National Ballet of Canada
National Ballet of Canada | |
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General information | |
Name | National Ballet of Canada |
Year founded | 1951 |
First artistic director | The National Ballet School of Canada |
Formation |
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The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca , the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 by artistic director Hope Muir. Renowned for its diverse repertoire, the company performs traditional full-length classics, embraces contemporary work and encourages the creation of new ballets, as well as the development of Canadian dancers and choreographers.
The company's repertoire includes works by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, John Cranko, Rudolf Nureyev, John Neumeier, William Forsythe, James Kudelka, Wayne McGregor, Alexei Ratmansky, Crystal Pite, Christopher Wheeldon, Aszure Barton, Guillaume Côté and Robert Binet. The National Ballet tours in Canada and internationally, with appearances in London, Paris, Hamburg, Moscow, St. Petersburg, New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Creation of the National Ballet of Canada
In 1951, the two major ballet companies in Canada were the
English ballet enthusiasts Sheila Bloom, Rosemary Winckley and Patricia Barnes (née Winckley), who were living in Toronto at the time, were responsible for the initial fundraising, which enabled the company to attract its first dancers, choreographers and artistic director. Both Lloyd and Volkoff were interested in being the first artistic director of the company, but the organizers agreed that the only way to ensure an unbiased selection of dancers for the new ballet company was to hire an outsider. They chose British dancer and choreographer Celia Franca, who had many connections within the dance community and had been to Canada only twice at that point, as artistic director.[2]
Franca at first showed little interest in heading this new company; she had refused similar invitations in
In August 1951, what was then The National Ballet Guild of Canada launched its first cross-country audition tour.[4] By the end of the month, the ballet had chosen 29 dancers for the troupe and was rehearsing for their first performance in the St. Lawrence Hall.[5]
For The National Ballet Guild of Canada's early performances, Franca chose classic ballets, as she believed this would allow the dancers to be properly judged by the international dance community.
Development
The company toured Canada extensively, with Franca, Lois Smith and David Adams as its stars.
In 1976, Alexander Grant, former Principal Dancer with London's Royal Ballet and Artistic Director of Ballet for All, became the Artistic Director of the National Ballet. Under his leadership, the company added a number of works by Frederick Ashton to its repertoire. The National Ballet of Canada became the first Canadian company to perform at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London in 1979.
In 1981 the company participated alongside
In 1989, Reid Anderson became the artistic director. He led the company through a difficult economic recession[1] by choreographing traditional ballet pieces while also commissioning Canadian and international choreographers to create contemporary pieces.[9] In 1995, he left the company citing a frustration of the continued funding cuts from the government,[1][10] and the directorship was taken up in 1996 by choreographer James Kudelka.[3]
In 2005, Karen Kain, former Principal Dancer, became Artistic Director of the company. In 2009, Innovation debuted, a mixed programme featuring three world premieres by Canadian choreographers Crystal Pite, Sabrina Matthews and Peter Quanz.[6] In 2011, the company premiered a new version of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet by Alexei Ratmansky. The National Ballet of Canada remains Canada's largest and most influential dance company.
In June 2020, Kain stepped down from the company. The following month, it was announced that Hope Muir will succeed Kain, effective January 1, 2022.[11]
Canada's National Ballet School
The Canada's National Ballet School was founded in 1959 by Celia Franca and Julia Bondy and was directed for many years by co-founder
International recognition
Dancers
Principal Dancers
- Guillaume Côté
- Jurgita Dronina
- Naoya Ebe
- Christopher Gerty
- Spencer Hack
- Koto Ishihara
- Harrison James
- Svetlana Lunkina
- Siphesihle November
- Heather Ogden
- Genevieve Penn Nabity
- Tina Pereira
- Ben Rudisin
- Piotr Stanczyk
Prominent National Ballet dancers
- David Adams
- Darren Anderson
- Aleksandar Antonijevic
- Irene Apinee
- Frank Augustyn
- Mikhail Baryshnikov
- Victoria Bertram
- Anne Ditchburn
- Lorna Geddes
- Kimberly Glasco
- Chan Hon Goh
- Jury Gotshalks
- Rex Harrington
- Greta Hodgkinson
- Vanessa Harwood
- Yoko Ichino
- Margaret Illmann
- Mary Jago
- Karen Kain
- Zdenek Konvalina
- Earl Kraul
- Martine Lamy
- Serge Lavoie
- Yseult Lendvai
- Elena Lobsanova
- Teresa Mann
- Evan McKie
- David Nixon
- Nadia Potts
- Kevin Pugh
- Jeremy Ransom
- Sonia Rodriguez
- David Roxander
- Lois Smith
- Raymond Smith
- Veronica Tennant
- Robert Tewsley
- Martine van Hamel
- Jillian Vanstone
- Gizella Witkowsky
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Crabb, Michael; Cornell, Katherine (2015-03-04). "National Ballet of Canada". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
- ^ ISBN 0-8020-4109-4.
- ^ a b "National Ballet founder dies at 85". Globe and Mail, Sandra Martin, February 19, 2007
- ^ a b Sandra Gwyn (1971). Women in the Arts in Canada. Information Canada. pp. 55–57.
- ^ "Celia Franca". Telegraph. 2007-02-21. Retrieved 2007-07-20.[dead link]
- ^ a b "The National Ballet of Canada". national.ballet.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
- ^ Stephen Godfrey, "Dance Spectacular is just that". The Globe and Mail, May 30, 1981.
- ^ Stephen Godfrey, "Gala: a dance milestone makes a fascinating film". The Globe and Mail, May 1, 1982.
- ^ Crabb, Michael; Cornell, Katherine (2015-03-04). "Reid Bryce Anderson". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
- ^ Citron, Paula (2013-10-10). "Keeping a legacy alive is a labour of love for Reid Anderson". The Globe and Mail. Philip Crawley. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
- ^ Benchetrit, Jenna (July 7, 2021). "National Ballet of Canada names Toronto-born dancer Hope Muir as artistic director". CBC.
- ^ Crabb, Michael. "The National Ballet School of Canada". Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
- ^ Doob, Penelope Reed; Crabb, Michael. "Kain, Karen". Retrieved 2007-07-20.
- ^ "National Ballet's 'Sleeping Beauty' to awaken in new home". CBC.ca. 2006-02-06. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
- ^ Doob, Penelope Reed; Bowring, Amy. "Augustyn, Frank". Retrieved 2007-07-20.
- ^ "Mikhail Baryshnikov archive". New York Public Library. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
- ^ Natalia Makarova, A Dance Autobiography (Knopf 1979), p. 152.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-21.