Ballet BC is a contemporary ballet company located in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

History

Ballet BC is a professional contemporary ballet company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company was founded as Ballet British Columbia by Jean Orr, David Y. H. Lui and Sheila Begg in 1986, with

Annette av Paul Annette av Paul (born February 11, 1944) is a Swedish-Canadian ballet dancer who had a 30-year dance career performing, teaching, and directing companies across Canada. Av Paul was born in Rönninge, Sweden, about 30 kilometres outside Stockhol ...

as first Artistic Director. Artistic direction passed to

Reid Anderson Reid Anderson (born 15 October 1970) is a bassist and composer from Minnesota. He is a member of The Bad Plus with drummer Dave King, saxophonist Chris Speed, and guitarist Ben Monder. The original lineup of The Bad Plus first played together ...

Patricia Neary Patricia Neary (born October 27, 1942) is an American ballerina, choreographer and ballet director, who has been particularly active in Switzerland. She has also been an ambassador for the Balanchine Trust, bringing George Balanchine's ballets to ...

and Barry Ingham and in 1992 to John Alleyne, who introduced a program with original choreography including his ''The Faerie Queen'' in 2000 and dances by other Canadian choreographers. Alleyne was followed by Emily Molnar after the reorganization in 2009. Molnar was followed by Medhi Walerski in 2020. , the company is the only professional

ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe which performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round ba ...

in British Columbia. It is based in the

Queen Elizabeth Theatre The Queen Elizabeth Theatre is a performing arts venue in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Along with the Orpheum, Vancouver Playhouse, and thAnnex it is one of four facilities operated by the Vancouver Civic Theatres on behalf o ...

Repertoire

Ballet BC presents a repertoire of contemporary ballet. The company opened the 2015

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Jacob's Pillow is a dance center, school and performance space located in Becket, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires. The organization is known for a Summer dance festival. The facility also includes a professional school and extensive archives a ...

, presenting three dances each by a different choreographer, including ''Twenty Eight Thousand Waves'' by their own resident choreographer Cayetano Soto. The company travelled on their 30th anniversary tour in late 2015 and 2016.

References

External links

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Archive footage of Ballet BC performing ''Aniel'' in 2013 at Jacob's PillowArchive footage of Ballet BC performing ''Consagración'' in 2015 at Jacob's Pillow
{{authority control Ballet companies in Canada Companies based in Vancouver Performing arts in Vancouver Performing groups established in the 1980s 1986 establishments in British Columbia