Dancer, choreographer, and artistic director Alexis Fletcher spent 15 years as a dancer with Ballet BC. Hear more from Alexis about her journey with dance and how the company has shaped her career.
How has Ballet BC shaped your career? What has been your journey with the company?
My career and Ballet BC have always been inextricably intertwined. When I was in my graduating year of the Arts Umbrella Graduate Program, Ballet BC’s then-director, John Alleyne, came to one of our year-end performances. The next day he offered me a full contract with Ballet BC. It was a dream come true, and the beginning of my 15-year journey as a dancer with the company. Now, being a Guest Rehearsal Director feels like a special full-circle moment for me.
It has been a privilege to grow up and become an adult inside a container such as this company. What has always been present here is a sense of meaning and purpose, the passion and joy that comes from rigour and depth and a shared, unshakeable conviction that a life in the arts is worthwhile. While the company shape-shifts with each director and group of artists, I have witnessed these qualities remain consistent, and these values continue to guide everything that I do. I believe they have also led Ballet BC to such heights and international recognition. I am grateful to have had my perception of the world and my place in it be nurtured and shaped by working with such exceptional groups of people. People who care about the world and each other. People who have dedicated their lives to something hard and interesting and that demands courage. People who made me who I am because I got to dance beside them and learn from them – my directors John, Emily and Medhi. My colleagues and the choreographers, teachers and collaborators over those 15 years who I was fortunate to cross paths with. So many of them remain close friends and influences.
During Medhi’s first season, I had the pleasure of being Artist-in-Residence, and this provided me with support and resources through which to explore my first full length creation as an emerging choreographer (assemble, premiered in 2022).
Ballet BC is also where I met my husband, Sylvain Senez. Sylvain was a dancer and Rehearsal Director at Ballet BC for over 30 years and has left an indelible mark on the company. Working with him at Ballet BC shaped the entire path both our lives would take… and we are now 17 years together!
Alexis Fletcher rehearses Crystal Pite's 'Solo Echo'. Photo my Michael Slobodian.
How do you see Ballet BC’s unique role in the international dance landscape? What makes it a special place?
Yes, and it is undeniable that there is something special here. I believe that a lot of it has to do with the values and ethics of how to work, how to show up in the room with care and mastery and a sense of kinship with one another that I described above. There are so many talented artists in the world, however to find the particular groupings of people that have such chemistry and shared belief systems about what this art form can be and contribute is unique and powerful, and each season and team coming together over the years has added something to this over time.
Ballet BC has always been known for our depth of care and commitment to the work that we do. The way that this shows up here is palpable. The dancers are strong individuals who have agency and drive that is all their own. The model of a creation-based space which is so collaborative has always been an essential part of the company’s DNA. We are standing on the shoulders of all the artists who came before us and left traces of themselves and their working habits behind. While the company has seen many challenges and ups and downs in its history, I truly have always been so moved by the passion that drives everything here, and the sense of a bigger vision and philosophy that is beyond a particular performance or season. These principles, mixed with the pretty mind-blowing talent of this team, absolutely makes Ballet BC play a vital role in the international scene. It is so inspiring!
Alexis Fletcher in Jacopo Godani's A.U.R.A. Photo by Michael Slobodian.
What inspired you to choose this career path?
I had a remarkable experience as a young person of 14 actually that led me in this direction. It was powerful enough that I didn’t question it, not even for a moment. It gave me a surety about this choice that got me through so many challenges of being a late-starter and coming from a small community where my family and I had to figure out how to find professional training and access to education about what it would mean to follow this dream. I am really fortunate to have parents and teachers who believed that it was possible and important and who supported me in every possible way, even when I had a lot of catching up to do.
Dancing is the way in which I feel at home in the world, often the only way. It is humbling to work for so many years towards a pursuit like this and to never arrive, to constantly begin anew, and to constantly be in awe of the thing you are engaging with as a life practice – for me that never changes. My wish is to only continue learning, through this art, how to be fully alive – how to be in the world. I guess really it comes down to that – how to be fully alive, fully present. I believe that’s my responsibility as an artist, a maker and a storyteller.
Fletcher with Jordan Lang in 'Take Form'. Photo by Four Eyes Portraits.
What does your career look like today?
Today, Sylvain and I are building our own company, Belle Spirale Dance Projects, from the ground up! I also remain at Ballet BC as a Guest Rehearsal Director.
Belle Spirale has had its non-profit status since 2023, although Sylvain and I have been creating and producing work together since 2016. Belle Spirale is a platform for the work of many artists. Sylvain and I create our own works and we also commission original works by emerging and established choreographers, believing in a hands-on and heart-centred approach to art making.
Belle Spirale has many ongoing connections with Ballet BC! We also commissioned an original work from Fernando Hernando Magadan in 2025, and this season we are collaborating with Ballet BC dancer Sid Chuckas, supporting one of their new creations. I was also honoured that Medhi asked me to create a new work for Ballet BC Annex this season, and had a wonderful time!
Artists of Ballet BC Annex in 'Once' by Alexis Fletcher.
What have you learned about starting your own company?
Starting our own company has opened my eyes to insight upon insight. I am fulfilled by the challenge of choreographing, performing, directing, producing and doing an insane amount of admin, often simultaneously!
Because we have the opportunity right now to build an organizational structure from scratch, all our belief systems and philosophies about this art form come to the forefront. We are meeting ourselves as leaders and shaping our own approach to leadership in real time, learning as we go about each step as it comes. We are learning how to strategically plan, how to stay centered in the heart of the matter – which is always the artists and the art – how to forge our own path in terms of creative vision, funding, and our unique self-presentation model. We are learning how to build the right team around us that understands the vision and believe in it themselves, and also reflecting on how to delegate and ask the right questions. It is thrilling, challenging and all-consuming for us.
Coming from an established company like Ballet BC gave us a wealth of experience, especially because Sylvain was already on the rehearsal direction and production side for many years while we were there. Touring the world, collaborating with so many different artists and getting to work in so many different ways allowed us early on to formulate our own ideas and opinions about what felt true to us.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
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