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Jim and Pat Whitehead – Patrons, performers
December 2, 2020It was love at first sight — almost! Jim Whitehead first met his wife Pat almost 80 years ago when they were children. “Pat came to visit relatives in Orangeville, Ontario, where I lived at the time and we became friends.” Years passed, both married other people and, when they by chance…
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Donor profile: Barb Newbegin
December 2, 2020Barb Newbegin says it well: “You have to pay it forward.” That philosophy is why she volunteers and is so generous to the organizations she cares about. It is also why she has remembered the National Arts Centre Foundation with a gift in her Will. Born in Calgary, Barb lived in various…
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Bob and Marian Cumming – Patrons par excellence!
December 2, 2020“We’d be absolutely lost without the National Arts Centre!” And when you speak with Marian and Bob Cumming, you know they mean exactly what they say. The Cummings’ association with the NAC goes back 50 years to its very first performance. Eagerly anticipated, they were delighted by the…
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La Queens: Podcast mini-series
December 2, 2020In the depths of winter, the owner of La Queens breathes her last, leaving her remote northern Ontario motel to her two daughters. Marie-Thérèse Fortin and Dominique Quesnel play the central pair in this story with echoes of identity, written by Jean Marc Dalpé. Episode 1 Episode…
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A Grand Success for Canadian Theatre Companies Across Canada
December 1, 2020This past summer NAC English Theatre created Grand Acts of Theatre to re-ignite creativity, bring hope, and lift the spirits of theatre artists and performing arts lovers from across the country. Co-curated by English Theatre Artistic Director Jillian Keiley and Sherry Yoon, Artistic…
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16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence
November 25, 2020From November 25 to December 10th, the National Arts Centre will join the community in bearing witness to the strength and resilience of everyone impacted by gender-based violence by participating in the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign. For 16 days, we will share…
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C’est la faute de Jean Marc Dalpé
November 23, 2020It’s Jean Marc Dalpé’s Fault It’s his fault that I took the biggest risk of my life. There were 15 of us gathered in a room under harsh fluorescent lights; everyone was tense, especially me. It smelled like burnt coffee and dirty carpeting. This interview, for an academic position, was…
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Partir ou rester
November 20, 2020To leave or to stay. The dilemma runs through much of Franco-Ontarian dramaturgy, including some of its most iconic texts: André Paiement’s Lavalléville (premiered in 1974), Jean Marc Dalpé’s Le chien (premiered in 1988), Michel Ouellette’s French Town (premiered in 1993), and, more…
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COVID-19 drive-thru testing site to support our community
November 20, 2020A new COVID-19 drive-thru assessment centre has opened on the lower level of the National Arts Centre’s parking garage to support the health of our community. This assessment centre will help ensure our fellow Ottawa residents have access to convenient and accessible COVID-19 testing…
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A conversation with Brigitte Haentjens about Pour en finir avec Octobre?
November 16, 2020October 2020. On the stage of Le Diamant in Quebec City, it’s a rare day of activity in this fall of cultural scarcity. For the past week, the set has felt like a radio studio, with 20-odd microphones set up to capture the epilogue of Pour en finir avec Octobre?, an eight-episode podcast…
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Veterans’ Week at the NAC
November 5, 2020This Veterans’ Week, November 5-11, in honour of the brave Canadians who fought for our freedom, the National Arts Centre will offer a virtual moving musical and epistolary commemoration titled Letters from the Great War, an online beaded poppy-making class in honour of Indigenous Veterans…
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Discovering Common Ground Through Dance
November 4, 2020Over the past many weeks and months, the NAC Dance team has been working hard to offer programs aimed at keeping dance at the forefront of people’s minds and hearts. Now in its third year, the NAC Dance Visiting Dance Artist program is doing just that. The Visiting Dance Artist program is…
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Dear you,
October 23, 2020Dear You, I’ve been thinking about the last time we saw each other at the theatre. When was that, do you remember? Do you remember the show you came to see that day? Perhaps you’ve carefully preserved an image or sound from that experience in your memory. Close your eyes and…
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Cathy Levy: Twenty exceptional years leading NAC Dance
October 21, 2020Cathy Levy’s love of dance goes back to her mother. Growing up in Montreal, her mother enrolled her and her sisters in a creative movement class led by Elsie Solomon. The aunt of the renowned Canadian choreographer Judith Marcuse, Elsie was a devoted teacher who studied various movement…
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The Transformations Project
October 20, 2020“What would it take to transform our society for the betterment of all?”* This is a national project in which live performance companies from across Canada asked some of their favourite artists to approach the above question in whatever way they see fit. Visit the works now! The way it…
