Nijinsky | Choreographers

CHOREOGRAPHER 

In addition to her multi-faceted career in Canadian arts, Denise is the Associate Artist and a permanent member of the One Yellow Rabbit Theatre Ensemble.  Over the years, OYR has produced several of her plays, including Breeder, So Low, Permission, Featherland, Sign Language, Heavens to Murgatroid, A Fabulous Disaster, Smash Cut Freeze, Wag and Room 333. 

Clarke designed and was the Director of the OYR Summer Lab Intensive from 1997-2019. In 2018 she wrote The Big Secret Book, An Intense Guide To Creating Performance Theatre. Today she directs the Beautiful Young Artists program.  The program provides training and mentoring while introducing emerging local artists to the OYR stage.

Clarke also works as a free-lance choreographer and director. She has choreographed for Theatre Calgary, The Citadel Theatre, Vancouver and Calgary Operas, the Canadian Opera Company,The Shaw Festival and Canadian Stage and directed several productions outside of her OYR work.

She is the recipient of numerous awards including local theatre awards in Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto. Along with the OYR Ensemble she was awarded the Alberta Lieutenant Governor General Distinguished Artist Award and The Calgary Mayor’s Distinguished Artist Award.

Denise was appointed as a Member to the Order of Canada and also recognized by the University of Calgary with an Honorary Doctorate in 2013.

CHOREOGRAPHER 

Alyssa Martin is a multi award-winning choreographer who works with surrealism, comedy and modern dance. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Rock Bottom Movement, based in Tkaronto. She creates surrealist dance-theatre with humour as her rhythm and empathy as her guide. Her recent works include Big Time Miss, commissioned by Fall for Dance North, and Sex Dalmatian produced in collaboration with Citadel et Compagnie. 

As an independent choreographer, she has created new works for companies including The National Ballet of Canada (Desperate Drama of Red and Sugar Water) and Toronto Dance Theatre (Bin Chicken) as well as for independent artists Susie Burpee and Linnea Swan (PUS). Her penchant for transdisciplinary exploration has inspired collaborations that span theatre, circus, film, musical theatre and opera including four seasons at The Stratford Festival, and work with Canadian Stage and many independent companies. She creates her work through a uniquely collaborative, anti-patriarchal approach.

CHOREOGRAPHER

Originally from Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Racheal trained at the Quinte Ballet School under the direction of Brian Scott and later completed Alberta Ballet School’s Post Graduate Program under the guidance of Murray and Nancy Kilgour. She became the first graduate of the program to join Alberta Ballet under a full company contract. During her four seasons with the company, she performed works by George Balanchine, Emily Molnar, Margie Gillis, Christopher Wheeldon, and Jean Grand-Maître.

At age 23, she joined Ballet BC, where she spent 12 seasons performing works by today’s leading contemporary voices, including Emily Molnar, William Forsythe, Sharon Eyal, and Ohad Naharin. Her touring credits include world-renowned venues such as Sadler’s Wells, Jacob’s Pillow, and BAM.

Following her performance career, Racheal took on the role of Assistant Rehearsal Director at Ballet BC, staging Medhi Walerski’s Romeo and Juliet and Prelude. She is a devoted mentor, teacher, and arts advocate, committed to supporting the next generation of artists.

Racheal is the co-founder and co-artistic director of Dance//Novella, a Vancouver-based contemporary dance company she leads with her partner Brandon Lee Alley. Highlights include their tenure as Artists-in-Residence at Ballet BC, receiving the Vancouver International Dance Festival’s Choreographic Award, and being selected for a Dance Artist Residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. In 2025, they received their first international commission with SALT Contemporary Dance. 

CHOREOGRAPHER

Wicklund trained at Goh Ballet Academy, Modus Operandi Contemporary Training Program, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, The Banff Centre for the Performing Arts, and received scholarships to train at American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet & Pacific Northwest Ballet. 

As a Dance Artist, Wicklund has danced with The Washington Ballet Company, Ballet BC under Emily Molnar, CM / Medhi Walerski (2014 - 2021), Opera Ballet Vlaanderen (2021 - 2024) and more. Wicklund has danced and created original works by Crystal Pite, Ohad Naharin, Sharon Eyal, Pina Bausch, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Akram Khan, Lesley Telford, Medhi Walerski, William Forsythe, Emmanuel Gat, Wen Wei Wang, Cayetano Soto, Adi Salant, Aszure Barton, Company 605, Johan Inger, Serge Bennathan, Jorma Elo, Jacopo Godani, Fernando Magadan, Walter Mateini, Emily Molnar, Jan Martens, Richard Siegal, Ella Rothschild and more.

As an independent maker, Wicklund has choreographed works for Ballet Edmonton, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, The Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company & New Moves Program, The New York Choreographic Institute at New York City Ballet, Ballet BC’s “Take Form”, Ballet Kelowna and more. Her work “Overcast” was selected as a finalist for the International Choreographic Competition Hannover in 2021. 

In 2024 Wicklund was appointed the Artistic Director of Ballet Edmonton. She is passionate about leading the 10 dancer ensemble with a focus on the creation of bold and risk-taking work in contemporary ballet and dance theatre featuring leading and emerging voices within the global dance community.