2024-02-01 20:002024-02-03 23:5960Canada/Eastern🎟 NAC: Emma Bovary, Angels’ Atlas
https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/33694
In-person event
Mixed program running time:
EMMA BOVARY with the NAC Orchestra– 61 minutes
Intermission – 25 minutes
ANGELS' ATLAS – 27 minutes
The National Ballet of Canada presents a double bill featuring women choreographers.
Emma Bovary by choreographer Helen Pickett
Emma Bovary is a psychological exploration of the central character of Gustave Flaubert’s 19th-century novel Madame Bovary, and...
A note from Caroline Ohrt, Executive Producer, NAC Dance
The National Ballet of Canada is promising a captivating mixed program this week with a striking double bill that is equal parts narrative and contemporary.
Flaubert’s heroine, Emma Bovary, shines through the work of internationally renowned choreographer Helen Pickett in a piece that has been in the National Ballet’s repertoire since the fall. NAC Dance is delighted to present it to you alongside Crystal Pite’s formidable Angels’ Atlas. Originally scheduled in April 2022, this impressive choreographic endeavour brings onstage 35 of the company’s dancers.
The National Ballet’s yearly visit has been a can’t-miss event ever since the NAC opened in June 1969. We wish them the warmest of welcomes and are thrilled that our special partnership with these incredible artists only continues to deepen year after year.
Caroline Ohrt has held a variety of positions in various cultural organizations, acquiring a solid knowledge of the arts ecosystem, management and governance. She has built strong local, national and international professional network which allowed her to present the highest calibre artists from all over the world at the Place des Arts, Danse Danse’s home. While there, she developed many partnerships. She cultivated opportunities for artists and audiences to meet on multiple platforms, whether at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, at the Arsenal art contemporain or virtually. She actively contributed to the growth of the organization and took to heart the support and development of artists, which remains a cornerstone of her work.
She has also held multiple positions in the world of contemporary arts, including with other dance organizations such as Compagnie Marie Chouinard and, more recently, at the Domaine Forget in Saint-Irénée. With a background in art history, Caroline has advised visual arts collectors and carried out assignments at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. She is recognized widely as a person in constant dialogue with the forces that shape contemporary creation.
Recognized for her innovative strategic vision, she is actively involved in the community through her participation on prominent boards and juries. She is vice-president of the Conseil des arts de Montréal and a board member of the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal. Her advice is highly valued for her keen understanding of the cultural milieu and artistic realities.
Le parcours de Caroline Ohrt aura forgé chez elle une solide connaissance de la danse, de l’écosystème des arts, de la gestion et de la gouvernance. Elle a su bâtir un réseau professionnel local, national et international qui lui a permis de présenter des artistes de haut calibre provenant de tous les coins du monde sur les différentes scènes de la Place des Arts.
Son passage à Danse Danse aura été marqué par le développement de partenariats structurants. Elle a cultivé des occasions de rencontres pour les artistes et les publics sur de multiples plateformes, que ce soit au Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, à l’Arsenal art contemporain, ou de façon virtuelle. Elle a activement contribué à la croissance de l’organisme et a à cœur le soutien et le développement des artistes, pierre angulaire de son travail.
Connue dans le milieu des arts contemporains, elle a occupé de multiples fonctions et accompli des mandats auprès d’autres organismes de danse, notamment à la Compagnie Marie Chouinard et, plus récemment, au Domaine Forget de Saint-Irénée. Forte d’une formation en histoire de l’art, Caroline a aussi conseillé des collectionneurs en arts visuels et accompli des mandats au Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. Elle est connue pour être une personne en constant dialogue avec les forces vives de la création actuelle.
Saluée pour sa vision stratégique novatrice, elle s’implique activement dans la communauté en participant à des conseils d’administration et des jurys de renom. Elle est actuellement vice-présidente du Conseil des arts de Montréal et administratrice de l’École de danse contemporaine de Montréal. Ses conseils sont recherchés pour sa fine compréhension du milieu culturel et des réalités artistiques.
A note from Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director, The National Ballet of Canada
We are delighted to be back in Ottawa with a moving program of dance featuring two leading choreographers of our era: Canada’s Crystal Pite and American choreographer Helen Pickett. I have huge admiration for both of these artists and have been fortunate to collaborate with each on multiple projects. It’s especially rewarding to present their work together for the first time for this special engagement at the National Arts Centre.
Both works on this program were created specifically for The National Ballet of Canada, Crystal’s Angels’ Atlas in 2020 and Helen’s Emma Bovary in 2023. While different, each production reflects the unique strengths of our artists and contributes to a distinct identity for the National Ballet as part of our signature repertoire.
Angels’ Atlas and Emma Bovary engage in various modes of storytelling, both narrative and abstract, but at their heart are universally human themes of love and belonging, made vividly alive through exquisite movement and music. I can’t wait for you to experience the powerful worlds that Crystal and Helen have created. On behalf of The National Ballet of Canada, welcome!
Hope Muir is an acclaimed dancer, teacher and director whose 33-year career spans two continents and a range of classical and contemporary styles. Born in Toronto, she is one of the first graduates of Peter Schaufuss’ London Festival Ballet School and a former dancer at the English National Ballet, Rambert Dance Company and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. In 2009, Hope assisted Crystal Pite with the creation of Emergence for The National Ballet of Canada and has since helped to stage the work internationally. She has assisted numerous choreographers in this capacity, staging work by Christopher Bruce, Javier De Frutos and Helen Pickett, among others. Hope is the former Assistant Artistic Director of the Scottish Ballet and in 2017, she was appointed Artistic Director of Charlotte Ballet in North Carolina, where she expanded the repertoire and established the highly successful Choreographic Lab. She assumed the role of Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada on January 1, 2022.
Interprète, enseignante et directrice acclamée, Hope Muir mène depuis 33 ans une carrière qui s'étend à la fois sur le monde classique et contemporain et sur deux continents. Née à Toronto, elle a étudié le ballet à Londres, en Angleterre, à la London Festival Ballet School de Peter Schaufuss et ancienne ballerine de l'English National Ballet, Rambert Dance Company (RDC) et le célèbre Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. En 2009, Hope a aidé Crystal Pite à créer Emergence pour le Ballet national du Canada et a depuis contribué à mettre en scène l'œuvre à l'échelle internationale. Elle a assisté de nombreux chorégraphes à ce titre, mettant en scène des œuvres de Christopher Bruce, Javier De Frutos et Helen Pickett, entre autres. Hope est l'ancienne directrice artistique adjointe du Scottish Ballet et en 2017, elle a été nommée directrice artistique du Charlotte Ballet en Caroline du Nord, où elle a élargi le répertoire et créé le très populaire Choreographic Lab. Elle a accepté le rôle de directrice artistique Joan et Jerry Lozinski du Ballet national du Canada le 1er janvier 2022.
A note from Crystal Pite, Choreographer, Angels’ Atlas
The impetus for this creation came from my partner and set designer Jay Gower Taylor. Through our last few creations, Jay has been developing a system that allows him to manipulate reflected light. Working with lighting designer Tom Visser, they've been discovering a myriad of ways to deliver light to a surface.
The system is analog, made of the simplest materials, yet it manifests complex, painterly images that have the illusion of depth and a sense of the natural world.
There is a quality of controlled chaos about it. The light dances on a pivoting, reflective topography, creating the conditions for the unexpected to appear. For us, this wall of morphing, shifting light is a frontier, a portal, a portrait of the unknown.
When I was a little kid, my uncle and my dad talked to me a lot about the cosmos. Sometimes I would experience a dizzying thrill in brief moments of embodied comprehension: it felt like I was falling within the vastness of it all. They inspired me to wonder about colossal ideas that were, and always will be, beyond my grasp and to approach great unanswerable questions with imagination and creativity.
Working with light in this way reminds me of that feeling of wonder and my longing to lean into the unknowable. The light looks intelligent, awesome. The chaos and beauty of it make me feel small in a thrilling, destabilized way. Small, in the face of unanswerable questions about things like love, death and the infinite.
The movement of the light is mercurial and ephemeral in the same way that choreography is. It reminds me of something the writer and critic Max Wyman said about dance:
It is an artform that simultaneously defines and defies the ephemerality of existence. We have nothing but the body, and soon enough we will not even have the body.
But it is that physicality that speaks so eloquently about the implications of mortality and at the same time voices our defiance.
No other artform speaks so directly about the fragile, temporary quality of life, or about the human instinct to transcend those bonds and aim for that perfect moment of self-realization.
I like to think of the body as a location, a place where being is held and shaped. In this way, dance gives form to the unknown. In the dancing body, the unknown appears as something both familiar and extraordinary. We might possibly catch a glimpse of something eternal. But both the dancers and the dance are temporary: their beauty resonates with meaning because of their impermanence. This is potent for me. I like working in a form that is always in a state of disappearing.
Our dances, like our lives, are built in relationship with time… and by extension, mortality.
I am trying to create something that speaks of our impermanence and ‘voices our defiance’ as Wyman says. Something that evokes a fierce pulse of life. The ephemeral part will take care of itself.
I would like to thank my masterful and inspiring design team: Jay, Tom, Nancy and Owen, and my tireless assistants Spencer and Stephanie. Thank you to Artemis Gordon and the students of Arts Umbrella in Vancouver who helped me prepare and test choreographic material for this creation. Thank you to Karen Kain for giving me this precious opportunity to make and share my work here. Finally, thank you to the beautiful dancers of The National Ballet of Canada, who are truly the lifeblood of this creation.
In a choreographic career spanning three decades, Crystal Pite has created more than 50 works for dance companies in Canada and around the world. She is the founding artistic director of the Vancouver-based company Kidd Pivot, world-renowned for radical hybrids of dance and theatre that are assembled with a keen sense of wit and invention. Crystal is known for works that courageously address such challenging and complex themes as trauma, addiction, conflict, consciousness, and mortality; her bold and original vision has earned her international acclaim and inspired an entire generation of dance artists.
Crystal Pite was born in Terrace, BC, and grew up in Victoria. She began her dance career as a company member of Ballet British Columbia (Ballet BC), then William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt. She made her choreographic debut in 1990 at Ballet BC, and since then has created works for such prominent companies as The Royal Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Cullberg Ballet, Ballett Frankfurt, The National Ballet of Canada, Ballets Jazz Montréal (resident choreographer 2001–04), and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. She has also collaborated with Electric Company Theatre and Robert Lepage, and is currently Associate Choreographer of Nederlands Dans Theater, Associate Dance Artist of Canada’s National Arts Centre, and Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells in London.
In 2002, she formed Kidd Pivot, a company that strives to distill and translate universal questions into artworks that connect us to deep and essential parts of humanity.
“Running through all of my work is the question of what moves us,” she says. Kidd Pivot tours internationally with critically acclaimed works such as Betroffenheit and Revisor (both co-created with playwright Jonathon Young), The Tempest Replica, Dark Matters, Lost Action and The You Show. In 2008, Crystal Pite participated in the inaugural GGPAA Mentorship Program as the protégée of 2004 GGPAA laureate Veronica Tennant, former principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada.
Crystal Pite is a Member of the Order of Canada. Her other awards and honours include the Benois de la Danse, Canada Council Jacqueline Lemieux Prize, Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal, two UK Critics’ Circle Dance Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and an honorary doctorate from Simon Fraser University.
Au cours d’une carrière de chorégraphe qui s’étend sur trois décennies, Crystal Pite a créé plus de 50 œuvres pour des compagnies de danse au Canada et dans le monde entier. Elle est la directrice artistique fondatrice de la compagnie Kidd Pivot de Vancouver, reconnue mondialement pour ses hybridations radicales entre la danse et le théâtre, assemblées avec un sens aigu de l’esprit et de l’invention. Mme Pite est connue pour ses œuvres qui abordent courageusement des thèmes aussi difficiles et complexes que les traumatismes, la toxicomanie, les conflits, la conscience et la mortalité. Sa vision audacieuse et originale lui a valu une reconnaissance internationale et a inspiré toute une génération d’artistes de la danse.
Crystal Pite est née à Terrace, en Colombie-Britannique, et a grandi à Victoria. Elle a commencé sa carrière de danseuse comme membre de la compagnie du Ballet British Columbia (Ballet BC), puis du Ballett Frankfurt de William Forsythe. Elle a fait ses débuts de chorégraphe en 1990 au Ballet BC, et depuis, elle a créé des œuvres pour des compagnies aussi prestigieuses que le Royal Ballet, le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, le Nederlands Dans Theater, le Ballet Cullberg, le Ballett Frankfurt, le Ballet national du Canada, Ballets Jazz Montréal (chorégraphe résidente de 2001 à 2004) et le Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Elle a également collaboré avec l’Electric Company Theatre et Robert Lepage, et est actuellement chorégraphe associée du Nederlands Dans Theater, artiste de danse associée du Centre national des Arts du Canada et artiste associée du Sadler’s Wells à Londres.
En 2002, elle a créé Kidd Pivot, une compagnie qui s’efforce de distiller et de traduire des questions universelles en œuvres d’art qui nous relient à des parties profondes et essentielles de l’humanité.
“La question de savoir ce qui nous touche traverse tout mon travail”, dit-elle.
Kidd Pivot effectue des tournées internationales avec des œuvres acclamées par la critique telles que Betroffenheitet, Revisor (toutes deux co-créées avec le dramaturge Jonathon Young), The Tempest Replica, Dark Matters, Lost Action et The You Show.
En 2008, Crystal Pite a participé au programme inaugural de mentorat des GGPAA en tant que protégée de Veronica Tennant, lauréate des GGPAA en 2004 et ancienne première danseuse du Ballet national du Canada.
Crystal Pite est membre de l’Ordre du Canada. Parmi les autres prix et distinctions qu’elle a reçus, mentionnons le prix Benois de la Danse, le Prix Jacqueline-Lemieux du Conseil des arts du Canada, le Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal, deux Critics’ Circle Dance Awards du Royaume-Uni, quatre prix Laurence Olivier et un doctorat honorifique de l’Université Simon Fraser.
Emma Bovary with the NAC Orchestra– 61 minutes
Intermission – 25 minutes Angels' Atlas – 27 minutes
About Emma Bovary
Hailed as a ‘masterful creator of narrative ballet’, Emma Bovary marks Helen Pickett’s first commission for The National Ballet of Canada. Pickett reimagines Flaubert’s famous novel Madame Bovary from the perspective of Emma herself in this groundbreaking psychological exploration.
With Madame Bovary, first published serially in 1856, French writer Gustave Flaubert created a landmark work of literary realism and a famously complex protagonist in Emma Bovary, an idealistic young woman whose desire to transcend her dull marriage ends in tragedy. Emma’s choices – overspending, infidelity, neglect of her child – tread the line between selfishness and self-preservation and have long made her a divisive figure, as likely to be defended as condemned. Brilliantly, choreographer/director Helen Pickett and director James Bonas have called their new work for The National Ballet of Canada Emma Bovary, liberating Emma from the marital status that eclipses her. This is a ballet from Emma’s perspective; it brings the woman out from the marriage to share her own story.
Things to Know
1. Emma Bovary follows the success of Pickett’s full-length work for Scottish Ballet The Crucible, based on Arthur Miller’s play. The Crucible won a Critics’ Circle Theatre Award and the Herald Angel Award for Choreography in the UK in 2019. For Emma Bovary, Pickett partners with award-winning opera and theatre director James Bonas, as co-director and co-treatment writer. They first worked together on The Crucible and this marks their third collaboration.
2. Emma Bovary does not tell the story of Flaubert’s novel. Rather, it dives into the complex psychology of the title character, a young woman whose attachment to romantic ideals disconnects her from reality, leading to her demise.
3. Pickett has commissioned an original score from Peter Salem, whose work includes award-winning music for the British television series, Call the Midwife. Salem also composed the music for Pickett’s ballet The Crucible.
4. The creative team includes Canadians Bonnie Beecher for lighting design and Michael Gianfrancesco for sets and costumes. They are joined by production designer Anouar Brissel and animator Grégoire Pont, who studied Norman McLaren’s techniques of animation dynamics.
5. This commission is an extension of Hope Muir’s creative relationship with Pickett, having worked on no less than five productions together in Scotland and the US.
Who’s Who: The Characters in Emma Bovary
Emma is a young idealistic woman of ambition and dreams, who yearns for something more than her life and marriage offers her.
Charles, Emma’s husband, is a country doctor who adores his wife but bores her, never truly seeing or challenging Emma.
Madame Bovary, Emma’s mother-in-law, is protective of her son and determined to keep the family together.
Lheureux, a skillful salesman of fancy goods who entices Emma into spending far beyond her means.
Rodolphe, Emma’s lover, is a wealthy local man who is a charming and charismatic serial seducer.
Synopsis
In a small town, the doctor and his wife get ready for a ball. Her husband Charles brings her dress to her and she is thrilled, excited and exalted to step out of her grey marriage and into the light. She is a woman who dreams of bigger things, of romance and revelations, of a life that might yet be. She is Emma Bovary.
At the ball, Emma’s aspirations and dreams are realized and she finds herself swept into the social whirl and the arms of a Viscomte. Charles, delighted with his wife’s happiness, looks on in redundant pleasure.
Back home, under the thumb of her mother in law, Emma cannot breathe. Day by day her humdrum life and its lack of colour ticks by, lifted only by the misbehaving maid Felicité. Charles, the apple of his mother’s eye, assumes all is comfort and bliss.
In the bedroom upstairs, Emma has slipped into the silken sheets of a novel but Charles disturbs her. He looks for comfortable intimacy, she searches for passion and abandon. Failing to find it in the present, she drifts into her imagination and floats away from her reality and into a realm of freedom.
Monsieur Lheureux, a purveyor of fancy goods, with a nice line in sales patter and upholstery, arrives and persuades Emma to replace the empty space of her emotional life with luxury and delight. He offers silks, furniture and the sense of a life she wishes she could be living. Something away from where she is – the imagined future, the possible present. Unmoored from the floor she is free to live in a space where she can be whatever version of herself she desires. She parts with an IOU and acquires a beautiful chair. She places in a special spot and leaves.
Charles’ mother arrives with Berthe, her granddaughter and spots the new and expensive chair. The child, loved by Felicité and her father, is both spurned and needed by Emma. She cannot understand the child’s presence in her life – she cannot form an image of herself as the mother of a daughter whose only option is to grow to be a woman in this limiting and limited world. Her husband has a visitor, a handsome visitor. His name is Rodolphe and Emma’s eyes meet his in a suspended moment. A path is traced before them into the future.
At church, the community gathers and Emma arrives late. She is unsettled and looks for comfort in religion. A moment of epiphany sees a vision of God – a great unveiling of peace and glory. Emma is beatific in this heavenly light – surely, with God’s blessing all will be well. Rodolphe watches. Seeing Emma preparing to leave with her family, he seizes a fragile, fleeting moment alone and allows her to feel the full force of his charm and attention. She is dizzied and they agree to meet.
In the garden at the back of her house, the two lovers find each other. Emma, cautious at first, realizes the ideal version of herself in the silver shadows of the magnolia flowers and in a moonlit night she finds the release, ecstasy and joy in Rodolphe’s arms she yearns for. He finds a new distraction, a new and charming addition to his list of conquests. Emma’s fate is sealed.
Meanwhile, her purchasing has continued unabated and she is now seriously in debt. She visits Lheureux and in a frenzy she buys chair upon chair, issues one IOU after another and unwittingly digs the heavy soil that will come to bury her. Back home, she conceals her purchases from her mother-in-law in a triumph of sleight of hand.
But such highs are hollow and she crashes into an equally deep pit of isolation: from her husband who bores her, from her lover who grows more tired of her by the day, from the shame she feels in the face of the priest and the steady, bubbling fear of the salesman in whose debt she is now dangerously entangled. A web of men who surround her, pull at her and take her freedom.
Back to the day and her affair continues, now dangerously open: in carriages, in the street. Rodolphe is increasingly disinterested – they make a plan to run away but he leaves and walks from her. She is alone.
Emma has fallen into a torpor and Charles takes her to the opera to bring some joy. There she sees Lucia Di Lamamoor and the drama sweeps her up. The music, the sweep of the story and the tragic figure of Lucia – blood soaked and mindless – combines with Emma to create a moment of ecstatic connection. She enters the world of the opera and the world around her slides. Into a nightmare. What is solid, stable, known becomes fluid and she is lost.
Back at home her world fragments – husband, child, family, fears and hopes collide in a disorienting set of visions and she begins to panic. The edges are fraying. Lheureux arrives and finally, terribly calls in his debt. She must pay or he will take everything. All of her beautiful things, her pride and her shame piled high in the street for all to see. And so she runs to Rodolphe for money and finds him in the street – he must help her, must help her find a way out. But he rejects her, disgusted. She pleads, reminds him of their love, their connection, what he felt for her. And her husband looks on, their child in his arms. Rodolphe leaves and Emma’s world finally unravels. There is no choice left but one.
Cast and Characters
Emma Bovary
Conductor
David Briskin
Emma Bovary
Heather Ogden (1, 2)
Jenna Savella (3)
Charles Bovary, Emma’s Husband
Josh Hall (1, 2)
Donald Thom (3)
Felicité, Emma’s Maid
Emerson Dayton (1, 2)
Tirion Law (3)
Berthe, Emma’s Daughter
Sophie Lee, Ross Allen, Emma Ouellet
Rodolphe Boulanger, Emma’s Lover
Christopher Gerty (1, 2)
Harrison James (3)
Monsieur Lheureux, Fancy Goods Salesman
Spencer Hack (1, 2)
Kota Sato (3)
L’Abbé
David Preciado or Scott McKenzie
Felicité’s Boyfriend, Justin
Alexander Skinner
Opera Singer
Chelsy Meiss or Alexandra MacDonald
Lheureux’s Sales Team
Brenna Flaherty, Clare Peterson, Scott McKenzie or Noah Parets, Isaac Wright, Keaton Leier, Jason Ferro
Townspeople/Guests of the Ball
Isabelle Bratt, Emerson Dayton or Tirion Law, Selene Guerrero-Trujillo, Monika Haczkiewicz, Ayano Haneishi, Miyoko Koyasu, Sophie Lee, Arielle Miralles, Emma Ouellet, Tene Ward
Ross Allen, Jason Ferro, Albjon Gjorllaku or Josh Hall, Peng-Fei Jiang, Larkin Miller, Noah Parets or Kota Sato, David Preciado or Scott McKenzie, Alexander Skinner, Konstantin Tkachuk, Aidan Tully
About Angels’ Atlas
Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite created Angels’ Atlas for The National Ballet of Canada in March 2020 to rapturous reviews. The ballet unfolds against a morphing wall of light that carries the illusion of depth and a sense of the natural world. Here, the dancing body becomes a sign of humanity’s impermanence and – equally – its vitality within a vast, unknowable world.
Set to original music by Owen Belton and choral pieces by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Morten Lauridsen, Angels’ Atlas is a profound new work from one of the world’s leading contemporary choreographers.
Things to Know
1. The impetus for Angels’ Atlas came from Crystal Pite’s partner and set designer Jay Gower Taylor who worked with lighting designer Tom Visser to develop an analog method of manipulating reflective light to create complex, painterly images.
2. A quote from writer and critic Max Wyman about dance greatly inspired Pite: “No other artform speaks so directly about the fragile, temporary quality of life, or about the human instinct to transcend those bonds and aim for that perfect moment of self-realization.”
3. Pite wanted Angels’ Atlas to evoke “a fierce pulse of life.” She achieves this in part through the score, which includes electronic music by her longtime collaborator Owen Belton featuring samples of clicking sounds, voices, bells and a heartbeat.
4. Two ethereal choral works bookend Belton’s score: Tchaikovsky’s liturgical Hymn of the Cherubim and Morten Lauridsen’s contemporary work, O Magnum Mysterium. Pite chose vocal works in part because they are tied so irrevocably to the body.
5. Angels’ Atlas won two Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 2020: Crystal Pite for Outstanding New Choreography and Jay Gower Taylor for Outstanding Achievement in Design.
Cast and Characters
Angels’ Atlas
Heather Ogden and Harrison James (1 and 3)
Svetlana Lunkina and Ben Rudisin (2)
Jordana Daumec and Spencer Hack (1, 2)
Chelsy Meiss and Donald Thom (3)
Hannah Galway and Siphesihle November (1, 2)
Hannah Galway and Spencer Hack (3)
Alexandra MacDonald
Spencer Hack and Donald Thom (1)
Spencer Hack and Kota Sato (2)
Kota Sato and Donald Thom (3)
Ross Allen, Isabelle Bratt or Ayano Haneishi, Trygve Cumpston, Jordana Daumec, Shaelynn Estrada, Jason Ferro, Brenna Flaherty, Hannah Galway, Christopher Gerty or Oliver Yonick, Albjon Gjorllaku, Selene Guerrero-Trujillo, Spencer Hack, Monika Haczkiewicz, Jeannine Haller, Harrison James or Ben Rudisin, Peng-Fei Jiang, Tirion Law, Keaton Leier or Scott McKenzie, Alexandra MacDonald, Chelsy Meiss, Larkin Miller, Siphesihle November or David Preciado, Heather Ogden or Svetlana Lunkina, Emma Ouellet, Noah Parets, Clare Peterson or Arielle Miralles, Kota Sato, Jenna Savella, Calley Skalnik, Alexander Skinner, Donald Thom, Tene Ward, Christopher Waters, Isaac Wright
In a choreographic career spanning three decades, Crystal Pite has created more than 50 works for dance companies in Canada and around the world. She is the founding artistic director of the Vancouver-based company Kidd Pivot, world-renowned for radical hybrids of dance and theatre that are assembled with a keen sense of wit and invention. Crystal is known for works that courageously address such challenging and complex themes as trauma, addiction, conflict, consciousness, and mortality; her bold and original vision has earned her international acclaim and inspired an entire generation of dance artists.
Crystal Pite was born in Terrace, BC, and grew up in Victoria. She began her dance career as a company member of Ballet British Columbia (Ballet BC), then William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt. She made her choreographic debut in 1990 at Ballet BC, and since then has created works for such prominent companies as The Royal Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Cullberg Ballet, Ballett Frankfurt, The National Ballet of Canada, Ballets Jazz Montréal (resident choreographer 2001–04), and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. She has also collaborated with Electric Company Theatre and Robert Lepage, and is currently Associate Choreographer of Nederlands Dans Theater, Associate Dance Artist of Canada’s National Arts Centre, and Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells in London.
In 2002, she formed Kidd Pivot, a company that strives to distill and translate universal questions into artworks that connect us to deep and essential parts of humanity.
“Running through all of my work is the question of what moves us,” she says. Kidd Pivot tours internationally with critically acclaimed works such as Betroffenheit and Revisor (both co-created with playwright Jonathon Young), The Tempest Replica, Dark Matters, Lost Action and The You Show. In 2008, Crystal Pite participated in the inaugural GGPAA Mentorship Program as the protégée of 2004 GGPAA laureate Veronica Tennant, former principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada.
Crystal Pite is a Member of the Order of Canada. Her other awards and honours include the Benois de la Danse, Canada Council Jacqueline Lemieux Prize, Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal, two UK Critics’ Circle Dance Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and an honorary doctorate from Simon Fraser University.
Au cours d’une carrière de chorégraphe qui s’étend sur trois décennies, Crystal Pite a créé plus de 50 œuvres pour des compagnies de danse au Canada et dans le monde entier. Elle est la directrice artistique fondatrice de la compagnie Kidd Pivot de Vancouver, reconnue mondialement pour ses hybridations radicales entre la danse et le théâtre, assemblées avec un sens aigu de l’esprit et de l’invention. Mme Pite est connue pour ses œuvres qui abordent courageusement des thèmes aussi difficiles et complexes que les traumatismes, la toxicomanie, les conflits, la conscience et la mortalité. Sa vision audacieuse et originale lui a valu une reconnaissance internationale et a inspiré toute une génération d’artistes de la danse.
Crystal Pite est née à Terrace, en Colombie-Britannique, et a grandi à Victoria. Elle a commencé sa carrière de danseuse comme membre de la compagnie du Ballet British Columbia (Ballet BC), puis du Ballett Frankfurt de William Forsythe. Elle a fait ses débuts de chorégraphe en 1990 au Ballet BC, et depuis, elle a créé des œuvres pour des compagnies aussi prestigieuses que le Royal Ballet, le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, le Nederlands Dans Theater, le Ballet Cullberg, le Ballett Frankfurt, le Ballet national du Canada, Ballets Jazz Montréal (chorégraphe résidente de 2001 à 2004) et le Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Elle a également collaboré avec l’Electric Company Theatre et Robert Lepage, et est actuellement chorégraphe associée du Nederlands Dans Theater, artiste de danse associée du Centre national des Arts du Canada et artiste associée du Sadler’s Wells à Londres.
En 2002, elle a créé Kidd Pivot, une compagnie qui s’efforce de distiller et de traduire des questions universelles en œuvres d’art qui nous relient à des parties profondes et essentielles de l’humanité.
“La question de savoir ce qui nous touche traverse tout mon travail”, dit-elle.
Kidd Pivot effectue des tournées internationales avec des œuvres acclamées par la critique telles que Betroffenheitet, Revisor (toutes deux co-créées avec le dramaturge Jonathon Young), The Tempest Replica, Dark Matters, Lost Action et The You Show.
En 2008, Crystal Pite a participé au programme inaugural de mentorat des GGPAA en tant que protégée de Veronica Tennant, lauréate des GGPAA en 2004 et ancienne première danseuse du Ballet national du Canada.
Crystal Pite est membre de l’Ordre du Canada. Parmi les autres prix et distinctions qu’elle a reçus, mentionnons le prix Benois de la Danse, le Prix Jacqueline-Lemieux du Conseil des arts du Canada, le Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal, deux Critics’ Circle Dance Awards du Royaume-Uni, quatre prix Laurence Olivier et un doctorat honorifique de l’Université Simon Fraser.
Choreographer Helen Pickett, born in San Diego, CA, has created over 60 ballets in the US, UK and Europe. Helen’s upcoming commissions include a short work for Boston Ballet and two full-length narratives for American Ballet Theatre and Het Nationale Ballet. The Crucible, a full-length for Scottish Ballet, won the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award and the Herald Angel Award in the UK and toured to Sadler’s Wells Theatre, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and Spoleto Festival USA. Helen was Resident Choreographer for Atlanta Ballet from 2012 to 2017, danced with William Forsythe’s Ballet Frankfurt from 1987 to 1998 and performed with Wooster Group under the direction of Elizabeth LeCompte from 1998 to 2003. She collaborated as a choreographer and actress with filmmakers, Eve Sussman, Toni Dove and Laurie Simmons.
Between 2020 and 2021, Helen created and produced 12 dance films, including The Air Before Me, which won the Audience Choice Award at Screen Dance International, and Hurley Burley, which was nominated for an Emmy Award, 83 interviews for her YouTube Talk Show Creative Vitality Jam Sessions and founded the Female Choreographer’s Big Round Table, a Zoom discussion panel, with 160 women on the roster.
Helen was Co-Director of the Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Summer Dance Program and leads her think tank workshop Choreographic Essentials.
She earned a Master of Fine Arts from Hollins University and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
La chorégraphe Helen Pickett, née à San Diego, a créé plus de 60 ballets aux États-Unis, au Royaume-Uni et en Europe. Les prochaines commissions d'Helen comprennent une pièce pour le Boston Ballet et deux ballets narratifs intégraux pour l'American Ballet Theatre et le Het Nationale Ballet. The Crucible, un ballet intégral pour Scottish Ballet, a remporté le prix Critics’ Circle Theatre et le prix Herald Angel au Royaume-Uni et a tourné au Sadler’s Wells, au Centre Kennedy à Washington D.C. et au festival Spoleto Festival USA. Helen a été chorégraphe résidente pour le Ballet d’Atlanta de 2012 à 2017, a dansé avec le ballet de William Forsythe à Francfort de 1987 à 1998 et a joué avec Wooster Group sous la direction d’Elizabeth LeCompte de 1998 à 2003. Elle a collaboré en tant que chorégraphe et actrice avec les cinéastes Eve Sussman, Toni Dove et Laurie Simmons.
Entre 2020 et 2021, Helen a créé et produit 12 films de danse, dont The Air Before Me, qui a remporté le prix Audience Choice à Screen Dance International, et Hurley Burley, qui a été nommé pour un prix Emmy, 83 entrevues pour son émission YouTube Creative Vitality Jam Sessions et a fondé la « Female Choreographer's Big Round Table », un panel de discussion Zoom avec 160 femmes.
Helen a été co-directrice du programme de danse contemporaine d’été de Jacob’s Pillow et dirige son atelier « think tank Choreographic Essentials ».
Elle a une maîtrise en beaux-arts de l'Université Hollins et un doctorat honorifique de la School of the Arts de l’Université de Caroline du Nord.
Celia Franca founded The National Ballet of Canada in 1951 with the goal of presenting the best of classical and contemporary ballet. Today the company is among the world’s finest, with 70 dancers, an in-house orchestra and a permanent home at The Walter Carsen Centre in Toronto. The National Ballet has a history of pre-eminent Artistic Directors and, starting January 2022, welcomed new leader 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 choreographers. The company’s repertoire includes works by Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Aszure Barton, Marie Chouinard, John Cranko, William Forsythe, James Kudelka, Wayne McGregor, Kenneth McMillan, John Neumeier, Rudolf Nureyev, Crystal Pite, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon and the company’s Choreographic Associates Robert Binet and Guillaume Côté, among other creators.
In recent years, the National Ballet has become a top destination for creative partnerships and the building and staging of new work. Since 2011, the company’s highly skilled production team has worked from a state-of-the-art facility, The Gretchen Ross Production Centre, to build and store its glorious sets and costumes.
The National Ballet performs three extended engagements at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts each year, augmented by national and international tours. The company has performed in Canada, the USA, the UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Israel, China, Japan, Italy and Mexico, with recent appearances in London, Los Angeles, Paris, Hamburg, Moscow, St. Petersburg, New York City and Washington, D.C.
Reaching audiences beyond the traditional theatre setting is one of the National Ballet’s highest priorities, particularly for children, youth and families. The company has a wide range of age-appropriate community engagement initiatives designed to share the joy and power of dance with young people in schools, hospitals, community settings and homes in ways that are meaningful and rewarding for them. YOU dance is the largest of these programmes and offers FREE workshops and performances to students in grades four through six.
The National Ballet upholds the principles of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all aspects of its work and is taking important steps to better reflect Canada’s cultural diversity throughout the organization, its partners and audiences.
Celia Franca a fondé le Ballet national du Canada en 1951 dans le but de présenter le meilleur du ballet classique et contemporain. Aujourd'hui, la compagnie est parmi les meilleures au monde. Elle compte 70 danseurs, dispose de son propre orchestre et détient une résidence permanente au Walter Carsen Centre à Toronto. Le Ballet national a une histoire de directeurs artistiques de premier plan et, en janvier 2022, a accueilli la nouvelle directrice artistique, Hope Muir.
Reconnue pour son répertoire diversifié, la compagnie interprète des classiques traditionnels, embrasse le travail contemporain et encourage la création de nouveaux ballets ainsi que le développement de chorégraphes canadiens. Le répertoire de la compagnie comprend des œuvres de Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Aszure Barton, Marie Chouinard, John Cranko, William Forsythe, James Kudelka, Wayne McGregor, Kenneth McMillan, John Neumeier, Rudolf Noureev, Crystal Pite, Alexeï Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon et les collaborateurs chorégraphiques Robert Binet, Guillaume Côté et autres.
Au cours des dernières années, le Ballet national est devenu une destination de choix pour les partenariats créatifs, le développement et la mise en scène de nouvelles œuvres. Depuis 2011, l'équipe de production hautement qualifiée de l'entreprise travaille depuis une installation ultramoderne, le centre de production Gretchen Ross, pour construire et entreposer ses magnifiques décors et costumes.
Chaque année, le Ballet national présente une programmation de trois performances et ce, sur une période prolongée au Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts de Toronto en plus de ses tournées nationales et internationales. Depuis sa création, la compagnie s'est produite au Canada, aux États-Unis, au Royaume-Uni, en Allemagne, aux Pays-Bas, en Israël, en Chine, au Japon, en Italie et au Mexique, avec des apparitions récentes à Londres, Los Angeles, Paris, Hambourg, Moscou, Saint-Pétersbourg, New York et Washington, D.C.
Toucher le public au-delà du théâtre traditionnel est l'une des principales priorités du Ballet national, en particulier les enfants, les adolescents et les familles. La compagnie propose un large éventail d'initiatives communautaires adaptées à l'âge et conçues pour partager la joie et la puissance de la danse avec les jeunes dans les écoles, les hôpitaux, les milieux communautaires et les foyers de manière significative et enrichissante pour eux. Le programme YOU dance est le plus important et propose des ateliers et des spectacles GRATUITS aux élèves de la quatrième à la sixième année.
Le Ballet national respecte les principes d'équité, de diversité et d'inclusion (EDI) dans tous les aspects de son travail et prend des mesures importantes pour mieux refléter la diversité culturelle du Canada dans l'ensemble de l'organisation, de ses partenaires et de son public.
Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra is praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary learning and engagement programs, and its unwavering support of Canadian creativity. The NAC Orchestra is based in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital, and has grown into one of the country’s most acclaimed and dynamic ensembles since its founding in 1969. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra reflects the fabric and values of Canada, engaging communities from coast to coast to coast through inclusive programming, compelling storytelling, and innovative partnerships.
Since taking the helm in 2015, Shelley has shaped the Orchestra’s artistic vision, building on the legacy of his predecessor, Pinchas Zukerman, who led the ensemble for 16 seasons. Shelley’s influence extends beyond the NAC. He serves as Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the UK and Artistic and Music Director of Artis—Naples and the Naples Philharmonic in the United States. In addition to his other conducting roles, the Pacific Symphony in Los Angeles’s Orange County announced Shelley’s appointment as its next Artistic and Music Director. The initial five-year term begins in the 2026-2027 season, with Shelley serving as Music Director-Designate from September 2025. Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds and Principal Youth Conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser complement Shelley’s leadership. In 2024, the Orchestra marked a new chapter with the appointment of Henry Kennedy as its first-ever Resident Conductor.
The Orchestra has a rich history of partnerships with renowned artists such as James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Renée Fleming, Hilary Hahn, Jeremy Dutcher, Jan Lisiecki, Ray Chen, and Yeol Eum Son, underscoring its reputation as a destination for world-class talent. As one of the most accessible, inclusive and collaborative orchestras in the world, the NAC Orchestra uses music as a universal language to communicate the deepest of human emotions and connect people through shared experiences.
A hallmark of the NAC Orchestra is its national and international tours. The Orchestra has performed concerts in every Canadian province and territory and earned frequent invitations to perform abroad. These tours spotlight Canadian composers and artists, bringing their voices to stages across North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia.
L’Orchestre du Centre national des Arts (CNA) du Canada est reconnu pour la passion et la clarté de son jeu, ses programmes d’apprentissage et de médiation culturelle visionnaires et son soutien indéfectible à la créativité canadienne. Situé à Ottawa, la capitale nationale, il est devenu depuis sa fondation en 1969 l’un des ensembles les plus encensés et les plus dynamiques du pays. Sous la gouverne du directeur musical Alexander Shelley, l’Orchestre du CNA reflète le tissu social et les valeurs du Canada, nouant des liens avec des communautés de tout le pays grâce à sa programmation inclusive, ses récits puissants et ses partenariats innovants.
Alexander Shelley a façonné la vision artistique de l’Orchestre depuis qu’il en a pris les rênes en 2015, poursuivant sur la lancée de son prédécesseur, Pinchas Zukerman, qui a dirigé l’ensemble pendant 16 saisons. Le maestro Shelley jouit par ailleurs d’une belle renommée qui s’étend bien au-delà des murs du CNA, étant également premier chef d’orchestre associé de l’Orchestre philharmonique royal au Royaume-Uni ainsi que directeur artistique et musical d’Artis—Naples et de l’Orchestre philharmonique de Naples aux États-Unis. Au CNA, Alexander Shelley est épaulé dans son rôle de leader par le premier chef invité John Storgårds et par le premier chef des concerts jeunesse Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser. En 2024, l’Orchestre a ouvert un nouveau chapitre avec la nomination d’Henry Kennedy au nouveau poste de chef d’orchestre en résidence.
Au fil des ans, l’Orchestre a noué de nombreux partenariats avec des artistes de renom comme James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Renée Fleming, Hilary Hahn, Jeremy Dutcher, Jan Lisiecki, Ray Chen et Yeol Eum Son, assoyant ainsi sa réputation d’incontournable pour les talents du monde entier. L’ensemble se distingue à l’échelle internationale par son approche accessible, inclusive et collaborative, misant sur le langage universel de la musique pour communiquer des émotions profondes et nous faire vivre des expériences communes qui nous rapprochent.
Depuis sa fondation en 1969, l’Orchestre du CNA fait la part belle aux tournées nationales et internationales. Il a joué dans toutes les provinces et tous les territoires du Canada et a reçu de nombreuses invitations pour se produire à l’étranger. Avec ces tournées, l’ensemble braque les projecteurs sur les artistes et les compositeurs et compositrices du Canada, faisant retentir leur musique sur les scènes de l’Amérique du Nord, du Royaume-Uni, de l’Europe et de l’Asie.
In a choreographic career spanning three decades, Crystal Pite has created more than 50 works for dance companies in Canada and around the world. She is the founding artistic director of the Vancouver-based company Kidd Pivot, world-renowned for radical hybrids of dance and theatre that are assembled with a keen sense of wit and invention. Crystal is known for works that courageously address such challenging and complex themes as trauma, addiction, conflict, consciousness, and mortality; her bold and original vision has earned her international acclaim and inspired an entire generation of dance artists.
Crystal Pite was born in Terrace, BC, and grew up in Victoria. She began her dance career as a company member of Ballet British Columbia (Ballet BC), then William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt. She made her choreographic debut in 1990 at Ballet BC, and since then has created works for such prominent companies as The Royal Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Cullberg Ballet, Ballett Frankfurt, The National Ballet of Canada, Ballets Jazz Montréal (resident choreographer 2001–04), and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. She has also collaborated with Electric Company Theatre and Robert Lepage, and is currently Associate Choreographer of Nederlands Dans Theater, Associate Dance Artist of Canada’s National Arts Centre, and Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells in London.
In 2002, she formed Kidd Pivot, a company that strives to distill and translate universal questions into artworks that connect us to deep and essential parts of humanity.
“Running through all of my work is the question of what moves us,” she says. Kidd Pivot tours internationally with critically acclaimed works such as Betroffenheit and Revisor (both co-created with playwright Jonathon Young), The Tempest Replica, Dark Matters, Lost Action and The You Show. In 2008, Crystal Pite participated in the inaugural GGPAA Mentorship Program as the protégée of 2004 GGPAA laureate Veronica Tennant, former principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada.
Crystal Pite is a Member of the Order of Canada. Her other awards and honours include the Benois de la Danse, Canada Council Jacqueline Lemieux Prize, Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal, two UK Critics’ Circle Dance Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and an honorary doctorate from Simon Fraser University.
Choreography, Emma BovaryHelen Pickett
Choreographer Helen Pickett, born in San Diego, CA, has created over 60 ballets in the US, UK and Europe. Helen’s upcoming commissions include a short work for Boston Ballet and two full-length narratives for American Ballet Theatre and Het Nationale Ballet. The Crucible, a full-length for Scottish Ballet, won the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award and the Herald Angel Award in the UK and toured to Sadler’s Wells Theatre, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and Spoleto Festival USA. Helen was Resident Choreographer for Atlanta Ballet from 2012 to 2017, danced with William Forsythe’s Ballet Frankfurt from 1987 to 1998 and performed with Wooster Group under the direction of Elizabeth LeCompte from 1998 to 2003. She collaborated as a choreographer and actress with filmmakers, Eve Sussman, Toni Dove and Laurie Simmons.
Between 2020 and 2021, Helen created and produced 12 dance films, including The Air Before Me, which won the Audience Choice Award at Screen Dance International, and Hurley Burley, which was nominated for an Emmy Award, 83 interviews for her YouTube Talk Show Creative Vitality Jam Sessions and founded the Female Choreographer’s Big Round Table, a Zoom discussion panel, with 160 women on the roster.
Helen was Co-Director of the Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Summer Dance Program and leads her think tank workshop Choreographic Essentials.
She earned a Master of Fine Arts from Hollins University and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
FeaturingThe National Ballet of Canada
Celia Franca founded The National Ballet of Canada in 1951 with the goal of presenting the best of classical and contemporary ballet. Today the company is among the world’s finest, with 70 dancers, an in-house orchestra and a permanent home at The Walter Carsen Centre in Toronto. The National Ballet has a history of pre-eminent Artistic Directors and, starting January 2022, welcomed new leader 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 choreographers. The company’s repertoire includes works by Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Aszure Barton, Marie Chouinard, John Cranko, William Forsythe, James Kudelka, Wayne McGregor, Kenneth McMillan, John Neumeier, Rudolf Nureyev, Crystal Pite, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon and the company’s Choreographic Associates Robert Binet and Guillaume Côté, among other creators.
In recent years, the National Ballet has become a top destination for creative partnerships and the building and staging of new work. Since 2011, the company’s highly skilled production team has worked from a state-of-the-art facility, The Gretchen Ross Production Centre, to build and store its glorious sets and costumes.
The National Ballet performs three extended engagements at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts each year, augmented by national and international tours. The company has performed in Canada, the USA, the UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Israel, China, Japan, Italy and Mexico, with recent appearances in London, Los Angeles, Paris, Hamburg, Moscow, St. Petersburg, New York City and Washington, D.C.
Reaching audiences beyond the traditional theatre setting is one of the National Ballet’s highest priorities, particularly for children, youth and families. The company has a wide range of age-appropriate community engagement initiatives designed to share the joy and power of dance with young people in schools, hospitals, community settings and homes in ways that are meaningful and rewarding for them. YOU dance is the largest of these programmes and offers FREE workshops and performances to students in grades four through six.
The National Ballet upholds the principles of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all aspects of its work and is taking important steps to better reflect Canada’s cultural diversity throughout the organization, its partners and audiences.
FeaturingNAC Orchestra
Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra is praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary learning and engagement programs, and its unwavering support of Canadian creativity. The NAC Orchestra is based in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital, and has grown into one of the country’s most acclaimed and dynamic ensembles since its founding in 1969. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra reflects the fabric and values of Canada, engaging communities from coast to coast to coast through inclusive programming, compelling storytelling, and innovative partnerships.
Since taking the helm in 2015, Shelley has shaped the Orchestra’s artistic vision, building on the legacy of his predecessor, Pinchas Zukerman, who led the ensemble for 16 seasons. Shelley’s influence extends beyond the NAC. He serves as Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the UK and Artistic and Music Director of Artis—Naples and the Naples Philharmonic in the United States. In addition to his other conducting roles, the Pacific Symphony in Los Angeles’s Orange County announced Shelley’s appointment as its next Artistic and Music Director. The initial five-year term begins in the 2026-2027 season, with Shelley serving as Music Director-Designate from September 2025. Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds and Principal Youth Conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser complement Shelley’s leadership. In 2024, the Orchestra marked a new chapter with the appointment of Henry Kennedy as its first-ever Resident Conductor.
The Orchestra has a rich history of partnerships with renowned artists such as James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Renée Fleming, Hilary Hahn, Jeremy Dutcher, Jan Lisiecki, Ray Chen, and Yeol Eum Son, underscoring its reputation as a destination for world-class talent. As one of the most accessible, inclusive and collaborative orchestras in the world, the NAC Orchestra uses music as a universal language to communicate the deepest of human emotions and connect people through shared experiences.
A hallmark of the NAC Orchestra is its national and international tours. The Orchestra has performed concerts in every Canadian province and territory and earned frequent invitations to perform abroad. These tours spotlight Canadian composers and artists, bringing their voices to stages across North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia.
Guillaume Côté is a native of Lac-Saint-Jean, Québec. He studied at Canada’s National Ballet School and joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1999. He quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2004.
Since then, Mr. Côté has danced most of the major classical roles with the National Ballet of Canada and has been the leading male figure of the company. He has had several lead roles created on him notably the role of Romeo in Alexei Ratmansky’s new Romeo and Juliet, Prince Charming in James Kudelka’s Cinderella, and the role of Gene Kelly in Derek Deane’s production of Strictly Gershwin, for the English National Ballet. He has also worked closely with such dance icon as Roland Petit, John Neumeier, William Forsythe, Christopher Wheeldon and Crystal Pite.
As a guest artist, Mr. Côté has danced with The Royal Ballet, Bolshoi Theatre, American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Teatro alla Scala, English National Ballet, the Mikhailosky Theater of St-Petersburg, New York City Ballet, Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, Berlin’s Staatsoper, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Stuttgart Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, the Alberta Ballet, Verona Opera and the South African Ballet Theater. Mr. Côté has also performed in numerous international galas.
In 2013, in addition to his position as a Principal Dancer, Mr. Côté assumed the role of Choreographic Associate with The National Ballet of Canada and today eight of his works are part of the company’s repertoire. In 2012, his work Enkeli won the Audience Choice Award for Best Choreography at The Tenth International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize. That same year, his work for ProArteDanza, Fractals: a pattern of chaos, was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography. In 2013, his work Being and Nothingness entered The National Ballet of Canada’s repertoire and after its initial success, the work is extended and presented in 2015 and again in 2019 during an international tour ending in Russia. Mr. Côté’s first full-length ballet, Le Petit Prince, was presented during the National Ballet’s 2016 season in front of sold-out houses. In 2017, Mr. Côté was chosen to participate in the landmark National Arts Centre Commission Encount3rs, pairing three of Canada’s outstanding choreographic talents with three of the country’s most exciting composers performing together with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. In June of 2018, Mr. Côté created in collaboration with the famed Director Robert Lepage, Frame by Frame, a new full-length evening presented at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto. In 2019, he creates Crypto, an independent full-evening work presented on a national tour of 20 performances.
In 2021, Guillaume Côté founded his own company Côté Danse focused on the multidisciplinary creation of innovative works with the mission of making dance seen and experienced differently. In the summer of 2021, he created +(dix), presented at the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur and then at the Fall for Dance North in Toronto. Also in 2021, he created Touch with Thomas Payette, an immersive multidisciplinary work that was presented 83 times in Toronto to sold-out houses.
In 2011, Mr. Côté was awarded “La médaille de l’Assemblée Nationale du Québec” for his work in the arts. In September 2014, Mr. Côté was named the Artistic Director of the Festival des Arts de Saint Sauveur, the largest summer dance festival in the country. In 2021, Mr. Côté was appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec, the highest distinction given by the government of Quebec..
Guillaume Côté est originaire du Lac-Saint-Jean, au Québec. Après des études à l’École nationale de ballet du Canada, il devient membre du Ballet national du Canada en 1999 et en est promu danseur principal en 2004. Depuis, il a interprété la plupart des grands rôles au sein de la compagnie et en a été le danseur masculin le plus reconnu. Il a eu plusieurs rôles principaux créés spécialement pour lui, dont Roméo, dans Roméo et Juliette d’Alexei Ratmansky, le Prince dans Cendrillon de James Kudelka et Gene Kelly dans la production Strictly Gershwin de Derek Deane. Il a aussi travaillé personnellement avec plusieurs icônes de la danse, dont Roland Petit, John Neumeier, William Forsythe, Christopher Wheeldon et Crystal Pite.
En tant qu’artiste invité, Côté a dansé pour le Théâtre Bolchoï, Royal Ballet, l’American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, le Teatro alla Scala, l’English National Ballet, le Théâtre Mikhailovsky de Saint-Pétersbourg, le Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, le Staatsoper de Berlin, New York City Ballet, le Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, le Stuttgart Ballet, le Hamburg Ballet, l’Alberta Ballet, le Verona Opera et le South African Ballet Theatre. Il s’est également produit dans de nombreux galas internationaux.
En 2013, Guillaume Côté est nommé chorégraphe associé du Ballet national du Canada et huit de ses pièces font maintenant partie du répertoire de la compagnie. En 2012, sa pièce Enkeli remporte le Prix du public à la 10e Erik Bruhn Competition. La même année, Fractals : A Pattern of Chaos, créé pour la compagnie torontoise Pro Arte Danza, est en nomination pour le prix Dora Mavor Moore de la meilleure chorégraphie. En 2013, Being and Nothingness entre au répertoire du Ballet national du Canada et après son premier succès, la pièce est allongée et présentée en 2015 ainsi qu’en 2019 pour une tournée internationale qui termine en Russie. Le premier ballet intégral de Guillaume Côté d’après Le petit prince de Saint-Exupéry a lieu au Ballet national du Canada en 2016 à guichets fermés. En 2017, il crée une nouvelle pièce pour Rencontr3s au Centre national des Arts à Ottawa qui associait trois grands chorégraphes canadiens à trois des compositeurs parmi les plus fascinants du pays, dont la musique était interprétée par l’Orchestre du CNA. En juin 2018, M. Côté crée, en collaboration avec le metteur en scène Robert Lepage, la pièce intégrale Frame By Frame au Four Seasons Centre à Toronto. En 2019, il crée Crypto, une oeuvre intégrale indépendante qui sera présentée dans une tournée pancanadienne de plus de 20 spectacles.
En 2021, Guillaume Côté fonde sa propre compagnie Côté Danse axée sur la création multidisciplinaire d’oeuvres novatrices avec comme mission de faire voir et vivre la danse autrement. Il crée dès l’été 2021, +(dix), présenté au Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur et par la suite au Fall for Dance North à Toronto. Toujours en 2021, il crée Touch avec Thomas Payette de Mirari, une oeuvre multidisciplinaire immersive qui fut présentée 83 fois à Toronto devant des salles combles.
En 2011, M. Côté reçoit la médaille de l’Assemblée nationale pour sa contribution dans les arts. Il est directeur artistique du Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur depuis septembre 2014.
En 2021, M. Côté a été nommé Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec, la plus haute distinction décernée par le gouvernement du Québec.
Born: Saratov, Russia
Trained: National M.K Čiurlionis School of Art in Lithuania and Munich International Ballet Academy in Germany
Royal Swedish Ballet: 2005 – 2010
Het Nationale Ballet: 2010 – 2015
Resident Principal Guest Artist with The Hong Kong Ballet: 2015 – 2017
Lead Principal Dancer with English National Ballet: 2017 – 2020
Joined as Principal Dancer: 2015
Née à : Saratov, Russie
Formatoin : National M.K Čiurlionis School of Art en Lituanie et Munich International Ballet Academy en Allemagne
Royal Swedish Ballet: 2005 – 2010
Het Nationale Ballet: 2010 – 2015
Artiste en résidence avec The Hong Kong Ballet : 2015 – 2017
Première danseuse avec le English National Ballet : 2017 – 2020
Danseuse principale depuis : 2015
Born: Watford, England
Trained: Newcastle Dance Academy in Australia, New Zealand School of Dance and San Francisco Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2014
First Soloist since: 2022
Sponsored by Ms. Nancy Viner & Dr. Raymond Stein
Né à : Watford, Angleterre
Formation : Newcastle Dance Academy en Australie, New Zealand School of Dance et San Francisco Ballet School
Début avec la compagnie : 2014
Premier soliste depuis : 2022
Born: Nagoya, Japan
Trained: Shiho Kanazawa Ballet School in Japan, The HARID Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida and San Francisco Ballet School
Joined as a First Soloist: 2019
Principal Dancer since: 2021
Née à : Nagoya, Japan
Formation : Shiho Kanazawa Ballet School au Japon, The HARID Conservatory à Boca Raton, Floride et San Francisco Ballet School
Début en tant que première soliste : 2019
Danseuse principale depuis : 2021
Born: Paraparaumu, New Zealand
Trained: San Francisco Ballet School’s Trainee Program and New Zealand School of Dance
Joined National Ballet: 2013
Principal Dancer since: 2016
Sponsored by Lucy White
Né à : Paraparaumu, New Zealand
Formation : San Francisco Ballet School’s Trainee Program et la New Zealand School of Dance
Début avec la compagnie : 2013
Danseur principal depuis : 2016
Born: Toronto, Ontario
Trained: Richmond Academy of Dance in British Columbia
Joined: 1998
Principal Dancer since: 2005
Né à : Toronto, Ontario
Formation : Académie de danse de Richmond en Colombie-Britannique
Début avec la compagnie : 1998
Danseuse principale depuis : 2005
Born: Casco, Michigan
Trained: Main Stage Center for the Arts in Michigan and Canada's National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2018
Principal Dancer since: 2022
Sponsored by George & Kathy Dembroski
Née à : Casco, Michigan
Formation : Main Stage Center for the Arts au Michigan et la National Ballet School du Canada
Début avec la compagnie : 2018
Danseuse principale depuis : 2022
Born: Woodbridge, Virginia
Trained: North Carolina School of the Arts and Houston Ballet II
Joined National Ballet: 2013
Principal Dancer since: 2021
Sponsored by Sylvie Allard & Brian O'Keefe
Né à : Woodbridge, Virginie
Formation : North Carolina School of the Arts et la Houston Ballet II
Début avec la compagnie : 2013
Danseur principal depuis : 2021
Born: Sydney, Australia
Trained: Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy in Australia and the Tanz Akademie Zürich in Switzerland
Joined National Ballet: 2011
First Soloist since: 2018
Sponsored by an anonymous donor
Né à : Sydney, Australie
Formaton : Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy en Australie et la Tanz Akademie Zürich en Suisse
Début avec la compagnie : 2011
Premier soliste depuis : 2018
Born: New York City, New York
Trained: Studio Maestro in New York and Canada’s National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2003
First Soloist since: 2015
Née à : New York, New York
Formation : Studio Maestro à New York et la National Ballet School du Canada
Début avec la compagnie : 2003
Première soliste depuis : 2015
Born: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Trained: Place des Arts in Coquitlam, British Columbia and Canada's National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2015
First Soloist since: 2021
Sponsored by Devida & Derek Smith
Née à : Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Formation : Place des Arts à Coquitlam, Colombie-Britannique et la National Ballet School du Canada
Début avec la compagnie : 2015
Première soliste depuis : 2021
Born: Calgary, Alberta
Trained: International School of Ballet in Calgary and Boston Ballet School’s Trainee Program
Joined National Ballet: 2007
First Soloist since: 2016
Sponsored by an anonymous donor
Née à : Calgary, Alberta
Formation : International School of Ballet à Calgary et Boston Ballet School’s Trainee Program
Début avec la compagnie : 2007
Première soliste depuis : 2016
Born: Melbourne, Australia
Trained: Karen Curlis School of Dance, Thelma Williams School of Dance, The Victorian College of The Arts in Australia and The Australian Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2008
First Soloist since: 2015
Sponsored by Anne-Marie Canning
Née à : Melbourne, Australie
Formation : Karen Curlis School of Dance, Thelma Williams School of Dance, The Victorian College of The Arts en Australie et The Australian Ballet School
Début avec la compagnie : 2008
Première soliste depuis : 2015
Born: Vancouver, British Columbia
Trained: DanceWest and Lavrova Classical Ballet Academy in British Columbia and Canada’s National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2004
First Soloist since: 2015
Sponsored by Elvio & Marlene DelZotto
Née à : Vancouver, Colombie-Britannique
Formation : DanceWest et Lavrova Classical Ballet Academy en Colombie-Britannique et Canada’s National Ballet School
Début avec la compagnie : 2004
Première soliste depuis : 2015
Born: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Trained: Tulsa Balllet Academy and Canada’s National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2014
First Soloist since: 2021
Sponsored by an anonymous donor
Née à : Tulsa, Oklahoma
Formation : Tulsa Balllet Academy et la National Ballet School du Canada
Début avec la compagnie : 2014
Première soliste depuis : 2021
Born: Kanata, Ontario
Trained: Linda Jamison School of Dance in Ottawa and The Royal Ballet Upper School in London
Joined National Ballet: 2015
First Soloist since: 2019
Né à : Kanata, Ontario
Formation : Linda Jamison School of Dance à Ottawa et The Royal Ballet Upper School à Londres
Début avec la compagnie : 2015
Premier soliste depuis : 2019
Born: Mexico City, Mexico
Trained: The National Ballet School of Mexico and Canada's National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2007
Second Soloist since: 2022
Née à : Mexico, Mexique
Formation : The National Ballet School of Mexico et la National Ballet School du Canada
Début avec la compagnie : 2007
Deuxième soliste depuis : 2022
Born: Champaign, Illinois
Trained: Champaign-Urbana Ballet Academy and Canada's National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2017
Second Soloist since: 2021
Sponsored by Donna Meyers & Doug Richmond
Née à : Champaign, Illinois
Formation : Champaign-Urbana Ballet Academy et la National Ballet School du Canada
Début avec la compagnie : 2009
Deuxième soliste depuis : 2015
Born: Chiba, Japan
Trained: Hashimoto Ballet and Shimada Ballet Institute in Japan and Canada's National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2011
Second Soloist since: 2018
Née à : Chiba, Japon
Formation : Hashimoto Ballet, Shimada Ballet Institute au Japon et la National Ballet School du Canada
Début avec la compagnie : 2011
Deuxième soliste depuis : 2018
Born: Los Angeles, California
Trained: The School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in New York City, New York
Joined National Ballet: 2016
Corps de Ballet since: 2018
Né à : Los Angeles, California
Formation : The School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School à New York, New York
Début avec la compagnie : 2016
Corps de ballet depuis : 2018
Born: Tokyo, Japan
Trained: Shimura Ballet School in Japan and Canada's National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2012
Second Soloist since: 2019
Sponsored by Tony Arrell, c.m. & Anne Arrell
Né à : Tokyo, Japon
Formation : Shimura Ballet School au Japon et la National Ballet School du Canada
Début avec la compagnie : 2012
Deuxième soliste depuis : 2019
Born: Steubenville, Ohio
Trained: Arenas Dance Company in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in Pennsylvania and the School of American Ballet in New York City, New York
Joined National Ballet: 2020
Corps de ballet since: 2022
Né à : Steubenville, Ohio
Formation : Arenas Dance Company de Moon Township, Pennsylvanie, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre en Pennsylvanie et la School of American Ballet à New York, New York
Début avec la compagnie : 2020
Corps de ballet depuis : 2022
Born: Des Moines, Iowa
Trained: School of Classical Ballet and Dance in Des Moines, Iowa, Orlando Ballet School in Florida and San Franncisco Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2012
Corps de Ballet since: 2013
Né à : Des Moines, Iowa
Formation : School of Classical Ballet and Dance à Des Moines, Iowa, Orlando Ballet School en Floride et la San Francisco Ballet School
Début avec la compagnie depuis : 2012
Corps de ballet depuis : 2013
Born: Nacogdoches, Texas
Trained: Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program in New York City, New York and The Rock School for Dance Education Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Corps de Ballet since: 2019
Née à : Nacogdoches, Texas
Formation : Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program à New York, New York et The Rock School for Dance Education Philadelphia, Pennsylvanie
Corps de ballet depuis : 2019
Born: Buffalo, New York
Trained: Classical Ballet of Western New York in Williamsville, New York and Canada's National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2019
Corps de Ballet since: 2022
Née à : Buffalo, New York
Formation : Classical Ballet of Western New York à Williamsville, New York et la National Ballet School du Canada
Début avec la compagnie : 2019
Corps de ballet depuis : 2022
Born: Las Vegas, Nevada
Trained: Nevada Ballet Theatre, Kwak Ballet Academy, Tara Foy's Elite Ballet and Nevada School of Dance in Las Vegas, Nevada and Royal Winnipeg Ballet School
Corps de Ballet since: 2019
Née à : Las Vegas, Nevada
Formation : Nevada Ballet Theater, Kwak Ballet Academy, Tara Foy's Elite Ballet, Nevada School of Dance à Las Vegas, Nevada et l'École du Royal Winnipeg Ballet
Corps de ballet depuis : 2019
Born: Seoul, South Korea
Trained: Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and Canada's National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2019
Corps de Ballet since: 2022
Née à : Séoul, Corée du Sud
Formation : École du Royal Winnipeg Ballet School et la National Ballet School du Canada
Début avec la compagnie : 2019
Corps de ballet depuis : 2022
Born: Ottawa, Ontario
Trained: The School of Dance in Ottawa and Canada's National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2017
Corps de Ballet since: 2018
Sponsored by Anne & David LeGresley
Né à : Ottawa, Ontario
Formation : The School of Dance à Ottawa et la National Ballet School du Canada
Début avec la compagnie : 2017
Corps de ballet depuis : 2018
Born: Donetsk, Ukraine
Trained: Kyiv State Ballet College
Eifman Ballet: 2010-2011
Mariinsky Theatre: 2011-2013
Mikhailovsky Theatre: 2013-2022
Corps de Ballet since: 2022
Né à : Donetsk, Ukraine
Formation : Kyiv State Ballet College
Eifman Ballet : 2010-2011
Mariinsky Theatre : 2011-2013
Mikhailovsky Theatre : 2013-2022
Corps de ballet depuis : 2022
Born: Sydney, Australia
Trained: Canberra Fesetival Ballet School in Australia, The Australian Ballet School and European School of Ballet in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Joined National Ballet: 2018
Corps de Ballet since: 2019
Sponsored by Michelle & Duncan Sinclair
Née à : Sydney, Australie
Formation : Canberra Fesetival Ballet School en Australia, The Australian Ballet School et la European School of Ballet à Amsterdam, Pays-Bas
Début avec la compagnie : 2018
Corps de ballet depuis : 2019
Born: Belleville, Ontario
Trained: Quinte Ballet School of Canada in Belleville and Canada's National Ballet School
Joined National Ballet: 2015
Corps de Ballet since: 2019
Né à : Belleville, Ontario
Formation : Quinte Ballet School of Canada à Belleville et la National Ballet School du Canada
Début avec la compagnie : 2015
Corps de ballet depuis : 2019
Choreographer Helen Pickett, born in San Diego, CA, has created over 60 ballets in the US, UK and Europe. Helen’s upcoming commissions include a short work for Boston Ballet and two full-length narratives for American Ballet Theatre and Het Nationale Ballet. The Crucible, a full-length for Scottish Ballet, won the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award and the Herald Angel Award in the UK and toured to Sadler’s Wells Theatre, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and Spoleto Festival USA. Helen was Resident Choreographer for Atlanta Ballet from 2012 to 2017, danced with William Forsythe’s Ballet Frankfurt from 1987 to 1998 and performed with Wooster Group under the direction of Elizabeth LeCompte from 1998 to 2003. She collaborated as a choreographer and actress with filmmakers, Eve Sussman, Toni Dove and Laurie Simmons.
Between 2020 and 2021, Helen created and produced 12 dance films, including The Air Before Me, which won the Audience Choice Award at Screen Dance International, and Hurley Burley, which was nominated for an Emmy Award, 83 interviews for her YouTube Talk Show Creative Vitality Jam Sessions and founded the Female Choreographer’s Big Round Table, a Zoom discussion panel, with 160 women on the roster.
Helen was Co-Director of the Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Summer Dance Program and leads her think tank workshop Choreographic Essentials.
She earned a Master of Fine Arts from Hollins University and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
La chorégraphe Helen Pickett, née à San Diego, a créé plus de 60 ballets aux États-Unis, au Royaume-Uni et en Europe. Les prochaines commissions d'Helen comprennent une pièce pour le Boston Ballet et deux ballets narratifs intégraux pour l'American Ballet Theatre et le Het Nationale Ballet. The Crucible, un ballet intégral pour Scottish Ballet, a remporté le prix Critics’ Circle Theatre et le prix Herald Angel au Royaume-Uni et a tourné au Sadler’s Wells, au Centre Kennedy à Washington D.C. et au festival Spoleto Festival USA. Helen a été chorégraphe résidente pour le Ballet d’Atlanta de 2012 à 2017, a dansé avec le ballet de William Forsythe à Francfort de 1987 à 1998 et a joué avec Wooster Group sous la direction d’Elizabeth LeCompte de 1998 à 2003. Elle a collaboré en tant que chorégraphe et actrice avec les cinéastes Eve Sussman, Toni Dove et Laurie Simmons.
Entre 2020 et 2021, Helen a créé et produit 12 films de danse, dont The Air Before Me, qui a remporté le prix Audience Choice à Screen Dance International, et Hurley Burley, qui a été nommé pour un prix Emmy, 83 entrevues pour son émission YouTube Creative Vitality Jam Sessions et a fondé la « Female Choreographer's Big Round Table », un panel de discussion Zoom avec 160 femmes.
Helen a été co-directrice du programme de danse contemporaine d’été de Jacob’s Pillow et dirige son atelier « think tank Choreographic Essentials ».
Elle a une maîtrise en beaux-arts de l'Université Hollins et un doctorat honorifique de la School of the Arts de l’Université de Caroline du Nord.
James Bonas is a traditional storyteller for the modern age.
His most recent operatic projects include staging Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos for the Theater Magdeburg, the French premiere of Abrahamsen’s The Snow Queen for Opéra national du Rhin and Jonathan Dove’s Flight for The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. James’ work with illustrator Grégoire Pont has also been particularly well-received, with their productions of Orff’s Der Mond, Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges and L’heure espagnole performing worldwide. Their production of Bernstein’s Candide at Welsh National Opera in 2023 has been a recent highlight.
In ballet, James recent successes include The Crucible with Helen Pickett for Scottish Ballet and Dive with Sophie Laplane, which was featured at the La Biennale di Venezia and won the Grand Jury Prize at Cinedans 2022. Plans further ahead include new creations for Scottish Ballet, Het Nationale Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.
At the BBC Proms, James has staged Stravinsky’s L’histoire du soldat, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and a Glass/Handel project in collaboration with Anthony Roth-Constanzo. Their 2023 season saw James return with Aurora Orchestra, staging Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.
Le metteur en scène britannique James Bonas se forme en philosophie et en psychologie à l'Université d'Oxford puis étudie le métier de comédien avant de développer sa carrière de metteur en scène. Son répertoire s'étend du théâtre classique à l'opéra. Il s'intéresse également aux œuvres contemporaines et à l'utilisation de vidéo et d'animations dans ses mises en scène. Il collabore avec des metteurs en scène tels que Rufus Norris, Terry Gilliam, Tom Morris et Simon McBurney pour des projets comme The Death of Klinghoffer (English National Opera et Metropolitan Opera de New York), A Dog's Heart et Benvenuto Cellini pour l'ENO, Hansel et Gretel pour le Festival de Glyndebourne, l'Opéra de Seattle et le Théâtre Royal de Madrid. Il collabore régulièrement avec l'illustrateur Grégoire Pont, avec qui il conçoit une production de L'Enfant et les sortilèges et L'Heure espagnole de Ravel à l'Opéra national de Lyon, reprise en 2019 avec l'Orchestre symphonique de San Francisco, à l'Opéra Royal d'Oman, à l'Opéra de Limoges et à Cincinnati. Il met en scène un ballet narratif The Crucible pour le Ballet d'Écosse, et collabore à cette occasion avec la chorégraphe Helen Pickett et le compositeur Peter Salem pour l'ouverture du Festival d'Édimbourg en 2019. Il participe à la création mondiale de l'opéra Silent City à Matera, met en scène L'Étoile (Chabrier) au Théâtre national de São Carlos de Lisbonne, un diptyque comprenant Gianni Schicchi et Les Mamelles de Tirésias en Écosse, une mise en scène de L'Histoire du Soldat (Stravinsky) pour les BBC Proms, Hansel et Gretel pour l'Opéra national de Bergen ou encore Les Contes d'Hoffmann pour l'English Touring Opera. Récemment, il retrouve l'illustrateur Grégoire Pont pour la création de La Lune (Carl Orff) à l'Opéra national de Lyon. Il met en scène Le Comte Ory au Théâtre national de São Carlos de Lisbonne et collabore avec Damon Albarn sur la création de la pièce multidisciplinaire Le Vol du Boli au Théâtre du Châtelet. Il fait ses débuts à l'OnR.
Peter has carved a very successful career for himself as a widely respected score composer who possesses the very rare ability of being able to write for any idiom. Whether it’s film, television, theatre, ballet or concert hall, Peter has constantly proved he is a composer of true expertise, innate understanding and uncompromising quality of output.
His diverse projects include four seasons of the highly acclaimed BBC series, Call the Midwife, two beautifully toned BBC productions: Cider with Rosie and Five Daughters, both for the acclaimed director Philippa Lowthorpe. He also scored the hugely successful documentary series Francesco’s Venice and Simon Schama’s, The Power of Art: Caravaggio; all works for which he produced wonderfully evocative and attention grabbing scores.
Peter is very much in demand among ballet companies and choreographers following a number of hugely successful and high-profile productions including Broken Wings for English National Ballet and The Little Prince for Ballet X. His full-length ballet score, Camino Real, based on Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece of the same name, was premiered by Atlanta Ballet.
Peter Salem s’est forgé une brillante carrière de compositeur, doté du rare talent de pouvoir écrire des partitions pour n’importe quel idiome. Que ce soit pour le cinéma, la télévision, le théâtre, le ballet ou la salle de concert, cet éminent compositeur fait constamment montre, dans ses productions, d’un savoir-faire sans faille, d’un esprit pénétrant et d’un souci de qualité sans compromis.
Parmi ses divers projets, mentionnons quatre saisons de la série à succès Call the Midwife de la BBC, ainsi que deux autres productions admirables de la BBC : Cider with Rosie et Five Daughters, toutes deux de la célèbre réalisatrice Philippa Lowthorpe. Il a également signé la musique des séries documentaires Francesco’s Venice et The Power of Art: Caravaggio de Simon Schama, qui ont connu un énorme succès et pour lesquelles il a écrit des partitions merveilleusement évocatrices et envoûtantes.
Il est très demandé par les compagnies de ballet et les chorégraphes à la suite d’un certain nombre de productions triomphales et très médiatisées, dont Broken Wings pour l’English National Ballet et The Little Prince pour le Ballet X. Sa partition de ballet intégrale Camino Real, d’après le chef-d’œuvre homonyme de Tennessee Williams, a été créée par l’Atlanta Ballet.
Grégoire Pont uses animation to make classical music accessible to a wider audience. He developed a new performance concept, Cinesthetics, where he animates live to a musical performance. He has toured concert halls worldwide collaborating with such conductors as Kazushi Ono, Kent Nagano, Alexandre Bloch, Marko Letonja and François-Xavier Roth.
He has received critical acclaim for his operatic work, namely his productions of Orff’s Der Mond, Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges in collaboration with James Bonas for Opéra National de Lyon. He has also animated celebrated productions of Carmen with Orchestre National de Lille, Abrahamsen’s The Snow Queen at Opera National du Rhin (also with staging by James Bonas) and Hänsel und Gretel at Cologne Opera. Recent successes include Candide at Welsh National Opera.
Grégoire also illustrates children’s books, notably Les Excalibrius, and has produced animations for television, educational shorts and music videos, most recently collaborating with ballet dancer My’Kal Stromile in New Studios’ CATCH ME.
Grégoire Pont utilise l'animation comme moyen de rendre la musique classique accessible à un plus grand public. Il a créé un nouveau concept de spectacle baptisé « Cinesthetics », où il dessine et anime des images en direct sur scène. Il a effectué des tournées dans des salles de concert de partout à travers le monde en collaborant avec des chefs d'orchestre tels que Kazushi Ono, Kent Nagano, Alexandre Bloch, Marko Letonja et François-Xavier Roth.
Il a reçu des acclamations critiques pour ses œuvres opératiques, notamment Der Mond de Carl Orff, L'heure espagnole de Ravel et L’enfant et les sortilèges en collaboration avec James Bonas pour l'Opéra National de Lyon. Il a également signé les animations pour les productions primées de Carmen au Nouveau Siècle de Lille, La reine des neiges de Hans Abrahamsen à l'opéra du Rhin de Strasbourg (aussi en collaboration avec James Bonas) et Hansel et Gretel à l'opéra de Cologne. Des succès récents incluent Candide à l'Opéra national gallois.
Grégoire illustre également des livres pour enfants, notamment Les Excalibrius, et a produit des animations pour la télévision, des courts métrages éducatifs et des vidéos musicales, plus récemment en collaboration avec la danseuse de ballet My’Kal Stromile dans CATCH ME de New Studios.
Michael Gianfrancesco’s set and costume designs for theatre, musical theatre, opera, and dance have been seen across Canada, in Europe, and in the United States. His multifaceted designs include period, contemporary, conceptual, and site-specific work. He has worked in repertory with the Stratford Festival for 19 seasons and the Shaw Festival for 10 seasons.
Michael has designed productions for the Canadian Opera Company, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Opera Atelier, Canadian Stage Company, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Citadel Theatre, Centaur Theatre, Theatre Calgary, The Grand Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Against the Grain, Mirvish Productions, The Segal Centre, Studio 180, Young People’s Theatre, and Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, among others. Some recent productions include sets for Richard II and Chicago at the Stratford Festival, Jasper at the off-broadway Signature Theatre in New York City, the costumes for Ricciardo e Zoraide at the Rossini Festival in Italy, Frame by Frame created by Robert Lepage and Guillaume Côté with Ex Machina and the National Ballet of Canada, and the world premiere of the opera Hadrian by Rufus Wainwright and Daniel McIvor at the Canadian Opera Company. Michael’s set design for Cabaret at the Shaw Festival, directed by Peter Hinton, was featured at the Prague Quadrennial for Performance Design and Space in 2015.
michaelgianfrancesco.com
Les décors et les costumes de Michael Gianfrancesco pour le théâtre, la comédie musicale, l’opéra et la danse ont été vus partout au Canada, en Europe et aux États-Unis. Ses conceptions scéniques à multiples facettes embrassent aussi bien les œuvres d’époque que les créations contemporaines, conceptuelles et adaptées au lieu. Il a œuvré dans le théâtre de répertoire pendant dix-neuf saisons avec le Festival de Stratford, et dix saisons avec le Festival Shaw.
Il a créé des conceptions scéniques pour la Compagnie d’opéra canadienne (COC), Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, l’Opera Atelier, la Canadian Stage Company, le Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, le Citadel Theatre, le Centaur Theatre, Theatre Calgary, The Grand Theatre, le Tarragon Theatre, Against the Grain, Mirvish Productions, The Segal Centre, le Studio 180, le Young People’s Theatre, le Théâtre du Nouveau Monde et plusieurs autres. Parmi les plus récentes productions auxquelles il a collaboré, mentionnons ses décors pour Richard II et Chicago au Festival de Stratford, et pour Jasper dans une production off-Broadway du Signature Theatre à New York, de même que ses costumes pour Ricciardo e Zoraide au Festival Rossini en Italie, Frame by Frame, une création de Robert Lepage et Guillaume Côté avec Ex Machina et le Ballet national du Canada, et la création mondiale de l’opéra Hadrian de Rufus Wainwright et Daniel McIvor à la Compagnie d’opéra canadienne. Son décor pour Cabaret au Festival Shaw, dans une mise en scène de Peter Hinton, a été présenté à la Quadriennale de Prague en scénographie et en architecture théâtrales en 2015.
Bonnie Beecheris a lighting designer from Toronto, Canada. She has designed the lighting for over 350 productions for theatre, opera and dance. For The National Ballet of Canada, Bonnie designed the lighting for The Weight of absence and one hundred word for snow, both choreographed by Dominique Dumais.
Her work has been seen in most theatres in Canada including The Shaw Festival, The Stratford Festival, The Canadian Opera, Opera Atelier, Soulpepper Theatre, The National Arts Centre, The National Ballet of Canada, Tarragon Theatre, The Segal, The Citadel, and Ballet British Columbia. International work includes lighting designs for The Dutch National Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Glimmerglass Opera, The Versailles Royal Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Royal Shakespeare Company, The New Zealand Opera, The Dortmund Ballet, The Royal Flanders Ballet, Ballet du Rhin in Mulhouse, The State Ballet of Georgia, and Ballet Im Revier in Germany.
Bonnie also designed the lights for 7 world premieres for The Stuttgart Ballet, and collaborated with the Kevin O'Day Ballet in Mannheim, Germany for 14 seasons from 2002 to 2016 where she designed the lighting for more than 25 world premieres for the company. Bonnie has received 15 Dora award nominations and has won the award twice.
Bonnie Beecherest une conceptrice d’éclairages de Toronto, au Canada. Pour le Ballet national du Canada, Bonnie a conçu les éclairages pour Le Poids de l'absence et one hundred word for snow, deux chorégraphies de Dominique Dumais.
Elle a conçu les éclairages de plus de 350 productions de théâtre, d’opéra et de danse. Son travail a été présenté dans la plupart des théâtres du Canada et, notamment, au Festival Shaw, au Festival de Stratford, à l’Opéra canadien, à l’Opera Atelier, au Soulpepper Theatre, au Centre national des Arts, au Ballet national du Canada, au Tarragon Theatre, au Segal, à la Citadelle et au Ballet British Columbia. Sur le plan international, elle a conçu les éclairages du Dutch National Ballet, de l’American Ballet Theatre, du Glimmerglass Opera, de l’Opéra royal de Versailles, du Pacific Northwest Ballet, de la Royal Shakespeare Company, de l’Opéra de Nouvelle-Zélande, du Dortmund Ballet, du Royal Flanders Ballet, du Ballet du Rhin à Mulhouse, du State Ballet of Georgia et du Ballet Im Revier en Allemagne.
Bonnie a également conçu les éclairages de sept créations mondiales pour le Ballet de Stuttgart et a collaboré pendant 14 saisons (2002-2016) avec le Kevin O’Day Ballet à Mannheim, en Allemagne, compagnie pour laquelle elle a conçu les éclairages de plus de 25 créations mondiales. Bonnie a reçu 15 nominations au prix Dora et a remporté ce prix à deux reprises.
Anouar Brissel is a self-taught artist who is passionate about all forms of art that arouse his imagination. A video artist and photographer, he also explores drawing and musical composition.
In 2006, with the Gradus Ad Musicam, he created his first projections for Dogora by Étienne Perruchon at Salle Poirel in Nancy and Carmina Burana in 2007.
In 2016, he met James Bonas and Grégoire Pont at Opéra National de Lyon. During their successful collaboration, they created L’heure espagnole (2018), Der Mond (2020) at the Opéra National de Lyon and The Snow Queen for Opéra national du Rhin (2021). He worked on Gianni Schicchi, L’elisir d’amore and Don Pasquale for Festival Napa Valley with Jean Romain Vesperini from 2021 to 2023, as well as Une autre histoire de Manon at Opéra de Saint-Étienne with Claire Manjarrès in 2023 and Ariadne auf Naxos at Theater Magdeburg - Opernhaus with James Bonas in 2023.
Anouar’s latest production is The Rite of Spring with Aurora Orchestra for the BBC Proms.
Anouar Brissel est un autodidacte passionné par toutes les formes d’arts qui éveillent son imagination. Vidéaste et photographe, il s’essaie au dessin et à la composition musicale.
Son aventure commence avec Dogora, en 2006, d'Étienne Perruchon à Nancy pour le Gradus Ad Musicam, puis avec Carmina Burana l'année suivante.
En 2016, Anouar Brissel rencontre James Bonas et Grégoire Pont à l’Opéra de Lyon où il débute sa carrière en tant qu’assistant-vidéaste pour L’Enfant et les sortilèges. De cette première collaboration s’en suivront trois créations : L’heure espagnole et Der Mond à l’Opéra de Lyon et Snow Queen à l'Opéra du Rhin en 2021. Sa dernière production est L’Elisir d’amore, mise en scène par Jean-Romain Vesperini pour le San Francisco Napa Valley Festival de 2022. Anouar Brissel a collaboré avec de nombreux metteurs en scène tels que Georges Lavaudant, Richard Brunel, Sam Brown, Claus Guth, Waut Koeken, Pierrick Sorin, Yoshi Oïda...
Music Director and Principal Conductor of The National Ballet of Canada since 2006, David Briskin is widely recognized as one of contemporary ballet’s most accomplished conductors.
Prior to moving to Canada, David lived and worked for 23 years as a conductor in New York City, working in opera, ballet and in concert. He conducted for seven years with American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City Center and in major opera houses throughout the world and was a seasonal conductor for New York City Ballet. In addition, he has conducted for nearly all the major North American ballet companies.
Highly in demand internationally as a guest conductor, David has appeared with The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, The Royal Swedish Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet and Hamburg Ballet. He has collaborated and conducted many important world premieres including Alexei Ratmansky’s Romeo and Juliet, Christopher Wheeldon and Joby Talbot’s The Winter’s Tale and Wayne McGregor and Max Richter’s MADDADDAM. He has worked closely with composers Missy Mazzoli and Lera Auerbach and has served as Music Director for the Nureyev Legend and Legacy Gala at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, which is available on Marquee TV. Last season, he conducted the highly acclaimed concert production of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music at Koerner Hall.
David has appeared with orchestras and opera companies throughout Europe, Asia and North America including the Pittsburgh, Detroit, Baltimore, Cincinnati Pops, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Windsor and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras, as well as Calgary Opera, Manitoba Opera, Opera Carolina, Lake George Opera and Sarasota Opera, among others.
Over the years David has been extremely active in arts education. In 2008, he was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Music where he taught conducting and served as Director of Orchestral Activities and Conductor of the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra until 2015. He was Conductor for the Juilliard School’s Dance Division for 13 years and has mentored several young and emerging conductors.
David has served on juries for the Ontario Arts Council, the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto and Sir Ernest MacMillan Memorial Foundation. He has been a strong advocate for musical life in Toronto speaking publicly on behalf of the National Ballet, Luminato Festival and the University of Toronto, among others.
David Briskin est largement reconnu comme l’un des chefs les plus accomplis de la scène du ballet contemporain. Avant de s’établir au Canada, il a travaillé à New York pendant 23 ans comme chef d’orchestre pour l’opéra, le ballet et la musique symphonique. Au fil d’une collaboration de sept ans, il a notamment été au podium pour des représentations de l’American Ballet Theatre au Metropolitan Opera en plus d’avoir été chef d’orchestre de saison pour le New York City Ballet. Pendant 13 ans, il a dirigé en tant que chef d'orchestre The Juilliard School's Dance Division et a collaboré avec presque toutes les grandes compagnies de ballet d’Amérique du Nord. Très prisé à l’international, il se produit régulièrement avec le Royal Ballet, le Ballet royal de Suède, le Ballet royal du Danemark et le Ballet d'Hambourg. Il a été directeur musical pour le Nureyev Legend and Legcy Gala à Londres qui peut être écouté sur la chaîne Marquee TV. Les engagements de cette saison incluent Het Nationale Ballet et une production de A Little Night Musicau Koerner Hall. On a pu voir David Briskin sur les scènes européennes, asiatiques et nord-américaines en compagnie des orchestres symphoniques de Pittsburgh, Detroit, Baltimore, Cincinnati (Pops), Indianapolis, Windsor et Shanghai, ainsi que des opéras de Calgary, du Manitoba, de la Caroline du Nord, du lac George et de Sarasota, entre autres.
In a choreographic career spanning three decades, Crystal Pite has created more than 50 works for dance companies in Canada and around the world. She is the founding artistic director of the Vancouver-based company Kidd Pivot, world-renowned for radical hybrids of dance and theatre that are assembled with a keen sense of wit and invention. Crystal is known for works that courageously address such challenging and complex themes as trauma, addiction, conflict, consciousness, and mortality; her bold and original vision has earned her international acclaim and inspired an entire generation of dance artists.
Crystal Pite was born in Terrace, BC, and grew up in Victoria. She began her dance career as a company member of Ballet British Columbia (Ballet BC), then William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt. She made her choreographic debut in 1990 at Ballet BC, and since then has created works for such prominent companies as The Royal Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Cullberg Ballet, Ballett Frankfurt, The National Ballet of Canada, Ballets Jazz Montréal (resident choreographer 2001–04), and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. She has also collaborated with Electric Company Theatre and Robert Lepage, and is currently Associate Choreographer of Nederlands Dans Theater, Associate Dance Artist of Canada’s National Arts Centre, and Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells in London.
In 2002, she formed Kidd Pivot, a company that strives to distill and translate universal questions into artworks that connect us to deep and essential parts of humanity.
“Running through all of my work is the question of what moves us,” she says. Kidd Pivot tours internationally with critically acclaimed works such as Betroffenheit and Revisor (both co-created with playwright Jonathon Young), The Tempest Replica, Dark Matters, Lost Action and The You Show. In 2008, Crystal Pite participated in the inaugural GGPAA Mentorship Program as the protégée of 2004 GGPAA laureate Veronica Tennant, former principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada.
Crystal Pite is a Member of the Order of Canada. Her other awards and honours include the Benois de la Danse, Canada Council Jacqueline Lemieux Prize, Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal, two UK Critics’ Circle Dance Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and an honorary doctorate from Simon Fraser University.
Au cours d’une carrière de chorégraphe qui s’étend sur trois décennies, Crystal Pite a créé plus de 50 œuvres pour des compagnies de danse au Canada et dans le monde entier. Elle est la directrice artistique fondatrice de la compagnie Kidd Pivot de Vancouver, reconnue mondialement pour ses hybridations radicales entre la danse et le théâtre, assemblées avec un sens aigu de l’esprit et de l’invention. Mme Pite est connue pour ses œuvres qui abordent courageusement des thèmes aussi difficiles et complexes que les traumatismes, la toxicomanie, les conflits, la conscience et la mortalité. Sa vision audacieuse et originale lui a valu une reconnaissance internationale et a inspiré toute une génération d’artistes de la danse.
Crystal Pite est née à Terrace, en Colombie-Britannique, et a grandi à Victoria. Elle a commencé sa carrière de danseuse comme membre de la compagnie du Ballet British Columbia (Ballet BC), puis du Ballett Frankfurt de William Forsythe. Elle a fait ses débuts de chorégraphe en 1990 au Ballet BC, et depuis, elle a créé des œuvres pour des compagnies aussi prestigieuses que le Royal Ballet, le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, le Nederlands Dans Theater, le Ballet Cullberg, le Ballett Frankfurt, le Ballet national du Canada, Ballets Jazz Montréal (chorégraphe résidente de 2001 à 2004) et le Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Elle a également collaboré avec l’Electric Company Theatre et Robert Lepage, et est actuellement chorégraphe associée du Nederlands Dans Theater, artiste de danse associée du Centre national des Arts du Canada et artiste associée du Sadler’s Wells à Londres.
En 2002, elle a créé Kidd Pivot, une compagnie qui s’efforce de distiller et de traduire des questions universelles en œuvres d’art qui nous relient à des parties profondes et essentielles de l’humanité.
“La question de savoir ce qui nous touche traverse tout mon travail”, dit-elle.
Kidd Pivot effectue des tournées internationales avec des œuvres acclamées par la critique telles que Betroffenheitet, Revisor (toutes deux co-créées avec le dramaturge Jonathon Young), The Tempest Replica, Dark Matters, Lost Action et The You Show.
En 2008, Crystal Pite a participé au programme inaugural de mentorat des GGPAA en tant que protégée de Veronica Tennant, lauréate des GGPAA en 2004 et ancienne première danseuse du Ballet national du Canada.
Crystal Pite est membre de l’Ordre du Canada. Parmi les autres prix et distinctions qu’elle a reçus, mentionnons le prix Benois de la Danse, le Prix Jacqueline-Lemieux du Conseil des arts du Canada, le Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal, deux Critics’ Circle Dance Awards du Royaume-Uni, quatre prix Laurence Olivier et un doctorat honorifique de l’Université Simon Fraser.
Owen Belton lives in Vancouver, Canada and graduated from Simon Fraser University with a degree in Fine and Performing Arts (concentration Music). He has been composing for dance for the last 25 years as well as creating sound design and music for live theatre for the past 15 years. Owen has created pieces for The Paris Opera, Ballet Nuremberg, Electric Company Theatre, The Arts Club, as well as Nederlands Dans Theatre and Kidd Pivot.
Établi à Vancouver, Owen Belton a obtenu un diplôme en beaux-arts et arts de la scène (concentration musique) à l’Université Simon Fraser en 1993. Voilà maintenant 25 ans qu’il compose pour la danse, et 15 ans qu’il travaille en conception sonore et musicale pour le théâtre. Il signe des créations pour le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, le Ballet de Nuremberg, l’Electric Company Theatre, l’Arts Club, le Nederlands Dans Theater et, Kidd Pivot.
As a scenic designer Jay Gower Taylor has collaborated with Crystal Pite since 2008, creating onstage environments for works such as Figures inExtinction [1.0], The Statement, Parade, Plot Point, Frontier, Solo Echo, In the Event and Partita for 8 Dancers, for Nederlands Dans Theater 1; Emergence and Angels’ Atlas (a co-production with Zurich Ballet) for the National Ballet of Canada; Polaris for Sadler’s Wells; The Seasons’ Canon and Body and Soul for The Paris Opera Ballet; and Flight Pattern / Light of Passage for The Royal Ballet. For Pite’s own company, Kidd Pivot, he designed Dark Matters, The Tempest Replica, Betroffenheit, and most recently, Revisor.
Comme scénographe, Jay Gower Taylor collabore avec Crystal Pite depuis 2008, créant des environnements scéniques pour des productions comme Figures in Extinction [1.0], The Statement, Parade, Plot Point, Frontier, Solo Echo, In the Event et Partita for 8 Dancers (Nederlands Dans Theater 1); Emergence et Angels’ Atlas (Ballet de Zurich et Ballet national du Canada); Polaris (Sadler’s Wells de Londres); The Seasons’ Canon et Body and Soul (Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris); et Flight Pattern / Light of Passage (Royal Ballet de Londres). Pour la compagnie de Crystal Pite, Kidd Pivot, il a conçu la scénographie des œuvres Dark Matters,The Tempest Replica, Betroffenheit et, plus récemment, Revisor.
Reflective Light Backdrop Design and Lighting Design
Tom Visser
Tom Visser has been working since 2004 as a lighting designer in productions by Johan Inger, Crystal Pite, Stijn Celis, Medhi Walerski, Peeping Tom and Alexander Ekman. His lighting designs have been seen in Nederlands Dans Theater, Royal Opera House, Sydney Dance Company and Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, among others. In addition to his work for the stage, Tom has created art installations and projects with interactive media.
Tom Visser travaille depuis 2004 en tant qu'éclairagiste et signe des éclairages originaux pour plusieurs chorégraphes, dont Johan Inger, Crystal Pite, Stijn Celis, Medhi Walerski, Peeping Tom et Alexander Ekman. Il a travaillé dans le secteur de la danse avec le Nederlands Dans Theater, le Royal Opera House, la Sydney Dance Company et le Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, entre autres. En plus de son travail pour les arts de la scène, Tom a créé des installations artistiques et des projets en médias interactifs.
Nancy Bryant works widely as a designer in dance, theatre, opera and film. Her home is on the west coast of Canada in Vancouver. Previous collaborations with Pite include Body and Soul and The Seasons’ Canon (Paris Opera), Flight Pattern (Royal Ballet), Figures in Extinction, Partita, Parade and Plot Point (Netherlands Dance Theater), Revisor, The Tempest Replica (Kidd Pivot) and Betroffenheit (Kidd Pivot/Electric Co.), Angels’ Atlas (National Ballet of Canada / Zurich Opera House), and most recently, Light of Passage (Royal Ballet / Norwegian National Ballet). Bryant’s work has brought her together with various teams of fellow designers, directors, writers and choreographers to theatres and production workshops across Canada, the USA, the UK and to Europe. Her approach to costume design has been influenced by her visual arts background and many years of exceptional collaborations with some of Canada’s most innovative and groundbreaking theatre artists.
Conceptrice de costumes reconnue, Nancy Bryant vit à Vancouver et dessine des costumes pour les artistes de la danse, du théâtre, de l’opéra et du cinéma. Parmi ses précédentes collaborations avec Crystal Pite, mentionnons Body and Soul et The Seasons’ Canon (Opéra de Paris), Flight Pattern (Royal Opera House), Partita, Parade et Plot Point (Nederlands Dans Theater), Revisor, The Tempest Replica (Kidd Pivot) et Betroffenheit (Kidd Pivot et Electric Company), Angels’ Atlas (Ballet national du Canada et Opéra de Zurich) et, plus récemment, Light of Passage (Royal Ballet et Ballet national de Norvège). Son travail l’a amenée à collaborer avec des artistes dans tous les domaines, conception, mise en scène, dramaturgie et chorégraphie, dans des théâtres et des ateliers de production des quatre coins du Canada, des États-Unis, du Royaume-Uni et de l’Europe. Son approche de la conception de costumes est influencée par son parcours en arts visuels et par ses nombreuses années de collaborations exceptionnelles avec des artistes de théâtre parmi les plus innovants et avant-gardistes au Canada.
Jeff Morris joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1995. Born in Toronto, he studied technical theatre production and administration at Ryerson's Theatre School. From 1990 to 1995, he was Production Stage manager for Toronto Dance Theatre, including the company's debuts in Berlin, Warsaw, Tokyo and at the Joyce Theater. He was Production Stage manager for Dancers For Life (1991-1997), Stage Manager for Théatre Passe-Muraille (Never Swim Alone) and for the Fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists.
Since joining the National Ballet, he has stage-managed a wide range of the company's unique classical and contemporary repertoire, including the world premieres of James Kudelka's The Four Seasons, Cinderella and An Italian Straw Hat, Crystal Pite's Emergence and Angels's Atlas, Guillaume Côté's Le Petit Prince and Frame by Frame (with Robert Lepage). Company premieres include John Neumeier's The Seagull, A Streetcar Named Desire, Nijinsky and Anna Karenina, and Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Winter's Tale.
He is an adjunct faculty member at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and Festival Co-Director for dance:made in Canada/fait au Canada.
Jeff Morris s’est joint au Ballet national du Canada en 1995. Né à Toronto, il a étudié la production théâtrale et l’administration à la Ryerson’s Theatre School. De 1990 à 1995, il a été régisseur de production au Toronto Dance Theatre, entre autres lorsque la compagnie a fait ses débuts à Berlin, à Varsovie, à Pékin, à Tokyo et au Joyce Theater de New York. Il a été régisseur de production pour Dancers For Life (de 1991 à 1997), régisseur de plateau pour le Théatre Passe-Muraille (Never Swim Alone) et pour le Fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists.
Depuis qu’il s’est joint au Ballet national, Jeff Morris a assuré la régie de nombreuses productions du répertoire classique et contemporain propre à la compagnie, comme les premières mondiales des Quatre Saisons, de Cendrillon et d’Un chapeau de paille d’Italie de James Kudelka, d’Emergence et d’Angels’ Atlas de Crystal Pite, du Petit Prince et de Frame by Frame (avec Robert Lepage) de Guillaume Côté. Parmi les premières de la compagnie, citons La Mouette, Un Tramway nommé désir, Nijinsky et Anna Karenine de John Neumeier, ainsi que Les aventures d’Alice au pays des merveilles et Le conte d’hiver de Christopher Wheeldon.
Il est professeur auxiliaire à l’École du Toronto Dance Theatre et codirecteur du festival dance:made in Canada/fait au Canada.
RECENT: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It (Canadian Stage), Armadillo’s (Factory Theatre), YOU Dance, MADDADDAM, The Collective Agreement, Swan Lake (National Ballet), The Darkest Dark (Young People’s Theatre), Fall for Dance North Festival (FFDN), Amplify 1.0 (Amplified Opera), Wintersong (CCDT), Man and Superman, The Russian Play (Shaw Festival), A Blow in the Face (Nightwood Theatre/ Bald Ego), Dance Weekend (2017-2020), Come From Away (Mirvish).
Troy Taylor (il/lui) – régie
PRODUCTIONS RÉCENTES : A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It (Canadian Stage), Armadillo’s (Factory Theatre), YOU Dance, MADDADDAM, The Collective Agreement, Swan Lake (Ballet national), The Darkest Dark (Young People’s Theatre), Fall for Dance North Festival (FFDN), Amplify 1.0 (Amplified Opera), Wintersong (CCDT), Man and Superman, The Russian Play (Festival Shaw), A Blow in the Face (Nightwood Theatre/ Bald Ego), Dance Weekend (2017-2020), Come From Away (Mirvish).
Jacob Wexler (he/they) is a professional dance stage manager based out of New York City and proud SUNY Purchase graduate. Jacob has worked both domestically and internationally with acclaimed companies and choreographers such as Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Caleb Teicher, Martha Clarke, Trey McIntyre, Stephen Petronio, Joffrey Ballet School, L.A. Dance Project and Alonzo King Lines Ballet. Other favourite annual shows include stage managing for School of American Ballet, Fall for Dance, Fire Island Dance Festival and Regional Dance America/Southeast.
Stage Managers
Jeff Morris
Troy Taylor
Jacob Wexler
Angels’ Atlas
Choreography
Crystal Pite
Original Music
Owen Belton
Reflective Light Backdrop Concept
Jay Gower Taylor
Reflective Light Backdrop Design
Jay Gower Taylor and Tom Visser
Lighting Design
Tom Visser
Costume Design
Nancy Bryant
Additional Music
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Opus 41, No. 6: Cherubic Hymn
Performed by Valery Polyansky and the USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir.
Courtesy of Firma Melodia Music Ltd.
Morten Lauridsen, O Magnum Mysterium
Used by arrangement with Southern Music Pub. Co, Inc., Publisher and Copyright Holder
Performed by Polyphony conducted by Stephen Layton. Courtesy of Hyperion Records Ltd, London.
Rehearsal Director
Stephanie Hutchison
Stage Managers
Jeff Morris
Troy Taylor
Jacob Wexler
World Premiere of Emma Bovary: The National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, November 11, 2023.
Produced and Commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada.
Lead philanthropic support for Emma Bovary is provided by The Anna McCowan-Johnson New Creations Fund and The Producers’ Circle and with generous underwriting by the Sabourin Family Foundation.
World premiere of Angels’ Atlas: The National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, February 29, 2020
Produced and commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada.
A co-production of The National Ballet of Canada and Ballett Zürich.
Philanthropic support for Angels’ Atlas is generously provided by An Anonymous Donor, Rosamond Ivey, Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin, The Producers’ Circle, The Volunteer Committee of The National Ballet of Canada and The Gail Hutchison Fund.
The Producers’ Circle (2023): Gail & Mark Appel, John & Claudine Bailey, Laura Dinner & Richard Rooney, Gail Drummond & Bob Dorrance, Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin, The William & Nona Heaslip Foundation, Anna McCowan-Johnson & Donald K. Johnson, O.C., Judy Korthals & Peter Irwin, Mona & Harvey Levenstein, Jerry Lozinski, O.C. & Joan Lozinski, O.C., The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain, C.C., Julie Medland, Sandra Pitblado, C.M. & Jim Pitblado, C.M., The Harry & Lillian Seymour Family Foundation, The Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation and Alexander Younger & Sarah Richardson.
The company’s Canadian tours are made possible with the generous support of The John and Margaret Bahen Fund of The National Ballet of Canada, Endowment Foundation.
The National Ballet of Canada
Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director
Hope Muir
Executive Director
Barry Hughson
Music Director
David Briskin
Artistic
Rehearsal Director, Principal Coach
Xiao Nan Yu
Rehearsal Director
Stephanie Hutchison
Artistic Administrator
Gerard Roxburgh
Senior Manager, Artistic Operations
Jennifer Bennett
Associate, Artistic Administration
Sarita Dotan
Company Manager
Nidhi Baadkar
Company Athletic Therapist
Paul Papoutsakis
Massage Therapist
Ron Mulesa
Music
Pianist
Zhenya Vitort
Communications
Director of Marketing and Communications
Belinda Bale
Associate Director, Communications and Content Strategy
Catherine Chang
Senior Manager, Sales and Marketing
Vicki Munton-Davies
Development
Director of Development
Diana Reitberger, CFRE
Officer, Friends’ Corps and Ballet365
Joanne Kwok
Finance
Chief Financial Officer
Amanda Ram
Production
Director of Production
Christopher Dennis
Associate Director of Production
Yvette Drumgold
Technical Director
Peter Eaton
Stage Managers
Jeff Morris
Troy Taylor
Jacob Wexler
Lighting Coordinator
Jeff Logue
Head Carpenter
Kim Nutt
Head Electrician
Ashley Rose
Property Master
Michael Ellenton
Head of Audio
Ron Gorveatt
Assistant Carpenter / Flyman
Scott Clarke
Assistant Carpenter
Cory Hudson
Assistant Electricians
William Fallon
Cecilia Waszczuk
Trumpets
Karen Donnelly (principal)
*Stéphane Beaulac (guest principal)
Steven van Gulik
Trombones
*Steve Dyer (guest principal)
Colin Traquair
Bass Trombone
Zachary Bond
Tuba
Chris Lee (principal)
Percussion
Jonathan Wade
*Kris Maddigan
*Joshua Wynnyk
Harp
*Angela Schwarzkopf
Piano
*Andrei Streliaev
Synthesizer
*Benjamin Kersey
Accordion
*Matti Pulkki
Principal Librarian
Nancy Elbeck
Assistant Librarian
Corey Rempel
Personnel Manager
Meiko Lydall
Orchestra Personnel Coordinator
Laurie Shannon
*Additional musicians
**On leave
Production Team, Southam Hall
Head Carpenter
James Reynolds
Head Electrician
Shane Learmonth
Assistant Electrician
Fred Malpass
Property Master
Timothy Shannon
Head Sound Engineer
Dan Holmes
Assistant Sound Engineer
Thomas Stubinski
Head Flyman
Ross Brayne
Electronic Services
Head Michael St. Onge
Assistant Michael Blanchard
Warehouse
Head Kevin Kenny
Projectionist
Head David Milliard
Projectionists, Wardrobe Mistresses, Masters and Attendants are members of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 471.
NAC Dance
Executive Producer
Caroline Ohrt
Senior Producer
Tina Legari
Technical Director
Brian Britton
Special Projects Coordinator and Assistant to the Executive Producer
Mireille Nicholas
Company Manager
Sophie Anka
Education Associate and Teaching Artist
Siôned Watkins
Marketing Strategist
Marie-Chantale Labbé-Jacques
Communications Strategist
Alexandra Campeau
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
Recognizing your support and passion
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