Ballet BC’s Take Form puts its dancers’ ideas centre stage

by Kristi Alexandra on March 20th, 2024 at 12:47 PM

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Ballet BC’s Take Form is set to premiere six new pieces that were developed and choreographed by the company’s own dancers. Happening April 5 and 6 at the BMO Theatre Centre’s Newmont Stage in Olympic Village, the showcase acts as a platform for emerging choreographers and dancers to demonstrate their creative skills after being given carte-blanche to produce their works.

“Take Form provides a platform for Ballet BC’s emerging choreographers to test their ideas with the full support of a company infrastructure. I was blown away by how the artists conceptualized and produced a stellar evening of innovative art,” says Ballet BC artistic producer Naomi Stikeman in a release. “Take Form is a courageous undertaking, requiring the dancers to embrace new roles and challenges; choreographing, budget creation, marketing, costume design...and they hit a home run.”

Take Form will be brought to the stage following the success of its digital initiative in 2021, in which Ballet BC artistic director Medhi Walerski first handed over the reins to the company’s dancers to create a show that could be watched online. Firmly out of the grip of pandemic restrictions, returning voices Jacob Williams, Michael Garcia, Jacalyn Tatro, and Sid Chuckas bring their work to the stage in 2024, joined by newcomers Chien-Shun Liao, Emanuel Dostine, and Benjamin Peralta.