Belle Spirale Dance Projects

 

Choreographer - KIN : Alexis Fletcher and Sylvain Senez in collaboration with the performers

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, rehearsal assistant and 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 creating independent mainstage works with Fletcher as choreographer/performer and Senez as visual designer. Fletcher and Senez were artists in residence at Dance Victoria and Chutzpah! Festival from 2019 – 2025, and 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, 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, and 2025/26 recipient of the Chrystal Dance Prize, as well as the inaugural recipients of the HYPE Grant in 2025 from Murray Paterson Arts Marketing Group.Belle Spirale is a platform for the work of many artists. The team produces its own creations and also commissions original works by 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.

Choreographer - DOVES : Sid Chuckas

Sid Chuckas (they/he) was born in Chicago, Illinois. They learn, create, and educate through their multidisciplinary art practices with a larger mission to dismantle the institutionalized marginalization of minoritized bodies. Dancing since the age of five at Dance Center Evanston and graduating from the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and USC School of Architecture have all taught Chuckas to utilize their diverse experiences to thoughtfully engage in others’ work while engaging those around them in progressive conversation, practice, and change. Chuckas has performed works by Sharon Eyal, Crystal Pite, Marco Goecke, and Medhi Walerski and premiered roles in new works by Dorotea Saykaly, Shay Keubler, Johan Inger, Roy Assaf, and Out Innerspace. They have also danced for Brandy, Chance the Rapper, and Paris Jackson, and just recently was featured in VOGUE Mexico for a closing solo performance at Vancouver Fashion Week for Eduardo Fashion Studios. Chuckas also creates and produces their own choreographic works for stage and screen, with their most recent projects including a multi-platform solo titled ‘MANZANAR’ and world premieres for Arts Umbrella, LAMONDANCE, and Ballet BC 44. Their time at USC also led them to discover their passion for design, where they completed their undergraduate studies with a minor in Architecture and received an academic scholarship to attend the Pratt Institute of Design’s Master’s of Architecture program. In 2025/26 Chuckas is honored to be a part of the Ballet BC community for a fifth season and is humbled by the opportunity to continue feeding their passion for inclusive, collaborative innovation and creativity.

Lighting Designer: Victoria Hunter Bell

Victoria (V) is a Vancouver based scenographer (lighting, sound, set, and projection designer), technical director and Studio 58 graduate. Victoria is an ADC and IATSE 118 member, and a strong proponent for union membership and their justified authority. She is also a Stir recognized "Game Changer" in this year's fall arts guide.

She was born in Cheam, England, and immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, with her family as a child. She grew up in the East Van arts scene and was a member of quite a few artistic collective in her teens. Being an Anarchist and a trans woman she has deep ties to the politics inherent to creating art, especially live performance. Much of the work she features in focuses on contentious issues present today or that the ramifications of which are still felt, be that personal or global. Coming into her own as an artist and an adult in the Vancouver East side she has a specific focus on the issues that affect that area; poverty, BIPOC and LGBTQ2IA+ rights, Land back, gentrification and rise of authoritarianism in retaliation to these movements for equity.

She sees her work as focusing on the depth in shadow and its necessity to show detail in the light. Working between vibrant colours and muted tones, while using Physical structure to fully infuse her designs into the world of the piece. Using physical structures on stage with the performance creates a more literal connection to the lights, she very specifically doesn't want to just work in the grid "above" the performance, she is entangled with the performance as a whole, not just its outward final presentation. She wishes her designs to be objects wielded by and into the metaphor of the text. https://victoriabell-design.com

Performers: 

Ariana Barr: Raised in Victoria BC, Ariana Barr has nurtured her love of dance and expression since the age of six. With the unwavering support of her family, she has developed her practice from early days in the living room, to collaborative spaces and stages across Canada. Ariana’s formal training began at the Pacific Dance Center and continued through the Arts Umbrella Graduate Program and Performance Research Project. In addition to performing with Ballet Edmonton for six seasons under the artistic direction of Wen Wei Wang, Ariana has also worked with several Vancouver-based companies including Inverso Productions, Vision Impure, Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY, Rachel Meyers and Wen Wei Dance. In 2023, Ariana was honored to receive the Edmonton Artist’s Trust Fund Award for her contributions to the Edmonton arts community. Ariana now lives and dances as a guest on the traditional, unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples. She is deeply grateful to spend her life being shaped, continuously, both by the people she works with and by the transformative power of movement itself.

Nathan Coburn: A freelance creator, and performer based in Vancouver, BC. As a performer they have worked with and performed works by Alexis Fletcher, Sylvain Senez, Fernando Hernando Magadan, Cristina Bucci, Shay Kuebler, Shahar Binyamini, and Jera Wolfe.
Since 2023 Nathan has been co-artistic director of Paper Rabbits alongside Elle Derkitt and Sophia Makarenko. Spanning live performance and works for film, their co-creations and independent work have been presented by Belle Spirale’s Dance Deck, Kokoro Dance, Kits Neighbourhood House/The Vancouver Foundation, and Vines Arts Festival.
Nathan Coburn is an alumni of Arts Umbrella Dance’s Graduate Program, and a former dancer with the Ballet BC Annex.

Ysadora Dias: A Brazilian dance artist currently based in so-called Vancouver. She began her dance journey at Escolas de Dança de Caraguá, where she trained in ballet, contemporary dance, Brazilian dances, and capoeira. After graduating, she joined CBMC Dance Company and the collective Pé na Areia as a performer, collaborating in the creation and production of several performances throughout Brazil. Since relocating to Vancouver, she has collaborated with companies such as MascallDance—touring across Canada and New Zealand—as well as Amok Project, Co. Erasga, Inverso Productions, Raven Spirit Dance, and Action at a Distance. Ysadora has also worked closely with many peer artists and performed in festivals and showings including The Dance Centre’s 12 Minutes Max, Co. Erasga’s Salon Series, New Works Pop-Up Dances, Vines Festival, STAND Festival, and Matriarchs Uprising Festival. In 2024, she premiered her first solo work, Raiz, as part of the Re-Centering Margins Residency. Since then, she has continued to develop her artistic and choreographic voice, driven by a desire to create meaningful, spontaneous work that resonates deeply with audiences. Ysadora has a strong interest in interdisciplinary practices, fueled by her passion for music and her curiosity about the relationship between movement, sound, and storytelling. She is interested in how rhythm and physicality translate across forms to tell embodied stories that foster presence and connection. Through her practice, she explores cultural and ancestral memory, guided by a deep curiosity about how what we carry from our ancestors continues to shape the way we move through the world.

Brenna Metzmeier: A multidisciplinary artist based in Vancouver, BC, originally from Terrace, BC. She trained at the Victoria Academy of Ballet, earning her diploma in classical ballet 2016. Brenna's artistic collaborations include; Ballet Etoile, Sawdust Collective, Pi Theatre, The Banff Dance Company, Inverso Productions, Vision Impure, Opera Box, State of Underdress, Little Chamber Music, Northwest Dance Project, Corporeal Imago, Wen Wei Dance, Edmonton Opera/Nicole Von Arcs, Action at a Distance, and Belle Spirale. She is also a founding member of CAMP, recognized for its selection in multiple festivals, residencies and choreographic commissions. Brenns also creates her own work and has performed excerpts of her solo work in progress at The Irish Aerial Creation Centre, The Dance Centre’s 12 Minute Max, and Belles Spirale's The Dance Deck.
Most recently, Brenna continued her collaborations with Belle Spirale Dance Projects in their double bill UNIVERSUS; performing in Dance Victoria's season in January 2026. Followed by IMAGO, a duet created with Corporeal Imago for the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2026.
Brenna also works in film and TV. She has been cast in several commercials for acting, dancing, as well as specialized stunts. She continues to take acting classes, as it invigorates her practice and her interest in dance-theatre.
She is looking forward to her ongoing and new collaborations in the coming year, as well as the continued development of her own work.

Kylie Miller (she/her): From Vancouver, based on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. In 2020, she completed her training with Modus Operandi Contemporary Dance Program under the mentorship of Tiffany Tregarthen, David Raymond, and Kate Franklin. Since then, Kylie has worked with Out Innerspace Dance Theatre, Company 605, and Ne. Sans Opera and Dance. In 2022, she joined The Ensemble of Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, immersing herself in Gaga movement language and performing works by Ohad Naharin as well as Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber. Now, Kylie has joined Ballet BC for the 2025/2026 season.

Kaylin Sturtevant (she/her): Originally from Plano, Texas, and grew up training at Dance Industry Performing Arts Center and Booker T Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She achieved her BFA in Dance in 2020 from the USC Kaufman School of Dance in Los Angeles under the leadership of Jodie Gates. At USC, Kaylin had the opportunity to work closely with and perform works by artists such as William Forsythe, Barak Marshall, Aszure Barton, and Jodie Gates. In 2016, Kaylin was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar of the Arts and National YoungArts Winner in Modern Dance, where she performed at the Kennedy Center in a multi-faceted arts show directed by Debbie Allen. Kaylin has worked professionally with The DASH Ensemble directed by Gregory Dolbashian and is a certified Pilates instructor through the BASI Comprehensive Program. During her time at Ballet BC, she has performed throughout Europe, the USA, and Canada, dancing works by Medhi Walerski, Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar, William Forsythe, Johan Inger, Marco Goecke and Roy Assaf, among others. This is Kaylin’s 5th season with the company!

Lazaro Silva: Began his dance career at the age of 21, at the "Universidade Federal de Sergipe" (Brazil). To continue enhancing his studies, he attended Ballet Celia Duarte Dance School, where he took private ballet classes with his teacher, Klely Perelo, to further improve his technique. In 2018 Lazaro joined Lamondace where he trained for three years at the program and has since been a dancer for the Lamondance Company, directed by Davi Rodrigues.

Throughout his years with Lamondance he has had the pleasure of working with many artists such as Alexis Fletcher, Alex Neoral, Nicolas Ventura, Wen Wei Wang, Yoshito Sakuraba, Lara Barclay, Brandon Lee Alley, Kirsten Wicklund, Heather Dotto, Racheal Prince, Alysa Pires, Heather Laura Gray and Cristina Bucci.

Stan Tonin: (he/him) A dance artist originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 2022, he moved to Vancouver to attend the Arts Umbrella Post-Graduate Dance Program under the direction of Artemis Gordon. During his time at Arts Umbrella, Stan had the privilege of performing works by choreographers including Crystal Pite, Sharon Eyal, Marco Goecke, William Forsythe, Mats Ek, Aszure Barton, Rebecca Margolick, Ethan Colangelo among many others. He also took part in the Young Choreographers Mentorship Project, directed by Crystal Pite, where he contributed as a choreographer. To broaden his artistic development, Stan attended summer intensives with companies such as Ballet BC and Nederlands Dans Theater. In the fall of 2024, he joined Ballet BC Annex, performing works by Medhi Walerski, Micaela Taylor, and Zachary Seto. Stan is honoured and thrilled to be joining Ballet BC as an Emerging Artist for the 2025/2026 season.