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Ballet BC Presents ZENITH March 6/7/8

Canada’s leading contemporary dance company premieres two new works and celebrates the return of Johan Inger’s epic PASSING in a monumental triple bill.

Vancouver, BC – Ballet BC returns to Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre with ZENITH on March 6/7/8. The triple bill features three exciting works: a world premiere from acclaimed Spanish choreographer Fernando Hernando Magadan, the large-scale PASSING from Swedish choreographer and longtime Ballet BC collaborator Johan Inger, and a world premiere from a rising star, Montreal-based Andrea Peña. 

“A core aspect of Ballet BC’s artistic vision is to support and foster the growth of emerging talent,” says Ballet BC Artistic Director Medhi Walerski. “We are thrilled to commission a new creation from Andrea Peña as the winner of the Emerging Choreographer Award—it’s talents like hers that will take dance to new and exciting places. Since its premiere in 2023, Johan’s PASSING has had an incredible run with the company, being performed around the world to rave reviews. It’s a remarkable piece that speaks to the power of our relationships with each other. And while Ballet BC audiences are familiar with Fernando’s work, they will see a new side with this creation—It’s something very special and I can’t wait to share it.”

Though this will be her choreographic debut with the company, Colombia-born multidisciplinary artist Andrea Peña was a dancer with Ballet BC early in her career. She holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in industrial design, and is known for exploring the intersection of choreography, design, and new media. Her creation for Ballet BC will continue to explore this crossroads, incorporating bold, surprising elements of scenic and costume design. 

Founded in 2014, Peña’s company Andrea Peña & Artists (AP&A) is recognized internationally for the creation of universes that confront pre-existing notions of humanity. In addition to being awarded the 2024 Ballet BC Emily Molnar Emerging Choreographer Award, Peña was the first international choreographer to be awarded the prestigious La Biennale di Venicia’s call for new choreographic work by an artist under age 35. She is also the recipient of the 2018 Banff Arts Center’s Clifford E. Lee Canadian Choreography Award and the 2018 Hong Kong International Choreography Award.

Spanish choreographer Fernando Hernando Magadan is a freelance choreographer, teacher and stager with roots in professional gymnastics. Throughout his 15 seasons as a performer with Nederlands Dans Theater, he worked with prominent choreographers such as Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, Crystal Pite, Sol Leon, Paul Lightfoot, Johan Inger, and Hofesh Shechter. He later went on to be rehearsal director and ultimately Artistic Leader of the prestigious junior ensemble NDT 2 from 2018-2021. 

As a choreographer, Fernando’s movement vocabulary is highly physical, inventive, and musical. He has created and presented works with companies worldwide, which include NDT1 and NDT2, Cross Connection Ballet Company in Copenhagen, Ballet Mainz and Ballett Saarländisches Staatstheater in Germany, Satore Studio in London, Compañia Lava in Tenerife, Luzerner Theater in Switzerland, Korzo Theater in The Hague, BODYTRAFFIC in Los Angeles, and Ballet BC, where in 2015 he premiered the widely acclaimed White Act. His latest creation for the company explores the immensity of space and our relationship with physics and gravity, as well as the fragility and vulnerability of being human.

Johan Inger is one of Europe’s most in-demand choreographers, following a long career as a dancer with Nederlands Dans Theater which began in 1990. Inger left NDT to take on the artistic leadership of Stockholm’s Cullberg Ballet 2003. From 2009 and 2016, he held the position as Associate Choreographer with Nederlands Dans Theater, creating for NDT 1 + NDT 2 regularly, while continuing to collaborate with other companies. 

Following its commission and world premiere with Ballet BC in 2023, PASSING has quickly become one of the company’s most beloved pieces of repertoire. Traversing a vast landscape of human emotion, PASSING takes audiences on an epic, theatrical, often touching ride. The 50-minute piece is, in part, inspired by natural catastrophe, and explores relationships from the intimate to the societal. Set to an original score by Amos Ben-Tal as well as selections from Erik Enocksson and Louis T. Hardin (aka Moondog), the sonic journey is as beautifully complex and captivating as the movement language throughout. PASSING was most recently performed on tour in Los Angeles, Italy, and Luxembourg, and a professionally produced film version of the work is currently being streamed on ARTE TV in Europe. 

Ballet BC presents ZENITH at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver March 6/7/8, 2024 at 8pm, with pre-show artist talks each evening at 7pm. Tickets start at $19 and are on sale now at balletbc.com. Mini-subscriptions for 24/25 are also available, with a savings of 20% off single ticket prices for its March and May programs.

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