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the quality of creative engagement in the Okanagan through publications and events.
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Let's Dance
BALLET TAKES CENTRE STAGE
» Thursday 30 October 2008 | 5 pm
» The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue
An informal afternoon hour showcasing people and ideas featured in Okanagan ARTS. Join us as David LeHay of Ballet Kelowna and Lori Larson of the Canadian School of Ballet discuss how the Okanagan
has become a centre of dance culture in Canada.
» This is a free event. Refreshments will be available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
Local Ballet Achieves National Prominence
One of the biggest cultural stories of the last five years has been the transformation of the Okanagan into a national dance powerhouse. The story dates back decades to the late 1950s when the founders of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Canadian School of Ballet retired to the Okanagan. Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally brought the school with them to their new home and continued their devotion to nurturing generations of young dancers.
But it was in the current decade that a remarkable pirouette took place when the school found a new partner in David LaHay and Ballet Kelowna was born. In short order, the performance company jumped from its original touring schedule of seven performances in six communities, to 50 performances before more than 13,000 people in more than 30 communities throughout B.C. and Alberta.
 Now it seems the larger dance community is taking note, and pundits predict this confluence of events is about to put the region on the nation's map for cultural excellence.
The Okanagan Institute Express series continues its The Past is Prologue cultural history explorations with host Karen Close presenting Let's Dance: Ballet Takes Centre Stage. The event takes place Thursday, October 30 at 5 pm at the Bohemian Café. Speakers at the event are Ballet Kelowna founder and artistic director David LaHay and Lori Larson, the current director of the Canadian School of Ballet.
David LaHay founded Ballet Kelowna in 2002 following a long and successful career as a performer, teacher, ballet master and director. He was the principal dancer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens (Montreal) and was guest artist with The Royal Swedish Ballet (Stockholm), The Alberta Ballet (Calgary) and The Cuban International Dance Festival (Havana).
Lori Larson first met the founders of CSB while studying dance herself at the Banff Centre of the Arts. By 1986 she, along with Mel Brown, assumed the torch and made a commitment to uphold the founders' legacy. "Dance, music and theatre enriches all our lives," says Larson, who was instrumental in the development of Ballet Kelowna. Larson is also the founding member of the Okanagan Summer Dance Intensive which celebrated a successful inaugural dance training programme with 70 students and 10 professionals from across Canada in residence at UBCO.
Let's Dance: Ballet Takes Centre Stage is a free event, and takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 64th event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007. Since that time, the series has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, poet and professor John Lent, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, architect Jim Meiklejohn, broadcaster Mari0n Barschel and others from a wide range of creative fields.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
Where Enquiring Minds Gather. Okanagan Institute at the Bohemian Café A hearty feast of lectures, presentations, workshops and showcases celebrating our culture and community. Produced by the Okanagan Institute in association with Wheat King Publishing magazines: Okanagan Arts and Okanagan Home. Express is sponsored in part by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Wood Lake Publishing, UBCO-FCCS, and in support of Project Literacy Kelowna.
The Okanagan Institute is a group of creative professionals that have gathered around the goal of providing events, publications and services of interest to enquiring minds in the Okanagan. We partner with individuals, organizations, institutions and businesses to achieve optimal creative and social impact.
Our mission is to ignite cultural transformation, catalyze collaborative action, build networks and foster sustainable creative enterprises. We invite the participation by all members of the creative community.
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