Ballet Kelowna is exploring the theme of love through a night of dance and movement.
The company’s show, titled Twilight, premieres on Feb. 14 and will have another show the next day.
Ballet Kelowna’s artistic director and CEO Simone Orlando said each piece explores love and relationships.
“Twilight is a diverse collection of classical and contemporary works,” she said.
“When I did this programming over a year ago, I asked all the choreographers to propose works around the theme of love. I think they’ve all come together beautifully, and I’m very excited about this program.”
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The first piece in the program is choreographed by Montreal-based Kunal Ranchod. Orlando said the piece uses classical ballet elements set to classical Indian music.
“In this piece, the intricate rhythms of Indian classical music are juxtaposed with the lines and shapes of classical ballet,” she said.
The second piece was originally created for Ballet B.C. by Joe Laughlin but has since been adapted for Ballet Kelowna. Orlando said the piece was inspired by big productions like Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, but the choreography has a ballet-contemporary mix feel to it and explores the feeling of falling in love.
The last segment is a contemporary piece choreographed by Eva Kolarova.
“With Eva, her piece is a bit of a departure because she’s really looking at the idea of loneliness and separation,” Orlando said.
Kolarova said she wanted to show the audience a different perspective on relationships.
“What I’m curious about is how can we find a relationship first with ourselves before we go out and try to connect with other people?” she said.
“Often, we are pressured by society. There’s this pressure that says ‘oh, you’re alone. You need to go and find someone’. But I want to talk about the difference between loneliness and being alone.”
“Being lonely, that’s isolation, it’s a social construct and it’s us being withdrawn from the community… and it’s unhealthy. But being alone, it’s completely ok. It’s actually important to be alone once in a while and to question who we are and take care of ourselves first.”
Kolarova said she hopes people will feel encouraged that while it’s alright to be in a relationship, it’s also alright to be alone.
“I want people to be grateful for being alone because it’s a time of exploration and it allows us to fully focus on ourselves. From there, you can find fullness, fill your heart and you can have a beautiful relationship with other people.”
For more information on showtimes and tickets, visit Ballet Kelowna’s site.
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