre, the Blyth Festival, the National Arts Centre, Persephone Theatre, Theatre Calgary, Alberta Theatre Projects, the Citadel Theatre, The Vancouver Playhouse, the Arts Club Theatre, the Belfry Theatre and two seasons each at the Stratford and Shaw Festivals.

  In Winnipeg, he has often worked for Prairie Theatre Exchange, Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Rainbow Stage, Le Cercle Molière, Manitoba Opera and the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, where he has designed more than 40 productions.

  Among his favourite credits are M. Butterfly for the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and the National Arts Centre, Les Misérables for the Neptune Theatre, Time and the Conways for the Shaw Festival, Nutcracker for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Hay Fever for Theatre Calgary.

  In 1999, Brian Perchaluk received a Gemini Award for outstanding production design for his work on Journey and in 2003 a Jessie Richardson Award for outstanding set design for Mary’s Wedding.

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  Lighting Designer Michael J. Whitfield

  

  Lighting Designer Michael J. Whitfield

  Michael J. Whitfield has an extensive background in lighting design for theatre, ballet and opera.

  A native of Victoria, B.C., Whitfield received his training in theatre at the University of Victoria, Villanova University and the University of Illinois. In 1974, he began a long association with the Stratford Festival, where he was for many years the Resident Lighting Designer and was responsible for the lighting design of a great variety of plays and musicals, including The Mikado, Amadeus and King Lear. He has worked extensively in Canadian regional theatre and his work is often seen at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.

  Whitfield is also much in demand as a lighting designer for opera and his designs have been featured at the San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera Company, Houston Grand Opera, the Minnesota Opera, the Dallas Opera, the Welsh National Opera and for Canadian companies in Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa, Hamilton, Edmonton, Calgary, Banff and Vancouver. His lighting has been featured at the Canadian Opera Company for over 30 years, where designs included Wozzeck and Madama Butterfly.

  In the world of ballet, Brian Whitfield’s work has been represented by Alice and The Nutcracker at the National Ballet of Canada, The Merry Widow for the American Ballet Theatre and Romeo & Juliet at the Finnish National Ballet.

  For Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, his lighting design has also been seen in The Sleeping Beauty and Anne of Green Gables.

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