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Q&A: Mélanie Dumont, Associate Artistic Director, Youth Programming for French Theatre
April 4, 2018Q. Coming up on May 19 is De plain-pied, an annual event that you launched in 2015. What’s it all about? A. De plain-pied (which translates roughly as “Come on in”) is created with input from teenagers. For each edition, I work with young people to envision the form the event will take.…
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Bonjour, Welcome to the NAC
January 17, 2018The one million visitors who walk through the doors of the NAC every year often ask questions such as “Where can I buy tickets?”, “What’s on tonight?” or “Where’s the washroom?” Since the beginning of this season, visitors have been greeted by friendly duos of young people. Daily from 8 am…
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The Kipnes Lantern: Beacon for the Arts
January 17, 2018The National Arts Centre’s Kipnes Lantern has come alive. The three-storey signature element of the NAC’s $110.5 million architectural rejuvenation illuminates the heart of our Nation’s Capital with flourishes of beautiful digital images. In one tableau, swirling blue, red and purple…
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The Canada Room
January 17, 2018A 1969 Prélude Magazine ad described the NAC’s first fine-dining restaurant, L’Opéra, as “Clearly the best in town, yet not that expensive”. Despite that glowing praise, the restaurant closed and was replaced by the popular Panorama Room, which hosted countless meetings and wedding…
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Q & A: Natasha Harwood, Manager, NAC Music Alive Program
January 17, 2018Q. What is the Music Alive Program (MAP)? A. MAP sends artists to schools and communities in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, and now the Atlantic provinces. Every year, the NAC and its local partners run about 100 events such as music education workshops and performances for…
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Q & A: Heather Gibson – Executive Producer, NAC Presents
November 15, 2017Executive Producer, NAC Presents, and Programmer of new NAC public spaces Q. What have you learned in your first year at the NAC? A. This place is much bigger than I thought! There’s a lot going on here... more depth to the job than I expected. Q. The NAC’s new public spaces were very…
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Present in the Moment at the New NAC
November 15, 2017This season, construction noise has finally been replaced by the sound of silence at the NAC. Every Monday morning at 7:30 am, a small but growing group of community members drop into the new NAC atrium for a free Movement in Meditation class. “It’s for everyone and every body,” says…
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The New NAC: More National Than Ever
November 15, 2017National Arts Centre President and CEO Peter Herrndorf recently announced that he would step down in June 2018. Over the past 18 years, Herrndorf has put the “national” back in the National Arts Centre. This transformation culminated in 2017 with three different NAC tours. “I can’t ever…
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A Beautiful Space is Born
November 15, 2017The O’Born Room, the National Arts Centre’s spectacular new event space, hosted its first reception on September 26th, 2017. As the first few guests entered the 2,700 square-foot room and gazed upon its spectacular views of Ottawa landmarks such as the Parliament Buildings and Château…
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Q & A: Susan Peterson d’Aquino & Thomas d’Aquino – Southam Hall...
September 7, 2017Honorary Co-Chairs of the 2017–2018 NAC Foundation Southam Hall Seat Campaign Q. In addition to being trailblazers in Canada’s public and private sectors*, you are both long-time volunteers and donors to the arts. What compels you to give so generously? A. We just want to make people’s…
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A Space for Everyone
September 7, 2017Visitors of all ages are tickled pink with the four new stages in the stunning National Arts Centre addition. Lauren Barthe (pictured third from left) and her three children recently attended a free morning performance in front of the Glass Thorsteinson Staircase by theatre company Ottawa…
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Bisons and Canons: Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show
September 7, 2017Gabriel Dumont’s Wild West Show is a large-scale theatre project born of a sense of purpose: to ensure that important parts of the great Canadian story not be forgotten, and that they be passed down to future generations right across the country. The goal of the creative team is to share…
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A New Star in the NAC Kitchen
September 7, 2017There’s a direct link between the NAC’s new Executive Chef Kenton Leier and the late Kurt Waldele, the legendary chef who presided over the NAC’s culinary glory days from 1978 to 2009. In 1998, Waldele selected Leier to be part of a kitchen dream team that won many national and…
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ENCOUNT3RS: Three world premieres in one performance
March 24, 2017Creation is at the core of the National Arts Centre. “One of the key things we’re trying to celebrate all the time is our Canadian artists,” says Cathy Levy, Executive Producer of NAC Dance. ENCOUNT3RS is a landmark NAC Commission that pairs three of Canada’s outstanding choreographic…
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Q & A: Virginia Thompson – Executive Producer, Governor General’s Performing Arts...
February 3, 2017Q. You are executive producer of popular Canadian TV programs such as Corner Gas. Now you’re producing the prestigious “GG Gala” at the NAC. What’s the biggest difference working for TV versus the stage? A. Fewer donuts at a gala! But in all seriousness, the key difference is being with…