Belle Spirale Dance Projects Presents Two World Premieres With UNIVERSUS

Belle Spirale Dance Projects, in partnership with the Chutzpah! Festival, Vancouver International Dance Festival, and New Works Dance will present UNIVERSUS, a compelling double bill featuring two world premieres from two extraordinary artists at the Vancouver Playhouse, March 21 & 22, 2025 at 8pm. 

Everything and Nothing, choreographed by Belle Spirale's Co-Artistic Director, Alexis Fletcher, features an abstract narrative woven from commissioned writer Marisa Gold's evocative poetry, Belle Spirale's Co-Artistic Director Sylvain Senez's Scenic Design, and Victoria Hunter Bell's Lighting Design. The work invites audiences to reflect on their place in the larger web of life, encouraging a sense of beauty, meaning, and wonder in an ever-changing world. STATERA (Latin for balance), choreographed by internationally celebrated Spanish dancer and choreographer, Fernando Hernando Magadan, with an original score by Ben Waters, explores the frail line between feeling safe and endangered, the concept of urgency and vulnerability, and the notion of time as we are confronted with our inherent ephemeral nature. 

“UNIVERSUS was conceived as an artistic response to our increasingly uncertain world and explores the vulnerability, courage, and strength of the human spirit,” says Fletcher. “While each distinct work unveils our insecurities and trepidation about the future, at its core, UNIVERSUS showcases the transformative power of art, awakening the individual's sense of purpose, agency, and hope.”

Adds Senez: “We are especially thrilled to have Fernando Hernando Magadan creating our first large-scale commission for this project. “His character, artistic vision, and approach to movement inspired an immediate sense of kinship when we first worked together through Ballet BC in 2014, and we had been searching for the right moment to collaborate with him again.” 

Brought to life by a talented ensemble of eight renowned dance artists (Ariana Barr, Juan Duarte, Alexis Fletcher, Marisa Gold, Will Jessup, Sophia Makarenko, Brenna Metzmeier, and Justin Rapaport), UNIVERSUS examines themes of time, extinction, and our uncertain future, while also celebrating humanity's resilience and fortitude. Through dance-driven storytelling, stage design, spoken word, and projections, the evocative double bill encourages audiences to reflect on their values of interconnectivity and cross-cultural exchange as a way to reclaim the future. The production is a recipient of Dance Victoria's Chrystal Dance Prize, which supports the creation of new dance works, and will mark Belle Spirale's first performance at the Vancouver Playhouse.

Fernando Hernando Magadan is a Spanish dancer and choreographer who originally trained as a professional gymnast, becoming a national champion. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Dance in Madrid and the London Studio Centre before enrolling at the Central School of Ballet. After dancing for one year with Santamaria Compañia de Danza, he joined the Nederlands Dans Theater ll in 2001, and was later invited to join the Nederlands Dans Theater l in 2004, where he worked with and performed works by renowned choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, Paul Lightfoot, Sol Leon, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, and Crystal Pite, among others.

As a choreographer, Magadan has pieces for NDT 1 and 2, the Curve Foundation Dance Company (Scotland), Luna Negra Dance Theater (Chicago), Cross Connection Ballet Company (Copenhagen), Ballet Mainz (Germany), Donlon Dance Company (Saarbruecken), Arts Umbrella Dance Company and Ballet BC (Vancouver), and Korzo Theater (The Hague). UNIVERSUS is Magadan's first Canadian commission outside of Ballet BC.

Fletcher and Senez are the founders and Co-Artistic Directors of Belle Spirale Dance Projects. The Company is a 2023/24 recipient of The Chrystal Dance Prize and holds the position of Artist in Residence at Chutzpah! Festival and Dance Victoria. It has been generously supported by Dance Victoria, Ballet BC, Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, Presentation House Theatre, New Works, Vernon Performing Arts Centre, The Gordon Smith Foundation, Dancing on the Edge, InFrinGing Festival, Shadbolt Centre and Dance: Made in/fait au Canada. 

Fletcher is also an independent dance artist, creator, and producer. After dancing with Ballet BC for 14 years, she became a guest artist and Artist in Residence with the Company, and currently acts as a guest rehearsal director. As a dancer, Fletcher has most recently performed with Re:Naissance Opera, zoe | juniper, and Wen Wei Dance.

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