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    National Ballet of Canada 20-21 season

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

     

    The National Ballet of Canada’s 2020/21 Season
    Fall Season 

    Toronto Debut 
    San Francisco Ballet, November 11 – 15, 2020

    The 2020/21 season opens with guest company San Francisco Ballet making its first appearance in Toronto. The world-renowned company will perform three acclaimed works, all from influential choreographers of today. Justin Peck’s Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes offers a fresh interpretation of Aaron Copland’s famous ballet score, dropping the western influences in favour of pure movement. Bound To by Christopher Wheeldon, the celebrated choreographer of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Winter’s Tale, is a poetic work that explores one of the great paradoxes of modern life – how technology and cell phones isolate and distract us rather than foster social interaction. Alexei Ratmansky’s The Seasons is an homage to the seasons with spirited dancing and whimsical, symbolic characters. 

    World Premiere 
    MADDADDAM, A Ballet by Wayne McGregor, November 21 – 29, 2020

    In a collaboration of international significance, Wayne McGregor, choreographer of Chroma and Genus, joins forces with one of the world’s greatest living writers, Margaret Atwood, to create MADDADDAM, a brand new full-length work co-produced and commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada and The Royal Ballet in London. McGregor’s new ballet is based on Atwood’s internationally celebrated trilogy, Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam. Themes of extinction and invention, hubris and humanity are spliced together with aspects of Atwood’s activism and her deep connection to the Canadian landscape, past and present. MADDADDAM brings together the same creative team behind McGregor’s landmark 2015 ballet Woolf Works, inspired by the work of Virginia Woolf, including influential composer Max Richter, lighting designer Lucy Carter, design firm We Not I, film artist Ravi Deepres and dramaturg Uzma Hameed. MADDADDAM will have its UK premiere in 2022.  

    Holiday Season 

    25 Magical Years 
    The Nutcracker, December 10 – January 2, 2021

    Created in 1995 by James Kudelka, The Nutcracker is a holiday favourite that has enchanted over 1.2 million children and adults alike over the past 25 years. Set in rural 19th century Russia, the ballet follows siblings Misha and Marie on a dreamy adventure with their friend Peter/The Nutcracker from their family home to the glittering winter realm of the Snow Queen and finally, the golden palace of the Sugar Plum Fairy. With glorious sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Jennifer Tipton, the ballet is a feast for both the senses and the imagination. 

    Winter Season 

    A Streetcar Named Desire, March 3 – 7, 2021 

    Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play, A Streetcar Named Desire, is the focus of John Neumeier’s ballet. The story follows the demise of Blanche DuBois, a southern belle transplanted into a hostile, impoverished landscape she is unable to accept. Forgoing chronology to delve deep inside the mind of the play’s tortured heroine, Neumeier starts where the play ends, with Blanche alone and staring blankly from her bed in an asylum. The score changes dramatically between the ballet’s two acts, from Sergei Prokofiev’s reflective Visions Fugitives in the first act to the postmodern music of Alfred Schnittke in the second, reflecting the breakdown of Blanche’s fragile psyche. 

    March Break 
    Swan Lake, March 13 – 20, 2021

    Artistic Director Karen Kain adds to her long list of achievements with her new staging of Swan Lake, created in honour of her 50th anniversary with The National Ballet of Canada. This fresh and vibrant staging draws inspiration from Erik Bruhn’s landmark production. Led by an all-female creative team, Swan Lake features fantastical sets and costumes by the renowned designer Gabriela Týlešová and evocative lighting by acclaimed designer Bonnie Beecher. Kain’s adaptation rediscovers the romance and psychological power of Swan Lake as Prince Siegfried and the white swan Odette fall in love in the shadow of Rothbart’s curse. The new production makes its world premiere in June 2020. 

    Frame by Frame, March 24 – 28, 2021

    With the creation of Frame by Frame in 2018, The National Ballet of Canada became the first classical ballet company to collaborate with the inspired Canadian playwright, director and actor, Robert Lepage. Co-created by choreographer and Principal Dancer Guillaume Côté, Frame by Frame is an inventive multidisciplinary work that pays homage to pioneering animator Norman McLaren. McLaren’s work influenced filmmakers worldwide and set new standards for animation during his illustrious career with the National Film Board of Canada. Frame by Frame opens a window into his creative and personal worlds through the use of striking visuals and beautiful movement. 

    Summer Season 

    North American Premiere 
    Victoria, June 5 – 12, 2021 

    Victoria, created by rising star of contemporary ballet Cathy Marston, makes its North American premiere. The full-length story ballet shines the spotlight on British monarch Queen Victoria told through the eyes of her youngest daughter and closest confidante, Princess Beatrice. Famously, Beatrice heavily edited and maintained Victoria’s diaries before they were published and Marston weaves this mother/daughter relationship into the narrative of Victoria’s long reign. Marston has created more than 50 dance works steeped in history, biography and other narrative forms, many of them focused on strong female characters. Victoria, a co-production with Northern Ballet, drew praise at its 2019 world premiere in Leeds and on tour across the UK, including performances at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. Marston co-wrote the scenario for Victoria with Uzma Hameed, an accomplished writer, director and dramaturg for theatre and dance who works extensively with choreographer Wayne McGregor. Victoria features designs by Steffen Aarfing, an original, commissioned score from composer and pianist Philip Feeney and lighting by Alastair West. 

    Balanchine & Tchaikovsky, June 18 – 24, 2021 

    George Balanchine set some of his most beautiful and compelling works to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, returning to the composer many times throughout his career. This programme revives three Balanchine ballets set to Tchaikovsky, each a visualization of music in movement. An iconic Balanchine work, Serenade was his first original ballet in the US and features Tchaikovsky’s beautiful Serenade for Strings in C, Op.48. Mozartiana, the last major work that Balanchine created before his death, is a graceful and intensely musical ballet for seven dancers set to Tchaikovsky’s Suite No. 4. Diamonds is the final section of Balanchine’s triptych Jewels. Featuring Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 3 in D Major, Op.29, elegant choreography and gorgeous white costumes, Diamonds translates Tchaikovsky’s music into refined ballet technique. 

    Touring 

    The Sleeping Beauty, Royal Opera House, London, UK, July 28 – August 1, 2020 

    The National Ballet will tour to the historic Royal Opera House in London, UK for the first time in 41 years. The company will perform one of its most treasured classics, The Sleeping Beauty from July 28 – August 1, 2020 for seven performances. Ms. Kain’s 50th anniversary with the company culminates in this tour to London. An opening night gala evening will be hosted by the UK Friends of The National Ballet of Canada.  

    Swan Lake, National Arts Centre, Ottawa, February 4 – 6, 2021 

    Swan Lake will tour to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa for the company’s annual appearance.  

    • Like 4

    Perils of search and replace

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    I didn't really know which forum to put this in but I found it quite funny so wanted to share it with you all.

    I'm currently writing my brochure for a ballet trip to London in June. I pulled up my brochure for my last trip which happened in May 2017. The very first thing I did was a search and replace to change May to June.

    Then I looked at the text and discovered

    "Royal Ballet performance of Juneerling".

     

    Kenneth MacMillan's lesser known creation :-)

    • Like 12

    English National Ballet 20/21 season

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    3 hours ago, bridiem said:

     

    ?? Florence isn't (or wasn't) that unusual surely? (It was my mother's second name (and she became a nurse!)). I don't know Raymonda sufficiently to judge how this might work, but it does sound intriguing.

    In the mid-19th century Florence was an unusual name. Your mother was almost certainly named that because the name became popular due to the nurse. Here's the history from the Oxford Dictionary of First Names:

    Medieval form of the Latin masculine name Florentius (a derivative of florens ‘blossoming, flourishing’) and its feminine form Florentia. In the Middle Ages the name was commonly borne by men (as, for example, the historian Florence of Worcester), but it is now exclusively a girl's name. This was revived in the second half of the 19th century, being given in honour of Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), the founder of modern nursing, who organized a group of nurses to serve in the Crimean War. She herself received the name because she was born in the Italian city of Florence

    • Like 2

    Next Generation Festival

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    Thank you for this. I had made a note about this festival back when the entire season was announced months ago, then a couple of weeks ago after the latest "upgrade" of the website, there was no mention of it at all anywhere. So I thought I must have been hallucinating when I first saw it, or confused it with last year or something.

    Considering I am planning a ballet trip to London in June, I wish the ROH wouldn't do this!!! Back to the drawing board.

    • Like 1

    National Ballet of Canada at ROH summer 2020

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    Here is the casting for NBOC's upcoming SB shows in Washington DC, which will probably give  you a good idea of what it will be like for London.

    I suspect the choice of SB was also influenced by the fact that they had to prepare it for Washington  as well. They just did Merry Widow last spring here in Toronto but that would mean another whole ballet to rehearse again for this coming July, just after they've premiered a new Swan Lake in Toronto in June.

    Princess Aurora 
    Heather Ogden (January 30, February 1 at 7:30 pm) 
    Jillian Vanstone (January 31 at 7:30 pm/February 2 at 1:30 pm) 
    Emma Hawes* (February 1 at 1:30 pm) 

    Prince Florimund
    Harrison James (January 30, February 1 at 7:30 pm) 
    Francisco Gabriele Frola (January 31 at 7:30 pm/February 2 at 1:30 pm) 
    Guillaume Côté (February 1 at 1:30 pm) 

    King Florestan
    Jonathan Renna (January 30, February 1 at 7:30 pm/February 1 at 1:30 pm) 
    Piotr Stanczyk (January 31 at 7:30 pm/February 2 at 1:30 pm) 

    Queen
    Sophie Letendre+  

    Catalabutte, Master of Ceremonies
    Tomas Schramek (January 30, February 1 at 7:30 pm) 
    Hazaros Surmeyan (January 31 at 7:30 pm/February 1, 2 at 1:30 pm) 

    The Lilac Fairy
    Tanya Howard (January 30, 31, February 1 at 7:30 pm)  
    Stephanie Hutchison (February 1, 2 at 1:30 pm) 

    Carabosse, the Wicked Fairy
    Rebekah Rimsay (January 30, February 1 at 7:30 pm/February 2 at 1:30 pm) 
    Stephanie Hutchison (January 31 at 7:30 pm) 
    Alejandra Perez-Gomez (February 1 at 1:30 pm) 

    Principal Fairy
    Emma Hawes (January 30 at 7:30 pm/February 2 at 1:30 pm)
    Hannah Fischer (January 31, February 1 at 7:30 pm/February 1 at 1:30 pm)  

    Bluebird
    Naoya Ebe (January 30, February 1 at 7:30 pm)  
    Siphesihle November (January 31 at 7:30 pm/February 2 at 1:30 pm)  
    Skylar Campbell (February 1 at 1:30 pm) 

    Princess Florine
    Elena Lobsanova (January 30, February 1 at 7:30 pm) 
    Miyoko Koyasu (January 31 at 7:30 pm) 
    Tina Pereira (February 1 at 1:30 pm) 
    Koto Ishihara* (February 2 at 1:30 pm) 

    Diamond Lady
    Chelsy Meiss (January 30, February 1 at 7:30 pm) 
    Hannah Fischer (January 31 at 7:30 pm/February 2 at 1:30 pm)  
    Jordana Daumec (February 1 at 1:30 pm)  

    Diamond Man
    Donald Thom (January 30, February 1 at 7:30 pm) 
    Brendan Saye* (January 31 at 7:30 pm/February 2 at 1:30 pm) 
    Jack Bertinshaw (February 1 at 1:30 pm) 

     

    • Like 1

    Scottish Ballet 2020 Season and onwards - The Scandal at Mayerling, and others

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Jane S said:

    From an interview with Christopher Hampson by Kelly Apter in The List:

     

    'We're using all of Kenneth's original choreography and the same score,' explains Hampson, 'but there will be some adaptations in terms of the scenes we present, and the order we present them in. So it's two acts rather than three, and because there will be far less pageantry around Rudolf, we'll really focus in on those iconic, key dramatic moments in his life.'

     

    Well hallelujah. I've been saying, and writing, for so long that there could be fine, strong ballets buried inside MacMillan's blockbusters and I'm so pleased someone is trying this!

     

    Hope it's a huge success. Extra doublegood if they drop the brothel scene.

    Dear Lord, does this mean Rudolf will have even less time to catch his breath between all his pas de deux and solos?

    • Like 4
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