Those of you who follow the vicissitudes of life in the world of Canadian dance know that Vancouver-based Ballet BC has had a turbulent time in the last few years. As the company teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in late 2008, former Artistic Director John Alleyne, the dancers, and staff were laid off en masse. Most of the 2009-2010 season was cancelled and future prospects were looking grim. Since then, however, the company has successfully been restructured; Mr. Alleyne was rehired but later he and the company parted ways. Ballet BC is now under the leadership of Artistic Director Emily Molnar, a former principal dancer with the company.
Emily Molnar envisions a European rather than a North American model for Ballet BC -- where she will bring in a variety of contemporary choreographers, as opposed to focusing on creating her own pieces. She has promised contemporary ballet that is rooted in classicism, but pushed to its boundaries.
Ballet BC is a company now making dance at its most essential: visceral, powerful, thought-provoking, and transformative. The delightful triple-bill coming to the NAC on February 12 is evidence of the company's new direction. The program of ambitious contemporary ballets from three of the world’s leading choreographers includes Herman Schmerman (1992) with choreography, scenery, and lighting by the iconoclastic William Forsythe (and costumes by Gianni Versace); 1st Flash (2003) by Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo; and Petite Cérémonie (2011) with choreography by the French-born Medhi Walerski. All three pieces are high-energy, bold, and innovative -- and highly entertaining. The works are a superb showcase for Ballet BC's seventeen exceptional dancers, who blend their rigorous classical technique with muscular athleticism and a sharp contemporary attitude.
The company's renaissance is a hit with audiences and critics alike. On straight.com (published by Vancouver's Georgia Straight, February 2011), Janet Smith wrote, "In the exhilarating, cutting-edge new program, dancers have to move at the speed of static, pull off virtuosic leaps and arabesques, and switch moods as quickly as they jump from pointe shoes to bare feet. The lineup is so fresh and so full of surprises ... The bottom line is that you can feel it when a company really commits, and has the chops to take on pieces this demanding. In each of these works, Ballet B.C. throws itself into the deep end without hesitation—and apparently takes the audience willingly along with it." Day Helesic in The Vancouver Observer (February 2011) wrote, "Ballet BC is on fire. Artistic Director Emily Molnar continues to shepherd her company towards a new era of innovative choreography and virtuosic dancing. The dancers perform with great heart, and it’s their passion, physical abandonment and humanity that sweep me away so completely. A delightful evening of dance, yet again. Many congratulations to Ballet BC."
As Emily Molnar says, "Contemporary work is actually for the audience a bit more challenging. But when it's done well, it's incredibly stimulating."
