In dancers’ years, Ballet BC would be on the cusp of its career, just starting to feel the premonitory pains in its knees and pondering the bittersweet future of what it might do next. But instead, at 29, the internationally-acclaimed Vancouver dance company is leaping into its 2014/15 season with more focus and intention than ever.
Even the most ardent of fans may have lost count, but over the past five years, Ballet BC has commissioned a staggering 28 world premieres – an accomplishment of exceptional proportions on the Canadian dance front, and part of artistic director Emily Molnar’s much lauded vision to reinvigorate the struggling dance company since joining on in 2009.
The last season saw seven entirely new creations unfolding on stage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, setting up the 2014/15 season opener to contain the timely and celebratory 29th: White Act, a world premiere by fast-rising Spanish choreographer Fernando Hernando Magadan.
“We take a tremendous amount of risk putting new works out because it’s the unknown, and we love that,” says Molnar. “And we love that we have an audience who’s willing to go there with us. I cannot imagine a better place [than Vancouver] in the country to be doing what we’re doing.”
Inspired by La Sylphide – one of the oldest surviving Romantic ballets – White Act fittingly explores society’s inherent temptation for the unknown and our insatiable desire to find true love, with dramatic consequences.
The program also includes a revisiting of 2012’s explosively kinetic A.U.R.A (Anarchist Unit Related to Art) by Italy’s Jacopo Godani, and An Instant, a poignant investigation of Wislawa Szymborska’s poem “Could Have” by Vancouver-born choreographer and dancer Lesley Telford.
With each successive season, Molnar has tasked her dancers to create an environment where choreographers can come and conceive exactly the work they would have made if they had their own companies.
The risk has paid off, with returning patrons feeling rewarded by the repertoire, and the company reeling back from the brink of bankruptcy to post a $150,000 operating surplus in 2013.
Connor Gnam is entering his ninth season with Ballet BC. A fan of Molnar’s from his Arts Umbrella days when he was a student and she was the artist in residence, the hard-working dancer was a natural fit for a company that has been recognized for its versatility around the world.
“I have a real passion for doing everything I can to make sure the choreographer gets what they want at the end of the day. We work very short careers, so you can push really hard. Sort of a ‘live for today’ mentality,” says the 27-year-old, who has performed works by William Forsythe, Jorma Elo, Itzik Galili, George Balanchine, Gioconda Barbuto, Medhi Walerski, and Vancouver’s own Crystal Pite – some of contemporary ballet’s most sought-after choreographers.
Gnam was inspired at the age of five to follow in the soft-soled footsteps of his older brother, James, who danced for Ballet BC before founding his own company, Plastic Orchid Factory.
“When I was a kid, my parents always joked that I thought my brother lived at the airport because we’d go pick him up there and drop him off there and that’s all I really saw for the first little while,” he recalls with a laugh.
“I grew up watching Ballet BC and I always wanted to work here. When the old director John [Alleyne] was here, I was really inspired by the way that he worked. Then he left, and I couldn’t have been luckier, because I remember when I was younger saying, ‘Man, if only Emily Molnar had a company, I’d love to work for that.’”
No. 29 launches Ballet BC’s 2014/15 season Nov. 6-8 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tickets start at $30; 1-855-985-2787 or Ticketmaster.ca.
Ballet BC 2014/15 season
No. 29 • Nov. 6-8
See above.
The Nutcracker • Dec. 12-14
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s uniquely Canadian retelling of this holiday classic.
Balanchine • Feb. 19-21
Miami City Ballet in an evening of masterworks by George Balanchine.
Trace • Mar. 26-28
Workwithinwork by William Forsythe; a Walter Matteini world premiere; and the reprisal of Medhi Walerski’s Petite Cérémonie.
RITE • May 7-9
Emily Molnar collaborates with Bocci’s Omer Arbel and Black Mountain’s Jeremy Schmidt. Gustavo Ramirez Sansano reimagines The Rite of Spring.
