Bringing Oakridge Park to Life Through Ballet
Design in motion.
Oakridge Park (formerly Oakridge Centre) on Vancouver’s west side is undergoing a long-overdue renewal by Westbank and QuadReal. Oakridge has been around since 1959 and the classic shopping centre is being reimagined as a cultural hub to reflect the modern age, in the form of an immersive, natural environment for people to live, work and play. Offering a dozen residential towers, workspace, retail, a community centre and park, a ballet school, and music venues, the new Oakridge Park will reflect the nuances of inspired living.
Designed by Revery Architecture, the Oakridge Park Gallery plays on Vancouver’s ecology and unique urbanity—it is beautiful. The space captivates onlookers and surprises them with its unique grandeur. Ema Peter, esteemed architectural photographer, and Goh Ballet, have recently come together to photograph the Presentation Gallery in a way that brings it to life—capturing the energy and artistry of the space vivified by the medium of dance with one of Goh Ballet’s senior dancers.
The juxtaposition of classical ballet movements and the high-design backdrop enlivens the space as the body and the static forms juxtapose, the ballerina’s effortless movements changing and complementing the perspectival disposition of the design.
Chan Hon Goh, Director of Goh Ballet, who will launch a MasterClass in the new year, describes the experience of the shoot as a rare occasion, “It was lovely to see the dancer’s beautiful poses next to such a distinguished space. The images really tell a story,” Goh says. Through ballet, with its soft and eloquent movements, the dancer was able to show an aspect of the conceptual design of Oakridge as an environment that is meant to host and accentuate bodies and the beauty of movement. It is a design for life, in motion.
The medium of dance is an outlet to express imagination, authenticity, and creativity. No one understands the importance of dance more than Chan Hon Goh. Goh Ballet has just recently released a documentary film, “Reality of a Dream”, which offers an inside look into the world of five of their dancers’ experiences, an inside look into the world of ballet.
