Even at the age of seven, Crystal Pite showed remarkable promise as a dancer.
Pite had that certain something, her ballet teacher Maureen Eastick recalled.
“There is an artistry, a purity of movement – she had that from an early age,” she said from Pacific Dance Centre, the Saanich-based school she started 34 years ago.
Eastick taught Pite for 10 years, after which the 17-year-old got on with Ballet B.C. in the late 1980s.
Pite later danced with Ballet Frankfurt, but continued to sharpen her choreographic skills along the way, a talent Eastick also spotted in her.
“Crystal may be exceptional in that she didn’t have the most perfect body for classical ballet, but possessed an amazing choreographical side to her.”
Pite’s 2009 ballet Emergence, is a dark dance she created for the National Ballet.
It will be performed by the company next Tuesday and Wednesday (Sept. 27 and 28) when it visits Victoria for shows at the Royal Theatre.
The 28-minute ballet’s theme explores humankind’s instinct for creating social forms through movement.
It includes 38 dancers who swarm together as a group around an individual.
Three other short dances will also be performed both evenings.
Tickets range from $43 to $75.50 and are available at the Royal and McPherson box offices, by phone at 250-386-6121 or online at www.rmts.bc.ca.
vmoreau@oakbaynews.com
