Ballet BC Performance Project

A unique opportunity to engage with Ballet BC in your community

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Ballet BC Performance Project, a joint pilot venture with Arts Umbrella Dance, offers an invaluable opportunity for Vancouver area secondary school students to engage in world-class dance education and programming. Providing meaningful career experience for pre-professional dancers and enabling Ballet BC to increase its reach and impact in its community, the Performance Project will be touring schools in Spring 2022, bringing professional repertoire, performances, and workshops to young people with an interest in the arts.

In the 2021/22 season, ten talented Performance Project artists and graduates of the Arts Umbrella Dance program are rehearsing and developing productions of two exciting works to share with students: Medhi Walerski’s acclaimed Petite Cérémonie, and a new creation, Citadel, by choreographer and dancer Rebecca Margolick.

Special educational workshops led by the dancers in partnership with the choreographers and other collaborating artists will accompany the performance. The workshops will offer specific insight into the creation of the works and further develop the students’ appreciation of dance, as well their creative analysis.

The project is touring the following schools in Spring 2022: Gladstone Secondary, Langley Fine Arts, Sullivan Heights Secondary School, Howe Sound Secondary, Sir Tupper Secondary, and Burnaby Central.

 

Petite Cérémonie | Choreography by Medhi Walerski

Musical selections by Mozart, Bellini, Rodgers & Hart and Vivaldi, compiled by Medhi Walerski

A group of people searching for the right space, the perfect balance. Men and women. Different brains. Boxes and wires trying to connect, to create a congruent image.

 

“As a starting point I asked the dancers to tell me what ‘life in a box’ meant to them. This is what came out.” – Medhi Walerski

 

Citadel | Choreography by Rebecca Margolick

Music: Alessandro Cortini, Rafael Anton Irisarri, and additional original sound by Edo Van Breeman

Citadel was commissioned as an original work for Ballet BC’s Performance Project in 2021.

“Making this work I was considering how we often imagine “paradise” or “utopia” as a place we can arrive at, a place outside of our current circumstances and ourselves. I wanted to free myself of this notion, and instead see paradise as existing within the journey and the fight towards a better place. This is a piece about resilience, vulnerability, and our interconnectedness.” – Rebecca Margolick

 

WHAT TO EXPECT

Ballet BC Performance Project dancers as well as select collaborating artists will visit your school or community location.

The half-day program will consist of the opportunity to watch a performance and participate in a dancer-facilitated workshop learning Ballet BC repertoire. There will also be an opportunity for students to engage with the artists and ask questions.

Resources such as a study guide and information about the performance and choreographers will be shared with participating schools. 

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES AND EXPERIENCES
  • Exposure to diverse professional dance training and repertoire
  • Opportunity to engage with and learn from professional Ballet BC dancers
  • An understanding of dance as a career path
  • Development of relevant criteria for interpreting and analyzing dance
  • An understanding of the power of collaboration and teamwork in artistic processes
  • An understanding of contemporary dance in today’s world and how art remains relevant
  • Activation of creativity and innovative thinking

 

 

 

If you are a teacher or administrator who is interested in participating in future projects, please contact outreach@balletbc.com.

 

This program is presented in collaboration with: