Artistic Staff
Emily Molnar
Artistic Director
Emily Molnar, the Artistic Director of Ballet BC, has been steering the unique company into a new era
of innovation and collaboration since July 2009.
Named as one of Canada's “new generation of ballet sensations” (MacLean’s Magazine), Molnar is a graduate of the National Ballet School and a former member of the National Ballet of Canada; a soloist with the Frankfurt Ballet, where she created and performed an extensive repertoire under director William Forsythe; and most recently a principal dancer with Ballet BC. Molnar worked closely with former Ballet BC Artistic Director John Alleyne in the creation of Puck in The Fairie Queen and Persephone in Orpheus, receiving national acclaim in both productions. “Molnar’s movements in these final moments have as much to say about the foolish heart as any of Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night does.” (Michael Scott, Vancouver Sun) In 2003 her role as Puck was adapted to film by the CBC and continues to be aired on national television.
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 Ballet BC, Alberta Ballet, Ballet Mannheim, Ballet Augsburg, Cedar Lake Dance, Pro Arte Danza and Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, among others. Her most recent works include Dedica, a new work for Ballet BC's celebration gala Ignite and Songs of a Wayfarer for Alberta Ballet. This season Molnar will create a new work for Ballet BC inspired by Icelandic cellist and composer Hildur Gundnadottir that will premiere in March 2012.
In 2005, Molnar was invited to participate in The New York City Choreographic Institute where she worked with dancers from The New York City Ballet. Molnar has worked closely with mentor Margie Gillis through her own solo work, in performing Gillis’ Speak and M.Body.7, and in collaborating on Breathing in Bird Bones.
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.
José Navas
Resident Choreographer
Born in Venezuela in 1965, José Navas has proven himself a talented and charismatic
soloist and has created many audacious and striking solo and group pieces. The creator
of nearly 30 works as an independent choreographer and as the artistic director of
Compagnie Flak, he now focuses his artistic research on the essence and purity of
movement.
Navas began his choreographic career in 1991 in Caracas and continued it in New York at the Merce Cunningham studio. During that period, he collaborated with William Douglas, Stephen Petronio, Michael Clark, Lucinda Childs and other independent choreographers. His first group creations were characterized by assertive sensuality, bold statements and unexpected universes. These pieces included an element of theatricality that is reflected today in his solo work.
As a dancer, he devoted himself entirely to his passion for solo work, exploiting the wealth of his maturity to create more personal, sensitive works. As a choreographer, he has an entirely different voice. Fascinated by the resonance of the body in space and by the calligraphy of formal movement, Navas shows himself to be a worthy successor of Cunningham by constructing abstract, geometrical pieces. His choreographic scores are often characterized by their hypnotic beauty, meditative character and the vivacity of the movement.
In 1995, he founded Compagnie Flak, resulting in more than 300 performances in 20 countries over 16 years. His creations such as Portable Dances (2005), Anatomies (2006), S (2008) and Diptych (2011) reflect his architectural sense of composition while the solos in Miniatures (2008) and Personae (2011) arouse feelings of a more visceral nature. Sterile Fields (1996), One Night Only 3/3 (1998), Perfume de Gardenias (2000), Solo with Cello (2001) and Adela, mi amor (2004) represent landmarks on his choreographic journey.
In 2010, Navas was appointed the Resident Choreographer of Ballet BC where he created the critically acclaimed, the bliss that from their limbs all movement takes. In 2012 Navas will create for Ballet BC a companion full evening work, Bliss and in 2013 an original full-length Giselle.
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 BC 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 Dance 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.