Coastal City Ballet is delighted to open its 14th season with an exhilarating performance featuring excerpts from the Spanish brilliance of Petipa’s Paquita. The evening’s program will also include the
premiere of the newly commissioned works Rhapsody in Blue by choreographer Stephana Arnold, alongside the Canadian premiere of Cloudburst by Ruaidhri Maguire.

Paquita
The Grand Pas Classique serves as a prominent highlight of Act III, showcasing the elegance of classical
dance. This segment has been performed independently by esteemed companies such as the Mariinsky
Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, the National Ballet of Cuba, and numerous others
worldwide.

The popularity of this act is largely attributed to the array of solos it encompasses, allowing us to highlight the diverse talents of our dancers through featured performances. Additionally, the choreography includes some of classical ballet’s most demanding movements, further demonstrating the skill and artistry of the performers.

Cloudburst
A ballet in three movements exploring humanity’s evolving relationship with climate from pre-Columbian times to today. Inspired by First Nations art during Ruaidhri’s time in British Columbia, he appreciated
Indigenous respect for nature, particularly on the ancestral lands of the Songhees and Esquimalt. He then examined the shift from this reverence to nature’s romanticization in contemporary art, especially film. The ballet was originally produced by the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk for the Wieczór młodej choreografii event, co-funded by the Minister of Culture, National Heritage and Sport through the Dance program.

Rhapsody in Blue
In a world where we are all witnessing and so many are experiencing the brutality of mother nature, the horrors and injustices by other humans and enduring everyday struggles, I wanted to use a piece of music that can transport an audience to a place of joy and fun, taking them away from these things for a moment in time. The aim for this piece is to find the intricacies of the rapturous music, Rhapsody in Blue by famed composer George Gershwin, exploring with the dancers a contemporary ballet movement vocabulary, and take the observer on a journey, instilling beauty, revelry and hope in everyone’s’ heart.

Coastal City Ballet is hosting an open audition on January 12 for young dancers ages 11 and older who wish to participate in our spring production of Coppélia. While the audition is free of charge, registration
is required. For any inquiries regarding the audition or the production, please get in touch at AUDITION@COASTALCITYBALLET.COM

You can find out more about Pacific Dance Arts school at https://www.pacificdancearts.ca/