reviewvancouver: Ballet BC

Ballet BC
Unfold+Give

When & Where November 4, 5, & 6, 2021 at 8pm | Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Program Stadium, Lean-to, After We Glow & Garden

Choreographers Ethan Colangelo, Josh Martin and Lisa Gelley Martin, Lesley Telford & Mehdi Walerski

Reviewer Michael Pink

The long awaited return of Ballet BC gave style and energy to the eager Vancouver dance audience. Ballet BC performed 4 ambitious pieces. The first performance was Stadium, featuring seven talented dancers and choreographed by Ethan Colangelo who was born in Toronto. The dancers moved in unison in a series of attractive dance steps.

After We Glow, choreographed by Josh Martin and Lisa Gelley Martin was an intense piece featuring just two dancers, Evan Rapaport and Justin Rapaport. They performed with strength and held the audience attention. It is always a challenge for a solo artist or duet to carry a whole ballet piece and they met artistic expectations.

The third dance in the evening repertoire, Lean-to, was unique featuring a small orchestra, a mezzo- soprano Krisztina Szabo, who sang with touching emotion, along with the talented dancers. It was a refreshing mélange of dance, singing and classical music. The orchestra is the Pacific Baroque Orchestra Soloists. The dance was choreographed by Lesley Telford, and an audience favorite; deservedly so with a splendid harmonization of artists.

The fourth dance piece was Garden, choreographed by Mehdi Walerski. The dancers created an illusion of air and floating, appearing like figure skaters with the stage floor bathed in white. It’s an energetic dance and also poetic with lovely dancing by Ballet BC dancers.

It is a good sign to see Ballet BC on stage and note a near full capacity crowd who clearly delighted in the performance. There was a sense of artistic liberation in the audience and among the performers for the marvelous opportunity to uplift and entertain through the gifts of music and dance.