Top New York City Ballet dancers set to perform in Kelowna

World class ballerinas rarely take the stage at small Canadian cities, but some of New York City Ballet's top dancers will be in Kelowna on Tuesday for the Canadian premiere of The Ashley Bouder Project.

Also premiering on Tuesday is Kelowna native and choreographer Josh Beamish's Rouge et Noir, part of the second act of The Ashley Bouder Project.

"A Canadian premiere very rarely, for a company like Ashley Bouder, would ever happen at a place as small as Kelowna," Beamish told Radio West. "So it's really special for me that I'm able to bring collaborators that I work with on the world stage back to where I'm from."

The first act of The Ashley Bouder Project will include excerpts from Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Agon and the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. The second act features Rouge et Noir.

Beamish said he choreographed Rouge et Noir after New York City Ballet principal dancer Ashley Bouder and her company manager asked him to choreograph a ballet inspired by the Ballets Russes, a company that promoted collaboration between choreographers and artists and designers in the early 20th century.  

Beamish grew up in the Okanagan and created his own dance company in Vancouver in 2005. While he has toured around the world and now lives in London, he still considers Kelowna home.

"The greater my opportunities get, the more committed I am to bringing the work back to Kelowna and Vancouver … and really staying connected to B.C. and giving opportunities for the young people here especially to see world-calibre dance in the place where they're from, because I found that, being from here," he said.

The Ashley Bouder Project will make its Canadian premiere at 7:30 p.m. PT at the Kelowna Community Theatre on Tuesday.

To hear the full interview with Josh Beamish, click on the audio labelled: Kelowna's Josh Beamish helps bring world-calibre ballet to the Okanagan.