Ballet BC’s 40th season opens with a double bill from Dutch sibling choreographic duo Imre and Marne van Opstal, whose evocative work explores the rawness, beauty, and absurdity of the human experience.
Hailing from the Netherlands, Imre and Marne van Opstal share a distinct movement language that has turned heads across the globe. As siblings they form a powerful artistic unity, approaching dance as an emotional laboratory to explore the complex dynamics of human relationships. After years of performing on international stages with some of the world’s most respected companies, the pair has worked inseparably to break open the language of dance and expose the intricacies of the human condition.
Imre is a choreographer, director, and former dancer who approaches dance as a deep investigation into physicality and emotion. After graduating from Codarts Rotterdam, Imre began her professional career with Carte Blanche in Norway, before joining Nederlands Dans Theater in 2012 and later Batsheva Dance Company in 2017.
Marne is a choreographer, conceptual thinker, and former principal dancer whose work balances the physical and the philosophical. After training at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, Marne joined Nederlands Dans Theater in 2009, staying with the company until 2020.
During their time at Nederlands Dans Theater, Imre and Marne performed works by Jiří Kylián, Crystal Pite, Hofesh Shechter, Paul Lightfoot & Sol Leon, Sharon Eyal, and Ohad Naharin, among others.
Imre and Marne’s body of work includes acclaimed pieces such as Voodoo Waltz (awarded the prestigious German theatre prize Der Faust), The Grey, Take Root (nominated for the Dutch Zwaan Award for Best Dance Production), Baby Don’t Hurt Me, and The Point Being. The two have developed creations for leading companies such as Rambert, Hessisches Staatsballett, GöteborgOperans Danskompani, Ballett Theater Basel, and Opéra de Paris, sharing their interdisciplinary perspectives with audiences worldwide.
Ballet BC artists Chloé Albaret and Orlando Harbutt in Heart Drive by Imre and Marne van Opstal. Photo by Michael Slobodian.
“The van Opstals’ movement language is distinct and a bit surreal, full of distorted bends, ever-flexed feet, and broken-doll disruptions.” – Stir Vancouver
In 2022, Imre and Marne made their Ballet BC debut with Heart Drive, a primal and electric work that delves into the innately human, yet often repressed energies we inhabit to love, hold, and connect with one another. Under the artistic direction of Medhi Walerski, Heart Drive was created on Ballet BC and premiered in Vancouver, Canada for the 2022/23 season.
For Ballet BC’s 40th season, the pair will return to Vancouver with two pieces—the North American premiere of I’m afraid to forget your smile, which captures memory, emotion and human fragility through movement and live vocals, and a World Premiere, a conceptually rich journey that reflects the complexities of our time.
Beyond dance, Imre and Marne create for film, commercials, and fashion campaigns, collaborating with artists and brands such as Dior, Porsche, and FKA Twigs among others. With an intimate and emotionally precise aesthetic, their work has appeared in international publications including Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, Dance Magazine, and L’Officiel.
Together, Imre and Marne’s expansive works push boldly into new expressive territories as part of an ever-evolving vision. Drawing on themes of identity, gender, desire, spirituality, the pair invites audiences into alienating yet sensual worlds that are charged with physical intensity.
Discover the world of this renowned choreographic duo at Bodies & Voices, November 5/6/7 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver.
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