Dancers' Biographies
BBC dancers are renowned for their strong classical training and artistic maturity, qualities which are essential to the type of work and the creative process of the company. The talent and technical skill consistently demonstrated by BBC's dancers has contributed to its international reputation for artistic excellence and has fostered prestigious performing opportunities at international dance festivals such as Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts, United We Dance in San Francisco, Banff Arts Festival and the Canada Dance Festival. Léon Feizo-Gas | Alexis Fletcher |
Léon Feizo-Gas |
 Born in Ottawa, Léon 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 Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. Léon is a graduate of The National Ballet School’s Intensive Dance Program. His favourite choreographers include Jiri Kylian, John Alleyne, and Owen Montague. He was featured in an episode of Me, My House and I, which was produced in Ottawa. This is Léon’s second season with Ballet BC. |
Alexis Fletcher |
 Born in Vancouver, BC and raised in the Comox Valley, Alexis received her early training with the Courtenay School of Dance, Amalia Schelhorn, the Parksville Ballet School, and Dance streams - Vancouver Island's youth company for pre-professional dancers. She then moved back to Vancouver and attended Arts Umbrella's Professional Training Program in Dance. Alexis has also attended The Professional Project in Montreal, Quebec. Upon graduating from Arts Umbrella in 2005, Alexis joined Ballet BC. Highlights of her first professional season include performing in works by John Alleyne, Jiri Kylian, and Paul Taylor. Alexis is thrilled to be in her second season with Ballet BC. |
Maggie Forgeron 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 participated in the Professional Dance Project at the Banff Centre. Maggie has also danced with the Veronica Tennant Dance Project, DNA Theatre, the Anna Pavlova Dance Project and taught at the York School of Dance. This is Maggie’s first appearance with Ballet British Columbia. |
James Gnam |
 Born in Calgary, Alberta and raised in Victoria, BC, James received his training at the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto. Since then he has performed with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, JOEink and dancersdancing. Ballet British Columbia has afforded James the opportunity to perform in works created by choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, John Alleyne, Dominique Dumais and Twyla Tharp. As a choreographer James’ work has been presented at Dancing on The Edge, Dances for a Small Stage, The InfrinGing Dance Festival on Vancouver Island, Series 8:08 in Toronto as well as the Dance All Stars program at the 2006 Chutzpah! Festival. This is James’s third season with Ballet BC. |
Fei Guo |
Born in Beijing, China, Fei trained at the Beijing Dance Institute and went on to dance principal roles with Guangzhou Ballet from 1995 to 2002. In 1997 she won third prize at the 5th Dance Competition of China; and in 2000 she received a bronze medal at the Varna, Bulgaria International Ballet Contest. From 2002 to 2003 she danced lead roles with Singapore Dance Theatre and with Hong Kong Ballet. This is Fei’s third season with Ballet BC. |
Jones Henry |
 Jones grew up in Yellowknife, N.W.T. After studying at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Jones performed with the Banff Festival Ballet before being asked to join Ballet BC. Jones has enjoyed the opportunity to dance an incredibly varied repertoire – from featured roles in all of John Alleyne’s works, to ballets by Kylian, Kudelka, Dumais, Tharp, and Forsythe, among others. Jones is looking forward to the variety of repertoire that this season has to offer, allowing him to continue to grow as an artist. This is Jones’ eighth season with Ballet BC. |
Edmond Kilpatrick |
 Originally from Leduc, Alberta, Edmond studied at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and the Edmonton School of Ballet. He has danced with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Judith Marcuse, Kinesis Dance, Jumpstart, David Earle, Lola MacLaughlin, Ballet Jörgen, the RWB, and Plan B. His choreographic credits include Dances for a Small Stage, the Dancing on the Edge Festival, Dance on the Crimson Coast, the BBC Mentor Program, and Arts Umbrella’s Junior Company. Edmond has developed a dance program for boys that he teaches at Arts Umbrella. This is Edmond’s eighth season with Ballet BC.
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Tara Lee |
 Tara grew up in Connecticut, where she trained under Donna Bonasera of Connecticut Dance Theatre. She received full scholarships to the Pacific Northwest and Joffrey Ballet schools, and danced with Joffrey II from 1993 to1995. In 1995, Tara joined Atlanta Ballet under the directorship of John McFall; she remained there for 11 seasons, performing numerous principal roles in classical and contemporary ballets. She has choreographed two works for Atlanta Ballet, Sixteen String and Poem, as well as a commissioned piece for Emory Dance Company. This is Tara's first season with Ballet BC.
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Simone Orlando |
 Born in Vancouver, BC, Simone has been praised for her mature and sensitive ideas, vision, musicality, and delineation of movement and space. She has been dancing professionally since 1989, first with the National Ballet of Canada, then with Desrosiers Dance Theatre, two summers with The Banff Centre’s Professional Dance Program, and since 1996 with Ballet BC where she recently danced the lead role of Blanche Dubois in John Alleyne’s new full-length ballet, A Streetcar Named Desire. In June 2006, Simone choreographed the role of the Princess in the Turning Point Ensemble’s production of Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale. She has created works for Ballet Kelowna, Ballet BC’s Mentor Program, Arts Umbrella, and Chimère, a dance film supported by Bravo! FACT. Simone is guest teacher and repetiteur for Ballet BC, its Mentor program, and the Summer Dance Intensive, as well as a guest choreographer at the Flora Pigeau Dance Academy. Simone was the inaugural recipient of the Performing Arts Commission at the 2004 Vancouver Arts Awards, she has received two research grants from the BC Arts Council, and was recently awarded the prestigious 2006 Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award in which she choreographed the work, Winter Journey at the Banff Centre. This is Simone’s tenth season with Ballet BC. |
Donald Sales |
 Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Donald studied at the June Runyon School of Ballet and the School of Dance Theater of Harlem in New York, and has danced professionally with Dance Theatre of Harlem. A few of his favourite chorographers include James Kudelka, Bob Fosse, Jiri Kylian, Nacho Duato, and Crystal Pite. A choreographer himself, Donald has created several pieces on Tulsa Dance Theater. His latest work was performed at the performance platform Pulse this past June along with a new work he created for the Ballet BC Mentors later that same month. Donald also has his eyes set on music production, having produced for a few local artists in Vancouver, and continues to add more artistic accomplishments to his resume. This is Donald’s fourth season with Ballet BC. |
Shannon Smith |
 Born in Woden Valley, Australian Capital Territory, Shannon Smith spent his first 16-years on 100 acres of farmland in Tullymorgan, northern New South Wales. He studied at the Australian Ballet School and joined the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 1999 and the West Australian Ballet in 2004. With his strong allegro work, the fleet-footed dancer has appeared in a number of special performances of Bournonville’s Flower Festival. During his time with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Shannon worked with acclaimed choreographers Matz Skoog, Fiona Tonkin, Charles Mudry, and Ou Lu. Some of his performance highlights include Graeme Murphy’s The Protecting Veil, Seven Deadly Sins by Michael Parmenter, Swan Lake pas de trios, Milagrous by Havier Defutos, and Frenzy by Mark Baldwin.
Shannon also danced a solo role in Micheal Pink’s Dracula, the lead role in Mark Morris’s Drink to me only with thine eyes, and the role of Benvolio in Christopher Hampson’s Romeo & Juliet. This is Shannon’s first season with Ballet BC.
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Makaila Wallace |
 A Canadian born in Vallejo, California, Makaila qualified for the Irish Step Dancing World Championships before pursuing ballet professionally. She then studied at the Colorado Ballet School, the Bolshoi Ballet summer school, and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. Her favourite choreographers include van Danzig, Forsythe, Dumais and Kylain. She danced with the Royal Swedish Ballet and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet before joining Ballet B.C. She enjoys spending her free time in Squamish camping. This is Makaila’s fourth season with Ballet BC. |
Chengxin Wei |
Born in Dalian, China, Chengxin Wei graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy where he studied classical Chinese dance for 11-years, and from 1997 to 2000 he worked as a Principal dancer with Guangdong Provincial Dance Theatre. As an independent artist in Vancouver, Chegnxin has danced with Anatomica, MovEnt, Wen Wei Dance, the Lorita Leung Dance Company, and Moving Dragon. He continues to choreograph contemporary works influenced by his Chinese roots, including Antiphony, Lumina, and Yuan. This is Chengxin’s fifth season with Ballet BC. |
DanceAlive!
2007-08
Past Ballets
