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9 Things You Didn’t Know About Ballet BC’s Dancers

Ballet BC has 14 full time dancers and 4 apprentices. In 2013 Ballet BC toured to Oregon, California, Ontario, Quebec and the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts.  Since 2009, Artistic Director Emily Molnar has added 36 news works to the repertoire by international and Canadian choreographers.

But what do you know about the Ballet BC’s artists?  We share a few behind-the-scenes secrets about our versatile and diverse dancers…

1) All dancers spend more than 8 hours at the Dance Centre every day. Everyone starts with a 1.5 hour ballet class but most of the dancers start their day well before they arrive at the studio with yoga, pilates or an early morning run or bike ride.

2) Our dancers are not just dancers – they also choreograph! Last season, our dancers were Artists-in-Residence at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts where they created and danced an evening of their own work. Watch out for our Choreographic Lab in May 2014.

3) Our dancers have trained all over the world. From schools in Canada (Royal Winnipeg Ballet SchoolSchool of Alberta Ballet), the United States (Boston Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, American Ballet Theatre), as far away as France (L’Ecole de Ballet de Marseille) to Vancouver’s own Arts Umbrella, our dancers bring an international perspective to their work.

4) It’s no secret around the studio Peter Smida is a Trekkie. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch him in his vintage Star Trek t-shirt in rehearsal or Instagramming his collectibles: http://instagram.com/psmida

5) Gilbert Small comes to us from the East coast of the United States. Gilbert was born in Baltimore and also spent time studying and dancing in New York.

6) When she’s not in the studio, Racheal Prince manufactures hand-made items for her Etsy Store, Jaded Rabbit.

7) In her spare time, Rachel Meyer loves hiking, playing the guitar and singing.

8) Apprentice Scott Fowler is an incredibly gifted amateur photographer. If you’re not already following his popular profile on Instagram, you will be now at http://instagram.com/scottfowler_.

9) Connor Gnam loves the Vancouver Canucks. He is such a big fan of the sport, he even plays hockey scout in this blog post comparing hockey players to dancers.

Have more questions about dancers? Send us a message on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Watch our artists perform in the last show of the season at UN/A from April 24-26 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tickets on sale now at balletbc.com, ticketmaster.ca or by calling 1-855-985-2787.

Livona Ellis by Michael Slobodian
Daniel Marshalsay, Emilie Durville and Alexis Fletcher by Michael Slobodian
Alexis Fletcher, Thibaut Eiferman and Gilbert Small by Michael Slobodian
Peter Smida by Michael Slobodian
Gilbert Small by Michael Slobodian
Racheal Prince by Michael Slobodian
Rachel Meyer by Eyoalha Baker
Photo by Scott Fowler
Connor Gnam by Michael Slobodian