Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada Marks Toronto Debut With GHOSTS OF VIOLENCE, 5/25-26

Canada’s critically acclaimed Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada will mark its Toronto debut with its seminal ballet GHOSTS OF VIOLENCE, described as "an original full-length multimedia production that puts gender-based violence centre stage. This innovative and inspirational call for awareness, understanding, and action" is on stage at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts’ Bluma Appel Theatre, May 25-26, 2012.

GHOSTS OF VIOLENCE takes its audience on a haunting journey of the lives of four women suffering at the hands of their abusive partners in a story told through stunning visual projections, compelling narrative, and powerful dance. This full-length work was conceived and choreographed by Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada’s founding artistic director and choreographer, Igor Dobrovolskiy, in collaboration with award-winning Canadian playwright and director, Sharon Pollock, and performed to the turbulent music of Russian composers Alfred Schnittke and Sergei Rachmaninoff

Dobrovolskiy, whose works have been presented across Europe and in the U.S., blends dramatic narrative with inventive choreography, creating emotional and lyrical structures that explore the human condition. A graduate of the Kiev State Ballet Academy (Ukraine), holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts in pedagogy of ballet, dance, and choreography from the Kiev National University of the Arts, he founded Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada with Susan Chalmers-Gauvin in 2001. In September 2010 his ballet, FIDELIO, had its world premiere in Germany through a co-production with Theater Bonn, the ballet was presented as part of the Theater’s dance season. In 2009, the Company made its New York debut with Dobrovolskiy’s DON JUAN.

“The fact that women’s groups across the country are clamouring for this piece points to the power of art as an instrument of social change.” – Paula Citron, Globe and Mail

GHOSTS OF VIOLENCE is the anchor for the second phase of Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada’s national project, “Celebrate Courage”, created to inspire dialogue around the issue of gender-based violence.