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Experience Ontario’s best artists at the Scene
April 27, 2015At the National Arts Centre, we like to say that “Canada is our stage,” a statement that underlines our commitment to work with artists and arts organizations across the country to build a national stage for the performing arts. The Scene festivals are a perfect illustration of that…
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From the truck to the stage
April 10, 2015The National Ballet of Canada's production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a dazzling over-the-top extravaganza that truly delights audiences. The sets, costumes and equipment required for this magnificent ballet fill nine tractor trailers and it takes an expert team to assemble this…
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Governor General Performing Arts Awards: Shining the spotlight on this year’s laureates
April 9, 2015Montreal—Winners of the Governor General Performing Arts Awards were announced at a news conference at the PHI Centre in Montreal. The 2015 laureates for the highest honour in the performing arts in Canada are: Walter Boudreau, C.M. Composer, conductor and artistic director Atom Egoyan,…
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A new kind of ice dancing
February 12, 2015NAC Dance steps from the concert stage to centre ice! Le Patin Libre is a Canadian collective of professional skaters who are breathing new energy into skating by bringing urban street dance and high-level artistic expression to contemporary skating. Vertical Influences, co-produced by NAC…
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Face to face with new dance
January 28, 2015Cathy Levy, the National Arts Centre’s Executive Producer of Dance, has brought some of the world’s very best dance artists to Canada, such as Germany’s Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch who recently performed two sold-out shows in the NAC’s Southam Hall. As she travels the globe looking…
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From the ground up: NAC Dance, catalyst of creation
January 17, 2015NAC Dance is proud to present Canadian work. But it also has a long history of co-producing with Canadian dance artists and actively partnering in the creation and development of new work. “Co-producing allows the NAC to be one of a series of important organizations around the world in the…
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Crystal Pite and the world stage
December 15, 2014In a NAC Dance Podcast interview with Cathy Levy in 2009 at the time of her show Dark Matters, the acclaimed Vancouver dancer-choreographer Crystal Pite spoke about her first time coming to the NAC. It was 25 years ago, and she was then a dancer with Ballet British Columbia. “All I…
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The inside scoop: Pre-chats, open rehearsals and previews
December 5, 2014Attending pre-rehearsal chats and open rehearsals are one of the many benefits donors receive when they support performance, creation and learning across Canada through the National Arts Centre Foundation. On November 6, Cathy Levy, Executive Producer of NAC Dance, spoke to donors about…
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The Nutcracker: The numbers behind the sparkle
November 27, 2014Alberta Ballet is one of the many outstanding Canadian arts organizations that the National Arts Centre partners with every year. Under the leadership of its artistic director Jean Grand-Maître, the company has become known for high-quality dance and inventive repertoire, as evidenced by…
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An unforgettable night of music and dance
November 21, 2014It was December 19, 2009, just moments before Juno award-winning Canadian folk music group Leahy hit the National Arts Centre’s Southam Hall stage. In the nearby foyer, two young sisters from Ottawa, Sophie and Nicole Pilgrim, were giving a TV interview in the middle of the pre-concert…
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The ultimate gift: A dance to honour prima ballerina Anik Bissonnette
November 19, 2014There was a magical moment at the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Gala last May and it began with a phone call to Guillaume Côté, principal dancer and choreographic associate with the National Ballet of Canada. “I called Guillaume in January and asked him if he would do a tribute…
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Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch returns to the NAC!
October 29, 2014Cathy Levy is Executive Producer of Dance at the National Arts Centre. She has flawless taste in Dance – and a golden Rolodex. As head of the NAC Dance department since 2000, she has seen thousands of dance performances across the globe, choosing to bring to Ottawa only the very best from…
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Epic influences and dancing in socks: Q+A with dancemakers Amber Funk Barton...
October 8, 2014Amber Funk Barton and Josh Martin – two of Vancouver’s hottest young choreographers – make their NAC Dance debut in the 2014-15 season, each performing a solo contemporary work and coming together for a high-impact duet, Hero & Heroine. Their program was conceived especially for the NAC and…
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Building Bridges: behind the scenes at the Associate Dance Artists portrait shoot
October 3, 2014The NAC has played a very important part in helping me develop my company. — José Navas Building Bridges. That was the goal in 2007 when National Arts Centre Executive Producer of Dance, Cathy Levy, established the Associate Dance Artists program. “Canada is such a vast country that many…
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Under Pressure: Louise Lecavalier on her first self-choreographed work
September 18, 2014I don’t have to worry about words. I have to act, dance, create movement. — Louise Lecavalier Canada dance icon Louise Lecavalier talks about her first self-choreographed work, So Blue, and making the transition from dancer to choreographer. Louise Lecavalier is an NAC Associate Dance…