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From Page to Stage: Bringing a Classic Canadian Novel to the NAC
March 3, 2022Four premieres across the country for the adaptation of Ann‑Marie MacDonald’s critically-acclaimed Fall on Your Knees In 1996, Fall on Your Knees, written by the internationally acclaimed Canadian writer Ann‑Marie MacDonald, was released – a sweeping novel that chronicles three generations…
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NAC Indigenous Theatre seeking artists & memory holders for new storytelling project
February 2, 2021NAC Indigenous Theatre is seeking artists and memory holders to submit to participate in a new storytelling project. This project is based in three cities: Ottawa, Saskatoon, and Vancouver. Each region’s project will be artistically led by NAC Indigenous Theatre (Ottawa), Gordon Tootoosis…
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Supporting Canadian artists in a time of crisis
January 22, 2021Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly changed the way we live and work, and we have all been called to see and imagine the world in different ways. The performing arts sector was hit particularly hard, and with many artists facing an uncertain future, the National Arts…
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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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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…
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Deciphers: an international dance collaboration
October 16, 2020Choreographers Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu join forces in a new international collaboration entitled Deciphers. Exploring U.K./Canada and Brazil/China cultural references – in particular poetry and vocal traditions from folk music – they explore how the body can be used as an extraordinary…
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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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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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The National Arts Centre at 50: Propelling Canada’s Voices
June 18, 2019By Christopher Deacon, President and CEO of the National Arts Centre. One month ago, I was sitting in the darkened hall of La Seine Musicale in Paris, overwhelmed. On three large screens, Indigenous dancers performed a choreography by the Mohawk dancer and choreographer Santee Smith in…
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Orchestra shell assembly and installation timelapse
January 17, 2019This time-lapse highlights the complex assembly and installation of the Southam Hall orchestra shell. It is, without a doubt, the shining star of the National Arts Centre’s Production Renewal Project. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, Fisher Dachs Associates, Threshhold Acoustics and…
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National Creation Fund: An Even Better Hockey Sweater
November 13, 2018In the fall of 2017, the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts in Montreal premiered The Hockey Sweater, a musical based on the iconic story by Roch Carrier. Featuring a cast of 17, the show was a hit with audiences and critics. But the creators believed it could be even better. “If the show…
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Q&A: Ian Cusson, Métis composer
November 13, 2018Q. In 2017 you were selected for Carrefour, a two-year residency program by the NAC and Canada Council for the Arts to mentor diverse, emerging composers. At 37, would you say you’re a late bloomer? A. Great question! Although I’ve been writing music for a long time, I came to the…
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Renewing the NAC’s Performance Halls and Production Facilities
July 3, 2018A few hours after the artists performing at the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award left the Southam Hall stage, construction workers began work on a project that will dramatically improve the NAC’s performance halls and production facilities. Much of the NAC’s production equipment is…
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Peter Herrndorf’s Legacy
April 4, 2018When Peter Herrndorf arrived in 1999, he established a new strategic direction for the National Arts Centre with four clear goals – artistic excellence, re-embracing the NAC’s national role, making youth and education a priority, and dramatically increasing the NAC’s earned revenues. The…
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Reopening the GGPAA Hall of Honour
March 8, 2018In late February the National Arts Centre officially opened the new Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Hall of Honour. The corridor features photos of laureates from the past 25 years. Created in 1992 under the distinguished patronage of the late Right Honourable Ramon John…
