Dance Consortium brings Ballet BC to Plymouth
One of the world’s leading contemporary ballet companies is shortly set to perform at the Theatre Royal Plymouth. Dance Consortium is bringing Vancover-based Ballet BC to the city at the start of June.
Theatre managers say the performance is to include epic dance works by two exceptional choreographers. Ballet BC received critical and audience plaudits for its UK debut in 2018.
This time it’ll present an eye-catching double bill by four-time Olivier award-winning Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite along with legendary Swedish choreographer – and longtime Ballet BC collaborator Johan Inger.
Commissioned by Ballet BC in 2023, Johan Inger’s PASSING is described as taking audiences ‘across a vast theatrical landscape of human emotion, embodied by a cast of 20 extraordinary dancers.’
‘We are thrilled that Dance Consortium is bringing Ballet BC back to the UK to tour again in 2025,’ says Joe Bates, Chief Executive of Dance Consortium.
‘Our member venues reported that the previous tour was ‘some of the best dance they had ever seen’ and this stunning programme is sure to excite audiences around the country.’
‘I have seen both pieces at their premieres in 2024 and the emotional response I had to the work was extraordinary – I dare audiences round the country not to be moved!’
Ballet BC Artist Sidney Chuckas in PASSING. Photography by Michael Slobodian (image provided by TRP).
‘I find that mystery very beautiful’
The performance has been described as having ‘bold and bright staging and costumes’ with ‘elements of folk dance, hip hop and swing (which) are juxtaposed with the sense of loss and aching sadness which run through the piece.’
It’s been critiqued as being ‘beautifully complex and captivating movement reveals human relationships in extreme times, both for individuals and for social groups.’
PASSING is set to an original score by Amos Ben-Tal with selections from Erik Enocksson and Louis T. Hardin (aka Moondog).
Four-time Olivier Award winner Crystal Pite has reimagined her 2008 work Frontier for Ballet BC. It was originally created for Nederlands Dans Theater. This new version has been created on an epic scale for 24 dancers, including four dancers from the Rambert School in London.
‘I liked the idea of unknown forces at work in our galaxy and in our universe and in our brains,’ says Crystal Pite.
‘How lovely or poetic is it that scientists even call it dark matter? I find that mystery very beautiful.’
‘As a creator, I find a pleasing parallel between what we don’t know about the universe and what we don’t know about consciousness. Creation for me is about venturing into unknown territory.’
Breaktime News previously reported on the workshops, masterclasses and open rehearsals undertaken by Dance Consortium UK.
