Artistic Director

David LaHay
Founding Artistic Director

David LaHay, founding Artistic Director of Ballet Kelowna, has enjoyed a long and successful career as Principal Dancer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and as guest artist with The Royal Swedish Ballet, The Alberta Ballet and The Cuban International Dance Festival. As a performer, his many classical roles included Albrecht (Giselle), Prince Seigfried (Swan Lake), The Poet (Les Sylphides) and The Cavalier (The Nutcracker).  He also danced many neo-classical, contemporary and modern works by such renowned choreographers as George Balanchine and Brian Macdonald.

As a teacher, Mr. LaHay has been ballet master for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, The Ottawa Ballet, The Alberta Ballet as well as guest ballet master for Sweden's The Gotheburg Ballet. His teaching affiliations include The Hartford Ballet, Ecole Superieure de Danse du Quebec, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, The Vancouver Ballet Society, The Chautauqua Summer Dance Program, The Banff Centre Summer Dance Program and The Canadian School of Ballet. He has taught master classes across Canada and was resident choreographer for the Canadian Heritage Festival in Saskatoon, Winnipeg and St. John.

Mr. LaHay was a member of the faculty of the Summer Dance Program at The Banff Centre from 1993 through 2007 as well as Associate Director of Summer Dance. He has taught, coached, assisted choreographers and staged ballets for The Professional Dance Program's "Festival Ballet" and "Young Dancers in Performance".  For the Banff Centre he choreographed a dozen works including The Promise of Angels (I) and In Stride. Mr. LaHay is the founding Artistic Director of the Okanagan Summer Dance Intensive 2008  program in Kelowna that brings the former Banff dance program to the interior of BC.

As Artistic Director of Ballet Kelowna, Mr. LaHay has choreographed many original works to wide public and critical acclaim and staged works from the classical repertoire as well as contemporary ballets by Canadian choreographers. His original choreographies for Ballet Kelowna include Bolero, Divertimenti, Donizetti Dances, Exsultate Jubilate, Five for Frank, In Arden Woods, Journey Out of Darkness, Liebeslieder Waltzes, Romanza, Romeo and Juliet Appassionata, The Promise of Angels (II) and Tangazzo.