BALLETX
Where: The Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St.
When: Friday and Saturday, Nov. 19-20, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $79-$119 from the Royal McPherson box office at 250-386-6121 or rmts.bc.ca
When it comes to contemporary ballet, BalletX co-founder Christine Cox is more experienced than most — on both sides of the curtain.
Cox was a full-time company member with the Pennsylvania Ballet, dancing with the company from 1993 until her retirement from the stage in 2006. Prior to that, she danced with several top companies, including U.S. institutions Ballet Hispanico and the American Repertory Ballet. Which is to say she’s the total package, and something of an expert when it comes to the ins and outs of ballet, from administration and adjudication to creation and curation.
Cox co-founded the Philadelphia-based BalletX with with Matthew Neenan in 2005, and the company has gone to produce over 100 ballets by 60 choreographers in the time since. Community outreach is a big part of what BalletX offers to its community, and Cox has been instrumental in developing engagement and education programs which put ballet before new audiences in the Pennsylvania area each year.
In a wide-ranging interview, BalletX’s co-founder and artistic and executive director spoke to the Times Colonist about bringing BalletX to Victoria for the first time this weekend, for a presentation of new work with Dance Victoria she hopes will be the start of an ongoing relationship between the two companies.
How much time do you spend each year taking BalletX into places outside of your own backyard?
It can vary between 20 and 30 per cent of our performances on tour. We’re not so much a touring company, so we do love to be really strategic about where we’re going and how we engage with different partners in our world. We’re really focused on doing a lot of new work, so we spend a lot of time in creation making ballets.
You’re presenting five pieces at the Royal Theatre this weekend. Is this all new work you’re bringing to Victoria?
They’ve all been made with the company, except for It’s Not A Cry by [Amy Seiwart]. That was created by the Sacramento Ballet.
What you’re presenting uses everything from Franz Schubert to Jeff Buckley and electronic house music, mixing the contemporary and classical. How important is it to dip into both areas?
As an audience member, I really want to go into the deep potential of the artists. Our BalletX dancers can do a lot of movement, so I like an exciting program that connects with the audience.
Does it take more forethought when you’re sending the company out on the road, which is a form of advertising, to have something that reflects the company as a whole?
What we share wherever we go is a reflection of our work — it has to be. Which is different voices from all over the world, making new dances. That’s my goal.
When a choreographer brings something to your company they think will fit under your umbrella, what makes think BalletX is a good fit for them?
The ‘Ballet’ part is our technique, our shared language. The ‘X’ is the world, everything that is new, and all the different voices which are a part of who this company is. We have an identity that merges technique with new ideas. We only have 12 dancers, so we do a lot as a small company.
I’m surprised your stable of dancers is so small, especially for a company that can make its way out to Victoria. That’s ambitious.
When you build it from nothing, and you want it to live here beyond you, you have to be very careful how you grow.
How difficult was it to build the company from scratch?
In America, we have to defend the arts. We have to scream, and say why it’s important. We have to passionately, carefully intertwine it into everyone’s lives as much as we can. In other cultures, the arts is more of part of those cultures. [The arts] is part of America, don’t get me wrong, but if you want an arts organization you have to fundraise for it. There’s very little support from the local government. It’s all citizen driven. And the citizens want it.
It seems destined to forever be that way.
If the money was just handed to us, and we were taking it for granted, it would be completely different. We honor every dollar that comes in, and it goes back to the art form.
