Ballet BC

Artistic Staff

Emily Molnar

Artistic Director

Emily Molnar was appointed Artistic Director of Ballet BC In March 2010. She is a graduate of the National Ballet School, a former member of the National Ballet of Canada; Frankfurt Ballet, where she created and performed an extensive repertoire under director William Forsythe; and a principal dancer with Ballet British Columbia. 

Molnar is an internationally respected and critically acclaimed artist who has worked and toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Mexico, Canada and the US. She has created and performed several works as a choreographer and solo artist, including commissions for Alberta Ballet, Ballet Mannheim, Ballet Augsburg, Cedar Lake Dance, ProArteDanza, and Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, and Ballet BC among others. In September 2005 Molnar was invited to participate in The New York City Choreographic Institute where she worked with dancers from The New York City Ballet. Recent projects include Dedica, a new work created in 2009 for Ballet British Columbia's celebration gala, Ignite and Songs of a Wayfarer for Alberta Ballet which premiered in Calgary in March 2010.

As an active mentor, advocate, and coach Molnar follows her passion to nurture artists and choreographers, educate and support the research and development of dance and artistic leadership, and explore the role of the artist in society.

Sylvain Senez

Rehearsal Director

Sylvain Senez has been active on the Canadian dance scene for 30 years. He danced with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens as a soloist for nine years, Judith Marcuse Dance Company for three years and then worked for Ballet British Columbia as dancer and Ballet Master for seventeen seasons. Sylvain has choreographed for the Ballet BC choreographic workshop, Dancing on the Edge and the Vancouver Opera. He has taught at Arts Umbrella, Richmond Academy and Harbour Dance, and is now performing as guest artist with Coleman Lemieux Company for their James Kudelka Tribute Program. Sylvain recently appeared in The Strange Adventure of Myself, a full-length solo created for him by Serge Bennathan. He is also a photographer specializing in dance and portraiture and has had several exhibits. Currently, Sylvain devotes his time to teaching, rehearsal directing at Ballet BC, photographing and rediscovering the beauty of dance though performing again.

Simone Orlando

Artist in Residence

Born in Vancouver, Ms. Orlando began dancing professionally in 1989, first with the National Ballet of Canada then with Desrosiers Dance Theatre and twelve years with Ballet British Columbia as a principal dancer. Ms. Orlando has recently been named the Artist in Residence at Ballet BC for the 2009-2010 season.

Ms. Orlando’s choreographic explorations began in 1997. Praised for her mature and sensitive ideas, vision, musicality, and delineation of movement and space, her work has been widely presented and she has received numerous commissions including those from Ballet Kelowna, MOVE:the company, the Turning Point Ensemble, Dancers Dancing, Dances for a Small Stage, and a short dance film, Chimère, for BRAVO! TV. Recent creations include, Studies of Cash, a work inspired by the songs of Johnny Cash for EDAM, as well as, Realm of Her Eclipse for Ballet BC.

Ms. Orlando was the inaugural recipient of the Performing Arts Commission at the 2004 Vancouver Arts Awards and won the prestigious 2006 Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award for which she created the work, Winter Journey, at the Banff Centre. In 2009, she received a Fellowship Initiative Grant from the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of New York City Ballet, to develop new choreography on the dancers of Ballet BC.

Current projects include new commissions from Toronto Dance Theatre, Ballet BC, and a dance film for CODE Motion Pictures for the 2010 Cultural Olympiad.

Photo Credits:

Photo of Emily Molnar by Michael Slobodian

Photo of Sylvain Senez by David Cooper

Photo of Simone Orlando by David Ellingsen