Photo: Castanet Staff

Cameron Fraser-Monroe

The 20th Anniversary Season of Ballet Kelowna kicks off next week with Pop Up Series: Dance by the Lake at City Park Jubilee Grandstands from Wednesday, August 24, to Saturday, August 27.

The event offers free dance classes, demonstrations, open viewing of rehearsal, and culminates with a special evening performance on August 27 as part of the Kelowna Made Festival.

Artistic director & CEO Simone Orland has also announced that Cameron Fraser-Monroe will be the first Artist in Residence for Ballet Kelowna. His works will be featured throughout the season.

A member of the Tla’amin First Nation, as well as being of Ukrainian and Scottish descent, Fraser-Monroe began his dance training in Vernon. The graduate of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School has danced professionally with many companies, and as a choreographer, Fraser-Monroe has received commissions from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Winnipeg Summer Dance Collective, and both PULSE and Indigenous Day Live on ATPN.

“I am honoured to join Ballet Kelowna as their first Artist in Residence,” says Fraser-Monroe. “Ballet Kelowna’s commitment to providing space for empowered Indigenous storytelling is unprecedented, and I look forward to crafting narratives for stage in a longer format.”

His work taq?s? [tawKESH] will be part of Aspirations, on November 4 and 5 at the Kelowna Community Theatre.

The ballet, which means “to return something” in Ayajuthem, the language belonging to the Homalco, Klahoose, K’omoks and Tla’amin Nations, will feature several songs by Polaris Prize-winning composer and singer Jeremy Dutcher.

The second mixed program of the 20th Anniversary Season, is Reflections, on February 17 + 18, 2023. Along with another work from Fraser-Munroe, the production will include choreographer Esie Mensah’s first creation for Ballet Kelowna.

All the details on the upcoming shows can be found here.

Season subscriptions are on sale now and can be purchased online at theatre.kelowna.ca, by phone at 250.469.8940, or in person at the Kelowna Community Theatre, 1375 Water St, Kelowna.

Ballet Kelowna’s 2022/23 season is presented by the Thomas Alan Budd Foundation.