Dance Touring
Ballet BC
BALLET BC (Vancouver)
Artistic Director: Medhi Walerski
Managing Director: Kathy MacKenzie
Director of Production and Operations: Derek Mack
Company web
Ballet BC is a creation-based contemporary dance company led by Artistic Director Medhi Walerski. Formed in 1986 by David Y. H. Lui, Jean Orr and Sheila Begg, with Annette av Paul as founding Artistic Director, Ballet BC has been a leader and resource in the creation, production, and education of contemporary dance in Canada and around the world for more than 35 years. The company was formerly under the artistic direction of Reid Anderson, Patricia Neary, Barry Ingham, John Alleyne, and Emily Molnar.
Ballet BC’s distinctive style and approach has made a unique and valuable contribution to the development of dance locally and globally. Attracting top international talent, 20 dancers are a group of open-minded and curious artists, each unique for their dynamic movement while sharing an intuitive passion for their art form. They are in a creative place and work in a collaborative environment. The company aims to create dance at its most essential: visceral, powerful, thought-provoking and transformative.
The company presents a diverse repertoire featuring more than 50 new works created since 2009, and is deeply committed to fostering creation and collaboration. Canadian and international choreographers include William Forsythe, Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, Medhi Walerski, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Johan Inger, Imre and Marne van Opstal, Adi Salant, Company 605, Jorma Elo, Wen Wei Wang, Itzik Galili, Serge Bennathan, Emily Molnar, Lesley Telford, Jiří Pokorný, Nicolo Fonte, Fernando Hernando Magadan, Kevin O’Day, Dorotea Saykaly, Shawn Hounsell, Gioconda Barbuto, Simone Orlando, Robert Glumbek and Aszure Barton among others.
Ballet BC returns to Europe in 2026 with works by Shahar Binyamini, Medhi Walerski, Crystal Pite, and Johan Inger.
The Vancouver-based company, founded in 1986 and currently led by Medhi Walerski, will tour Germany, Luxembourg, and France starting in January 2026, presenting new choreographies.
SWAY evokes the lyrical language of movement which has become the trademark of Medhi Walerski’s work. Harmonious, smooth transitions between duets and the group of seven dancers create timeless moments that are as fleeting as the hope described by Emily Dickinson in her poem » ›Hope« is the thing with feathers« (1862), which is the inspiration for this piece. An ode to movement and its capacity to communicate without words.
In BOLERO X, Shahar Binyamini examines the power of repetition and the new meanings that arise from combining the music composed by Ravel in 1928 with the choreography performed today. The work is a celebration of dance’s power, exuded by 20 dancers on the stage – a power that divides us as unique individuals but also holds us together as a group.
FRONTIER, Crystal Pite’s visionary and enigmatic piece for 24 dancers, returns to European stages. It explores the unknown – a characterisation of dark matter, a personification of shadows. Pite describes her work as follows: »Creating, for me, is a matter of venturing into unknown terrain and entering into a generative relationship with doubt. «
At the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, three French premieres will take place: Frontier by Crystal Pite, Silent Tides, the duet created by Medhi Walerski, and PASSING by Swedish choreographer Johan Inger — a gripping tapestry of intertwined destinies that plunges us into the turbulences of the human experience.
BOLERO X by Shahar Binyamini
Music Maurice Ravel
SWAY by Medhi Walerski
Costumes Medhi Walerski
Music Adrien Cronet
Lighting Design Lisette van der Linden, Pierre Pontvianne
FRONTIER by Crystal Pite
Music Owen Belton
Set Design Jay Gower Taylor
Lighting Design Tom Visser
Costumes Nancy Bryant
Duration: 100 minutes with two breaks
Premiere in France
FRONTIER by Crystal Pite
Music Owen Belton
SILENT TIDES by Medhi Walerski
Music Adrien Cronet & Johann Sebastian Bach
PASSING by Johan Inger
Music Amos Ben-Tal
Costumes Linda Chow
Saturday 17 & Sunday 18, January, 2026, 19:00 h
Forum am Schlosspark, Ludwigsburg, Germany
Thursday 22 & Friday 23, January, 2026, 19:30 h
Grand Théâtre de La Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Tuesday, January 27, 2026, 19:30 h
Graf-Zeppelin-Haus, Friedrichshafen, Germany
Friday 30 & Saturday 31, January, 2026, 19:30 h
Theater im Pfalzbau – Ludwigshafen/Rh, Germany
Wednesday 4 & Thursday 5, February, 2026, 19:30 h
Opernhaus Bühne – Theater Bonn, Germany
From Wednesday, 15 April to Saturday, 18 April 2026
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées – Paris, France
Choreographies by Medhi Walerski and Johan Inger in Schauspiel Haus Köln June 2025
Under the artistic direction of Medhi Walerski, the 20-member ensemble Ballet BC presents a two-part evening full of energy and diversity in Schauspiel Haus Cologne.
Silent Tides is Medhi Walerski’s first creation as Artistic Director of Ballet BC. Set to an original composition by Adrien Cronet and music by Bach, Silent Tides is an intimate duet reflecting on our relationship with one another and with ourselves: touch, time, eternity, love, death, infinity, ebb, and flow.
Longtime Nederlands Dans Theater dancer and choreographer Johan Inger creates the ensemble piece Passing. In a continuous flow of birth, aging, and death, it explores the fragile moment when the intimate aspects that make each life path unique fade into the background and give way to collective needs. With a rich movement vocabulary drawn from folklore, hip hop, tap, and swing, Passing develops an irresistible pull that the audience willingly surrenders to.
SILENT TIDES
Choreography Medhi Walerski
Music Adrien Cronet & Johann Sebastian Bach
Running time 20 minutes
PASSING
Choreography Johan Inger
Music Amos Ben-Tal
Costumes Linda Chow
Running time 30 minutes
June 20 + 21, 2025
Schauspiel Haus Köln. Depot 1 | Germany
Ballet BC take on Crystal Pite and Johan Inger in its UK Tour May & June 2025
Vancouver-based Ballet BC (British Columbia) wowed audiences and critics on their debut visit to the UK in 2018 with their “superb, gorgeous energy” [The i], with standing ovations at every venue inspired by the “joyous technical expertise of this excellent company” [The Guardian].
Seven years later, they return to the United Kingdom thanks to the collaboration between Dance Consortium and Mondigromax, on a tour that will visit seven cities with a double bill: PASSING (2023) from Swedish choreographer Johan Inger explores the vulnerabilities and sensitivities that make us individuals. Featuring 24 dancers, the visionary, enigmatic Frontier (2024) by Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite examines the unknown—the characterization of dark matter, the personification of shadows.
Ballet BC’s performances in Europe, May & June 2024, with three recent works:
PASSING (2023) from Swedish choreographer Johan Inger explores the vulnerabilities and sensitivities that make us individuals. The edgy Heart Drive (2022) by dynamic sibling duo Imre and Marne van Opstal is a 30-minute piece for eight dancers who move to an ominous, beat-driven score by Amos Ben-Tal. Also on the bill is Walerski’s Silent Tides (2020), a beautiful duet that reflects our relationships to one another and to ourselves.
DOBLE BILL
PASSING
Choreography Johan Inger
Frontier
Choreography Crystal Pite
Running Time:
1 hour 50 minutes (including one 20 minutes interval)
May 20 + 21, 2025
Sadler’s Wells Theatre | London, UK.
May 23 + 24, 2025
Edinburgh Festival Theatre | Edinburgh, UK.
May 27 + 28, 2025
Newcastle Theatre Royal | Newcastle, UK.
May 31, 2025
Swan Theatre | High Wycombe, UK.
June 3 + 4, 2025
Plymouth Theatre Royal | Plymouth, UK.
June 6 + 7, 2025
Grand Theatre Wolverhampton | Wolverhampton, UK.
June 10 + 11, 2025
Norwich Theatre | Norwich, UK.
TRIPLE BILL
Heart Drive
Choreography Imre van Opstal and Marne van Opstal
Silent Tides
Choreography Medhi Walerski
PASSING
Choreography Johan Inger
May 31, 2024
Teatro Municipale Valli, Reggio Emilia, Italy
June 5 to 9, 2024
Stadttheater Fürth, Germany
June 13 & 14, 2024
Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Heart Drive
World Premiere November 2023, Ballet BC / A co-production of Ballet BC and Tero Saarinen Company / Choreography Imre van Opstal and Marne van Opstal / Assistant to the Choreographers Chloé Albaret / Music New composition by Amos Ben-Tal / Lighting Design Tom Visser / Set Design Tom Visser and Imre and Marne van Opstal / Costume Design Imre van Opstal and Marne van Opstal in consultation with Kate Burrows / Performers Ballet BC dancers / Running time 30 minutes
Silent Tides
World Premiere September 2020, Nederlands Dans Theater I / Choreography Medhi Walerski / Music Composition by Adrien Cronet ‘Violin concerto in A minor, BWV 1041: Andante, by Johann Sebastian Bach / Performed by Joji Hattori and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra – Courtesy of 1997 Conifer Records Limited Licensed by Sony Music Entertainment (Canada) / Lighting Design Pierre Pontvianne and Lisette van der Linden / Lighting Consultant Tom Visser / Set & Costume Design Medhi Walerski / Performers Ballet BC dancers / Running time 20 minutes
PASSING
World Premiere May 2023, Ballet BC / Choreography Johan Inger / Performers Ballet BC dancers / Lighting Design Alan Brodie / Costume Design Linda Chow / Running time approx. 40 minutes
Previuos performances & Tour organised by Mondigromax:
Committed to creating and performing new dance works, Ballet BC Vancouver offers a Triple Bill including Sharon Eyal‘s Bedroom Folk, a choreographed group for 18 performers based on electronic music; The Statement, by Crystal Pite, which wonderfully combines dance and theater to explore the conflict of power, and Garden, by Medhi Walerski, inspired by Camille Saint-Saëns’ Quintet for piano and strings. Excellent combination for a night of high-flying contemporary ballet and emotions.
TRIPLE BILL
Bedroom Folk
Choreography by Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar
The Statement
Choreography by Crystal Pite
Garden
Choreography by Medhi Walerski
February 11 to 12, 2023
Teatro Arriaga, Bilbao, Spain
February 7, 2023
La Comète, Châlons-en-Champagne, France
February 1 to 3, 2023
Théâtre National de Chaillot, Paris – CCN Créteil, France
January 27 to 28, 2023
Malraux – Scène nationale Chambéry Savoie, France
January 24 to 25, 2023
MC2 Grenoble, France
January 17 to 20, 2023
Maison de la Danse, Lyon, France
Prouds to share last Press quotes from Bilbao’s performances, February 11 & 12, 2023
“The delirious The Statement, a wild and funny critique of the corporate world launched by Canadian Crystal Pite, choreographer at the top right now.” SuzyQ
“A hypnotic choreography dubbed Bedroom Folk by the dazzling Israeli choreographer Sharon Eyal.” SuzyQ
“Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, the creation and collaboration-based company has made a unique and valuable contribution to the development of contemporary dance both at home and around the world” Doce Notas
“The dancers are led to a “hypnotic” dance while they brilliantly master rich and complicated gestures, to the sound of evocative and vigorous music” Crónica País Vasco
TRIPLE BILL
Garden
Choreography by Medhi Walerski
Bedroom Folk
Choreography by Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar
Before right After
Choreography by Medhi Walerski – World Première
February 10 & 11, 2022
Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
The creative residency Ballet BC at Luxembourg’s Théâtres de la Ville in 2022, culminated in a world premiere, choreographed by their artistic director Medhi Walerski.
TRIPLE BILL
Bedroom Folk
Choreography by Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar
BUSK (Fragment)
Choreography by Aszure Barton
Solo Echo
Choreography by Crystal Pite
January 28, 2020
Teatro Sociale Trento, Italy
January 24, 2020
Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Austria
January 15 to 19, 2020
Stadttheater Fürth, Germany
January 10 & 11, 2020
Staatenhaus – Bühnen Köln, Germany
TRIPLE BILL
To this day
Choreography by Emily Molnar
Bedroom Folk
Choreography by Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar
Solo Echo
Choreography by Crystal Pite
July 9 & 10, 2019
Festival Colours, Theaterhaus Stuttgart, Germany
July 6 & 7, 2019
Festival GREC, Teatre GREC – Barcelona, Spain
TRIPLE BILL
Beginning after
Choreography by Cayetano Soto
Solo Echo
Choreography by Crystal Pite
Petite Cérémonie
Choreography by Medhi Walerski
December 19, 2018
Staatstheater Darmstadt, Germany
December 17, 2018
Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
December 13 & 14, 2018
Teatros del Canal, Sala Roja, Festival Madrid en Danza, Spain
TRIPLE BILL
16+ A Room
Choreography by Emily Molnar
Solo Echo
Choreography by Crystal Pite
Bill
Choreography by Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar
April 5 to 7, 2018
Opening of the 16. Festival Movimentos 2018 Kraftwerk, Wolfsburg, Germany
The collaboration between BALLET BC and MONDIGROMAX start at this point.
