
Broadway on Pointe and other works
World premiere.
Sunday October 2 | 2:30pm
We’re thrilled to open the new season with a world premiere from Ballet Victoria. Singing, dancing, and acting. Dramatic, bold, and beautiful. Two stars collide on the roller coaster of fame in this one-act ballet tribute to Broadway’s most iconic tunes. The program opens with Le Banc, a series of vignettes set around a park bench choreographed to Bach’s cello suites. Simply an exhilarating performance.
Broadway on Pointe features catchy, upbeat songs from musicals such as Chicago, Kiss Me Kate, and Sweet Charity, and films such as the 1937 film Shall We Dance.
Le Banc is danced to Bach’s famous cello suites, which have a mysterious origin. Not known until the early 20th century, this work is now one of the most frequently performed pieces written for the cello. At the time it was written, the cello was considered more of an accompanying instrument, compared to the virtuosic violin, for example, which makes this work all the more groundbreaking. The original manuscript is lost, but Bach’s wife had copied a large amount of his works and luckily one of her copies survived. There are no tempo markings, therefore the pace at which the cello suites are performed is at the cellist’s discretion.
Founded in 2002, Ballet Victoria is a boutique professional ballet company with 12 dancers and four yearly productions. Their performances are dramatic, technically demanding, and often laced with humour.
With intermission and post-show talkback.
Thank you to Joan Farlinger and Salt Spring Coffee for sponsoring this performance.
Photo: Derek Ford