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NAC Dance
· 2024-2025 Season

Artists of Ballet BC and Arts Umbrella in BOLERO X by Shahar Binyamini © Michael Slobodian

Bolero X + Chamber

Start: 2024-10-18T20:00:00-04:00
End: 2024-10-18T23:00:00-04:00
Location: Southam Hall

Ballet BC

https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/36014

In-person event

October 17 - 18, 2024

8:00 pm EDT

October 2024

Oct 17 2024

Thursday
8:00pm
Oct 18 2024

Friday
8:00pm

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Southam Hall 1 Elgin Street Ottawa Canada

Bolero X + Chamber

Oct 17 - 18, 2024

Southam Hall

A large group of dancers on stage in black tights and skin toned tops, with arms floating up. — Artists of Ballet BC and Arts Umbrella in *BOLERO X* by Shahar Binyamini © Michael Slobodian

Artists of Ballet BC and Arts Umbrella in *BOLERO X* by Shahar Binyamini © Michael Slobodian

Ballet BC dancers Orlando Harbutt and Sarah Pippin in *BOLERO X* by Shahar Binyamini © Michael Slobodian

Artists of Ballet BC and Arts Umbrella in *BOLERO X* by Shahar Binyamini © Noah Asanias

Artists of Norwegian Ballet in *Chamber* by Medhi Walerski © Kristin Evjenth

Dance Ballet with Orchestra

“Innovative triple bill program featuring live orchestral music”

In-person event

Partial nudity

With the National Arts Centre Orchestra

Chamber by Medhi Walerski
BOLERO X by Shahar Binyamini
+ new creation

In this remarkable triple bill program, the NAC Orchestra accompanies Chamber, one of artistic director Medhi Walerski’s most acclaimed and elegant ballets, and BOLERO X, created by Shahar Binyamini for the company in 2023, a masterful reading of Maurice Ravel’s Bolero. 

For Medhi Walerski, the rhythmic momentum and discordant tensions in Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring make it one of the most vibrant compositions of all time, and he describes the creation of Chamber as an echo of what the score provokes in his imagination. Performed to original music by the eminent British composer Joby Talbot, Walerski centralizes the performers in a ritualistic dance that seeks to strike a balance between order and chaos, charging the theatre space with a darkened, absorbing energy. Magnificent and absolutely riveting.    

BOLERO X, set to Ravel’s beloved score that builds gradually on a simple theme towards its hypnotizing crescendo, showcases the dancers of Ballet BC at their absolute best. Choreographer Shahar Binyamini has created an ode to unity and a celebration of the power of dance. Its language of sensual gestures and grand, pulsing group movements is breathtaking to witness. An extraordinary work for 50 dancers that fully exploits the power of repetition to create a layered, sweeping expression of joy. 

Ballet BC creates works that are visceral, provocative and transformative. Founded in 1986, the company's distinctive approach and style have made a significant contribution to the evolution of dance and the accessibility of ballet.  

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https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/36014

In-person event

With the National Arts Centre Orchestra Chamber by Medhi Walerski BOLERO X by Shahar Binyamini + new creation In this remarkable triple bill program, the NAC Orchestra accompanies Chamber, one of artistic director Medhi Walerski’s most acclaimed and elegant ballets, and BOLERO X, created by Shahar Binyamini for the company in 2023, a masterful reading of Maurice Ravel’s Bolero.  For Medhi Walerski, the rhythmic momentum and discordant tensions in Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring make it one of the most vibrant compositions of all time, and he describes the creation of Chamber as an echo of what the score provokes in his imagination. Performed to original music by the eminent British composer Joby Talbot, Walerski centralizes...

Artists

Choreography Medhi Walerski

Choreography Medhi Walerski

Medhi Walerski became Artistic Director of Ballet BC in 2020. Raised in France, Walerski danced at the Paris Opera Ballet and the Ballet du Rhin before joining Nederlands Dans Theater in 2001. For more than a decade he contributed to NDT’s famed innovative style, and was awarded the Dutch dance prize VSCD Zwaan in 2013. Walerski has created with and performed works by Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon, Crystal Pite, Johan Inger, and Wayne McGregor among others. Since his choreographic debut in 2008, he has created numerous acclaimed works for NDT and Ballet BC including Petite Cérémonie (2011), Chamber (2012), Romeo and Juliet (2018), Silent Tides (2020), and just BEFORE right AFTER (2022), as well as works for Bern Ballet, Goteborg Ballet, StaatsBallett Hannover, Charlotte Ballet, and more.

Medhi Walerski assure la direction artistique du Ballet BC depuis 2020. Originaire de France, il s’est produit avec le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris et le Ballet du Rhin, puis s’est joint au Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) en 2001. Il a contribué pendant plus de 10 ans au style innovant qui fait la renommée du NDT et a reçu le prix de danse néerlandais VSCD Zwaan en 2013. Il a collaboré, tour à tour en tant que chorégraphe et qu’interprète, avec Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Paul Lightfoot et Sol Leon, Crystal Pite, Johan Inger et Wayne McGregor, entre autres. Depuis ses débuts de chorégraphe en 2008, il a créé plusieurs pièces saluées par la critique pour le NDT et le Ballet BC, dont Petite Cérémonie (2011), Chamber (2012), Romeo + Juliet (2018), Silent Tides (2020) et just BEFORE right AFTER (2022), ainsi que des spectacles pour le Ballet de Berne, le Ballet de Göteborg, le StaatBallet de Hanovre, le Charlotte Ballet et bien d’autres.

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Choreography Shahar Binyamini

Choreography Shahar Binyamini

Shahar Binyamini is a choreographer and performer from Israel. He danced with Batsheva Dance Company from 2006 to 2013, where he performed extensively the repertoire of choreographers Ohad Naharin and Sharon Eyal. During those years in the company, Binyamini began his activity as a Gaga movement language teacher. He acted as the artistic director of the Gaga intensive courses in Tel Aviv, Italy, Los Angeles, New York and in Japan. As a choreographic assistant to Ohad Naharin, Binyamini was working with dance companies around the world, including Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet BC, Nederlands Dans Theater, Compañía Nacional de Danza, Finnish National Opera, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani and Bordeaux National Ballet. After leaving Batsheva Dance Company, Binyamini started his international choreographic path in 2016 in Singapore, where he created FLAT for Frontier DanceLand. In recent years, Binyamini has been commissioned by various dance companies and institutions around the world to create new works.

Shahar Binyamini est un chorégraphe et interprète originaire d’Israël. Il a dansé avec la Batsheva Dance Company de 2006 à 2013, où il s’est abondamment produit dans des chorégraphies du répertoire d’Ohad Naharin et de Sharon Eyal. Au sein de la compagnie, il a commencé à enseigner le langage corporel Gaga, puis a été directeur artistique de cours intensifs de Gaga à Tel Aviv, en Italie, à Los Angeles, à New York et au Japon. Assistant chorégraphe d’Ohad Naharin, Shahar Binyamini a collaboré avec des compagnies de danse du monde entier, dont le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, le Ballet BC, le Nederlands Dans Theater, la Compañía Nacional de Danza, l’Opéra national de Finlande, la compagnie de danse de l’Opéra de Göteborg et le Ballet de l’Opéra National de Bordeaux. Après son départ de la Batsheva Dance Company, il a poursuivi son parcours de chorégraphe à l’international en 2016 à Singapour, où il a créé FLAT pour Frontier DanceLand. Plus récemment, il a travaillé à la création de nouvelles pièces commandées par plusieurs compagnies et établissements de danse des quatre coins du monde.

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Featuring Ballet BC

Featuring Ballet BC

Founded in 1986 by David Y.H. Lui, Jean Orr, and Sheila Begg, Ballet BC is Canada's leading contemporary dance company. Based in Vancouver and led by Artistic Director Medhi Walerski, the company performs at venues throughout British Columbia and on the world's best stages. Ballet BC dancers are a group of open-minded and curious artists, each unique for their exceptional artistry while sharing an intuitive passion for movement. Deeply committed to new creation in addition to presenting masterworks from today's most sought-after voices in dance, Ballet BC's diverse repertoire includes works by choreographers such as Crystal Pite, Johan Inger, Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, Medhi Walerski, Out Innerspace, Imre and Marne van Opstal, Roy Assaf, and Micaela Taylor. The company offers a variety of professional development and educational opportunities in the community, aiming to bring the power of dance to the widest audience possible. More info: balletbc.com.

Fondé en 1986 par David Y.H. Lui, Jean Orr et Sheila Begg, le Ballet BC est la principale compagnie de danse contemporaine au Canada. Basée à Vancouver, elle est placée sous la direction artistique de Medhi Walerski et se produit partout en Colombie-Britannique et sur les plus grandes scènes internationales. Les interprètes du Ballet BC forment un groupe d’artistes à l’esprit ouvert et curieux, se distinguant par un talent artistique éminemment personnel, que réunit une passion intuitive commune pour le mouvement. En plus de présenter des chefs-d’œuvre des voix les plus prisées de la danse contemporaine, le Ballet BC est résolument engagé à encourager les nouvelles créations. Son répertoire varié puise dans les pièces de chorégraphes comme Crystal Pite, Johan Inger, Sharon Eyal et Gai Behar, Medhi Walerski, Out Innerspace, Imre et Marne van Opstal, Roy Assaf et Micaela Taylor. La compagnie offre un vaste éventail d’activités de perfectionnement professionnel et de formation en vue d’initier le plus grand nombre au pouvoir de la danse. Pour en savoir plus : balletbc.com (en anglais)

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Chamber World premiere: October 4, 2012, NDT 1, The Hague / Ballet BC Premiere: May 9, 2024
Choreography Medhi Walerski
Composer Joby Talbot
Music Chamber Symphony
Lighting design Jordan Tuinman
Costume design Medhi Walerski
Staging Sarah Reynolds
BOLERO X World Premiere: November 2, 2023, Ballet BC
Choreography Shahar Binyamini
Music Boléro M. 81, by Maurice Ravel, performed by Berlin Philharmoniker and Pierre Boulez, licenced by Universal Music Canada Inc.
Lighting design Shahar Binyamini
Associate lighting design Matthew Piton
Costume design Shahar Binyamini
Associate costume design Kate Burrows
With support from: BOLERO X was made possible through the generous support of Josh Pekarsky and Marla Guralnick in honour of Arlene Gladstone; Karen James; Trudy and Dan Pekarsky; Arlene James; Judy and Isaac Thau; Shirley Barnett; Roberta Beiser; and Jeanie Wexler.