Proximity

ABOUT THE SHOW

Acclaimed around the world as an exceptional choreographer and performer, BC dance artist Joshua Beamish brings together a program of thrilling contemporary dance pieces showcasing both aspects of his work in PROXIMITY. The performance features two of his own creations – the world premiere of Lost Touch, a new solo danced by Renée Sigouin (Kidd Pivot, Out Innerspace Dance Theatre); and Proximity, a duet performed by Beamish and Sigouin together. Beamish also dances two solos choreographed specially for him: Redemption, by the internationally-renowned Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and Ablaze Amongst the Fragments of Your Sky by Ballet BC’s Kirsten Wicklund. The program also includes Falling Upward, a short film created by Beamish with dancer/filmmaker Scott Fowler and composer Stefan Nazarevich. 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Joshua Beamish – AD/Choreographer/Performer | Choreographer Joshua Beamish founded Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY in 2005. His works have since extensively toured throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. He has created works for The Royal Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Dutch National Ballet Junior Company/Choreographic Academy, Vancouver Opera, Cape Town Opera, New York City Ballet Principal/Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan for Restless Creature and Principal Dancer Ashley Bouder for The Ashley Bouder Project, Compania Nacional de Danza de Mexico, Toronto Dance Theatre and Cirque du Soleil for World EXPO Shanghai. His company has been presented by BAM Next Wave Festival, The Joyce Theater, Canada’s National Arts Centre, Fall For Dance North, London’s The Place, The Bangkok & Seoul International Festivals, among others. He is a founding member of The Joyce Theater’s Young Leader’s Circle Committee, an alumni of the NY Choreographic Institute (a New York City Ballet affiliate), and a Jerome Robbins Foundation, Samuel H Scripps Foundation and Rockefeller Brothers Fund grantee. Joshua is the recipient of artistic residencies throughout North America, including the Banff Centre, Jacob’s Pillow, The Dance Centre and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund Pocantico Center, and a term as the National Incubator Artist at ADI (now Lumberyard). Joshua was an inaugural artist-in-residence at The Joyce Theater’s Choreographic Centre at Gibney Dance. 

Renee Sigouin – Dancer | Renee Sigouin, originally from Saskatchewan, is a Vancouver-based contemporary dance artist. She studied at post-secondary contemporary dance program Modus Operandi under the mentorship of Tiffany Tregarthen and David Raymond. Since graduating from the program in 2012 she has performed locally, nationally and internationally in works by Kinesis Dance Somatheatro, Company 605, Wen Wei Dance, Mascall Dance, and EDAM. Renee is currently a performer with Out Innerspace Dance Theatre (since 2012) and Kidd Pivot (since 2019).  

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa – Choreographer/Redemption | The Colombian-Belgian Annabelle Lopez Ochoa is a prolific choreographer who has created works for more than 60 dance companies around the world such as the Dutch National Ballet, Ballet of Flanders, BJM, Ballet Hispanico, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Scottish Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, West Australian Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, English National Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Grands Ballets Canadiens, San Francisco Ballet and New York City Ballet.  Among the honors her work has received; A Streetcar Named Desire, created for the Scottish Ballet in 2012 won Best Choreography Classical from Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards UK and was nominated for the prestigious Olivier Award. Broken Wings created for English National Ballet was named one of 2016’s best premieres by Dance Europe and other Newspapers; and was nominated for several Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. Annabelle is the recipient of the Jacob’s Pillow Choreography Award 2019.  

Kirsten Wicklund – Choreographer/Ablaze amongst the fragments of your sky | Kirsten Wicklund studied at Pacific Dance Arts, Goh Ballet Academy, Modus Operandi and received scholarships to train at American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, & Banff Centre for the Performing Arts. Awards include; the Vancouver Foundation Arts Study Award, the Vancouver Ballet Society’s Memorial Scholarship, the Mary Day Artistry Award at the Youth American Grand Prix in NYC. She began her professional career at The Washington Ballet Company. Kirsten is now a full time artist at Ballet BC where she has danced since 2014. She has danced works by Lesley Telford, Medhi Walerski, William Forsythe, Wen Wei Wang, Cayetano Soto, Adi Salant, Aszure Barton, Company 605, Johan Inger, Serge Bennathan, Jorma Elo, Emily Molnar, Crystal Pite, Ohad Naharin, Sharon Eyal, and others. She has choreographed works for Dances for a Small Stage, the Dance Deck, Arts Umbrella, Goh Ballet, Lamon Dance, Dancing on the Edge Festival, The UBC Choir, Ballet Kelowna and Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY. 

Scott Fowler – Co-Director, Cinematographer, Editor/Falling Upward | Born in Vancouver, Scott Fowler trained at Arts Umbrella under the direction of Artemis Gordon and attended summer programs at American Ballet Theatre, the National Ballet School and Jacob’s Pillow. Scott joined Ballet BC in 2012, where he danced for 8 seasons. He joined Nederlands Dans Theater 1 as a dancer for their 2020/2021 season. Scott has worked with choreographers such as William Forsythe, Johan Inger, Crystal Pite, Sharon Eyal, Aszure Barton, James Kudelka, Emily Molnar, Wen Wei Wang, and Medhi Walerski, among others. In 2013, Scott began to explore the mediums of photography and videography. He created an Instagram account for his photography and gained a large following after being placed on Instagram’s suggested users list in both 2014 and 2015. He gained experience in videography through his own explorations and by creating sports and dance videos. In addition to filming and editing for various local dancers’ auditions, projects, and promotion, Scott’s collaborative dance short film Two was presented in the 2017 program of F-O-R-M (Festival Of Recorded Movement). He has also filmed and produced short films for Alexis Fletcher’s light in the rafters and The Goh Ballet’s The Nutcracker, as well as editing for Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY’s film STAY and for their screening of @giselle at Lincoln Center. In April 2020, Scott created the short film portal for Ballet BC’s Gather’in project, which was released to the company’s patrons and subscribers and posted on Ballet BC’s IGTV and YouTube. 

Stefan Nazarevich – Composer/Falling Upward | Stefan Nazarevich is a composer and interdisciplinary performer based in Vancouver. Along with Shion Skye Carter, he is one half of the duo olive theory, whose debut work reach-close (2019) features an interactive, sculptural piano wire installation. His work has been presented at the Vancouver International Dance Festival, as he composed Pathways (2019) for renowned choreographer Noam Gagnon’s company, Vision Impure. He has also composed for the Darmstadt International Summer Course in 2018. A frequent interdisciplinary collaborator, Stefan has composed music in close collaboration with dance artist Rob Kitsos and theatre-maker Steven Hill. Under the alias SAN, Stefan released his first album of solo electronic music, Haven, in the summer of 2019. Although he hates putting labels on these things, if pressed, Stefan might describe his music as “soundcloud trap for the concert hall.” 

Georg Meyer-Wiel – Costume Designer/Redemption | Georg Meyer-Wiel‘s interdisciplinary work encompasses multiple media and is inspired by both the natural world and movement. Since graduating with a Masters degree in Fashion Design from the Royal College of Art, he has worked as designer of costume and stage for contemporary dance, ballet, film and opera. Amongst his numerous clients are Rambert Dance Company, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Ballet national de l’Opéra du Rhin and the Australian Dance Theatre. Simultaneously he works as an artist. Major exhibitions have taken place at Hockney Gallery London, Henry Moore Gallery London, Michael Commerford Gallery Sydney and the Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany. To pass on his knowledge he is pursuing his academic career and teaches at Regent’s University and conducts workshops at the British Museum London, for which the Campaign for Drawing has awarded him the honorary Trailblazer Award. 

Bregje van Balen – Costume Designer/Proximity | Bregje van Balen was a prominent dancer for 18 years with the  Netherlands Dance Theatre (NDT) I and II.  She received her ballet training at the Nationale Ballet Academie in Amsterdam.  While she was dancing she began a second career as costume designer. Her interest for designing  costumes started in 1995 when she created her first costumes for the  annual NDT Workshop and small dance projects.  After her dance career she entered the Baruch Mode Academie to  reschool herself as a designer.  Since then Van Balen was invited to work for several theaters, for dance opera and theatre, among which are Netherlands Dance Theatre 1 and  2, Norwegian National Ballet, Compania Nacional de Danza,  Gothenburg Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, Introdans, Royal Swedish Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, the Icelandic  Dancetheatre, Opera de Lyon, Pushkin theater Moscow, Luzerner Theater, Bolshoi Theatre, Marinski Theatre, Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, Les Grands Ballets Canadiennes, and Nationaltheater Mannheim. She worked with the  choreographers Patrick Delcroix, Wubkje Kuindersma, Jorma Elo,  Medhi Walerski, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Johan Inger, Jo Strømgren, Cathy Marston and Alexander Ekman. 

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SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE!

Adults: $35 | Seniors: $32 | Students: $16