Emerging Artists of Ballet BC and New Coast Players come together for Absence; Creation, February 17
Ballet by Jack Campbell and Antony Knight makes its world premiere at Arts Umbrella

Emerging Artists of Ballet BC: Emanuel Dostine, Briana Del Mundo, Pei Lun Lai, and Eduardo Jimenez Cabrera.
Absence; Creation is at Arts Umbrella on February 17 at 4:30 and 7 pm
A NEW BALLET FEATURES fresh new talent across dance and chamber music.
Making its world premiere on February 17, Absence; Creation is by Vancouver-based composer, violinist, artist, and producer Jack Campbell with choreographer, actor, vocalist, composer, and director Antony Knight.
Exploring themes of death as absence and love as creation—and their inseparable relationship—the work features the Emerging Artists of Ballet BC: Briana Del Mundo, Emanuel Dostine, Eduardo Jimenez Cabrera, and Pei Lun Lai.
In an artists statement, Campbell says absence and creation are constantly reflected in the structures of the work, both via movement and music, “with physical elements constantly being removed and introduced, and the same in the score, with a constant state of sonic addition and subtraction being the formal foundation”.
Playing that music live is a new ensemble of star students from the UBC School of Music, called the New Coast Ensemble.
Campbell is a rising young star on the local arts scene who has created and collaborated in Paris, Berlin, London and Amsterdam. He’s commissioned and premiered over 20 works for solo violin by Canadian composers and his compositional projects aim to build bridges between music and visual arts, dance, and theatre. Projects this year include a solo concert tour in Europe, collaborative work on reconciliation through music with artist Debra Sparrow, and the premiere of a newly commissioned song cycle on LGBTQSIA+ identity. Knight is a baritone who’s studied in Opera Performance and Composition at UBC and has performed with UBC Opera. As a composer, his original piece The Protector of the Okanagan was featured in the VSO’s 2022 Jean Coulthard Readings.
Together with the dancers, they'll explore the two critical forces that connect humans across existence—and provide a chance to check out rising voices in music and dance.
Related Articles
Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane leads an ensemble through his late mother’s final album
The bandleader of the quartet Ronin brings “controlled intensity” to BlueShore at CapU
Jeremy Dutcher also receives the National Arts Centre Award as part of the announcement
Diverse program features songs that evoke feelings of wanderlust, including new arrangements of “Roam” by the B-52s and Billy Joel’s “River of Dreams”
Program hosted by Paolo Pietropaolo features zheng player Dailin Hsieh, flutist Paolo Bortolussi, cellist Jonathan Lo, and pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa
Inspired by the mesmerizing flight patterns of bird flocks, the work makes its Vancouver premiere in partnership with Canada Dance Ice Theatre
Renowned musicians to play compositions by Martinů, Korngold, and Dvořák
The Toronto-based band is a leader in today’s bluegrass music scene
The solo for Jeanette Kotowich addresses the choreographer’s mixed Oji-Cree and Mennonite ancestry
Music director Richard Epp dives into details on Mozart’s score in the comedic opera coming to the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts
Caravan World Rhythms presents the nine-member ensemble, which evokes the beauty of Mongolian grasslands through haunting harmonies and vibrant strings
Trumpet virtuoso Tine Thing Helseth leads the ebullient all-female group
The Ontario-based electronic artist makes a return to the mighty instrument at Vancouver New Music
U.K. artist and experimentalist to host a three-day workshop followed by a collaborative public presentation
The Afro-Colombian dance company headed by Rafael Palacios combines contemporary movement with traditional forms
The distinguished musicians will perform Haydn’s Piano Trio in A major, Beethoven’s Piano Trio in G major, and Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor
This year’s event features a diverse lineup of artists from Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, and B.C.
Pacific Spirit United Church concert features songs about nature, including “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, Handel and J.S. Bach arias, and more
Having its world premiere at the fest, the work merges the ancestral knowledge of mau rākau with contemporary dance
Program features works by composer-in-residence laura hawley, Nico Muhly, Alex Freeman, Matthew Whittall, and Tarik O’Regan
Vancouver Opera production balances heart and absurd humour, with a third act that gets full liftoff
Early Music Vancouver program with Pacific Baroque Orchestra includes a “Fictive Wedding Cantata” that she’s painstakingly compiled from the composer’s lesser-known works
At the Scotiabank Dance Centre, Daina Ashbee’s We learned a lot at our own funeral takes an unblinking, unsettling look at the death of the self; surreal studies make big impacts at Small Stage
Music on Main and the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre bring the Belgian celebration of sound for young audiences to Vancouver
Joan Blackman, Jane Hayes, Julia Nolan, and Jodi Proznick play impressionist, 20th-century, jazz, and tango works
Offerings from the Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs, the VSO, Early Music Vancouver, and more take place on February 14 and 15
This year’s festival features an electric range of revival shows
Company blends exuberant Bollywood dance with jazz, funk, folk, and modern influences
Program blends pop-music choral arrangements with immersive 3D visuals
Monumental triple bill sees the return of Johan Inger’s PASSING along with world premieres from Fernando Hernando Magadan and Andrea Peña