19 Dancers took turns crawling between her legs, creating a comedic portrayal of childbirth

 Toronto gets schooled by BC Ballet dancers

By Stephen Weir

This past weekend, the internationally known Canadian dance troupe Ballet BC returned to perform in Toronto. It’s been six years since their last visit, and at Friday night’s sold-out performance, the audience yelled, stamped, and begged them not to board the waiting bus outside the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts by the end of the three-performance weekend.

The 20-member troupe performed two dances: Pieces of Tomorrow and their 50-minute, sometimes humorous signature piece, Passing.

Pieces of Tomorrow is a ballet choreographed by Ballet BC's Artistic Director, Medhi Walerski, which premiered a year ago in Vancouver. It is a 25-minute piece featuring the full 20-member company, set to a Bach Violin Concerto, on a cloud-covered stage. As the dance races to its conclusion, a glinting, gold-like shimmer flitters ghost-like behind a blackened screen made from found pieces of shiny metal by Lyle XOX, a Vancouver-based multimedia artist.

The ballet opens with a captivating visual of clouds moving above the stage, with rays of light piercing through, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a passing thunderstorm or a cosmic act of creation. Dancers, dressed in white tank tops and pale, loose shorts, move fluidly beneath this dynamic sky, embodying cycles of creation, destruction, and rebirth through their choreography.

The second piece, a 50-minute dance, brought laughter and cheers from the audience. Titled passing by Ballet BC’s Johan Inger, it explores human existence and the passage of time. In the unstoppable flow of life and the countless variations of human connection, Inger captures sensitive, vulnerable, and intimate moments that make each life unique. It moves quickly, with the dancers—most of whom don’t have traditionally slender ballet bodies—displaying impressive strength and agility as they lift and throw each other across the stage. At times, the choreography playfully adopts hoedown rhythms and square dance-inspired movements.

One particularly humorous moment that had the audience in stitches was the reenactment of a woman giving birth. As the “mommy” dancer took CenterStage, 19 performers took turns crawling between her legs, creating a comedic and exaggerated portrayal of childbirth. Time flew by, and the 868 patrons in attendance were on their feet by the end, attempting to out-clap one another in admiration for what they just say.

Ballet BC's performances in Toronto on March 29 and 30, 2025, showcased this compelling mixed program. Although the audience tried, they couldn’t clap the dancers into an encore. The cast and crew have now departed Toronto, heading back to Vancouver and Victoria for performances in May at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Following these British Columbia shows, the company will embark on an international tour with performances in the United Kingdom and Germany.

As for the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts and TO Live, they remain dedicated supporters of dance in Toronto. Providing performance spaces, funding, and promotional support for both local and international dance companies, they play a vital role in the city's cultural landscape. Through partnerships with organizations and independent choreographers, they bring contemporary, classical, and experimental dance productions to Toronto. Additionally, TO Live frequently includes dance in its seasonal programming, offers residency opportunities for choreographers, and engages in community outreach to promote dance education and accessibility. Their ongoing efforts contribute significantly to Toronto’s vibrant dance scene.