Expect a season of new experiences and familiar favourites for all audiences, which kicks off with Ballet Hispánico in October 2022

May 17, 2022 – OTTAWA (Canada) – Today, NAC Dance unveils a selection of its exceptional and diverse 2022-2023 programming that includes Canadian and international talents, and features both established and well-known dance artists mixed with new and emerging voices in the dance milieu.

“Artists’ voices have been a source of hope and wisdom that has defined generations,” says Cathy Levy. “We celebrate their tenacity and their visions of our ever-changing times with established works and new creations that offer a bold and visceral journey of power and beauty. Inviting our dance lovers to embark on this expansive ride, knowing they will be moved, amazed, and enchanted simply by taking their seat in the theatre, is exciting. We are so looking forward to welcoming them “home” to NAC Dance to experience ‘Life in Motion’.”

The 2022-2023 season honours the National Arts Centre’s long-standing partnerships with ballet companies. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s The Handmaid’s Tale will be presented in October 2022 and The Nutcracker, one of the most anticipated events every season, will dazzle audiences once again this year when Les Grands Ballets Canadiens returns with their beloved production.

This season also celebrates powerful voices through collaborative storytelling and daring productions. New York’s Ballet Hispánico will kick off our season with Doña Perón, an explosive piece about one of Argentina’s most recognizable yet controversial women, Evita (Eva) Perón. Then Italy’s Silvia Gribaudi will challenge perceived notions of beauty with her distinctive irony and wit in her award-winning Graces.

In November, UK-based Hofesh Shechter Company—an audience favourite—performs their newest work Double Murder, and Vancouver’s Shay Kuebler / Radical System Art brings Momentum of Isolation, an NAC Dance co-production.

A major season highlight is the great German company Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, performing one of its most exquisite productions, Palermo Palermo. This Canadian premiere will bring the house down with three performances in February.

 

NAC Dance 2022-2023 season

Fall 2022

BALLET HISPÁNICO – Doña Perón
OCT 14-15, 2022
Southam Hall, 8:00 pm

Ballet Hispánico, the largest Latinx cultural organization in the United States, makes its debut appearance at the NAC with their new work Doña Perón, created to mark the company’s 50th anniversary. This full-length contemporary ballet celebrates the life of one of the most captivating women of South American history, Eva “Evita” Perón. Choreographed by internationally renowned Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and set to the music of the inimitable ballet composer Peter Salem, Doña Perón follows the narrative of the iconic figure through her tragic and complex life in the public eye. This is the opportunity to experience the exquisite artistry of this extraordinary company. 

SILVIA GRIBAUDI PERFORMING ARTS – Graces
OCT 18-19, 2022
Azrieli Studio, 8:00 pm 

What is beauty?  

Prominent Italian choreographer Silvia Gribaudi, a unique figure in contemporary dance worldwide, has been interested in the social impact of the body for almost 20 years. In her multi-award-winning work Graces, Gribaudi reveals herself and makes visible the virtuosity of the ordinary body and the poetic power of imperfection. 

Warm and irreverent, Graces makes you laugh and think. This generously humorous pop piece is based on the uninhibited enjoyment of shared movement. In short: vibrant and delightful! 

CANADA’S ROYAL WINNIPEG BALLET – The Handmaid’s Tale
OCT 27-29, 2022
Southam Hall, 8:00 pm 
With the NAC Orchestra

A bold retelling of Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s award-winning novel The Handmaid’s Tale is brought to life as a contemporary ballet by choreographer Lila York. This dystopian tale sets in a futuristic society that erases human rights—particularly women’s rights. 

This darkly romantic, edgy dance drama—performed on pointe—is a tour de force by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Everything about this ballet is entrancing: the dancers’ extraordinary athleticism, impressive costumes by Liz Vandal, ingenious sets, and the stirring music of James McMillan and Arvo Pärt amongst others.

Returning to Southam Hall after its enthusiastic reception in 2015, this ambitious production is stronger than ever, reworked and refined. A powerful emotional experience! 

SHAY KUEBLER / RADICAL SYSTEM ART – Momentum of Isolation
NOV 4-5, 2022
Babs Asper Theatre, 7:30 pm 

A strong and iconic voice from Vancouver, the dynamic Shay Kuebler returns with a poignant and virtuosic piece that delves into the pain of solitude. 

Through inventive and powerful choreographic language, Momentum of Isolation beautifully translates this universal emotion. Kuebler’s signature style—highly physical dance rooted in his background in martial arts, urban dance, and theatre—is on full display. 

In this piece, Kuebler is surrounded by a chorus of performers as energetic as they are versatile. Playing with illusions, appearances and disappearances, the work conjures moments of fascination. Through complex choreography of groups and duets, Kuebler succeeds in poetizing and giving meaning to the feeling of isolation that can overwhelm us all. Arguably the most formidably compelling piece in his repertoire to date.

HOFESH SHECHTER COMPANY – Double Murder (Clowns/The Fix)
NOV 9-10, 2022
Babs Asper Theatre, 7:30 pm 

Having repeatedly dazzled NAC audiences with his unique and exciting vocabulary, Hofesh Shechter, one of the world’s most celebrated choreographers, returns with a double bill incorporating elements of folklore, theatre, ballet, and contemporary dance. Double Murder brilliantly blends order and chaos in a gripping emotional journey. 

The first half, Clowns, is a delightful blend of raw physicality and meticulous detail. The fierce energy emanating from the group of performers in symbiosis, in an often-furious dance, denounces our collective insensitivity to violence. 

As an antidote, The Fix brings a more tender and fragile energy to the stage. The work explores the sweetness of human relationships, marked by joy or melancholy. 

The musical score, also composed by Shechter, is a perfect complement to the movement. Stunningly beautiful, Double Murder reveals Shechter’s unique mastery in its most complete form. 

LES GRANDS BALLETS CANADIENS – The Nutcracker
DEC 1-4, 2022, 7:00pm | DEC 3-4, 2022, 1:30pm
Southam Hall
With the NAC Orchestra

It just wouldn’t be the holidays without The Nutcracker! 

This year, NAC Dance is especially proud to welcome the stunning production by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens after a 16-year absence! Join young Clara in a fairy tale dream and travel with her through sparkling winter landscapes. In a gorgeous mansion where a grand Christmas Eve party is in full swing, an enchanted nutcracker turns into a valiant soldier to fight the treacherous Rat King. 

Set to Tchaikovsky’s immortal music, this Nutcracker fills the audience with joy and wonder with its grandiose sets and costumes, adventurous spirit, and magnificent dancers. 

Scheduled to perform at the NAC in 2020 to celebrate the 100th birthday of acclaimed choreographer Fernand Nault, this year’s presentations will be a real treat for the whole family.

February 2023

TANZTHEATER WUPPERTAL PINA BAUSCH – Palermo Palermo
FEB 16-18, 2023
Southam Hall, 8:00pm 

An iconic work in the company’s repertoire, Palermo Palermo paints a spellbinding, impressionistic fresco, a mesmerizing stage depiction of a humanity that seems larger than life.

The drama opens with the collapse of a massive brick wall—a stunning visual that evokes the fall of the Berlin Wall— forcing the dancers to deal with this broken environment in a series of struggles and triumphs.

Supported by a formidable team of designers and performers, this work stands out as a landmark creation by the great Pina Bausch, the innovator of dance theatre and one of the leading choreographers of our time. The work impresses with the power of its poetic images and the coherence of its monumental universe. Palermo Palermo is signature Bausch: demanding, caustic, sublime.

 

DIGIDANCE
We are delighted to continue our Digidance partnership with DanceHouse (Vancouver), Harbourfront Centre (Toronto) and Danse Danse (Montreal) and offer audiences across the country an opportunity to see exceptional, full-length Canadian and international dance films online, and on-demand. Our first Digidance offering will be in the fall of 2022 and details will be shared in the coming months. 

WINTER AND SPRING 2023
Details for the balance of programming in winter and spring 2023 will be announced early fall 2022.

SPONSORS
NAC Dance and the NAC Foundation would like to thank the donors and partners who have made the season possible. Thank you to Hotel Partner the Lord Elgin Hotel and Official Rail Partner VIA Rail. The role of the Executive Producer, Dance at the NAC, is generously supported by an anonymous donor.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE
The National Arts Centre is Canada’s bilingual, multidisciplinary home for the performing arts. As part of its Strategic Plan, the NAC’s vision is to lead and support the renewal of the performing arts sector. The NAC presents, creates, produces, and co-produces performing arts programming in various streams — the NAC Orchestra, Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre, and Popular Music and Variety — and nurtures the next generation of audiences and artists from across Canada. The NAC is located in the National Capital Region on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Julie Gunville
Communications Strategist, NAC Dance
National Arts Centre
613 668-2736
julie.gunville@cna-nac.ca