Christopher Stowell named new artistic director of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet | Canada Voices

As a young dance student in Seattle, Christopher Stowell awaited eagerly for visits from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, enamoured by its eclectic performances. Now, he gets to lead the prestigious troupe into its next era.

Mr. Stowell has been named the new artistic director of the RWB, North America’s longest continuously operating ballet company. His appointment caps off an exhaustive international leadership search after André Lewis, who held that post for nearly 30 years, announced his retirement in 2023.

“I can’t believe I get to expand upon this absolute Canadian gem, staying true to its roots of pushing boundaries and nourishing it as a centre for our beautiful art form,” Mr. Stowell told The Globe and Mail ahead of a public announcement Friday.

Having most recently served as associate artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada for six years, Mr. Stowell was previously at the helm of major dance companies in Oregon and California.

After training at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle and the School of American Ballet in New York, he joined the San Francisco Ballet in 1985. There, he became principal dancer, performing in theatres around the world, such as the Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Paris Opéra and Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater.

He relinquished from full-time dancing in 2001, moving on to teach, coach and create new work for companies in the U.S., Japan, China and across Europe.

“Ballet, for me, was not something I had to discover. It was always there,” said Mr. Stowell, whose parents, Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, both former artistic directors themselves, are heralded as legends in the dance world.

“My attraction to ballet really came from a love of theatre,” he said. “I had initially wanted to be a scenery and costume designer before I studied dance, so there will always be a theatrical core to my connection to the art form of ballet. I don’t see it as purely movement-based. I see it as a way of connecting with people.”

But that connection for ballet with broader audiences has changed over the years, Mr. Stowell said, pointing out that some people have felt alienated by the form, which may be perceived as elitist. And tickets for many performances are quite expensive, the unaffordability creating barriers to make ballet more welcoming.

Mr. Stowell wants to address those concerns: “I do think that people can also run into our art form in unexpected places beyond the theatre,” he said.

“They shouldn’t have to necessarily buy a ticket to explore what it’s about. We can be open to different avenues for them to be bitten by that bug of ballet.”

One of the most important initiatives he hopes to champion during his tenure is returning the RWB to its status as a regularly touring company.

Disruptions since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have made touring impossible the way it once was, Mr. Stowell said, as “everything has gotten expensive.”

However, he believes in the RWB’s capacity: “It’s much easier for us to do big tours because of how nimble our company is, and how modular and malleable the productions in our repertoire tend to be.”

Mr. Lewis agrees. In the last few years, he oversaw the RWB’s return to cities such as New York, where it has not toured in decades.

“But we have to be mindful of the financial and environmental impact,” he said.

Mr. Lewis, who was honoured as a member of the Order of Canada for his service at the company, had been both its chief executive officer and artistic director simultaneously.

His decision to retire prompted the RWB’s board to split off its topmost positions, leading to the recruitment of Elena Tupyseva as executive director on the administrative team. She said she is looking forward to welcoming Mr. Stowell and his husband to Winnipeg.

“While I have only been here for just over a year, I believe we both have a role to play in shaping the next generation of this organization, internally and externally,” Ms. Tupyseva said.

Mr. Lewis, meanwhile, is keeping his options open – referring to his retirement as “stepping down to focus on other fun ventures.” He hopes to do more volunteer work and offer his years of knowledge wherever possible.

Mr. Stowell’s “fresh perspective will usher in a new chapter that’s so very needed right now,” Mr. Lewis said.

“I can leave very happy knowing that he acknowledges the company’s deep history and commitment to bringing that joy of dance to all the diverse communities we’ve done so much to foster relationships with.”