What happens in the split second before you make a decision?

Belle Spirale invites you behind the curtain for an intimate lecture-demonstration of our new solo work featuring the stunning Ariana Barr. This isn't a polished performance - it's a rare glimpse into how we make dance.

About the work

We're exploring the actual moment of decision-making - that often split-second pause before you respond (or react) to another person, a world event, or a deeply personal choice. Where in the body does this conversation happen? What occurs in that momentary space between stimulus and response?

Central to this research is the lived experience of Co-Artistic Director Alexis Fletcher and co-creator/performer Ariana Barr as empathetic and nuanced female artists.

Join us for this showing and facilitated discussion as we share work-in-progress from our very first week of creation. This is Belle Spirale at its most vulnerable and authentic - ideas still forming, questions still unfolding, community invited in.

You'll discover:

• Why our designers work in the studio from day one
• How we co-create with our artists rather than choreographing on them
• What emerges when a technical residency becomes part of the creative investigation itself

About Belle Spirale

Belle Spirale Dance Projects is an arts organization led by Founding Artistic Directors Alexis Fletcher and Sylvain Senez. It is based in Vancouver, Canada, on the unceded Indigenous territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.

Fletcher danced as a principal artist with Ballet BC for 14 years, subsequently becoming a guest artist and rehearsal assistant as well as artist in residence before pursuing her independent career in 2020. She is currently a rehearsal director at Ballet BC. 

Senez was a principal artist and rehearsal director for 30 years at Ballet BC, and also danced as a soloist with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Judith Marcuse Dance Projects, and Coleman- Lemieux. He is a 2024 DORA Award nominee for Outstanding Scenic Design in Dance.

In 2016, the two began co-creating independent mainstage works with Fletcher as choreographer/performer and Senez as visual designer. To date, the pair has created and produced 10 original works with a diverse group of collaborators and co-creators. Their work has been generously supported by 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, Fluid Fest,  Shadbolt Centre and Dance: Made in/fait au Canada among others. Belle Spirale is honoured to be a 2023/24 recipient of the prestigious Chrystal Dance Prize.

It has been a joy for Fletcher and Senez to develop, since 2015, their community-minded, grassroots presentation platform, The Dance Deck, which has become a beloved staple of the summer scene in Vancouver. Belle Spirale is a platform for the work of many artists. The team produces its own creations and also commissions original works by both emerging and established choreographers, believing in a hands-on and heart-centred approach to art making. Through the cross- disciplinary nature of their pieces, Fletcher and Senez strive to create poetic, relevant, and visually compelling performances; the two believe dance to be a distinct and powerful tool for connection, communication, and togetherness.

Belle Spirale is thrilled to be one of only 5 nominated for “Best Dance Company” in the 2025 Best of Vancouver Awards.

www.bellespirale.ca