| Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced the
60th anniversary season which features a new full-length production of Romeo and Juliet by
Alexei Ratmansky and the North American premiere of Kevin O’Day’s Hamlet. To
celebrate the National Ballet’s remarkable 60-year history, a season of special
events is planned. November 14 – 20, 2011 will be proclaimed The National Ballet of
Canada Week by His Worship Mayor Rob Ford, coinciding with the opening of an archival
display at Toronto City Hall and the world premiere of Romeo and Juliet. The Tutu Project,
featuring 60 tutus from great moments in the company’s history and new tutus created
by the community, will be displayed throughout the season. Writer and historian James
Neufeld’s acclaimed book, Power to Rise, The Story of The National Ballet of Canada,
has been updated and will be available in stores in the fall of 2011. The National Ballet
of Canada Orchestra will have their first-ever concert performance on April 3, 2012 at
Koerner Hall, performing select works from the company’s repertoire. Additional
events will be announced.
The 2011/12 Season
To celebrate the National Ballet’s 60th anniversary, the 2011/12 season opens with
the world premiere of a new Romeo and Juliet by the Russian choreographer Alexei
Ratmansky. Romeo and Juliet has been a signature work since it entered the company’s
repertoire in 1964 and a new interpretation by the internationally celebrated
choreographer is a momentous occasion. Romeo and Juliet features designs by the Tony
Award-winning Richard Hudson, who designed Mr. Ratmansky’s new Nutcracker for
American Ballet Theatre and is best known for his design for The Lion King, and lighting
by Jennifer Tipton, internationally acclaimed for her work in theatre, dance and opera.
The Sleeping Beauty is a ballet that epitomizes, perhaps better than
any other, the meaning of classical ballet. Rudolf Nureyev’s The Sleeping Beauty,
staged by Karen Kain and refurbished and restored to its original splendour, runs March 10
– 18, 2012.
The Seagull, based on Anton Chekhov’s great drama, by acclaimed
choreographer and Artistic Director of the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier, returns March 21
– 25, 2012. The Seagull was praised by critics when it made its North American
premiere in 2008.
The Summer Season opens with the North American premiere of Hamlet,
June 1 – 10, 2012, by American-born choreographer Kevin O’Day, now Artistic
Director of Kevin O’Day National theater Ballett Mannheim.
Wayne McGregor’s Chroma, an undeniable hit with critics and
audiences alike when it premiered in 2010, is presented with Maurice Béjart’s moving
Song of a Wayfarer and Kenneth MacMillan’s brilliantly comic Elite Syncopations June
13 – 17, 2012.
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
- Winter Season:
La Fille mal gardée -- February 29 – March 4, 2012
The Sleeping Beauty -- March 10 – 18, 2012
The Seagull -- March 21 – 25, 2012
- Summer Season:
Hamlet* -- June 1 – 10, 2012
Chroma & Song of a Wayfarer & Elite Syncopations -- June 13 – 17, 2012
+ World Premiere * North American Premiere |
Artistic Director Michael Trent is pleased to announce theDancemakers2011-2012 season. The playbill will include Jacob & Nova mixed bill and The Adaptation Project by Michael Trent (world premieres) and the return of the biennial TWOBYFOUR Festival of Duets.
The 2011-2012 season features the dance ensemble of resident company artists:Robert Abubo, Amanda Acorn, Kate Holden and Simon Renaud; and guest artists Pierre-Marc Ouelletteand Benjamin Kamino. Throughout the season, the company will also continue to engage its audiences in a thoughtful and enriching way with its animateur events: Study Group - Thinking Out Loud, Talking Dancing and the Unconference.
Jacob Zimmer's Story Dance Radio: Zimmer is telling a simple story framed by the sound and music of the 70s; rebellion, liberation and death, with looks that might, now, undermine all the seriousness.
Nova Bhattacharya's choreography: Bhattacharya is a trailblazer known for bringing classical Indian dance into a contemporary aesthetic. In her Dancemakers choreographic debut, she takes us on a journey through an abstract physical world of imagined stories, private legends and shared mythologies.
Michael Trent's The Adaptation Project revisits Dancemakers' huge body of work in order to discover how to present part of Dancemakers' legacy to today's audiences through a creative act other than the remount. Focusing on a work from the Company's early years, Trent proposes to make something entirely new that is a response to, or is an adaptation of, a work from the canon. Like a cover of a song, the new dance will look backward and forward, simultaneously, through the lens of the now.
TWOBYFOUR: a festival of duets brings together four pairings of artists who use the duet as a powerful, compelling launch site for discussing human relationships.
TWOBYFOUR opens with the Toronto premiere of LIKLIK PIK created and performed by Montreal-based dancer/choreographer George Stamos. The festival continues with a mixed program of two short works The Moment Before by Toronto's own Andrea Sardinian In Front of Oubliette Bingham, from Vancouver's EDAM dance. TWOBYFOUR closes with the Toronto debut of German dancer/choreographer Martin Anchorite the internationally acclaimed duet Repeater.
The 12 day Festival will include performances, artist talk-back sessions and workshops for the professional dance and performance community.
Dancemakers 2011-2012 Season:
Dancemakers presents TWOBYFOUR - a festival of duets
January 17 -28, 2012
All performances at 8pm
Tickets $25 - $18
Dancemakers' Spring Home Season -The Adaptation Project
April 18 -29, 2012
Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 4pm
Tickets $25 -$20
All performances at the Dancemakers Centre for Creation
The Distillery Historic District, 55 Mill Street, The Cannery, Bldg. 58, Studio 313
To book your tickets Call 416.367.1800, email info@dancemakers.org or clickdancemakers.org |
