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2015-16 season


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Yes, even by today's standards that's very little. I was also a bit surprised to see the commission of a full-length The Little Prince in light of the fact that Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal is about to unveil its own version. But then intra-Canadian touring has practically disappeared, so every company could justify having its own production.

http://www.grandsballets.com/en/performance/the-little-prince/

I am a little sorry that the company has opted to present "Rubies" and The Four Temperaments on a triple bill rather than a complete Jewels. LGBC, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Alberta Ballet have all performed "Rubies" and the 4Ts. Again, none of those companies is likely to tour those ballets, so it isn't as though Torontonians have an alternate place to see them, but at present the National Ballet is the only company in Canada with enough bodies to do "Diamonds" feasibly, so it seems a shame not to show off this capacity.

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Yes, even by today's standards that's very little. I was also a bit surprised to see the commission of a full-length The Little Prince in light of the fact that Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal is about to unveil its own version. But then intra-Canadian touring has practically disappeared, so every company could justify having its own production.

http://www.grandsballets.com/en/performance/the-little-prince/

I am a little sorry that the company has opted to present "Rubies" and The Four Temperaments on a triple bill rather than a complete Jewels. LGBC, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Alberta Ballet have all performed "Rubies" and the 4Ts. Again, none of those companies is likely to tour those ballets, so it isn't as though Torontonians have an alternate place to see them, but at present the National Ballet is the only company in Canada with enough bodies to do "Diamonds" feasibly, so it seems a shame not to show off this capacity.

Is the complete Jewels in NBoC's rep? Company size shouldn't be a deterrent to mount large works, the company can always borrow extra bodies from other companies like RWB & LGBC. Someone here mentioned PNB borrowed from OBT to have enough bodies to mount Vienna Waltzes.

I found Cacti gimmicky when Boston brought it to NYC last summer. If not the complete Jewels, the company should have made it an all Balanchine program with Serenade or T&V in place of Cacti.

La Sylphide is 2/3 full length, it could have attached another one-act like Bournonville Divertissements, Napoli 3rd act, or Les Sylphides if the company wants to take the sylphide theme all the way. I may try to make a trip to catch Winter's Tale.

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Is the complete Jewels in NBoC's rep?

Yes, I believe the company first performed it in 2000. The company has 65 members and ten apprentices, so it's got enough dancers to go around. (Though I wouldn't expect the five principal character artists to participate.)

In the past the National Ballet of Canada did some joint performances of Symphony in C with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, for example at the arts festival of the 1988 Winter Olympics, and also with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

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Is the complete Jewels in NBoC's rep? Company size shouldn't be a deterrent to mount large works, the company can always borrow extra bodies from other companies like RWB & LGBC. Someone here mentioned PNB borrowed from OBT to have enough bodies to mount Vienna Waltzes.

PNB has never performed Vienna Waltzes. Peter Boal has mentioned a few times that he would love to have it staged here, but that has not happened yet. I've heard a couple audience members speculate that we could make it into a shared-performer co-production with Oregon Ballet Theater (or San Francisco Ballet) but I've not heard anything like that from the company itself.

Personally, I'd hold out for Liebeslieder, but that's my opinion.

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I believe it was Russell or Stowell who said in one of their Q&A's that they had what ended up being an abandoned plan to co-produce "Vienna Waltzes" with another company, and I think that company was San Francisco Ballet. I thought in the plan the two companies would perform it together, but that may have been my projection. It did come from the company, and I remember thinking about how Russell said that "Liebeslieder" was cost-prohibitive, and wishing they could find a co-producer for "Liebeslieder" instead. The Trust allowed PNB to perform a few excerpts at R&S's farewell gala.

I saw San Francisco Ballet perform "Liebeslieder" in the late '90's (or early 00's), and I remember loving Sabina Allemann in it; they obviously don't need another company to co-produce it, although it would be great for fans of both companies to own it and play it more than once a decade. With Feijoo, Froustey, Kochetkova, and Van Patten on the roster, I'd love to see what SFB would do with it now. It's a shame that PNB didn't do it when Lallone and Korbes were in the company.

While NBOC has had their share of full-lengths, the number of mixed bills has been shrinking after the 2010-11 season. The company did a lot of Robbins in the past decade. Searching our calendar, there were :

  • Three in 2006-7: Petrouchka and other works, Song of the Earth/Symphony in C, Seasons/New Mrozewski/Polyphonia
  • Three and a half in 2007-8: Giselle/Polyphonia, West Side Story Suite/Glass Pieces/In the Night, Roosters/Soldier's Mass/24 Preludes, and Fiddle and the Drum/Etudes/the second detail)
  • Three in 2009-10: Barton/Balanchine/Robbins, Choinard/Robbins/Kudelka, and Robbins/Elo/Robbins,
  • Three in 2010-11: Chroma/Serenade/Emergence, Theme and Variations/Apollo/Russian Seasons, and Mozartiana/Songs of a Wayfarer/In the Upper Room
  • One in 2011-12: Chroma/Songs of the Wayfarer/Elite Syncopations
  • Two in 2012-13: Four Seasons/Emergence and Elo/Cote/Kudelka/Balanchine
  • Two in 2013-14: Barton/Ashton and Goecke/Robbins/Forsythe
  • Two this season: Ratmansky/Cote, The Man in Black/Chroma/Allegro Brillante/Carousel (A Dance)
  • One next season: Cacti/Rubies/Four Temperaments
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The National Ballet of Canada has posted casting--although it's not very specific for the Forsythe--for its visit to Montreal, October 1-3.

http://national.ballet.ca/Media-Room/News/2015-16-Season-Opens-with-Montreal-Tour

the second detail

Jordana Daumec, Selene Guerrero-Trujillo, Tanya Howard, Elena Lobsanova or Alexandra MacDonald, Heather Ogden or Chelsy Meiss, Tina Pereira or Jillian Vanstone, Jenna Savella or Rui Huang

Jack Bertinshaw, Skylar Campbell, Giorgio Galli, Harrison James, Brendan Saye or Francesco Gabriele Frola, Piotr Stanczyk or Naoya Ebe, Robert Stephen

Spectre de la Rose

Dylan Tedaldi and Kathryn Hosier (Oct 1, 2)

Dylan Tedaldi and Chelsy Meiss (Oct 3)

Jack Bertinshaw, Skylar Campbell, Francesco Gabriele Frola, Giorgio Galli, Robert Stephen, Nan Wang

Chroma

Naoya Ebe, Tanya Howard, Svetlana Lunkina, McGee Maddox, Evan McKie, Félix Paquet, Tina Pereira, Jenna Savella, Brendan Saye, Robert Stephen (Oct 1, 3)

Francesco Gabriele Frola, Elena Lobsanova, McGee Maddox, Chelsy Meiss, Heather Ogden, Brent Parolin, Tina Pereira, Brendan Saye, Robert Stephen, Dylan Tedaldi (Oct 2)

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The NBoC has given some idea of casting for The Winter's Tale, though not yet for performances beyond opening night. The intrigue, I suppose, is that Sonia Rodriguez, who was seen rehearsing the ballet during the World Ballet Day stream, is not listed as Hermione.

Leontes: Piotr Stanczyk + Evan McKie, McGee Maddox

Hermione: Hannah Fischer + Jurgita Dronina, Heather Ogden

Perdita: Jillian Vanstone + Elena Lobsanova, Rui Huang

Florizel: Naoya Ebe + Skylar Campbell, Francesco Gabriele Frola
Paulina: Xiao Nan Yu + Greta Hodgkinson, Svetlana Lunkina, Tanya Howard
Polixenes: Harrison James + Brendan Saye, Félix Paquet

http://national.ballet.ca/Media-Room/News/The-Winter-s-Tale-Opens-the-2015-16-Season

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Since I believe some BalletAlerters were planning to make the trip, there is now casting for the November-December run of Ratmansky's Romeo and Juliet.

Juliet
Elena Lobsanova (Nov 25, 28 at 7:30 pm, Dec 5 at 7:30 pm)
Heather Ogden (Nov 26 at 7:30 pm, Nov 29 at 2:00 pm)
Sonia Rodriguez (Nov 27 at 7:30 pm, Dec 4)
Chelsy Meiss (Nov 28 at 2:00 pm, Dec 5 at 2:00 pm)

Romeo
Guillaume Côté (Nov 25, 28 at 7:30 pm, Dec 5 at 7:30 pm)
McGee Maddox (Nov 26 at 7:30 pm, Nov 29 at 2:00 pm)
Naoya Ebe (Nov 27 at 7:30 pm, Dec 4)
Harrison James* (Nov 28 at 2:00 pm, Dec 5 at 2:00 pm)

Mercutio
Piotr Stanczyk (Nov 25, 28 at 7:30 pm, Dec 5 at 7:30 pm)
Jack Bertinshaw* (Nov 26 at 7:30 pm, Nov 29 at 2:00 pm)
Skylar Campbell (Nov 27 at 7:30 pm, Nov 28 at 2:00 pm, Dec 4 at 7:30 pm, Dec 5 at 2:00 pm)
Francesco Gabriele Frola* (Nov 28 at 2:00 pm, Dec 5 at 2:00 pm)

Tybalt
Evan McKie* (Nov 25, 28 at 7:30 pm, Dec 5 at 7:30 pm)
Brendan Saye* (Nov 26 at 7:30 pm, Nov 29 at 2:00 pm)
Jonathan Renna (Nov 27 at 7:30 pm, Dec 4)
Brent Parolin* (Nov 28 at 2:00 pm, Dec 5 at 2:00 pm)

Nurse
Lorna Geddes (Nov 25, 26, 28 at 7:30 pm, Nov 29 at 2:00 pm, Dec 5 at 7:30 pm)
Rebekah Rimsay (Nov 27 at 7:30 pm, Nov 28 at 2:00 pm, Dec 4, Dec 5 at 2:00 pm)

Friar Laurence
Peter Ottmann (Nov 25, 26, 28 at 7:30 pm, Nov 29 at 2:00 pm, Dec 5 at 7:30 pm)
Tomas Schramek (Nov 27 at 7:30 pm, Nov 28 at 2:00 pm, Dec 4, Dec 5 at 2:00 pm)

Paris
Giorgio Galli (Nov 25, 26, 28 at 7:30 pm, Nov 29 at 2:00 pm, Dec 5 at 7:30 pm)
Félix Paquet* (Nov 27 at 7:30 pm, Dec 4)
Brendan Saye* (Nov 28 at 2:00 pm, Dec 5 at 2:00 pm)

Benvolio
Robert Stephen (Nov 25, 27, 28 at 7:30 pm, Dec 4, Dec 5 at 7:30 pm)
Dylan Tedaldi (Nov 26 at 7:30 pm, Nov 28 at 2:00 pm, 29, Dec 5 at 2:00 pm)

*Debut

https://national.ballet.ca/Productions/2015-2016-Season/Romeo-and-Juliet

Has Brendan Saye effectively been "demoted" from Romeo to Tybalt and Paris?

P.S. There is marginally discounted orchestra seating for December 4 & 5, notably in the Orchestra Ring at the back.

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And now casting for The Winter's Tale, which may also be useful to anyone planning to see the ballet in Washington in January.

Leontes
Piotr Stanczyk (Nov 14, 18, 20 at 7:30 pm, Nov 22 at 2:00 pm)
Evan McKie (Nov 15, 19 at 7:30 pm, Nov 21 at 2:00 pm)
McGee Maddox (Nov 19 at 2:00 pm, Nov 21 at 7:30 pm)

Hermione
Hannah Fischer (Nov 14, 18, 20 at 7:30 pm, Nov 22 at 2:00 pm)
Jurgita Dronina (Nov 15, 19 at 7:30 pm, Nov 21 at 2:00 pm)
Heather Ogden (Nov 19 at 2:00 pm, Nov 21 at 7:30 pm)

Perdita
Jillian Vanstone (Nov 14, 18, 20 at 7:30 pm, Nov 22 at 2:00 pm)
Elena Lobsanova Rui Huang (Nov 15, 19 at 7:30 pm, Nov 21 at 2:00 pm)
Rui Huang Elena Lobsanova (Nov 19 at 2:00 pm, Nov 21 at 7:30 pm)

Florizel
Naoya Ebe (Nov 14, 18, 20 at 7:30 pm, Nov 22 at 2:00 pm)
Francesco Gabriele Frola Skylar Campbell (Nov 15, 19 at 7:30 pm, Nov 21 at 2:00 pm)
Skylar Campbell Dylan Tedaldi (Nov 19 at 2:00 pm, Nov 21 at 7:30 pm)

Polixenes
Harrison James (Nov 14, 18, 20 at 7:30 pm, Nov 22 at 2:00 pm)
Brendan Saye (Nov 15, 19 at 7:30 pm, Nov 21 at 2:00 pm)
Félix Paquet (Nov 19 at 2:00 pm, Nov 21 at 7:30 pm)

Paulina
Xiao Nan Yu (Nov 14, 18, 20 at 7:30 pm, Nov 22 at 2:00 pm)
Svetlana Lunkina (Nov 15, 19 at 7:30 pm, Nov 21 at 2:00 pm)
Tanya Howard (Nov 19 at 2:00 pm, Nov 21 at 7:30 pm)

http://national.ballet.ca/Productions/2015-2016-Season/Winters-Tale

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I've decided to drive into Toronto (from Philly) for the weekend of December 5th to catch a couple of performances of Ratmansky's R&J. I'm a little nervous about driving in Toronto. Any locals have any advice? How easy is it to get to Four Seasons Center (I'm planning on staying at the Sheraton Centre and will leave my car there). Super excited for my first trip to Canada, hoping no snow storms to ruin my trip!

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Driving in Toronto is comparable to driving an any large city, at least in my opinion. It's quite straightforward to get to the Sheraton, and to the Four Seasons. The Sheraton is steps away from the Four Seasons.

There are driving directions on the website of the Four Seasons - and likely on the Sheraton one as well.

You'll just need a bit of patience to get through bits of construction on the Gardiner Expressway, and again as you exit the Gardiner and inch up towards University.

Once you are at your hotel there is lots within walking distance.

Enjoy!

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Thanks so much, mom2!

I've driven to Lincoln Center in NYC, and drive around Philly all the time, so I think I just need a boost of confidence. I'm still going to be nervous (have to use metric system, haha!) but it seems like it is relatively straight forward. I'll make sure I give myself lots of time for construction issues.

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volcanohunter - re casting and Brendan Saye - last season I don't think I saw him dance at all, definitely not in principal roles. Assume that he was recuperating from injury, but don't recall if the company posted anything along those lines.

I am looking forward to seeing Felix Paquet - had the pleasure of watching him in Banff this summer.

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Thanks, everyone for the advice. Can't wait to see it. And after looking at the casting, I realized I'll get to see Cote perform on Saturday night!

Kaysta if you would like to get together for coffee, give me a shout.

Thanks! Once I figure out my itinerary, I'll give you a PM! Right now, I'm thinking I'll attend both performances on the 5th of December.

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