Ballet BC
Vancouver’s Ballet BC presents a three-work program centered on tenderness, ecstasy, hope, unity, and raw human longing. Under artistic director Medhi Walerski, the company’s 20 dancers bring a style that combines contemporary and classical movement with precision, fluidity, and emotional openness. Student dancers from Boston Conservatory also join the company for Shahar Binyamini’s *BOLERO X*.
The program includes Walerski’s intimate and hopeful *SWAY*, Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber’s *Obsidian*, and Binyamini’s powerful *BOLERO X*, which builds toward a physically and musically intense crescendo set to Ravel’s famous score.
When: Saturday, November 21, and Sunday, November 22
Showtimes: Saturday, November 21, at 8 p.m.; Sunday, November 22, at 2 p.m.
Venue: Cutler Majestic Theatre
Tickets: Price not available
Ticket information: The page advertises special tickets for patrons under 35, available through the event app. Subscriber and member access is also offered through the date-selection menu.
Lineup: Ballet BC’s 20-dancer company, under artistic director Medhi Walerski, with student dancers from Boston Conservatory joining the company for *BOLERO X*. Performers for *SWAY* and *Obsidian* are listed as to be announced or confirmed.
Program: The evening features *SWAY* by Medhi Walerski, *Obsidian* by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, and *BOLERO X* by Shahar Binyamini.
SWAY: Walerski’s work, originally created in 2019 and receiving its Ballet BC premiere in 2024, explores hope as both fragile and resilient. Inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poetry, it uses fluid, repeating movement to create an intimate and mysterious reflection on collective optimism. The music combines Adrien Cronet’s composition with Bach’s *Nun komm der Heiden Heiland*, performed by pianist Víkingur Ólafsson in a transcription by Ferruccio Busoni. Emily Chessa is the rehearsal director, with lighting by Lisette van der Linden and Pierre Pontvianne and set and costume designs by Walerski.
Obsidian: Smith and Schraiber’s 2025 work is choreographed and designed by the pair, with Alexis Fletcher as rehearsal director. Its score draws on Armenian songs and music by George Ivanovich Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann, performed with pianist Perri Lo. Matthew Piton is associate lighting designer, and Kate Burrows is associate costume designer. The work is dedicated to Matt Nebel. Its performers are listed as to be confirmed.
BOLERO X: Binyamini’s large-scale work places the full company in a demanding exploration of unity, individuality, and power. Set to Maurice Ravel’s *Boléro*, performed by the Berlin Philharmoniker and Pierre Boulez, it develops through increasingly forceful movement and sound before reaching a dramatic climax. The page lists the work as a 2026 piece and gives its world premiere as November 2, 2023, with Emily Chessa and Sarah Pippin as rehearsal directors. Binyamini designed the lighting and costumes, with Matthew Piton and Kate Burrows serving as associate designers.
Post-performance talk: After the Saturday, November 21, performance, Ballet BC artistic director Medhi Walerski will join Vivo Performing Arts CEO Thor Steingraber onstage for a question-and-answer session and audience talkback.
Run time: Not provided.
Ages: Not provided.
Accessibility and parking: The page provides an “Accessibility, Parking, and More” section, but the available event text does not specify the arrangements.