In partnership with dancer/choreographer Kathryn Ricketts, the Youth Ballet of Saskatchewan Company dancers are putting on shows Dec. 7 – 9, which will incorporate human relationships to the earth, nature and belonging.

The show at The Docks at the Local Market consists of three dances, each with its own unique story relating to the theme of nature and its beauty in the world.

“I think that it’s a very poetic way to remind us of our relationship to land and our relationship to past and future, so that we take care moving forward,” said Ricketts. 

The first and last dances are improvised dances by Ricketts. The dance between those is a choreographed performance by the Youth Ballet of Saskatchewan Company. 

The first dance is called “Land(ing).”  It is a performance which incorporates theatre, dance and film. This creates conversation on identity, migration and belonging. Ricketts describes it as “the struggle of sustainability around our land and our creatures that inhabit it.”

The second and choreographed dance is called “Garden Plots.” The performance takes stories of gardening and farming which translate to space and movement. It focuses on the antics which take place in community gardens. 

The third dance is called “Blomster,” which is the Danish word for flower. It demonstrates that in a digital age, the beauty of nature is an everlasting experience. 

“It had a really nice comparison to how we tend to each other as humans and how we can foster healthy relationships that cross the seasons,” said Ricketts. “So we kind of use the flowers as a metaphor for human compassion and human relations.”

At the end of each night, Ricketts and all of the ballet dancers take part in a talk back with the audience. This provides an educational experience for audiences and an opportunity for questions to be asked in order to better understand the performance.

“We unpack a little bit of the process. And I think that’s really important for performance literacy,” said Ricketts.

The show itself is bound to be inspirational, as much of the passion and choreography stems from prairie roots and our connection to nature living in a province like Saskatchewan. 

Ricketts, who lived in Denmark, reflected on what parts of our landscape drew her in when she moved here nine years ago, “ I never get tired of driving on the highway and just seeing all those electrical poles lined up, and the abandoned houses and barns.”

The performances are at 7:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.

More information is available here.

https://oncueregina.ca/blomster-landing

Featured Image: Kathryn Rickett’s dance character “Remington.” (Photo credit: Ian Campbell)