Vancouver has a population approaching 4 million, whereas Seattle has a population of 1/2 million ( a little misleading because it does not include the surrounding cities - Bellevue, Tacoma, etc - but still not close to 4 million ), but Pacific Northwest Ballet is a much larger company than BalletBC. I suspect part of this is because of the private donations here, a good part are the Seattle Artistic directors' vision, and the establishment of a school, but still I can't see why Vancouver can't support a large company. they have a nice venue ( Queen Elizabeth Theatre ), a great downtown, and from what I have seen, usually near sold out performances. Interesting, they are both doing Carmina Burana this month. Should be fun to comapre and contrast.
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