There is an excited buzz at Ballet BC as we prepare for our opening program. Strains of Brahms for Crystal Pite’s Solo Echo, the sounds of a 50 part all male choral piece from Stijn Celis’s new work, and the powerfully charging orchestra from Cayetano’s Twenty Eight Thousand Waves can be heard throughout the halls of the dance centre. All three will be presented November 5-7 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Outside the studio, staff are busy launching the season advertising campaign, organizing special events, and developing tour and production schedules.
The company just returned from an incredibly successful weeklong tour to Toronto to dance in the inaugural Fall For Dance North festival. A few dancers then continued on to Victoria, sharing a sneak preview of Crystal’s Solo Echo as part of Dance Victoria’s Rough Cuts series. Audiences in both cities were extremely excited about what Ballet BC is doing and where the company is headed. The dancers taught workshops in Toronto and Victoria and met aspiring dance artists in each city. The classes were a fantastic learning experience for everyone. Ballet BC dancers got to share their studio process with another community, and those attending were able to learn some of the company’s repertory and explore some of the ideas we are working with in the studio. In both cases, everyone left sweaty, happy, and fulfilled.
We have also had the pleasure of starting our CAGx collaboration with British artists Paul Harrison and John Wood and the Vancouver Contemporary Art Gallery. They are creating an installation-type piece to be shown internationally. There have been tennis balls flying, step ladders tipping, chair balancing and tons of laughter coming from the studio. Sylvain, the company’s rehearsal director, has been filming it all and says every day he has been “handing John 90 clips.” John then sorts through the content from the day and edits, keeping what he considers to be “brilliant”. Needless to say we are not leaving work each night without inspiration.
We look forward to being able to share all that we are creating and rehearsing with you coming up in November. Hope to see you at the QET to celebrate the beginning to yet another beautiful season with Ballet BC!
-C+A Consulting Artists
