Simone Orlando, artistic director (AD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ballet Kelowna in BC since September 2014, has focused on one goal throughout her career in the professional dance world: to empower dancers. 

“I think having an ego and running a dance company from an egoistic perspective is not healthy, and I don't think it works,” she says. "And I think a lot of what we've seen in the dance world of late and certainly through the decades is a whole lot of egoism." 

In speaking with Orlando over the phone, it’s clear that her philosophy isn’t based on one incident; it’s the way she lives.  

Orlando started in gymnastics at age 9 and then switched to ballet at age 11 to feed her desire to move to music. By the time she was 15, she had transferred to the National Ballet School of Canada and completed her ballet training there. An apprenticeship with the National Ballet of Canada followed, and a year later, she landed a full contract with the company. 

However, after five years with the NBoC, she quit. 

It takes courage to make such a decision – the NBoC is for many one of the few pinnacles in a ballet career in this country. But not only did she quit one of Canada’s foremost ballet companies, she quit ballet almost entirely and returned to BC. 

"I absolutely loved that,” says Orlando, “and I think it's the best thing I did for my dance career, to step away from it for that period of time." 

After completing a program in photography while staying in form through drop-in ballet classes, Orlando returned to the professional stage via Robert DesRosiers’ Toronto dance company. 

Being involved in several of his new creations was the fuel she needed to start again. "It was extremely exciting for me, because that's what I wanted to do: I wanted to work with a choreographer." 

A year later, she returned to BC and eventually joined Ballet BC, becoming one of its principal dancers and originating many roles. 

But her desire to choreograph kept gnawing at her, and she created pieces on the side, including some for Ballet Kelowna. Her early efforts were also rewarded: In 2006, she won the prestigious Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award from the Banff Centre for the Arts, and in 2009, a Fellowship Initiative Grant from the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of the New York City Ballet. 

But in 2009, her plans to finish her professional dance career and transition into choreography came to an abrupt stop: she suffered a catastrophic hip injury in 2009. 

Lynne Spencer documented Orlando’s journey with her injury in the movie Broken, which premiered at the Whistler Film Festival in 2016 and was also screened at the Festival International du film sur l’art in Montreal and the Canadian Film Festival in Toronto. 

You have to watch the documentary to understand the power Orlando needed to build her life back up: no amount of medicine, physiotherapy, or surgery could return her body to the condition she needed to dance professionally again. Moreover, her injury didn’t leave her with just an annoying limp: she couldn’t even bend down to tie her shoes. By 2010, and still in her 30s, she required a hip replacement. 

"I had no idea what that other side was going to look like,” Orlando says, “and I had no idea whether I could actually continue working as a choreographer, because it can be fairly demanding physically. You’re on your feet six hours a day, you're hopefully trying to demonstrate movement to dancers." 

A chance encounter with a Paralympian showed her otherwise, though. 

Orlando had been commissioned to choreograph a short routine for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic games. As fate would have it, she worked with Paralympian Daniel Westley to create Duet, which you can find online. Although he had never danced, Westley had won 12 Paralympic medals over five games, competing in both the summer and winter games. 

Duet is “probably the most remarkable work that I've created from the experience of it for myself,” Orland says. 

"We workshopped that in the studio, me trying to understand what he could do in his chair and how that tool worked," she explains. "The whole sensation and dynamic of it was just so foreign and interesting in terms of learning how I could assist him, how he could assist me. It was really enlightening on a number of different levels.” 

Orlando finally understood that, even if her abilities post-surgery were reduced, she would still be able to dance. “I think it really just demonstrates, you know, no matter what your ability is, anyone can dance. And it gave me hope, moving forward.” 

Recovery from her operation took time, of course, but despite all the barriers to her plans, she somehow found the power within herself to move forward again. So, she searched for a leadership role so she could help empower others. 

She returned to school to study business management. “That program really taught me how to manage people, money, and stuff, and I think that's what you need to know in a very basic kind of way to manage and run a dance company. And then you need to throw in a huge dash of altruism into the mix of it.” 

By the time she had completed her program, she had applied to and been offered the top position at Ballet Kelowna. Her path to empowering dancers could now move full steam ahead. 

During her first year at Ballet Kelowna, Orlando moved the company into its own building: It had been renting space from a dance studio for its home, but that meant they could only run from 8AM to 3:30PM before having to clear out so the studio could take over. 

The change has been nothing short of dramatic: Ballet Kelowna could offer adult ballet classes in the evening, invite donors to rehearsals, and run five rehearsal viewings a year. Orlando has seen the differences in the numbers: ticket and subscription sales are up. 

I believe you can’t empower people without empowering yourself first, and Orlando has clearly empowered herself to become the artistic director and CEO of a ballet company. Now, she can now show others how ballet companies can be improved. 

"I do hope that the professional dance environment will change, and that dancers do feel more empowered and confidant, because they appreciate and love what it is that they do, and that the people that are either at the front of the room or coaching them continue to encourage that love and also respect and recognize and support the courage and the discipline that it takes to just step into that studio every single day to do the work that dancers do." 

-- 

Advice for Dancers 

“As hard as it might seem, I think it's important to think about what it is that might also be of interest to you beyond dance. […] It’s going to help you down the road when you inevitably have to make that transition.” 

 “The power of what it is that you can do and achieve really, really comes from within, and I think dancers have the ability to carve their own path and future in dance if they can stay intrinsically motivated.”

--

Learn more about Broken and when it may be showing in your area by visiting http://www.brokentheballetdocumentary.com or following it on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BrokenTheBalletDocumentary/