T H E   F I R E B I R D

Canadian-born Kirsten Wicklund danced with The Washington Ballet, Ballet BC (2014-2021, under Emily Molnar C.M. and Medhi Walerski), and Opera Ballet Vlaanderen (2021- 2024), performing and creating original roles in works by William Forsythe, Pina Bauschm Crystal Pite, Sharon Eyal, Sid Larbi Cherkaoul, Johan Inger, Emmanuel Gat, Ohad Naharin, Adkram Chan, Jorma Elo, Assure Barton, Jacopo Godai, Jan Martens, Richards Siegal, Ella Rothchild, and others. 
She has choreographed for Opera Ballet Vlaanderen , Ballet Edmonton, Dutch National ballet's Junior Company, NYCB's Choreographic Institute.  Ballet Bc, and Ballet Kelowna.  Her work is set to premiere at Staatsballett Nurnburg in 2026. 
Kirsten most recently served as Artistic Director and house choreographer of Ballet Edmonton, a creation-driven contemporary ballet company fostering new work and innovative approaches to dance and theatre in collaboration with composers, designers, and other artists.

KIRSTEN
WICKLUND

meet the CHOREOGRAPHER

Small Wounds:
a Firebird

Dance is, by its nature, a little wild – virtuosity laced with risk, abandon tempered by precision – always on the edge of transformation. Perhaps it is wild of me, too, to keep dreaming of movement – to trust its power to endure, to shed.

This Firebird is my love poem to ballet: to its icons, its resilience, its relentless will to live. Small wounds, quiet fires — the earth knows this rhythm; so do we. I invite you to follow your own sensations as you witness this dance. There, the story will unfold — unique to each of you: a flicker of origin, instinct, and rebirth.

A quiet assurance remains — it is never too late to begin again.