National Ballet of Canada 2021-2022 season

[PeggyTulle]

3 hours ago, Xiaoyi said:

Sadly, I guess she will not stay on the roster for more than three seasons, as she said “I want to get out of North America and dance with every major company in the world. “
https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2022/06/10/interview-talking-karen-kain-two-dancers-highly-anticipated-swan-lake/

It's not clear if she meant permanently or guesting! But I would think the latter would be very, very doable. 

[Dégagé E.]

On 6/26/2022 at 8:13 PM, volcanohunter said:

Christopher Gerty (class of 2014) has been promoted to first soloist, Selene Guerrero-Trujillo (class of 2007) and Tirion Law (previously with the Hong Kong Ballet) to second soloist. 

 

Classes of which schools?

[volcanohunter]

To my mind, Martinelli was the corps' anchor in Swan Lake.

[volcanohunter]

Perhaps not surprising news, given that it's been almost three years since Evan McKie stepped out on stage.

[Fosca]

So what happend, is he injured or was it Karen Kain who did not cast him?

[volcanohunter]

I have not seen a statement by McKie on the subject. Anything else would be speculation or a violation of board rules.

He did have many injury spells, and there were several times I traveled to see the company when he didn't perform because of injury: Manon in November 2014, Sleeping Beauty in June 2015 and March 2018, Giselle in June 2016 and November 2019, Onegin in Ottawa in January 2017.

He last appeared with the company in The Merry Widow in June 2019. Between March 2020 and November 2021 the company didn't appear at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto because of the pandemic. The company didn't do any touring during the 2021-22 season, but it presented a full season at home. However, McKie didn't return to the stage. 

There was a strange interim period between Karen Kain's official retirement on 30 June 2021 and the official beginning of Hope Muir's tenure on 1 January 2022, but as of now Muir is making all of the decisions.

The company is facing a major overhaul in its principal ranks. Jillian Vanstone retired after more than 20 years and Sonia Rodriguez retired after more than 30. Skylar Campbell and Brendan Saye left to dance elsewhere. Four of the company's principals have crossed the 40 year mark, and a fifth will be 40 soon.  Koto Ishihara spent the entire season injured. No doubt this depletion contributed to Genevieve Penn Nabity's fast-track promotion. (Plus the noises she was making about leaving for Europe. Sure, she could audition for a company and get a contract, but as a principal? Highly unlikely, being only four years out of school and with a year and a half of that period wiped out by Covid lockdowns.) The situation among the men is more perilous.

[Fosca]

Thank you, volcanohunter.

[volcanohunter]

For viewers in Canada, the four-part series Swan Song, about the staging of Karen Kain's production of Swan Lake is now available on CBC Gem.

https://gem.cbc.ca/swan-song

Though contrary to the site's breathless plug, the 2022 production was not "the highest-stakes opening night in the National Ballet of Canada's 70-year history." It's Swan Lake, for crying out loud. The company spent 18 years performing one of the worst productions of Swan Lake on the planet and survived. Within a few years I'm sure the company will have paid off this slightly less awful production.