A new classical dance company is set to launch in Vancouver next spring.
Joshua Beamish sees Ballet Vancouver becoming a hub for professional classical dance in the city.Peter Eastwood/Supplied
Ballet Vancouver Performance Series, founded by Canadian choreographer Joshua Beamish, will present its first mixed program at the Vancouver Playhouse in late April. According to Beamish, the company will fill a crucial gap in Vancouver dance programming by offering audiences professional ballet repertoire that complements the abundance of more contemporary work in the region.
“It’s really felt like people have been missing seeing ballet en pointe in Vancouver,” he said, adding that his pointe programming for MOVETHECOMPANY‚ which recently marked its 20th anniversary, was well-received by local audiences.
“The public response was so enthusiastic,” he said. “People sent us e-mails asking how they could see more work like this, how they could support the company to keep presenting work like that. We were already in the process of creating this new company, so we felt really validated in what we were doing.”
Beamish sees Ballet Vancouver becoming a hub for professional classical dance in the city, with both local programming and touring productions that spotlight local talent, as well as dancers and choreographers from around the world.
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“Vancouver has a wealth of highly recognized and accomplished contemporary dance institutions,” he said. “The city is actually kind of an international hot spot for that. But it’s strange for us to have a city of this size and almost no representation for classical ballet. … There was a kind of myth that Vancouver wasn’t interested in classical or neoclassical ballet, and I don’t think that’s true at all. I think there’s a huge audience for it, or we wouldn’t have so many successful schools.
“I feel highly confident that the community will respond to seeing this kind of work,” he continued, “especially if it’s presented at a high calibre.”
While funding for the company continues to fall into place, Beamish has assembled an advisory committee of stakeholders steeped in the world of Canadian dance, including Heather Ogden and Chan Hon Goh, two Vancouver-born principal dancers with the National Ballet of Canada. (Goh retired from the National Ballet in 2009 and became director of her parents’ dance school in 2010.)
“I was a classically trained ballet student in Vancouver,” Ogden said, “and I think having a classical avenue for those sorts of students to pursue will be really nice. Vancouver is a very creative city with a lot of talent, and I think there’s a lot of hunger for something like this.”
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“It’s wonderful to create more outlets for dancers to access professional opportunities,” agreed Goh, who now serves as the general and artistic director of Goh Ballet Academy and Youth Company. “We have tremendous support when we produce The Nutcracker every year, so we know from that that there’s an audience who loves classical ballet.
“Josh believes strongly in classical ballet,” she continued. “He is one of the most ambitious artists I know. I think if anybody was going to do this, it should be Josh, someone who’s willing to put the work into cultivating classical ballet.”
The inaugural mixed program will feature the Vancouver premieres of Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Redemption; the world premiere of a collaboration between Beamish and Indigenous artist and fashion designer Yolonda Skelton; and a presentation of Wen Wei Wang’s Swan, a modern reimagining of Swan Lake performed en pointe.
Additional 2026-27 programming will be revealed in the months to come.
