Vancouver dance artist Joshua Beamish is refreshingly honest. Ask him a simple question and he replies with a straightforward answer.
For example, when Pancouver inquires about his motivation for launching a new company called Ballet Vancouver, Beamish discloses a great deal. This adventure came about after he had been approached to apply for artistic directorships for a couple of ballet companies. When he didn’t get the last one, Beamish concluded that it could be because he had never headed a company with the word “ballet” in the title.
This is despite creating works in collaboration with leading ballet companies on several continents, including the Royal Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada. Such is the world of dance.
“I just thought, ‘Well, why couldn’t there just be Ballet Vancouver? Why do I have to leave my home and my community—and the place that I’ve invested so much of myself in—to have this type of leadership role that I had been desiring for a long time?’ ”
Beamish emphasizes that his work with Joshua Beamish / MOVETHECOMPANY, which he founded in 2005, often incorporated components of ballet. Examples include his 2019 production of @giselle and the company’s 20th-anniversary production. Moreover, he discovered over the years that any time he presented work en pointe in Vancouver, attendance would be three to five times the size of his company’s contemporary dance presentations.
“I think that really stems from the fact that Vancouver has such a wealth of incredible contemporary dance work and artists,” Beamish insists. “So, it can be a little bit more competitive, in a sense, to access audiences for that work.”
Beamish reaches out to a Tony Award winner
Yet at the same time, he sees a genuine opening in Vancouver for professional classical, neoclassical, and contemporary ballet en pointe.
“Our public has been so starved for professional classical ballet for so long that we’re probably the biggest city in North America without a company that dances en pointe—until now!” Beamish states.
Ballet Vancouver aims to fill that void, beginning with its inaugural program at the Vancouver Playhouse from Thursday (April 23) to Saturday (April 25). After the Rain & Other Works will feature four performances, including two Vancouver premieres. The first is Tony Award–winning Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain. This one-act ballet features six dancers (three couples) performing in two parts to a minimalist score by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.
Beamish says that he reached out to Wheeldon because he felt that his work is accessible for audiences keen to understand what neoclassical ballet can be. Yet After the Rain also feels very current, according to the Ballet Vancouver artistic director.
“In 2018-19, I did a mentorship with Christopher Wheeldon in producing high-production narrative ballet,” Beamish notes.
Wheeldon is not the only big name in ballet who has offered guidance to Beamish. He also did a mentorship project with James Kudelka, former director of National Ballet of Canada, and was an artistic director shadow to Peter Boal at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Another person who helped Beamish on his creative journey is Kevin O’Hare, director of the Royal Ballet. In 2014-15, Beamish did a professional development project with the famed company.
“Kevin has just stayed a close person that I can check in with and ask questions to,” Beamish reveals. “On my last trip to London, he sat me down and helped talk me through a number of…things I should consider. I’ve invested a lot of time into accessing information that I think will help this succeed.”
Wen Wei Wang’s Swan returns to stage
For Ballet Vancouver, Beamish felt that it was critical to include local creators in the inaugural program.
“The first person I thought of was Wen Wei Wang,” he says. “I’m a long-time fan of his work and he had commissioned me when he was leading Ballet Edmonton.”
Fortunately, the renowned choreographer granted Beamish the rights to Swan, an en pointe work with six dancers that premiered in 2016. It includes the original Tchaikovsky score along with Camille Saint-Sæns’ “The Swan” and electronic sound design by Sammy Chien.
In addition, the performances will include Belgian-Colombian choreographer Anabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Redemption. This solo show premiered online during the pandemic at the 2021 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.
Meanwhile, Beamish co-created the closing performance, Winterbourne, with Gitxsan fashion designer Yolonda Skelton. This 30-minute world premiere includes 13 performers set to a score by Two-Spirit Cree composer Cris Derksen.
A winterbourne is a seasonal stream that often flows in winter but dries up during the summer. To Beamish, this geographic phenomenon signals change, just as the arrival of Ballet Vancouver represents a transformation in Vancouver’s world of dance.
“I believe in ballet as a living, breathing thing that is amorphous,” the artistic director declares. “We’re not bringing back ballet from the 1800s.”
At the same time, Beamish emphasizes that he does not want to detract from contemporary dance. After all, it’s been a big part of his career.
“We’re just really trying to focus on what’s not here.”
Ballet Vancouver presents its inaugural program, After the Rain & Other Works, at the Vancouver Playhouse from Thursday (April 23) to Saturday (April 25). For tickets and more information, visit the Ballet Vancouver website.
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