Under the artistic leadership of Ballet BC Artistic Director Emily Molnar, PROGRAM I features three individual works by choreographers who are reshaping contemporary ballet. The program includes a World Premiere by Belgian-born choreographer Stijn Celis, the Canadian premiere of Solo Echo by Vancouver-based Choreographer Crystal Pite and the return of the critically acclaimed 2014 World Premiere of Twenty Eight Thousand Waves by Resident Choreographer Cayetano Soto.

“This year’s opening program will make you forget what you thought you knew about ballet.” says Ballet BC Artistic Director Emily Molnar. “Our 30th Anniversary season opens with three distinct voices that are reshaping the landscape of dance. Compelling and diverse, we are thrilled to offer our audience this exceptional program by some of the world’s leading dance makers today.”

Belgian-born Stijn Celis’ has choreographed an original work for Ballet BC. This World Premiere is one of a limited number of new creations Celis has developed outside of his own company, Saarländisches Staatstheater. Celis’ work has graced the major stages of Europe and North America, and his unique voice is notable for its explosive, grounded, and sensual style. For the first time ever, we partner with one of the finest male vocal ensembles in North America, Vancouver’s Chor Leoni. This extraordinary collaboration with Ballet BC features more than 40 male singers accompanied by sacred texts spanning the human existence from darkness to light.

Globally celebrated and Vancouver-based choreographer Crystal Pite explores recurring themes of acceptance and loss with Solo Echo, a work originally developed for Nederlands Dans Theater. Inspired by two sonatas for cello and piano by Johannes Brahms and the poem “Lines for Winter” by Mark Strand, Pite continues her lifelong artistic exploration of tension and its resolution. Solo Echo moves from aggression to yearning, from the individual to the collective, travelling the pathways from conflict to acceptance.

When Cayetano Soto’s Twenty Eight Thousand Waves premiered in 2014, it was clear that magic had happened between the Company and the choreographer. As Resident Choreographer of Ballet BC, we celebrate his vision and energy by remounting this examination of adaptation and boundaries. The work, featuring music by David Lang and Bryce Dessner, is inspired by the fact that an oil tanker at sea is hit, on average, twenty eight thousand times a day by waves. This resilience in the face of extremity inspired this compelling look at the thin line between life and death, and the human instinct for survival, creating a transformative experience for audiences.

PROGRAM I plays the Queen Elizabeth Theatre at 8:00pm November 5-7, 2015. Tickets range from $30.00 to $90.00 (including service charges) and can be purchased through Ticketmaster at 1-855-985-2787 (855-985-ARTS) or online at ticketmaster.ca.