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Q&A: Mani Soleymanlou, director, playwright and actor
November 7, 2019Q. You’ve written a cycle of plays, titled from 1 to 9, which deal with identity. Your latest work is titled Zéro. What prompted this choice? A. Another word for zero in Persian and Arabic is “sefr”, which means “void”. I explored this idea in my first creations: Un, Deux and Trois. With…
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Donor Open Rehearsal: Inside the Creation of a New Composition
October 9, 2019Attending open rehearsals is one of the many benefits donors receive when they support performance, creation and learning across Canada through the National Arts Centre Foundation. NAC Foundation supporters spent a wonderful September morning at a rehearsal of NAC Indigenous Theatre and…
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A Landmark Celebration: The NAC Orchestra 50th Anniversary European Tour
October 4, 2019This past spring, your NAC Orchestra performed under Music Director Alexander Shelley to captivated audiences across Europe. CROSSINGS featured six Canadian composers and five Canadian soloists and offered more than 60 learning and engagement activities, none of which would have been…
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Five Minutes with Margaret Grenier
October 4, 2019Margaret Grenier, Executive and Artistic Director for the Dancers of Damelahamid, an Indigenous dance company from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia, presented Mînowin in the Azrieli Studio as part of the Mòshkamo Indigenous Arts Festival. Margaret choreographed and performed in…
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Mòshkamo: The beginning of a new era
October 4, 2019On Saturday September 14 hundreds of people gathered by the Rideau Canal just outside of the National Arts Centre to witness a great, long awaited moment. On this beautiful day, the audiences, artists and Indigenous peoples across Canada and around the world officially welcomed Indigenous…
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Where the Blood Mixes: A Journey to the Heart
October 4, 2019The first-ever performance of Kevin Loring’s debut play Where the Blood Mixes was in his hometown of Lytton, British Columbia in 2008. It was a staged reading of an earlier draft of the script—part of a British Columbian workshop tour by the play’s producers, the Playhouse Theatre Company…
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The National Arts Centre Orchestra at 50
September 30, 2019A reflection by Winston Webber “The Centre must have a heart that beats.” - Jean Gascon. “A good orchestra is called for. A superb one would be more to the point.” - Louis Applebaum And on October 7, 1969, from the first dramatic notes of Haydn’s “Drumroll” symphony, played by…
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Come play with us
September 19, 2019Make theatre your playground and come play with us! Every time you visit, the space to be discovered will be unique and likely not what you expected. Who doesn't like surprises? Who doesn't like being amazed every now and then? That's good, because the stage is a magical place that artists…
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A Meeting Place Between Nations
September 11, 2019The kick-off for the National Arts Centre’s new Indigenous Theatre is the high point of a years-long transformation of the NAC into a welcoming space for Indigenous peoples, particularly the Algonquin Anishnabeg on whose unceded territory the NAC is located. In 2016, the NAC reached out to…
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“Our Stories are Medicine”: Indigenous Theatre Takes Flight
September 11, 2019Indigenous Theatre is here. The highly anticipated inaugural season has taken flight with the Mòshkamo festival, a two-and-a-half week “takeover” of the National Arts Centre, showcasing some of the best Indigenous music, theatre and dance. “In a season focused on themes of…
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The Land: A Gathering Place
September 11, 2019We recognize the Algonquin Nation, on whose traditional, unceded territory the National Arts Centre is located. The NAC is taking to heart the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to preserve and promote Indigenous languages and cultures through actions such as creating the first…
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Q&A: Kevin Loring, Artistic Director, NAC Indigenous Theatre
September 11, 2019Q. You’re about to launch the first national Indigenous theatre of its kind in the world. How do you feel? A. I’m excited. I take my position as a sacred trust to the Indigenous storytellers across this land. Q. What do you hope to achieve? A. My hope is that NAC Indigenous Theatre will…
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Cutting the Ribbon
August 23, 2019On August 22 the ribbon was cut on the latest named space in the National Arts Centre. The Mohammad Al Zaibak Lantern Room, formally known simply as The Lantern Room, has pride of place as one of the signature spaces on the Terrace level of the “new” NAC. The room is named in honour of…
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David and Susan Laister - A happy association
July 29, 2019Forty-six years is a long time. But for David and Susan Laister, it represents years of happy and satisfying association with the National Arts Centre. Originally from the United Kingdom, the Laisters came to Canada in 1969. David was attending Queen’s University, Kingston, on a…
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Daryl Banke and Mark Hussey
July 29, 2019“We love the NAC!” And with their long association and financial support of the National Arts Centre it’s clear that Daryl Banke and Mark Hussey mean what they say! Both Mark and Daryl began attending NAC performances after their move to Ottawa in 2001. They subscribed to the ballet and…
