Dorotea Saykaly wins first Emily Molnar Emerging Choreographer Award at Ballet BC

The Compagnie Marie Chouinard alumna is creating a new work for the company

Dorotea Saykaly. Photo by Sören Håkanlind

BALLET BC has named Montreal-born choreographer Dorotea Saykaly the inaugural winner of the Emily Molnar Emerging Choreographer Award.

She’s arived at Ballet BC studios this week to begin a creation process. The new work will premiere with the company at a later date.

Trained at Conservatoire de Danse de Montreal and Vancouver’s Arts Umbrella, Saykaly went on to dance at Montreal’s famed Compagnie Marie Chouinard from 2006 to 2013, taking on solo parts and featuring in films like bODY_rEMIX and The Rite of Spring. She then joined Sweden’s GöteborgsOperans Danskompani in 2014.

Her works have included UNraveling, a solo for stage; SHE, a solo that debuted in 2019 in Montreal; and IN A BOX, a site-specific work for the Harlem Art Factory Fest in New York.

The award is named for the former artistic director of the company. Molnar moved to head up the Nederlands Dans Theater last year, after a decade helming Ballet BC. The award will be given every three years, offering emerging choreographers the chance to work with the contemporary troupe.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is a Webster Award–winning arts journalist who has spent more than three decades immersed in Vancouver’s performing arts, film, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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