It will be something of a homecoming for a local ballerina, when Langley’s Sophia Lee performs a starring role in Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Vancouver’s premier of Svengali.
Lee, who will dance the role of Svengali’s First, is one of the world famous ballet company’s fastest-rising young talents.
Playing at The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts from Friday April 20 to Sunday, April 22, the brand-new ballet is a decadent tale, about a mind-bender who is able to place women under his spell.
Lee first studied at Langley’s Cameron Academy of Classical Dance until the age of 14, before being invited to join RWB’s professional school division.
Unlike most dancers who typically become apprentices first, she was invited into the company as a corps member, immediately following her graduation from the school in 2010.
As well as playing Svengali’s First, she has also danced the role of Clara in The Nutcracker alongside principal dancer Nurzhan Kulybaev.
In addition, Lee is dancing a number of major roles on the tour — including La Goulue in Mouin Rouge.
Svengali was created by Mark Godden, the same choreographer who created the company’s hugely successful Dracula a few years ago.
The story is adapted from the novel Trilby by George du Maurier, about a young man who has the ability to put women under his hypnotic control.
He uses his power to turn a young woman named Trilby into the most celebrated ballerina in Wiemar (the ballet is set in 1930s Germany), but a struggle for power ensues as Trilby’s star rises and she begins to resist his control.
The Centre is located at 777 Homer St. Tickets are available through ticketmaster.