Joshua Beamish on His New Company, Ballet Vancouver

In recent years, Vancouver-based choreographer Joshua Beamish has noticed a trend: Anytime he’s produced a classically based program in the coastal Canadian city, he’s seen a significant increase in audience members. While Vancouver offers a wealth of contemporary-dance companies and high-caliber ballet schools, “no one is bringing classical ballet here beyond a touring Nutcracker, or producing it on a professional level,” Beamish says. (The well-established Ballet BC performs mainly contemporary repertoire off pointe.)

Inspired, Beamish decided to take action. Earlier this month, he announced the launch of Ballet Vancouver, a 12-to-16-member troupe that will perform narrative, neoclassical, and classical works. Following a preview event in November, the company will present its inaugural performances at the Vancouver Playhouse in April 2026, with works by Christopher Wheeldon, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Wen Wei Wang, and a new ballet by Beamish.

Beamish is only 38, but for the past 20 years he’s been the artistic director and choreographer for Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY, based in Vancouver and New York City. (He’ll close its Vancouver operations once its 2026 commitments finish, but will continue to produce in the U.S.) He’s also choreographed for The Royal Ballet and National Ballet of Canada, among others, as well as for Wendy Whelan’s Restless Creature tour.

Beamish says the decision to give up his company to start Ballet Vancouver was easy. “I still love choreographing, but I’m also very interested in curating, finding new voices, and guiding dancers and supporting their growth,” he says. Half of the dancers for the company’s first performances will be guests from companies like American Ballet Theatre, or, like former San Francisco Ballet principal Benjamin Freemantle, they’ll have ties to the Vancouver area. “So many great dancers trained [in Vancouver], but there was no opportunity for them to have a classical or neoclassical career, so they had to go somewhere else,” says Beamish. “Our community rarely gets to see them dance as a professional.”

Since announcing the news a few weeks ago, Beamish says he’s fielded lots of interest about job openings. He clarifies that while the current roster is set, he’ll hold auditions for next season in early 2026. Ballet Vancouver’s 2026–27 season will offer three programs (to be announced at a later date); Nutcracker won’t be among them, though. The city already offers two: a tour by Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Goh Ballet’s beloved student production. “It’s really important to me that we are adding to our community and not creating unnecessary competition,” Beamish says. He does plan to present one narrative full-length per season, however, and sees an opportunity to find stories that speak to Vancouver audiences. “I’m really excited to collaborate with Indigenous artists and tell stories of these lands that settlers might not know about, as well as stories from the Chinese community here.”

Beamish also plans to present ballets by George Balanchine (which are rarely seen in Vancouver), and will focus mainly on acquiring works to build Ballet Vancouver’s repertoire. His inaugural April program, which features Christopher Wheeldon’s complete After the Rain, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Redemption, and Wen Wei Wang’s Swan (a contemporary reimagining of Swan Lake), reflects that. “It’s very important to me that the community receives work of a very high caliber right from the beginning,” Beamish says. He also plans to create a new ballet in collaboration with Indigenous artist and fashion designer Yolonda Skelton.

Beamish also sees Ballet Vancouver as a space for creation in the long-term, and he plans to offer a choreographic mentorship program. “The more dancers are exposed to making and possibility, the faster we’re going to see a broadening of diversity, in terms of the choreographers that are out there,” says Beamish.

Response to the company’s announcement has been enthusiastic, he says, particularly from area ballet schools. And he has guidance from major dance figures on his advisory board, like Wendy Whelan, Chan Hon Goh, and National Ballet of Canada principal Heather Ogden. “I think it’s going to be a big challenge, of course,” says Beamish, “but it’s a challenge that I am excited by.”