Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Founded in 1939, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet holds the triple distinction of having a royal title (bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II), enjoying its status as Canada’s premier ballet company, and being the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. The company, currently under the artistic director of André Lewis, is nonetheless critically and popularly acclaimed for its adventurous programming, and its artistically versatile, technically astute and youthful dancers.

This program includes resident choreographer Mauricio Wainrot’s much-loved version of Carmina Burana, based on Carl Orff’s powerful and recognizable score. (Just the chorus “O Fortuna,” is one of the most-sampled pieces of music in history, and has been used in countless commercials and film scores.)

Inspired by medieval texts discovered in a monastery, the songs of Carmina Burana are alternately despairing and contemplative, uplifting and passionate as they express universal themes of the human condition. Wainrot’s singularly bold and fluid choreography embraces such themes with a lush lyricism. His Carmina Burana is widely noted as a cornucopia of movement richly set in Carlos Gallardo’s industrial tableaux of metal framing and translucent panels.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet will complement Carmina Burana with Concerto Barocco. George Balanchine's precise, inventive choreography for ten women and one man is a vivid interpretation of Bach's ‘Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor'. The piece exemplifies the American classical style in its extraordinary poetry, pristine beauty and musicality.

Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet acknowledges, with appreciation and thanks, the support of the International Cultural Relations Division of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Province of Manitoba, Ministry of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship. Without this support this tour would not have been possible.

Critic's Comments

“The company has never looked more resplendent, more assured, or more ravishing... a jewel box of sumptuous dancing...at every moment, the energy and youth radiating from the stage is palpable.” –Vancouver Sun

Performances at Northrop

1969, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1977, 2008, 2009

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Funding provided in part by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and private funders.