Ballet BC has come a long way over the past 30 years, and the opening program of their 30th anniversary season shows their strengthened vision of being a bold, contemporary company. All three works on the program were very strong, and showed off the skill and refinement of the dancers.
Cayetano Soto’s Twenty Eight Thousand Waves had its world premiere with Ballet BC in 2014, and Soto, now the company’s resident choreographer, has remounted it with them this season. It’s a striking work of energetic, abstract forms and partner work that never stops evolving. The lighting design is unique as the stage lights, which are spread out along a bar hanging above the stage, move up and down to create shadowed areas and stark contrast between light and dark. Soto describes the work as being about the thin line between life and death, and that fleeting, ephemeral quality comes through beautifully.
Up next was Awe by Belgian choreographer Stijn Celis. Sharing the stage with the dancers of Ballet BC was the male vocal ensemble Chor Leoni, providing exquisite choral sounds to accompany them. The pairing of their voices singing “De Profundis” and “Wandering Heart,” featuring text by Leonard Cohen, was mesmerizing. The choir was set back in the shadows upstage, which gave them an otherworldly quality, and when the lights came up at the end of the piece to reveal their faces, the audience roared with approval. I would love to see more collaborations like this from Ballet BC.
Former Ballet BC member Crystal Pite is now a world renowned choreographer, and she returns to her roots to present Solo Echo, which premiered in 2012 at Netherlands Dans Theatre. Set to the music of Brahms, Yo-Yo Ma on cello, and Emanuel Ax on piano, the piece was soothing and reflective as a steady stream of artificial snow fell at the back of the stage. Dressed in all black and resembling ninjas, the seven dancers moved in unison and in canon as if they were shadows of one another. As expected, Pite’s choreography was intelligent and intricate. As the dancers broke away from each other one by one to leave the stage and the last one lay down upstage allowing the falling snow to cover his body, a hush fell over the audience.
Performing the works of three diverse choreographers and making them all feel unified is no easy feat, but Ballet BC does so by making them their own. If this program is any indication, this upcoming season should be one of the company’s best yet.
