Vancouver dance company celebrates 20 years

A Vancouver-based choreographer will celebrate 20 years of artistry with a star-studded gala this week.

Joshua Beamish founded MOVETHECOMPANY at age 17. On Thursday and Friday he will stage two performances, bringing together some of North America’s finest dance artists on a single stage.

“[Audiences are] going to see five works — that are relatively short — that span my career from 2007 until 2022. So it’s quite a spectrum of work from different points in my creative career,” Beamish explained.

At 38 years old, he says the anniversary feels early.

“I started my company right out of high school when I was a teenager. And so it feels like an accomplishment to have kept something going that I wanted to initiate as a very young person,” said Beamish.

But he admits the journey has been a bumpy ride at times.

“We’ve been through so much, with the pandemic and different financial crises, and just identity shifts as artists as we grow. And I’ve just kept kind of reimagining what the company can be or how it can operate and allowing the structure to be malleable and to respond to the current moment. And I think that’s really a key to success for any business.”

Beamish says the celebration will feature artists from the National Ballet of Canada, American Ballet Theatre, the San Francisco Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ballet Edmonton, and many more, including a dancer returning to perform a work that originated with the company 18 years ago.

“It’s really about making these new connections that are very meaningful with their connection to our company’s past and our community and our city, and then also celebrating the artists who built the company.”

Tickets are available to the 20th anniversary performances, May 29 and 30 at 7:30 p.m., at the Vancouver Playhouse.

You can arrive 45 minutes early to hear Beamish and partner Heather Dotto reflect on the two decades in the Playhouse lobby.