Company Artists
We are thrilled to announce the dancers of our 2021/22 season!
Returning this season are full company members Anna Bekirova, Livona Ellis, Miriam Gittens, Justin Rapaport, Dex van ter Meij and Zenon Zubyk.
A warm welcome back to Emily Chessa. Emily first joined Ballet BC as an apprentice in 2012. She danced with the company for eight seasons, and performed the iconic role of Juliet in Medhi Walerski‘s Romeo + Juliet. She spent the 2020/21 season with Nederlands Dans Theater.
“I am so grateful to be able to return to the company that has been my home for so long. I hope to bring my experience and perspectives from working overseas back to this space and keep pushing the art form to new and relatable boundaries.” —Emily Chessa
Welcome to Kiana Jung, Sarah Pippin, Evan Rapaport, Rae Srivastava, and Jacob Williams, former Emerging Artists who will join us as full company members.
We are excited to welcome Kaylin Sturtevant as a new member of the company. Kaylin has worked professionally with The DASH Ensemble and the ISHIDA dance company. In 2016, she was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar of the Arts and National YoungArts Winner in Modern Dance.
“I am incredibly honoured to be dancing with the beautiful artists and community of Ballet BC! I look forward to all of the growth, collaboration, and discovery this season.” —Kaylin Sturtevant
Emerging Artists
This season we welcome six new dancers, including Chloe Crenshaw, who graduated valedictorian from HARID Conservatory in 2018; Sidney Chuckas, who studied both dance and design before earning his Master’s in Architecture; and Sidney Ramsey, the first student to earn a double major at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, studying health and the human sciences.
Multiple Arts Umbrella-educated dancers will be joining us, including BC native Zack Preece, who started at AU at 15, graduating earlier this year. Sophie Robinson started at age 16 and completed both the Professional and Post-Secondary Dance Programs, while Ethan Ribeiro joined the Post-Secondary Program in 2019, receiving the McCall MacBrian Cultural Leadership Scholarship in his second year.
The Emerging Artist program, sponsored by RBC, supports the professional development of distinctively talented emerging dance artists.
