Benjamin Hatcher
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Benjamin Hatcher began studying dance at the Académie des Grands Ballets Canadiens in Quebec City when he was eight years old. He continued his training in the ballet concentration program at Pierre Laporte high school in Montreal and later at the École supérieure de danse du Québec. During this period, thanks to study grants from the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1984 and the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 1986 and 1987, he became familiar with the works of choreographers like Lipinski, Paige, Balanchine, and Harkarvy.
Between 1983 and 1986, Mr. Hatcher toured Quebec and Ontario as a dancer with the Ballet Shayda troupe. In 1987, he joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal as an apprentice, becoming a member of the corps de ballet the following year and then a demi-soloist in 1990.
Here, he danced major roles in a number of works, including In Paradisum and Désir (choreographed by James Kudelka), Episodes (George Balanchine), Swan Lake (Ivanov/Petipa), Na Floresta (Nacho Duato), Piccolo Mondo (Gioconda Barbuto), Chez la duchesse (Septime Webre), Black Cake (Hans Van Manen), Before Nightfall (Nils Christe), The Nutcracker (Fernand Nault), The Green Table (Kurt Jooss), and Carmina Burana (Fernand Nault).
More recently, Mr. Hatcher has danced on many occasions for the Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault.
For Mr. Hatcher, art is strongly linked with the spiritual reality of ourselves: “Art is nourishment for the soul. It moves us, creates reactions, provokes strong feelings, stirs our conscience, and ultimately uplifts our spirits. A work of art does not simply observe reality. It is purposeful, inspires us to achieve greater awareness, and brings about change.”1
In May 2001, Mr. Hatcher left Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal to pursue his various choreographic projects, teaching engagements, and other dance projects.
As a choreographer, Mr. Hatcher created his first ballet at the age of 16. Since then, he has choreographed for various companies, including Ballet Jörgen Canada, the Jeune Ballet du Quebec, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Les Sortilèges, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. His choreographic work Summoning, commissioned by his home company, toured the Montreal region in 1993.
In the summer of 1998, Mr. Hatcher was awarded first prize in the choreography competition of the Festival des arts de Saint-Sauveur for his piece De l'argile de l'amour, je t'ai façonné. He returned the following year as an artist-in-residence and created a new work, Taslim, which won critical acclaim when it premiered in August 1999.
The summer of 2002 saw the world premiere of Covenant, which played at the Eric Harvie Theatre in Banff, Alberta, under the auspices of the Banff Centre for the Arts, and for which Mr. Hatcher won the Clifford E. Lee award for choreography.
March 2003 marked a fruitful collaboration with Montreal’s world-renowned Les Sortilèges, a long-established company rooted in folk and ethnic dance. Mr. Hatcher created Om Namaha, a challenging work using as its backdrop the powerful vocal art form Konnakol, as performed by Asian singer Sheila Chandra.
In May 2003, Ballet Jörgen Canada, celebrating its 15th season, premiered Mr. Hatcher’s work The Beatles Go Baroque, a delightful production set to Peter Breiner’s beautiful chamber rearrangements of Beatles classics.
Mr. Hatcher is invited regularly to give master classes and workshops for students and professionals. He also collaborates as a choreographer and performer with Côté cour, Côté jardin, a Montreal-based theatre group devoted to storytelling for children.
“At a time when the future of our world seems particularly bleak, more than ever there is a need for artists to create works of spiritual depth, insight and hope,” he says. “As we embark into a new millenium, I intend, as I always have during the creative process, to bring to fruition the elements of life that move me which, in turn, I hope, will move the spectator.”2