Alberta Dance Theatre for Young People

About Us

The Company
Formerly known as Children in Dance, Alberta Dance Theatre is more than 25 years old, making it Alberta's oldest youth dance company. As many as 50 young performers, ages 7-17, create and perform in its annual dance production. New and existing children's literatures provide the basis for the productions and original music is commissioned. As a result, a rich tradition has been established that provides imaginative, engaging and affordable family entertainment to Calgarians. Works of the company have also been performed around the world in Brazil and Holland, and province wide in Edmonton, Banff and Lethbridge.

Alberta Dance Theatre is a non-profit, non-competitive performing company for youth based in Calgary and supported by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Calgary Arts Development and The Calgary Foundation.

The Co-Artistic Directors
Jason Stroh
Jason's formal dance training began at The University of Calgary where he received a Bachelor of Science in Zoology. He has since trained in Victoria, Toronto, Montreal, Vienna, New York and Sweden, studying with the likes of Lynda Raino, Jose Navas, Davida Monk, Milton Myers and O Vertigo. Jason danced for six seasons with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD). Jason has created over 20 contemporary choreographic works, which have been presented by DJD, Dancers' Studio West, EKO Dance Projects, The University of Calgary Mainstage, the Alberta Feats' Festival, Springboard Dance, and Alberta Dance Theatre. In 2002, Jason along with choreographers Laurie Montemurro and Nicole Tritter formed the contemporary dance collective, IntranzDance. The collective has successfully produced two productions, TASTY and ripe. Jason can also be seen dancing on CBC's The Forgotten Sense, and in several BRAVO films, including Nicole Mion's Screaming Fish and Kimberley Cooper's Distemper. Jason recently created a BRAVOfact film version of Methusula, which he co-choreographed with Kimberley Cooper. Jason is presently a dance teacher with the Calgary Board of Education, teaching at Central Memorial High School in the Performing and Visual Arts program. Jason has had a lengthy history with Alberta Dance Theatre for Young People having choreographed for five previous productions. He is thrilled to be working alongside Christie Preston as Co-Artistic Directors for Alberta Dance Theatre.

Christie Preston
Born and raised in Calgary, Christie Preston started her performing career with Children in Dance (now Alberta Dance Theatre) at a young age and spent seven years with the company. Christie's formative experiences with CID served as a springboard to a career as a dancer, choreographer, and dance teacher. Christie received her B.A. in Dance with distinction from the University of Calgary in 2001 where she studied with Michele Moss, Davida Monk, Hannah Stillwell, and Melissa Monteros among others. Inspired by Michele Moss's unique style of movement, Christie accompanied her on a travel study to Guinea, West Africa and found herself powerfully inspired by the athleticism and beauty of the dances she encountered. This experience led to three successive visits to West Africa over the following years as Christie refined her knowledge of the traditional dances of the region. Throughout this period Christie also performed with choreographers such as Neah Kalcounis, Denise Clarke, Christine Carr, Erin O'Connor, and Deanne Walsh. Christie has developed a unique choreographic style coupling her roots in contemporary and creative dance with the dynamism she finds in West African and jazz forms. She also discovered a love of teaching and choreographing for young dancers through her experiences working with EKO Dance Projects and numerous companies and public schools around Calgary. She returned to the U of C in 2003 and completed her Masters in Teaching and has enjoyed sharing her passion for Dance full-time at a Calgary high school ever since. For the past two years, Christie has been back with Alberta Dance Theatre choreographing for James and the Giant Peach and Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. She is thrilled to be returning this year as Co-Artistic Director and honoured to be sharing this role with Jason Stroh.

The Composer
Darin Gregson is ADT's 'in-house' composer. He has created music for 10 previous productions including: The Nut Cracks, James & the Giant Peach, The Visit of the Sea Queen, Redwall: The Adventures of Martin the Warrior, Writes of Passage, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, The Voyage of the Dawntreader, Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone, and Lost in Space. He has also written music for television, video, live theatre, the internet, and dance for Youth Dance Unlimited, Springboard Dance, the Garry Theatre, The Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the University of New Orleans. He created music for the acclaimed U.S. video series The Parenting Project and is an award-winning film composer.