
BLISS
Word from the choreographer
This first full-length program for José Navas as choreographer-in-residence for Ballet BC, Bliss, opens on Annunciations, a very classic work en pointe. Its choreographic composition is light and fluid, like the three movements from Trios for piano and strings by Mozart which accompany it. The writing is formal but it is animated by emotion. Channeled in the purity of classical lines, José Navas’ lyricism is subtlety delivered.
A thousand ways to meet you tenderly follows this pure and luminescent piece. To the score of Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, four couples, barefoot and dressed in postwar apparel, experience the never-ending happiness of finding one another. Sensitive and organic, this piece takes on a more contemporary aesthetic. It celebrates the dancers’ personalities through the poetry of human encounters.
For the last part, The bliss that from their limbs all movement takes blends classical and contemporary work to a very rhythmic score, born of a collaboration between Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar, and ends the evening on a thrilling crescendo. Between classicism and métissage, these three pieces follow one another in a natural logic, leading the spectator on a spiritual journey through changing landscapes.
“It was contemporary ballet at its best. A musical, choreographic and emotional exploration that was both intensely moving and incredibly intelligent.”
Vancouver Sun, 2012
“You usually don’t see emotions running this high at a contemporary-ballet performance, but choreographer José Navas has a rare ability to tap feelings both viscerally and immediately. It’s all the more impressive because he moves his dancers in such mathematical, complicated structures.”
Georgia Straight, 2012
“Clean lines and virtuoso steps in service of a contemporary sensibility. Navas builds ballet with a fresh eye.”
The Globe and Mail, 2012
Recent Tours
- Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, 10 mai 2012 | WORLD PREMIERE
Credits
Choreography: José Navas
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Trios for piano and strings), Henryk Górecki (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs), Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar (Passages – Offering, Meetings Along the Edge)
Dancers: the artists of Ballet BC
Lighting: Marc Parent
Costumes: Linda Chow
Length: 90 min
Production: Ballet BC
Movement vocabulary was made in collaboration with the dancers.
Photos: Chris Randle, Michael Slobodian