Ballet BC

Dancers' Biographies

Shannon Ferguson

Shannon Ferguson trained at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and at Arts Umbrella in Vancouver.  A former student in Ballet British Columbia’s Mentor Program, she has also performed with the Banff Centre Festival Ballet and Ballet Kelowna.  Shannon joined Ballet British Columbia in 2008.

 

 

 

 

 Alexis Fletcher

Alexis Fletcher was born in Vancouver and raised in the Comox Valley. She received her early training on Vancouver Island, then moved back to Vancouver to attend Arts Umbrella's Professional Training Program in Dance. Alexis has also been a member of Arts Umbrella's student company and has attended Springboard Danse Montreal. Upon graduating from Arts Umbrella in 2005, Alexis joined Ballet British Columbia.  Both with the company and independently, she has had the privilege of performing works by John Alleyne, Jiri Kylian, Crystal Pite, Dominique Dumais,  Martha Graham, Sidra Bell and Wen Wei Wang, among others. Alexis is thrilled to be in her 5th season with Ballet BC.

 

 

 

Léon Feizo-Gas

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Leon began his professional ballet training at the age of 12 under the mentorship of Celia Franca. He spent his formative years as a young dancer at the National Ballet School, the School of Dance in Ottawa, and the RWB. Culminating as a graduate of the National Ballet School's Intensive Dance Program.

Leon would like to take this opportunity to extend the most sincere gratitude to all of those who have contributed to his success since joining Ballet BC. You all know who you are, from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU!

 

 

Maggie Forgeron

Born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Maggie graduated from the National Ballet School in 2001 with a personal achievement award. She then began her professional career with the National Ballet of Canada where she danced for two years. In 2002-2003, she participated in the Professional Dance Program at the Banff Centre. Maggie has also danced with the Veronica Tennant Dance Project, DNA Theatre, Anna Pavlova Dance Project and taught at the York School of Dance. Personal highlights in dance include performing the Prelude girl in Fokine’s Les Sylphides, assisting in the creation of James Kudelka’s Swan Lake, witnessing the class and integrity of John Alleyne in creation of the Four Seasons and dancing the role of Wendy in the production of Septime Webre’s Peter Pan. This is Maggie’s fourth Season with Ballet BC. - I dance to become quiet with a greater impact in the world.

Alyson Fretz

Alyson Fretz is a graduate of the Arts Umbrella Dance Program in Vancouver BC.  This past summer she danced for Donald Sales in collaboration with Cadence in Toronto.  She has also danced with Pro Arte Danza in Toronto, for Emily Molnar Dance in Vancouver, and at the Banff Summer Dance Company.  Alyson joined Ballet BC in January 2009.

 

 

 

 

Connor Gnam

Connor Gnam was born and raised on Vancouver Island.  He received his professional training at Arts Umbrella in Vancouver.  He was also a member of Arts Umbrella’s student company, where he was able to tour to Japan and Montreal.  Upon graduating from high school, Connor spent a season working for Ballet Kelowna working for artistic director David LaHay.  He then returned to Arts Umbrella for a year before joining Ballet British Columbia.  Connor is also an avid photographer.  This is Connor’s third season with Ballet British Columbia.

 

 

 

Delphine Leroux

Delphine Leroux was born in Montreal, Quebec. She trained l'École supérieure de ballet contemporain de Montréal where she trained in classical ballet, contemporary dance. She graduated from "Le Jeune Ballet du Québec" in 2005. She attended the professional program for two summers at the Banff Centre for the Arts. From 2005 to 2007 she dances professionally with Ballet Kelowna. And in 2007 she joins Ballet British-Columbia. It is now her third season with the company. In the past years, she has had the great privilege of performing ballets from Twyla Tharp, Lar Lubovitch, Hans Van Manen, Mark Morris, John Alleyne, George Balanchine, and Jean Grand-Maître.

 

Rachael Prince

Racheal Prince was raised in Wasaga Beach, ON and received her training at the Quinte Ballet School under the direction of Brian Scott. She subsequently with Murray and Nancy Kilgour at the School of Alberta Ballet's Per Professional Program where she received the prestigious Ali Pourfarrokh scholarship. From 2003 to 2007 she danced with the Alberta Ballet Company performing works by, George Balanchine, Emily Molnar and Margie Gillis among many others. This past summer Racheal was invited to dance with Avi Scher and Dancers in New York and at Jacob's Pillow. She received outstanding reviews for her role in acclaimed choreographer Val Caniparoli's Aquilarco.

 

Donald Sales

Donald Sales was born in Tulsa Oklahoma and studied at the June Runyon School of Ballet and the school of Dance Theater of Harlem in New York. In this seventh season with the company Donald has had the opportunity to perform works by renowned choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, Crystal Pite, James Kudelka, Lars Lubovitch, and Agnes de Mille to name a few. As a choreographer he has created many works on Art Umbrella Juniors and Seniors, DanceStreams, and Ballet Bc Dancers. Donald is happy to be back with Ballet BC and looks forward to many great seasons to come.

 
 

Gilbert Small

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Gilbert started his professional ballet training at the age of 10 at the Baltimore School for the Arts. Gilbert has studied at various summer programs such as the Dance Theater of Harlem, Nutmeg Conservatory, Miami City Ballet, American Ballet Theater and Springboard Danse Montreal. After graduating from The Baltimore School for the Arts, he continued his studies in the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. Gilbert has also study abroad at the Hogeschool voor Muziek en Dans in Rotterdam, Holland. While attending the Rotterdamse Danse Academie, he performed an exerpt of Jiri Kylians, “Wings of Wax” in the Hollands Dans Festival. Gilbert has also performed with Toronto base Proarte Danza. Gilbert is a recent graduate of the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. Gilbert is excited to be a member of Ballet BC for the 2009-2010 season.
 

Peter Smida

Peter Smida was born and raised in Kingston, ON and a graduate of the The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School professional division. Before joining Ballet BC he performed with Ballet Victoria and The Royal Winnipeg Ballet. His performance credits include works by Dominique Dumais, Twyla Tharp, James Kudelka, Jean Grand-Maitre and John Alleyne. Peter looks forward to an exciting year of creation and performance in his second season with Ballet BC.

 

 

 

 

Makaila Wallace

A Canadian born in Vallejo, California, Makaila started her professional dance training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet school at age 14. After completion she joined the company as an apprentice before joining the Royal Swedish Ballet for two years in Stockholm, Sweden. There she performed such roles as Myrtha (Giselle), Lead Swans (Swan Lake), and Peasant Pas (Giselle). Makaila then returned to her Canadian routes and began dancing with Ballet British Columbia, where she is now going into her seventh season. There she's had the pleasure of dancing many soloist and principal roles. Makaila has performed works by choreographers such as John Alleyne (Four Seasons), Twyla Tharp (Nine Sinatra Songs), Crystal Pite (Arietta), Simone Orlando, Agnes de Mille (the Cowgirl in Rodeo), Mark Morris, Paul Taylor, Dominique Dumais (weight of absence), James Kudelka, and Jiri Kylian (Petite Mort) among others. This last summer she had the opportunity to work with Roberto Campanella and Robert Glumbek (ProArteDanza) as well as teaching the modern program, at the Okanagan Summer Dance Intensive in Kelowna.
Makaila is so excited to be a part of this new adventure with Emily Molnar and Ballet BC, and looks forward to a very exciting season.

Photo Credits: David Cooper