Ballet BC performs repertoire of contemporary works

Ballet BC, one of Canada’s premier contemporary ballet companies, visited USC for a night of stunning movement, virality and artistic excellence in Bovard Auditorium on Wednesday evening. In a collaboration between the  Kaufman School of Dance and Visions and Voices, Ballet BC presented a dynamic repertoire of works by late 20th and early 21st century international choreographers.

Founded in 1986 and based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Ballet BC is an internationally recognized company under the direction of artistic director Emily Molnar. The company is known for its innovative and cutting-edge approach to dance, making it a  trailblazer in contemporary ballet.

The first piece, “16 + a room,” was an intense and rhythmic collection of sharp movements, crafted to highlight the company’s mastery of formation. Despite the jarring movements by dancers and aggressive music, the piece eventually presented itself in cyclic motifs, shared by each ballerina and the entire corps. While there was little emotion on their faces, the dancers pulled in the audience through innovative patterns, creating movement that elongated staccato notes and syncopated legato phrases.

The hoofers had complete control of their bodies, swiftly transitioning from sharp, rigid movements to smooth, fluid ones instantly. The stage felt almost too small for their expansive patterns and overwhelming energy. The stage lights created sharp planes and soft lines in direct contrast with the calculated choreography, highlighting the ballerinas’ elegant movements.

With the futuristic, nearly incomprehensible music set against these dramatic lighting changes, the dancers became brushstrokes on a moving canvas, creating a portrait that echoed the Virginia Woolf quote accompanied with the piece on the program: “We [are] all being shot backwards and forwards on this plain foundation to make some pattern.”

In sharp contrast, the second piece, “Solo Echo,” was set to the music of Johannes Brahms and emphasized the connection and fluidity between dancers. In a Q&A session after the performance, Molnar spoke of choreographer Crystal Pite’s intention with the piece. “Solo Echo” was a reflection of seven sides of the same person. Beginning and ending with falling snow in the backdrop, the serenity of the performance was emphasized by the regal movement and sweeping patterns encapsulated the thin line between aloneness and loneliness.

Again, in reference to the accompanying poem “Lines for Winter” on the program, this piece pulled from the idea of keeping on, of going on, and finally, of loving oneself. The impetus of every dancer’s movement came from another dancer, even in solo moments. The deliberate touches, lifts and stacked lines between all seven highlighted their connection and closeness.

The final piece played with the primal nature of humans and the vague unknown of the future, commenting on the vulnerability of the human body and its mind. Each dancer wore a greenish, garish-looking unitard, tightly tracing the silhouette and every curve. Thus, their repetitive movements and basic core strength were even more visible. Again, the 18 dancers in the piece represented 18 facets of a human being. The piece, “Bill,” began with individual dancers set in a misty green light, who carved space out of almost uncomfortably strange motifs. In fact, their performance drew bouts of giggles from the audience, inciting a deep discomfort with strangeness that spoke to a greater reaction that humans have with different behaviors.

The piece’s concept felt far more disconnected than the first two performances. However, its strangeness lay in its intentionally skewed representation of a classical ballet by the choreographers, Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, as Molnar explained after the show. In exploring the capabilities and the flexibility of the human body and mind, Eyal and Behar created a work that harkened to both the past and the future in an almost terrifying representation of the human being.

These three pieces demonstrated the incredible ability of Ballet BC to mold to any idea, form or piece of music.

“We do not have a conductor,” Molnar said of the process through music and movement the company underwent. “We conduct ourselves.”