Ballet Jörgen will be bringing a new ballet, based on the beloved Canadian novel Anne of Green Gables to the Cowichan Valley next year.
Bengt Jörgen made the announcement after a pre-show talk in the lobby of the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre, just prior to the opening of his group’s performance of Coppelia Thursday night, Feb. 7.
The new ballet, produced in combination with the Hong Kong Ballet Company, is not the first time that Ballet Jörgen has used a Canadian background for a show. He pointed out that their versions of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake have Canadian themes but this ballet will be all-Canadian.
“Anne of Green Gables is a very logical step for us to take,” he said. “We are a national company, and have more shows with Canadian content that any other company, especially in dance.”
Ballet Jörgen has regional locations, too.
“We actually have a home in Halifax,” he said. “For us it is very important to share stories from the communities we are resourced from. Anne of Green Gables is obviously an Atlantic Canada story and our funders in Atlantic Canada would like us to share that with the world.
“It will be the first production ever of Anne of Green Gables as a full-length ballet. It is supported by the heirs of Lucy Maud Montgomery. It will be our largest production ever and we will tour with it over two years worldwide. It will be coming here [to Duncan] next year so you’d better be sure to buy your tickets. It won’t be like Coppelia, where people will say: I’ve never heard of that. So we are hoping it’s going to be a great showcase. We are very excited, and we are already way on our way. It’s all in production; we’ve been working on this project for three years and today we start full time rehearsals for four months.”
The ballet’s premiere will happen Sept. 28 in Halifax.
“From there on in, it keeps rolling until it comes here in February of 2020.”