Alexis Fletcher | Choreographer, still before

As a dance artist, creator, and producer, Alexis danced with Ballet BC for 14 years and was subsequently a guest artist and Artist in Residence. Alexis took on the role of Ballet BC Rehearsal Director in April 2025 and she now holds the position of Artist in Residence at Vancouver’s Chutzpah! Festival and is a Creative Hub member at Presentation House Theatre. Her creations have been supported by Dance Victoria, Ballet BC, Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, Presentation House Theatre, New Works, Vernon Performing Arts Centre, The Gordon Smith Foundation, Dancing on the Edge, InFrinGing Festival, and Shadbolt Centre. As a freelancer, she is currently dancing with Re:Naissance Opera, zoe | juniper, and Wen Wei Dance.

As a dance artist Alexis is fascinated by how exploring the movement potential of the human body becomes a way of accessing the inner landscapes of our spirits and psyches, and this is the primary motivation behind her physical practice and choreographic interests. She believes that dance is a unique vehicle with which to share, research, and discuss our humanity. As a creator Alexis is drawn to intimate, cross-disciplinary collaborations with like-minded creative spirits, and her works strive to create a powerful and tangible connection with her audience.

After graduating from Arts Umbrella’s Post-Secondary Dance Program and student company in 2005, Alexis began her long and inspiring journey with Ballet BC under the Artistic Direction of John Alleyn.

After Emily Molnar took over directorship in 2009, Alexis was privileged to be one of the core group of dancers who, with her, were part of building Ballet BC into its new direction, sharing their work on world stages including Sadler’s Wells, Jacob’s Pillow, Canada’s National Arts Centre, The Joyce Theatre in New York, BAM, Movimentos Festival, Teatre Grec, among others. In her time with the company, she had the opportunity to work with distinguished choreographers and designers, and to be a contributing artist on numerous creative collaborations. She worked closely with Crystal Pite, Emily Molnar, Johan Inger, Stijn Celis, Jacopo Godani, Medhi Walerski, Fernando Hernando Magadan, Serge Bennathan, Gioconda Barbuto, John Alleyne, Cayetano Soto, and Jorma Elo, among others.

Cameron sinkʷə Fraser-Monroe | Choreographer, Cikilaxʷm: Controlled Burn, The Cowboy Act Suite, and taqeš

Cameron Fraser-Monroe is a member of the Tla'amin First Nation.  At three years old he started Ukrainian dancing in Vernon, BC.  He was privileged to receive several years of training and performance with World Champion Hoop Dancer Dallas Arcand and studied Grass Dance with Elder Mollie Bono.

Since graduating from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School on the RWB Alumni Scholarship, he has performed with many companies including Dancers of Damelahamid at Kia Mau Festival in New Zealand and the International Cervantino Festival, Jera Wolfe at Jacob’s Pillow Festival, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet at the National Arts Centre, the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada, and Ballet Kelowna. 

As a choreographer, Mr. Fraser-Monroe has received commissions from the National Ballet of Canada, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Fall for Dance Festival in NYC, Ballet Kelowna, the Winnipeg Summer Dance Collective, Whim W’Him Seattle, the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Aspirants, Artist's Climate Collective, Transformation Cabaret at the Cultch, and both PULSE and Indigenous Day Live! on APTN. He continues to practice and present Hoop Dance.

For the past five years Mr. Fraser-Monroe has served as Artistic Director of the Winnipeg Summer Dance Collective, making dance more accessible in downtown Winnipeg.  During the 2024-25 Season, Mr. Fraser-Monroe is Associate Artist at Ballet Kelowna, and the Artist-in-Residence at L’École National de Théâtre/National Theatre School of Canada.

iskwē | Music, The Cowboy Act Suite

iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ (short for waseskwan iskwew, meaning “blue sky woman”) is more than just an artist, she is a teller of stories that have impacted our past and will inform our future. iskwē’s music allows her creativity to soar as she explores a range of ambient sound effects and beats. Her spine-tingling vocals anchor the myriad of sounds, blurring the lines between sources and styles, as well as between the actual, ideal, real, and imagined. Transporting listeners into a world of electronic rhythms and Indigenous sounds as she draws upon her Cree Métis roots, iskwē’s genre-bending catalog includes three full-length albums that span a spectrum of emotions and is powered by resilience. Her debut 2017 album The Fight Within speaks to self-love in the face of hate and 2019’s acākosīk calls out the systematic abuses against Canada’s Indigenous peoples and features the JUNO award-winning song “Little Star.” Meanwhile, the collaborative 2022 project Mother Love with Tom Wilson is a reflection on the nature of love and culture as the pair’s individual contributions blend together seamlessly.

Joanna Lige | Rehearsal Director and Choreographer, Threefold Beat

Joanna Lige is a graduate of the Dance Arts Institute (formerly School of Toronto Dance Theatre), holds a Diploma in Dance Teaching Studies from the Royal Academy of Dance, is a Certified Progressing Ballet Technique Instructor, and is a member of the International Association of Dance Science and Medicine. Lige grew up in Kelowna and has trained with The Canadian School of Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, SITI Theatre Company, Hubbard Street Dance Company, and FACT/SF Summer Dance Lab.

During her time as Rehearsal Director with Ballet Kelowna, Lige has worked alongside acclaimed choreographers including Guillaume Côté, Belle Spirale Dance Projects, Cameron sinkʷə Fraser-Monroe, Esie Mensah, Simone Orlando, Alysa Pires, and others to support their choreographic visions in creating new works for the performance season. She choreographed the music video Stalling for artist Zoe Welch, and throughout her fifteen-year teaching practice and has created award-winning short works that have been performed at internationally-renowned dance competitions such as YAGP. Lige continues to be involved in movement creation in the Okanagan and has collaborated with the Inner Fish Theatre Society, Evolve Arts Collective, and the Body Project.

Andy Moro | Projection and Lighting Design, The Cowboy Act and Cikilaxʷm: Controlled Burn

Andy Moro is the Artistic Co-Director of ARTICLE 11 with Tara Beagan. Their work upholds the 11th Article of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Current/Recent Theatre design: Gaslight, the Extractionist (Vertigo), the F WORD (Downstage, ATP), Ministry of Grace (Making Treaty 7 / Belfry), Reckoning, ROOM, Declaration, Deer Woman (ARTICLE 11), Little Women, Honour Beat, Admissions (Theatre Calgary), Hookman (UofC/Chromatic), The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time (NAC / Neptune), Post Mistress, Rez Sisters (RMTC), Unnatural and Accidental Women (NAC), Blackhorse (Caravan Farm Theatre), The Herd (Citadel/Tarragon), Frozen River (MTYP), Space Girl, Third Colour, War Being Waged (PTE),Time Stands Still, O’Kosi (MT7), SkyDancers (Anowara Dance), Flicker, Mînowin, Raven Mother (Dancers of Damelahamid), Finding Wolastoq Voice (Theatre New Brunswick), Medicine Bear, Blood Water Earth, Blood Tides, The Mush Hole (Kahawi Dance Theatre). Film/TV: Creation/Direction - Indigenous Day Live ‘22 (APTN), Deer Woman (Downstage), Reckoning (ARTICLE 11).

Donaldo Nava | Choreographer, Threefold Beat

Donaldo Nava began his professional training at the age of eleven. He moved to Victoria, BC in 2017 to continue his training and graduated from the Victoria Academy of Ballet’s Post-Secondary Bridge Program in 2019. While in the Bridge Program, he worked with many guest teachers including Alysa Pires, Jorden Morris, and Christopher Anderson, and performed with Ballet Kelowna in John Alleyne’s A Streetcar Named Desire. Nava participated in Dance Victoria’s 2019 Choreographic Lab under Justine Chambers and Susan Elliot. Now in his seventh season with Ballet Kelowna, Nava enjoys working for a creation-based company and has worked with many notable choreographers including Eva Kolarova, Kunal Ranchod, and Seiji Suzuki. 

Nava is thrilled to have the opportunity to express the creativity that sparks his soul in his first work for Ballet Kelowna.

Simone Orlando | Choreographer, Doppeling

Simone Orlando completed her dance training at Canada’s National Ballet School and subsequently joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1989. In 1996, she joined Ballet British Columbia under the direction of John Alleyne where she danced for 13 years as one of the company’s most celebrated principal artists.

Ms. Orlando’s choreographic explorations began in 1997. Praised for her mature and sensitive ideas, vision, musicality, and delineation of movement and space, she has received numerous commissions including those from Ballet BC, Toronto Dance Theatre, and Ballet Kelowna. Ms. Orlando is the recipient of a 2004 Vancouver Arts Award, the 2006 Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award, a 2009 Fellowship Initiative Grant from the New York Choreographic Institute, and the 2013 Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Award.

In June 2014, Ms. Orlando graduated with distinction from the Business Management program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology and was appointed Artistic Director and CEO of Ballet Kelowna shortly afterward. During her tenure at Ballet Kelowna, Ms. Orlando has brought over 45 new works into the company’s repertoire. She was the recipient of the City of Kelowna’s 2017 Honor in the Arts Award and she served as a member of the BC Arts Council from 2018-2024.

Aaron Quibell | Stage Manager

Aaron Quibell is a certified audio engineer with extensive professional experience in the music, theatre, and pro- duction industry. Aaron graduated from Okanagan College's Audio Engineering and Music Production program in 2016 and has been working and teaching in the industry since. Since graduation from Okanagan College, Mr. Quibell has gone back to teach current students with their annual live show. Besides working as an audio engineer, producer, stage manager, recording engineer, and lighting designer, he has paired up with local Vernon venues providing film and photography service. Mr. Quibell has had the opportunity to tour across Canada with Ballet Kelowna and is excited to continue to work with them in the future.

Andrea Romaldi | Dramaturg, Cikilaxʷm: Controlled Burn

Andrea Romaldi is a dramaturg, teacher, and artistic leader. Prior to becoming Director of the Playwriting Program at the National Theatre School of Canada, Andrea spent ten seasons as Literary Manager at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre, directing the theatre’s extensive roster of play development programs, and assisting in the development of over eighty new plays, with almost thirty produced. They include Governor General Award-nominated plays by Sean Dixon, Brendan Gall, Jonathan Garfinkel, Michael Healey, Joan MacLeod, and Hannah Moscovitch, and Governor General Award-winners Erin Shields and David Yee; eleven Dora Award Outstanding New Play nominees and three winners; and a Trillium Book Award winner.

Previously, she was the Artistic Director of Hudson Village Theatre, and has worked with Brian Quirt at Nightswimming and with Maureen Labonte and Neil Munro at the Shaw Festival. Andrea was also a regular panellist for the Directors Lab North, contributing a chapter to The Directors Lab edited by Evan Tsitsias and published by Playwrights Canada Press. Throughout her career, Andrea has mentored both graduate students and professional theatre makers through university training programs, internships, and play development programs at a variety of theatres. Her graduates go on to successful theatre careers, and have received numerous writing awards, writing residencies, and artistic internships immediately following their course of study. Andrea also participated in workshops at the National Theatre Society (Dublin) while she pursued her MPhil in film and theatre at Trinity College, Dublin.

Sylvian Senez | Choreographer, still before

Sylvain Senez has been active on the professional Canadian dance scene for over 45 years. He danced as a soloist with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Judith Marcuse Dance Company, Coleman Lemieux Company and a principal artist at Ballet BC. Sylvain also appeared in The Strange Adventure of Myself, a full-length solo created for him by Serge Bennathan. During his 9 seasons with Les Grands Ballets, Sylvain toured internationally and was original cast in many new creations, with highlights including James Kudelka’s In Paradisum and also the title role in Kudelka’s Dracula.

From 1991 to 2016 he worked with Ballet British Columbia as a dancer, Ballet Master and Rehearsal Director where he has had the privilege of working and assisting for the remounts and creations of many internationally renowned choreographers. With Ballet BC he danced lead roles in works by John Alleyne, William Forsythe, Serge Bennathan, and Jiri Kylian among others.

Sylvain is a stager/repetiteur for Medhi Walerski’s ballets, has assisted him for a number of his creations, and was original cast in the role of Father Capulet in Walerski’s Romeo and Juliet creation for Ballet BC. He has choreographed for the Ballet BC choreographic workshop, Dancing on the Edge and the Vancouver Opera. He is an accomplished ballet teacher and rehearsal director having worked with The State Ballet of Georgia in Tiblisi, Ballet Kelowna, Charlotte Ballet, Tokyo’s K-Ballet, Arts Umbrella, Harbour Dance, Lamondance, Danse a la carte and Modus Operandi.

As a photographer specializing in dance and portraiture, he has continued to pursue and expand this artistic interest by exploring videography, film and stage design. He worked on Rachel Meyer’s productions of Quartet, Transverse Orientation and Mama… do we die when we sleep?

Ben Waters | Composer

Ben Waters is a dancer and composer from Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Ben is a lifelong musician and self-taught composer with a passion for integrating dance with music.

Ben was first commissioned to compose original music for Ethan Colangelo's "a vanishing thread" (Jan 2022) for Whim W'Him in Seattle. Since then, Ben has composed several scores for Ethan and many other voices in the North American and European dance communities including Ballet BC, the National Ballet of Canada, BODYTRAFFIC (Fernando Magadan), Ballet de Monterrey (Robbie Fairchild), Dallas Black Dance Theatre (Norbert De La Cruz III), The Joffrey Ballet (Martha Nichols), and many more.

Although each of Ben's original compositions vary in style, his musical works are often characterized by rich harmonic soundscapes, soaring melodies, and heavy, intricate percussion.

Katey Wattam | Indigenous Perspectives Advisor, Cikilaxʷm: Controlled Burn

Katey Wattam is a director and creator of mixed English, Irish, Franco-Ontarian, and Anishinaabe ancestry. She is drawn to stories that connect with her ways of knowing while allowing space to explore and experiment with theatrical forms through an Indigenous lens. Through her corporeal based practice, she mines bodies for their blood memory, uncovering experiences and traumas to reclaim and decolonizing bodies, minds, and spaces. She is an alum of McGill University, MAI Alliance Program, and Black Theatre Workshop’s Artist Mentorship Program.

Kurt Werner | Choreographer, Threefold Beat

Kurt Werner is a graduate of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School’s Professional Division and has travelled abroad to Austria, England, Italy, New Zealand, and the USA to further his development in classical, contemporary, and modern dance. In 2018, Werner founded the Evolve Arts Collective, a platform to share his choreographic works and workshop new movement and production ideas with artists across the Okanagan. Additionally, Werner has worked with local arts organizations on their productions including Kelowna Actors Studio’s Camelot (2019) and New Vintage Theatre’s Cabaret (2022). He is grateful for opportunities to present his original fringe shows such as Provoke - A Fringe Show (2019), The Daily Walk (2021), and Re: Collection (2022, 2025) at the Kelowna International Fringe Festival, the Theatre on the Edge Festival, and the Ignite the Arts Festival. 

In April 2020, Kurt participated in Ballet Kelowna’s Remote Choreographic Initiative as a part of the company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He worked virtually with the company’s professional dancers through recorded video calls and edited the footage to create the work And after this, our exile. For Ballet Kelowna’s return to live performance, Kurt created triad, a collection of solos focusing on the return to dance, for the company’s 2020 Culture Days presentation, LAUNCH.

Tom Wilson | Tehoh’ahake Music, The Cowboy Act Suite

Tom Wilson is a Canadian music legend, famed storyteller and visual artist. Wilson’s memoir, Beautiful Scars, published by Penguin/Random House has become a national bestseller. The memoir has been adapted into a TVO Original documentary (directed by Shane Belcourt). Exposing incredible truths about Wilson’s biological family and Indigenous heritage, the documentary delves into the singer-songwriter’s lifetime quest to find himself and ultimately uncover his true identity as a Mohawk man. 

Wilson’s extensive career and tireless efforts as a musician has bestowed upon him numerous nominations and awards from the Hamilton Music Awards to the Polaris Prize to the Juno Awards, including certified gold and platinum records. His song writing has seen his works recorded by and with artists such as; Sarah McLachlan, City and Colour, Jason Isbell, Colin James, Lucinda Williams, Billy Ray Cyrus, Mavis Staples, The Rankin Family, as well as his own bands Lee Harvey Osmond, Junkhouse, and Canadian treasure, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. Lee Harvey Osmond was awarded a 2020 Juno Award for the album Mohawk.