A dance artist, creator, and producer, Alexis Fletcher (she/her) is the Founding Co-Artistic Director of Belle Spirale Dance Projects, with Sylvain Senez. She danced with Ballet BC for 14 years and subsequently has been a guest artist and Artist in Residence. She is currently a Guest Rehearsal Director at Ballet BC.
As an independent creator and with Belle Spirale, her creations have been supported by Dance Victoria, Ballet BC, Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, and Dancing on the Edge, among others. Belle Spirale is honoured to be a 2023/24 recipient of the Chrystal Dance Prize, and the inaugural recipients of the HYPE Grant from Murray Paterson Arts Marketing for their 2025 World Premiere of UNIVERSUS.
As a dance artist, Alexis is fascinated by how exploring the movement potential of the human body becomes a way of accessing the inner landscapes of spirits and psyches. She believes dance is a unique vehicle to share, research, and discuss humanity, creating powerful connections with audiences.
Sylvain Senez (he/him) is Founding Co-Artistic Director of Belle Spirale Dance Projects and has been active on the professional Canadian dance scene for over 45 years. He danced as a soloist with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Judith Marcuse Dance Company, Coleman Lemieux Company and as a principal artist at Ballet BC. Sylvain also appeared in The Strange Adventure of Myself, a full-length solo created for him by Serge Bennathan.
He has choreographed for Ballet BC choreographic workshop, Dancing on the Edge and Vancouver Opera. He is an accomplished ballet teacher and rehearsal director having worked with The State Ballet of Georgia in Tbilisi, Ballet Kelowna, Charlotte Ballet, Tokyo’s K-Ballet, Arts Umbrella, and others.
As a photographer specializing in dance and portraiture, he has expanded into videography, film and stage design. His stage design work includes Alexis Fletcher’s productions and Belle Spirale’s UNIVERSUS. Sylvain is a 2024 DORA Award Nominee for “Outstanding Achievement in Scenic Design for Dance.”
Raised in Victoria, BC, Ariana Barr (she/her) began her ballet training at the Pacific Dance Centre and has trained nationally and internationally, including at the Arts Umbrella Graduate Program, l’École supérieure de ballet du Québec, Nederlands Dans Theater and the Performance Research Project. While Ariana has established herself as a proud Edmonton-based artist, she has also found opportunities in her off-season to perform with several Vancouver-based companies such as Inverso Productions, Vision Impure, and Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY, among others.
This summer, she participated in a collaborative production between Wen Wei Dance and Compagnia ADARTE on BAROCCO RAVE that premiered in Siena, Italy, at the Ballo Pubblico Festival and toured across western Canada. In 2023, Ariana was announced as a recipient of an Edmonton Artist’s Trust Fund Award in recognition of her ongoing commitment and contribution to the Edmonton arts community. Ariana has been an artist for Ballet Edmonton since 2018.
Victoria Hunter Bell (she/her)(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 Stir recognized “Game Changer” in the 2024 fall arts guide.
Born in Cheam, England, she immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, with her family as a child. She grew up in the East Van arts scene and was a member of several artistic collectives in her teens. As an Anarchist and trans woman, she has deep ties to the politics inherent in creating art, especially live performance. Much of her featured work focuses on contentious issues present today.
She sees her work as focusing on the depth in shadow and its necessity to show detail in light. Working between vibrant colours and muted tones while using physical structures, she infuses her designs into the world of each piece. She wishes her designs to be objects wielded by and into the metaphor of the text.
