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MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate release: March 10, 2008

ALBERTA BALLET'S 2008/09 SEASON

ALIVE!

Celebrate performances ALIVE in body, mind and spirit with Alberta Ballet's 2008/09 season. A season of inspiration, strength and fantasy takes Edmonton's stage with an ethereal production of A Midsummer Night's Dream; a lavish world-premiere of The Nutcracker; The Fiddle and The Drum's exploration of the human spirit; the witty and much-loved Alice in Wonderland; as well as visits by The Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Peter Pan and Ballet British Columbia's A Streetcar Named Desire.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet kicks off Edmonton's ballet season with the Alberta premiere of its high-flying Peter Pan. Choreographed by Jorden Morris, Peter Pan takes audiences on an adventurous voyage to Neverland where, along with Wendy, the Lost Boys and Tinkerbell, the boy wonder battles the nefarious Captain Hook and his band of pirates. Peter Pan runs September 23 &24, 2008.

The second offering in Alberta Ballet's three-year Shakespeare cycle continues with the Bard's romantic comedy of errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Acclaimed choreographer Christopher Wheeldon conjures a lush moonlit forest where fairies and mortals intermingle and the mischievous Puck plays cupid. Set to Mendelssohn's stately score, this ballet is a spellbinding production for audiences of all ages. A Midsummer Night's Dream runs November 7 & 8, 2008.

Alberta Ballet's long-awaited, brand-new holiday favourite is here! With his sparkling Nutcracker, choreographer Edmund Stripe revisits Imperial Russia, an era of opulent grandeur, in a production bursting with vitality and joy. Share in Klara's revelry as she travels to the Land of Sweets, where she meets the Snow King and Queen, the Sugar Plum Fairy and sundry lively characters. This new take on the Company's seasonal tradition is set to Tchaikovsky's eternal score, performed live by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The Nutcracker runs December 11 - 14, 2008.

Since its world-premiere in Alberta, Jean Grand-Maitre and Joni Mitchell's first-time collaboration, The Fiddle and The Drum, has enjoyed sold-out audiences at art film festivals Canada-wide, a national television broadcast and a theatre screening in New York City. The Fiddle and The Drum returns to the Jubilee Auditorium in a full-length adaptation, including new songs and imagery by Ms. Mitchell, February 20 & 21, 2009.

Edmund Stripe's Alice in Wonderland sends audiences tumbling down the rabbit hole and into an enchanting world of comic eccentricity, complete with a high-jumping White Rabbit and a calculating Caterpillar, a mad tea party of acrobatic craziness, as well as the tyrannical Queen of Hearts and her vast Garden of Roses. This enthralling adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic tale is a fantastic, fun-filled, family-friendly adventure set to the music of Ravel and Debussy, performed live by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Alice in Wonderland runs March 27 & 28, 2009.

Ballet British Columbia closes Edmonton's ballet season with a take on Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, A Streetcar Named Desire. This full-length work, incorporating John Alleyne's exciting contemporary choreography, video projections and an original jazz score takes audiences into the heart of New Orleans, where an epic clash between Southern Belle Blanche Dubois and brutish Stanley Kowalski simmers in sticky heat. A Streetcar Named Desire runs May 12 & 13, 2009.

Each of the ALIVE performances takes place at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Subscriptions to Alberta Ballet's 2008/09 season are on sale now, call (780) 428-6839 ext. 1. For more information, please visit www.albertaballet.com.

About Alberta Ballet:

Alberta Ballet is Canada's third largest dance company and is entering its 42nd season. Throughout the last decades, Alberta Ballet has developed a distinctive repertoire and performance quality, bringing it to the forefront of its home and international stages.

Since the Company's dance style is neither purely classical nor strictly contemporary, its dancers must master an eclectic repertoire, from classics to bold, cutting-edge works; for this, Alberta Ballet handpicks highly-trained dancers from all over the world and right here in Alberta. The Company's dancers work five days a week, 40 weeks per year. Alberta Ballet comprises 26 classically-trained professional dancers from Australia, Canada, England, France, Japan, South Korea and the United States.

Alberta Ballet operates and performs in both Calgary and Edmonton. The office in Calgary's Nat Christie Centre houses two studios, the dancers' lounge, wardrobe facilities and the administrative office. A northern office is located in downtown Edmonton. The Company also has a 10,000 square-foot warehouse in SE Calgary that stores existing sets and is used to build new sets.

Alberta Ballet reaches thousands of Albertans each season from September to May and performs across Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa. In its home repertoire, the Company presents the best of Canada's ballet companies, including the National Ballet of Canada, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal and Ballet British Columbia. For each dance season, Alberta Ballet strives to invite and collaborate with world renowned singer-songwriters, conductors and choreographers, as well as emerging and established guest artists to take part in the creation of new works.

For more information, please visit www.albertaballet.com.

Media contacts:

Gail Helmer, Director of Marketing & Communications
P: 403.245.4222 ext 545 | E: gailh@albertaballet.com
Samantha Garner, Marketing & Communications Coordinator
P: 403.245.4222 ext 529 | E: samanthag@albertaballet.com
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