Banff Centre is creating with deeper meaning.

Dancer Emily Molnar sits on a tree overhanging a river with text overlaying the image.

Emily Molnar's dance career began at age five when she decided to use her parents' couch as a trampoline. Recognizing that Emily needed something to channel her boundless energy into, her Grandma suggested ballet classes. Her mother agreed and not long after Emily set foot in the studio for the first time, instantly falling in love with dance and the movement behind it.

I bought a pair of pointe shoes when I was seven and that was it. I've been in the dance studio every

day of my life since.

Pictures of dancer Emily Molnar performing a contemporary routine.

Emily as a dancer (2004). Photo Credit: Michael Slobodian

While a young girl that loves ballet isn't out of the ordinary, Emily's talent and trajectory certainly was. At 16 she was asked to attend the National Ballet School and just four years later she was asked to join the Frankfurt Ballet. After incredible success in Europe, Emily decided to move back to Canada and dance with Ballet BC - where she's currently the Artistic Director.

It's located at this incredible intersection of

beauty, nature and energy.

Emily Molnar stands in a forest surrounded by lush tall tress.

Photo Credit: Kari Medig

It was during her time as a dancer with Ballet BC that Emily was first exposed to Banff Centre. She vividly recalls the immediate impact it had on her - the mountains and the escape from fast-paced city life allowed her to see her dance in a completely different light. On top of its setting, the opportunity to interact with artists from a variety of disciplines begged new questions and opened a floodgate of new ideas.

Various shots of Emily Molnar interacting with the forest floor. Walking barefoot and touching the spruce trees.

Photo Credit: Kari Medig

Now, many years after her first visit, Emily is also the Artistic Director of Dance at Banff Centre, splitting her time between Ballet BC in Vancouver and the Rockies. Her vision is to keep evolving and exploring what Dance can be, and to do so, she believes it's more important than ever for artists and performers to have the opportunity to delve deeper into their practice.

Banff Centre invites artists to come together and gives them the opportunity to go deeper into their practice.

Romeo + Juliet ballet performance on a black stage. Two dancers in the forefront with a number in the background.

Ballet BC, Romeo + Juliet. Photo Credit: Rita Taylor

And while Emily no longer takes the stage as a dancer, she's channelling the same boundless energy she had as a child into directing and choreographing dance that really means something. In the theatre and beyond.

Emily Molnar posing on a rock sitting on the river front with green branches in the background.

Photo Credit: Kari Medig

Banff Centre is creating with deeper meaning.