Our Mission, Mandate, and Values

Kittiwake is Newfoundland and Labrador’s professional ballet company. Our mandate is to foster appreciation of the arts by providing high-quality dance performances in public places and to advance education by providing instructional workshops, classes and seminars related to the art of dance.

With the vision of elevating the art of dance, we engage artists who live and work in Newfoundland and Labrador to create inspired, professional performances that enrich audiences. Our values are passion, creativity, integrity, professionalism and community-mindedness.  We have a special interest in developing creativity and expression through dance and we nurture young dancers through artistic development opportunities. We foster a sense of community in our outreach to public schools, dance studios, seniors and the general public.

About KITTIWAKE DANCE THEATRE

Founded in 1987, Kittiwake has grown from our roots as a community organisation, restructuring as a professional company in 2018. This professionalisation allows dancers from Newfoundland and Labrador to pursue a dance career in their home province. We currently employ three full-time soloists, with additional company members employed on a part-time basis. 

In addition to our annual performances of The Nutcracker—a family favourite since 1987—Kittiwake creates, commissions, and presents new dance pieces from local and guest choreographers. In recent years, Artistic Director Martin Vallée has choreographed the story ballets Alice (2018) and Peter Pan in the Park: The Prequel (2021) and, along with Hannah Drover, Narnia (2023). In addition to commissioning new works from Newfoundland choreographers, our RBC-Kittiwake Emerging Choreographer-in-Residence, now in its third year, provides opportunities for young artists to have their work performed by a professional company while receiving career mentorship from established choreographers.