Recent Feature Media

Matthews belongs to those contemporaries for whom dance and music harmonize, and which want to give the audience the feelings of being abducted into a world elevated from the grounds of reality.

–Udo Klebes, Der Neue Merker (More)

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Udo Klebes in Der Neue Merker, May 19, 2006:

The chosen 10 choreographies served a broad taste pallet… Still, two pieces stood out beyond all others conceptually as well as in pure dance format. Both were (accidentally?) at the end of each of the two parts of the program. The Canadian Sabrina Matthews belongs to those contemporaries for whom dance and music harmonize, and which want to give the audience the feelings of being abducted into a world elevated from the grounds of reality. Soles was the name of her abstract and at the same time expressive Pas de Deux, whose religious as well as spiritual essence is transported by Alicia Amatriain and Evan McKie in an endless soft flow and at the same time accentuated figures, such as split positions in the air, broad arabesques, and several flying circles and lifts of the female partner, in synchrony with the lamenting music by Tomas Luis de Victoria. The piece continues a series of renowned concert pas de deux, due to its high demand which only be fulfilled by experienced dancers, and should therefore have great chances in any Gala program…

So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Season 3 Auditions

TORONTO: November 14, 2009 – Metro Toronto Convention Centre

MONTREAL: November 28, 2009 Palais des Congres

VANCOUVER: December 5, 2009 – The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts

Please visit dance.ctv.ca for more information

So You Think You Can Dance Canada – Season 3 Auditions

Gordon Milne Fine Art

Canadian Artist Gordon Milne is well known for his portraits of Canadian Olympic Sports Heroes, which will be unveiled during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. He is currently working towards creating a collection of paintings (Art & Dance) to honour Canada's great dancers and choreographers. His current repetoire includes Frank Augustyn, Tanya Dobler and Sabrina Matthews. Upcoming commissions include Sonia Rodriguez, Rex Harrington and Veronica Tennant.

Please visit www.gordonmilneart.com for more information

Sabrina Matthews and Gordon Milne

Genee International Ballet Competition

"The Genée International Ballet Competition is the one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world attracting more than 50 young dancers representing a diverse range of nationalities each year; each on the brink of a stunning professional career. The Bravo! Audience Choice award offers an exciting opportunity for the audience to take the decisions into their own hands and choose their favourite dancer.

This year the 2008 competitors will be put through their paces by Christopher Hampson, award winning international choreographer and home-grown talent, choreographer Sabrina Matthews has been commissioned to create two exclusive solos, one for the male competitors and one for the females, specially for them to learn and perform."

Click here to go to Bravo!.ca

Awards

PACE Honour as an Outstanding Alumnus from the Banff Centre, May 2008
In May 2008, Sabrina Matthews received the 2008 PACE (Provincial Awards Celebrating Excellence) Honour as an Outstanding Alumnus of the Banff Centre. The PACE awards are presented bi-annually by the Alberta (Canada) Association of Colleges and Technical Institutes to recognize the contributions and achievements of alumni. An outstanding alumnus is a recent graduate (withint the last seven years) who has been formally recognized with national or international honours, major championships or appointments to high office.

PACE Honour as an Outstanding Alumnus from the Banff Centre, May 2008

In May 2008, Sabrina Matthews received the 2008 PACE (Provincial Awards Celebrating Excellence) Honour as an Outstanding Alumnus of the Banff Centre. The PACE awards are presented bi-annually by the Alberta (Canada) Association of Colleges and Technical Institutes to recognize the contributions and achievements of alumni. An outstanding alumnus is a recent graduate (withint the last seven years) who has been formally recognized with national or international honours, major championships or appointments to high office.

Magazine and Journal Articles

Dance Current (cover), September 2009

Canada's National Ballet School - 5 Decades of Tradition

Students in the Professional Ballet Program at Canada’s National Ballet School in sequentia by Sabrina Matthews for Spring Showcase 2009

Dance Current Magazine Cover, September 2009

sequentia – Canada’s National Ballet School, Jackson Carroll

Photograph by Cylla von Tiedemann, Courtesy of Dance Current Magazine

Elle Canada Magazine, August 2008

Available at Newsstands Now

Dance Gazette Magazine, June 2008

Matthews possesses a talent whose strength lies in her ability to distil emotional truths from keenly observed everyday scenarios, translating them into ballets of transient beauty.

– Deirdre Kelly, Dance Gazette (More)

Click to read the full article

Chatelaine Magazine, May 2008, page 254

Sabrina Matthews was included in Chatelaine Magazine’s 80th year anniversary issue as one of Canada's Amazing Women to Watch and the Next Big Thing In Dance. She was featured alongside Oscar Nominees, Olympic Medallists and Nobel Prize nominees.

She’s very smart and talented, but she’s very compassionate, too. There is a humanity about her work. It’s very dynamic; it’s very fluid. It looks extremely organic. And her dancers look quite fierce when they dance her work, which is a wonderful thing to see.

– Karen Kain, National Ballet of Canada Artistic Director (More)

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Karen Kain, Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Canada, May 2008:

Karen Kain nominated Sabrina Matthews as the Canadian Woman to Watch in the performing arts and the "Next big thing in dance". Chatelaine Magazine released a feature article on the two women in May 2008, as part of its 80th year anniversary edition.

The next big thing in dance.

WHO: National Ballet of Canada artistic director and former prima ballerina Karen Kain (above left) nominates choreographer Sabrina Matthews.

WHY: Dancers from Beijing to Stuttgart to New York have performed Matthews’s work, and she has commissions this year in Toronto and Sweden. Matthews, 30, rose to prominence as a dancer with the Alberta Ballet, but it’s her role as choreographer that is winning her ovations. Kain was so impressed that she invited Matthews to participate in a workshop at the National Ballet of Canada last year. "She’s very smart and talented, but she’s very compassionate, too." Kain says. "There is a humanity about her work. It’s very dynamic; it’s very fluid. It looks extremely organic. And her dancers look quite fierce when they dance her work, which is a wonderful thing to see."

WHERE YOU'LL SEE MATTHEWS NEXT: Her choregraphy is in the repertoire of the Alberta Ballet, and she has been commissioned to create new work for the National Ballet of Canada's next season.

Chatelaine Magazine, May 2008

Cover, Courtesy of Chatelaine Magazine

Chatelaine Magazine, May 2008

Page 253, Courtesy of Chatelaine Magazine

Karen Kain and Sabrina Matthews

Chatelaine Magazine, May 2008

Page 254, Photograph by Sandy Nicolson, Courtesy of Chatelaine Magazine

Ballet Company Media

Royal Swedish Ballet, 2009-2010

Sabrina Matthews är en av Kanadas stora koreografer. För två danspar och två sångsolister skapade hon 2008 quondam för Kungliga Baletten till Pergolesis Stabat Mater. Hon hämtar oftast sin inspiration i vardagen. ”Något jag sett på gatan, en skulptur eller ett samtal blir abstrakt dans”.

National Ballet of Canada, 2009

"The vibrancy and richness of contemporary Canadian choreography is amply and thrillingly demonstrated in this program of short works by three of the country’s brightest new dancemakers. Encompassing a broad range of styles, imaginative strategies and visions, the three works are a testament to the recent flowering of choreographic talent throughout Canada and which is making itself felt not just at home, but internationally."

National Ballet of Canada, 2008

"You don’t want to miss a minute of MAD HOT II, the return of The National Ballet of Canada’s spectacular annual fundraising gala. The National Post hailed Mad Hot Ballet "the best gala", and The Globe and Mail named it the "best fundraising event" of 2007. June 17th promises to be a scorcher when this exciting event is expected to raise over $1 million.

MAD HOT II begins with an electrifying performance of short works specially chosen by Artistic Director Karen Kain and performed by our renowned dancers. This one night only performance includes the world premiere presentation of veer by Sabrina Matthews and the Canadian premiere of Prokofiev Pas De Deux by Christopher Wheeldon."

Stuttgart Ballet, 2008

veil premiered in Stuttgart during the week of May 4, 2008 and was then reprised the following week and month.

Boston Ballet, 2008

"Boston Ballet presents Next Generation: a showcase and celebration of the next generation of choreographic talents. Four ballets, including three world premieres, highlight some of today’s most exciting young choreographers."

…the most effective work on the program… it’s a beauty…

–Karen Campbell, Boston Globe (More)

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Karen Campbell, in the Boston Globe, March 8, 2008:

Surprisingly, the most effective work on the program was also the smallest, the duet "ein von viel," marking the US debut of Canadian choreographer Sabrina Matthews. Set to selections from Bach‘s exquisite "Goldberg" Variations (given a stellar performance onstage by pianist Freda Locker), it was commissioned by Nissinen while he was artistic director of Alberta Ballet, and it’s a beauty. Friday night, John Lam and James Whiteside were dazzling in Matthews's virtuosic choreography. Matthews matches the clarity of Bach‘s score while consciously subverting the elegance with bits of "you lookin‘ at me?" attitude and quirky nuances. Dynamics shift with quicksilver speed, long lines dissolve into squiggles, complemented by playful gestures – feet that paw the ground, hands that cover the face, backward runs. But it‘s all fairly subtle, cast in phrases of tensile fluidity from which erupt brilliant leaps and turns in vivid asymmetric shapes.

SABRINA

MATTHEWS

Choreographer