Fall Season 2011

Breaking Boundaries

Now touring the Interior including Princeton, Salmon Arm, Summerland, Vernon.

Breaking Boundaries, presented by the Thomas Alan Budd Foundation, captures those moments in time that leave lasting impressions. The timeless and classical choreography of Marius Petipa continues to enchant audiences with its physical grandeur and inspirational technical demands. Le Banc, by Paul Destrooper, presents a humorous glimpse into passing youthful fancies as couples meet, flirt and fall in love - all around a park bench. This whimsical ballet, set to selected Bach cello suites, charms and entertains audiences. D. A. Hoskins’ work combines lyrical, neo-classical choreography with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ hauntingly beautiful music in The Lark Ascending, a piece which uplifts spirits and lingers long in the memory.  As always, we look forward to presenting our newest commission, north shore, choreographed by Shawn Hounsell.

D.A. Hoskins

“D.A. Hoskins combines intellectual rigour with emotional wallop, resulting in works that engage hearts and minds.” Toronto Life Magazine

D.A. Hoskins is a freelance choreographer and visual artist based in Toronto. Recipient of the Clifford E. Lee Award from the Banff Centre for the Arts, Hoskins has created over fifty choreographic works. His work has been presented at the Art Gallery of Ontario as part of an evening examining Sexuality and Censorship, as well as a retrospective on artist Barbara Hepworth. An excerpt from his first full evening work The Mortality Songs was presented at the Holocaust Perspective at the Toronto Jewish Community Centre and later presented in its entirety as a fundraiser for the Toronto People with AIDS foundation. Hoskins’ choreographic works include commissions from the Elora Music Festival, Pendrecki String Quartet, ArtsUmbrellaVancouver, Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, Hubbard Street Dance ll, Dancetheatre David Earle, Ballet Kelowna, Open Ears Festival, Ballet Jorgen Canada, Toronto Dance Theatre, and Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra.
In 2008 D.A. Hoskins instigated The Dietrich Group - a platform that facilitates interactive exchanges in art to ultimately create potent interdisciplinary works in dance. Since its inception, The Dietrich Group has created four full evening works, received three Dora Mavor Moore nominations, and has been presented at the Festival TransAmerique in Montreal and, most recently, will be at the upcoming 2012 season Habourfront Centre’s WorldStage in Toronto.

Shawn Hounsell

Choreographer / Artist

Originally from Saskatchewan, Canadian choreographer Shawn Hounsell danced professionally with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal between 1989 and 2003.  Noted for his versatility and theatricality, he danced soloist and principal roles in works by world-renowned choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, Ohad Naharin, Nacho Duato, Rudi van Dantzig, Anthony Tudor and Jose Limon. 
An award winning choreographer, Shawn has created and staged pieces for numerous Canadian companies including the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal, Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Les Jeune Ballet du Quebec and Festival Dance Company. Many of his duets have been performed in galas across the globe including the Prix de Lausanne Gala (Tokyo, Japan) and the Cincinnati International Gala of Ballet Stars (Cincinnati, Ohio).  In addition, his works have been performed by American companies such as Ballet Pacifica and in Europe by the Ballet of the National Theatre of Prague. Projects in the tele-visual field include dance shorts for BravoFACT, choreography for the CBS mini-series The Reagans, choreographer and principal artist for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s live national broadcast of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with maestro Kent Nagano, and choreographer for the CBC production of the Lieutenant Governor’s Centennial Gala in the presence of  H.R.H. Queen Elizabeth II.  Mr. Hounsell also acted (2006 – 2009) as rehearsal director and artistic assistant for the world tour of Amjad, creation of Edouard Lock and LaLaLa Human Steps.  Based in Montreal and continuing to pursue independent projects, Shawn recently premiered his new creation sweet as part of Ballet British Columbia’s dance series Volo in February 2011 and his first full-length ballet Wonderland with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in March 2011.