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For immediate release Two choreographers to share 2005 Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award This year’s Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award—one of Canada’s most prestigious honours bestowed on emerging Canadian choreographers—will be shared by two exciting young Canadian choreographers: Peter Quanz, from Baden, Ontario, and Sabrina Matthews, from Calgary, Alberta. This unique award allows each recipient to create a new work for the dancers of the Professional Dance program of The Banff Centre. The works will receive their world premiere performances during the 2005 Banff Summer Arts Festival. “The 2005 Banff Summer Arts Festival is truly honoured and thrilled to showcase such promising artists on its stages,” says John Murrell, artistic director/executive producer, Theatre Arts, and acting vice-president, programming, at The Banff Centre. “Our hope is that both Peter Quanz and Sabrina Matthews’ new works will help establish their choreographic careers, and that their creations will enter the repertoire of dance companies across the country.” Annette av Paul, program Director of Banff’s dance programs, stated that, “This year the jury of the Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award and I have decided to present the award to two outstanding applicants from the 2004 competition, Peter Quanz and Sabrina Matthews. Peter and Sabrina are equally deserving of the award; each has an interesting, very individual, strong choreographic command in presenting and expressing their ideas. We are thrilled to be able to present these awards to these two special talents in the world of dance.”
“The Clifford E. Lee Award is extremely significant to me for several reasons. Nine years ago my life was changed when Brian Macdonald and Annette av Paul allowed me, as a student, to create a ballet for the dance training program,” says Peter Quanz. “This summer I will be able to explore my craft in a setting that is completely focused on the development of artists in an atmosphere of beauty and free of distractions. I eagerly anticipate my time in Banff as being a period of intense self-discovery and fulfillment.”
“The Lee award is such a unique stepping stone for emerging choreographers across Canada, and I feel honoured and privileged to be selected. I am extremely excited and look forward to working with our young talented dancers from across the country,” says Sabrina Matthews. The prestigious Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award, administered annually by The Banff Centre, was established in 1978 by the Clifford E. Lee Foundation to encourage the professional development of Canadian choreographers. The award provides a choreographer with a six-week residency at The Banff Centre to create a new dance work, as well as a $5000 cash award. Past recipients include D.A. Hoskins, Christopher House, Crystal Pite, Mark Godden, and Bengt Jörgen. --30-- Downloadable images of Peter Quanz and Sabrina Matthews are available.
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Peter Quanz attended the 1996 Banff Centre Dance Training program where, with the encouragement of Brian Macdonald and Annette av Paul, he began exploring his choreographic ideas. Peter was then accepted into the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School where Arnold Spohr closely mentored him. He has worked with the Stuttgart Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, and the New York Choreographic Institute. Peter is currently creating a ballet for the Royal Ballet, as well as a new two-act story ballet, with a commissioned score by Tadeusz Biernacki for the Chemnitz Ballet in Germany.
Sabrina Matthews, a graduate of the National Ballet School, is currently a soloist for the Alberta Ballet. As a choreographer, Sabrina has created six new works for the Alberta Ballet, as well as numerous other works for dance companies and schools across Canada. Sabrina created a piece for the School of American Ballet’s choreographic workshop, and her work Unbound premiered at the first Beijing International Dance Festival. In 2002, Sabrina created and starred in the Bravo! Fact film DanceToThis, which was nominated for an AMPIA award. Recently, Sabrina has created pieces for Ballet Jörgen and the Glenbow Museum’s Rodin Exhibition.