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The return of BIG BANG
August 24, 2020In February 2020, excitement was in the air as the BIG BANG Festival returned to the NAC, taking over the building with children and families exploring the fascinating world of music, sound and the arts. This one-of-a-kind festival included imaginative installations, workshops and…
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The NAC Orchestra Romances Listeners with a Quartet of Recordings
August 24, 2020Under the direction of NAC Orchestra Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra released new recordings in the spring of 2020 featuring Romantic music by Clara and Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms. The first album, Darlings of the Muses, included improvisations inspired…
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From Pirouettes to Floor-flips, Dance Education Helps Aspiring Young Dancers Perfect their...
August 24, 2020With the help of your generous donations, young dancers had incredible and diverse learning opportunities through NAC Dance Education & Outreach during the first months of 2020. When Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s (RWB) Wizard of OZ was in town, 17 intermediate and advanced dancers from…
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Our Amazing Donors: Together, we’re shaping the future of the performing arts...
August 24, 2020Of over 4,500 Donor's Circle members in 2019-2020, we are grateful that 31% of you have chosen to support the NAC on a monthly basis. Monthly giving provides a strong foundation for our artistic disciplines to plan and program with confidence, ensuring the performing arts you love will…
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Something for Everyone at Your NAC
August 24, 2020Before the doors closed in March, the NAC’s public space programming thrived in the many ways we’d hoped they would. Since the “new” NAC opened its doors in 2017, our public spaces have provided a unique opportunity to engage with Ottawa and all its communities in new and exciting…
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Canada’s Digital Stage
August 24, 2020#CanadaPerforms was initially launched on March 19 by the National Arts Centre and its founding partner, Facebook Canada. The short-term relief fund helped ease the financial strain for 700 professional Canadian artists and published authors impacted by the closure of performance venues and…
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NAC English Theatre Brings Together Artists and Audiences to Reimagine Theatre for...
August 24, 2020As part of its response to the escalating climate crisis —and in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic— the National Arts Centre hosted an extraordinary three-day/three-country digital experiment to explore how artists and arts institutions can rethink their practice and programming in…
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Meet the Next Artistic Director of NAC French Theatre: Mani Soleymanlou
August 18, 2020Theatre director, playwright and actor Mani Soleymanlou will be the next Artistic Director of NAC French Theatre, effective September 1, 2021. Mani will take over from Brigitte Haentjens at the conclusion of her nine-year term. NAC audiences will have already seen some of…
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NAC Superfans: Andrea Mills and Michael Nagy
August 13, 2020It was Andrea who fell in love with the NAC first. In 1988, before she met her husband Michael, Andrea regularly attended NAC Theatre performances with a friend whose parents gave her their subscription when they went South for the winter. Andrea enjoyed the theatre so much that she bought…
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The Next Act: The NAC’s 2020-2023 Strategic Plan
August 7, 2020We are releasing The Next Act, our 3-Year Strategic plan, in a period of upheaval for the performing arts that includes the tremendous challenges posed to artists, performing arts centres and venues by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the widespread recognition of the need to eliminate racism…
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NAC Superfan: Suneeta Millington
July 22, 2020Suneeta Millington spends a lot of time at the NAC. She regularly attends English Theatre productions as well as the NAC Orchestra, where she loves the sightlines and the sound from the middle of the mezzanine. With friends and family, she sees concerts at the Fourth Stage by artists she…
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NAC Superfan: Ken McKinlay
July 17, 2020Ken McKinlay has been coming to concerts at the National Arts Centre for more than 28 years. He sees at least 30 performances each season. Ken is the NAC Orchestra’s number one fan. “I’m missing the Orchestra like crazy,” says Ken, who last saw the NACO perform Mozart on February 26,…
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NAC Superfan: Anne Hamels
July 17, 2020University of Ottawa theatre student Anne Hamels is a long-time NAC regular. Five years ago, when Anne was 13 years-old, she met artist Marie-Ève Fortier, who visited Anne’s classroom to present De plain-pied, a French Theatre project. “She was the one who got me interested in the project,…
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What keeps us alive
July 8, 2020As you know, the performing arts sector will probably be the last to reopen. We don’t yet know under what conditions. This is of particular concern to us because we cannot yet count on an exact timeline. We’re told that nothing will ever be the same again. But for now, the future is hazy,…
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NAC Superfan: Bria Ryan
July 8, 2020Since the lockdown began, 12 year-old Bria Ryan hasn’t had time to get bored. Despite the somewhat surreal context, this NAC superfan, who always has big plans, has been keeping busy with a whole host of activities. She’s taking online chess lessons (inspired by her brother, who loves…
