Australia’s contemporary circus company Gravity and Other Myths and Vancouver, British Columbia-based Ballet BC make their Vivo Performing Arts debuts this fall, with shows of jaw-dropping physical agility, endless creativity and – during Ballet BC’s visit – an onstage collaboration with nearly 20 young area dance artists.

Oct 23 & 24 – Gravity & Other Myths – Ten Thousand Hours

Ten Thousand Hours explores the long held belief that duration of practice and refinement lead to a mastery of practice – in this case, Gravity & Other Myths’ extraordinary physical feats. Nine acrobats and one musician take audiences behind the scenes of their high-level acrobatics, examining how physical skills are developed, refined and mastered. Live percussion and an energetic musical score accompany the performers as they demonstrate the strength, precision and physical language that define the company’s work.

Performers include Alyssa Moore, Angus McKean, Annalise Moore, Axel Osborne, Chase Levy, Jacob Randell, Josh Strachan, Lachlan Harper, Louis Gift, Shani Stephens. The Gravity creative team comprises Director Lachlan Binns, Associate Director Darcy Grant, Set & Lighting Designer Chris Petredis, Assistant Designer Max Mackenzie, Composers Nick Martyn and Shenzo Gregorio, Costume Designer Olivia Zanchetta, Production Manager Martin Shreiber, and Creative Producer Jascha Boyce.

Ten Thousand Hours will be performed Fri., Oct. 23 at 8 pm and Sat. Oct. 24 at 2 and 8 pm at Boston Arts Academy Theater, 174 Ipswich Street in Boston. Tickets start at $52.

Nov 21 & 22 – Ballet BC – Sway / Obsidian / Bolero X

Under Artistic Director Medhi Walerski, a veteran of the legendary Nederlands Dans Theater, Ballet BC’s 22 dancers bring precision and a rare openness to Boston for the first time. Three stunning dances are on the program: Walerski’s showstopping chamber work Sway; Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber’s Obsidian; and Shahar Binyamini’s Bolero X, which will include 18 student dancers from Boston Conservatory onstage.

Vivo Performing Arts President and CEO Thor Steingraber has enjoyed a long working relationship with Walerski and with Ballet BC, in his previous role as Executive and Artistic Director at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (“The Soraya”) in Los Angeles. Steingraber says Ballet BC’s Vivo debut is expected to be a highlight of the regional dance season, and offers insights on the works that comprise the program in Boston.

About The Ballet BC Program

Medhi Walerski’s Sway (2019) captures the delicate yet resilient nature of hope. A chamber dance inspired by the work of Amherst, Mass. poet Emily Dickinson, this intimate and mysterious piece demands precision from the dancers as they create fluid movement and repetitions that evoke the spirit of collective optimism.

“Medhi is one of the most important voices in dance today,” says Thor Steingraber. “I’ve had the privilege of being with him at key moments of his career…I’ve watched him grow from an internationally acclaimed choreographer into an extraordinary artistic leader at Ballet BC. It’s a remarkably special company that I’ve come to know very well through its residency at The Soraya. Medhi has shaped its dancers into one of the most disciplined and exciting ensembles working today.”

Choreographer Shahar Binyamini’s epic Bolero X is set to Maurice Ravel’s 1928 orchestral masterpiece composition, and is a bold exploration of unity, individuality and power. Like its musical inspiration, the dance work culminates in a breathtaking crescendo of sound and movement. Since its 2023 World Premiere in Korea, Bolero X has proven to be a wildly popular work seen on stages around the world.

The work’s momentum will be enhanced by students from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, who bring the total number of dancers in the piece to 40. Binyamini first joined professional track dance students and company dancers when Bolero X premiered in South Korea. While not seen in every Ballet BC tour stop, Vivo Performing Arts President & CEO Thor Steingraber felt strongly about adding impact by adding dancers onstage. Boston Conservatory’s high level of training was approved by Ballet BC Artistic Director Medhi Walerski, and 22 students (including 4 alternates) were cast in an audition in early September. Company repetiteur Sarah Pippin comes to Boston in October to teach the choreography and lead a week of student rehearsals.

“Bolero X is one of those pieces that grabs you,” Steingraber says. “We’ve all experienced the music of “Boléro” in so many different forms, but Shahar’s choreography is completely original—it doesn’t lean on what’s come before. There’s an infectious quality to this work: the dancers move almost like creatures in a hive…as the piece builds and more dancers fill the stage, the impact grows and grows. It’s fresh, visceral and incredibly exciting. I think Boston audiences are going to respond very strongly to it.”

Batsheva Dance Company alumni Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber’s Obsidian (2025) is their first work created for Ballet BC (where they are Resident Choreographers). Featuring six dancers the work was created to the early 20th Century music of teacher/composer George Ivanovich Gurdjieff and Ukraine-born composer/pianist Thomas de Hartmann, who were bonded through Gurdjieff’s spiritual teachings. (The music is performed live on stage by pianist Perri Lo.) Smith shares Costume Design with Kate Burrows and Scenography & Light Design with Schraiber.

Ballet BC performances are Sat., Nov. 21 at 8 pm and Sun., Nov. 22 at 2 pm at Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont Street in Boston. Tickets start at $34 and are available now at vivoperformingarts.org. Following the Saturday performance, Ballet BC Artistic Director Medhi Walerski joins Vivo Performing Arts CEO Thor Steingraber for a Q&A audience talkback.