Grande Prairie local dancing in Alberta Ballet Company Winter Gala

Jan 25, 2025 | 7:00 AM

A Grande Prairie local will be appearing in a ballet event in Edmonton this weekend.

Seventeen-year-old Lindi Denkema will be performing alongside her Alberta Ballet School classmates as part of the Alberta Ballet Company’s winter gala.

Denkema says she’s excited to perform in Edmonton after living in Calgary to go to the school.

“Doing it in Calgary is fun, but you know it’s in the city, it’s where you live,” says Denkema. “But being able to go to Edmonton, in a different city and performing and sharing that experience is really amazing and special. Especially with the Company as well. Being able to be on stage with them is very inspiring.”

(Photo Credit: Alberta Ballet School)

Denkema moved from Grande Prairie to Calgary to attend the Ballet School two years ago.

“We have students from Japan, Australia, Brazil, and all over Canada as well,” she says. “They have residence, where we all live in dorms taken care of, so I did that for a year. But I was very young, I was only 14 and I missed my family. So, my mom is temporarily living in Calgary with me.”

She will be part of around 100 Ballet School students performing the gala’s opening dance.

“We’re going to be doing a Polonaise, which is a dance style,” she says. “It’s on pointe, which is very fun. We get to do a nice piece which has I think students from grade 7 all the way up to our PG program, which our like 18-19 year olds.”

Denkema has began participating in the Alberta Ballet School summer intensive programs when she was eight years old

She dreams of joining the New York based company Complexions.

by Nathaniel Leigh