Alberta Ballet's Tragically Hip-inspired work takes the stage in Calgary

Alberta Ballet's new work inspired by the music of the iconic Canadian band the Tragically Hip makes its premiere Wednesday in Calgary.

• CBC News was allowed in the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium for the dress rehearsal earlier in the day. Watch the video above.

The dance, called All of Us,weaves 20 classic Hip songs into a story of a post-apocalyptic Earth in which competing clans are fighting to shape a new world.

"Beyond the Canadiana we usually attach to the music of The Hip, there lies a whole other universal wisdom which speaks, through its extraordinary simplicity, about humanity's true inner potential," said Alberta Ballet's artistic director and choreographer,Jean Grand-Maitre.

"It's an interesting concept, because I think a lot of people who like The Hip would never have imagined this," he told TheHomestretch.

The new work is billed by the dance company as a story of love, hope and, finally, redemption.

The Hip's frontman, Gord Downie, died last October after a public battle with brain cancer during which he devoted much of his energy to advocating for reconciliation with Indigenous people.

Canadians first learned of Downie's illness on May 24, 2016 the same day his band announced that the Kingston, Ont.-based group would head out on a final summer tour "for Gord, and for all of us."

The final concert, in Kingston on Aug. 20,2016 was broadcast on CBCTelevision.

When Downie died at age 53, the flags on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill and at all federal government buildings in his hometown of Kingstonwere lowered to half-mast for the nationally beloved artist.

Members of the band will be in Calgary for the work's premiere, Grand-Maitre said.

"They're very excited, because they want to see the ballet and we to tour it, with their permission. And they've been thrilled from the beginning."

The Calgary performances of All of Us run May 2 to 6. The show moves to Edmonton's Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium from May 10 to 12.

With files from The Homestretch

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