NBCSON 0809 Mixed
Transcript of NBCSON 0809 Mixed
Ballet Notes
Symphony in C & Polyphonia & In The Upper RoomNovember 5-9, 2008
Patrick Lavoie and Bridgett Zehr in PolyphoniaPhotography: David Cooper
2008/09 Souvenir Book On Sale Now in the Lobby
Featuring beautiful new images by Canadian photographer Sian Richards
Piotr StanczykPhotography: Sian Richards
Celia Franca, C.C., Founder
George Crum, Music Director Emeritus
Karen Kain, C.C. Kevin GarlandArtistic Director Executive Director
David Briskin Rex Harrington, O.C.Music Director and Artist-in-ResidencePrincipal Conductor
Magdalena Popa Lindsay FischerPrincipal Artistic Coach Artistic Director,
YOU dance / Ballet Master
Aleksandar Antonijevic, Guillaume Côté, Chan Hon Goh, Greta Hodgkinson, Nehemiah Kish, Zdenek Konvalina, Heather Ogden, Sonia Rodriguez, Piotr Stanczyk, Xiao Nan Yu
Victoria Bertram, Kevin D. Bowles, Lorna Geddes,Tomas Schramek, Hazaros Surmeyan*
Christopher Body, Keiichi Hirano, Tanya Howard+,Stephanie Hutchison, Erkan Kurt, Richard Landry,Etienne Lavigne, Patrick Lavoie, Stacey Shiori Minagawa, Rebekah Rimsay+, Jillian Vanstone, Bridgett Zehr
Alexandra Golden, Tina Pereira, Alejandra Perez-Gomez,Jonathan Renna, Lisa Robinson, Avinoam Silverman
Wei Chen, Jordana Daumec, Krista Dowson, Nadine Drouin,Naoya Ebe, Selene Guerrero-Trujillo, Juri Hiraoka, Klara Houdet, Tamara Jones, Lise-Marie Jourdain, James Leja, Martin Lindinger, Elena Lobsanova, Noah Long,Alexandra MacDonald, Elizabeth Marrable, Catherine Maitland, Antonella Martinelli, Chelsy Meiss, Tiffany Mosher, Amber Munro, Andreea Olteanu, Marissa Parzei, Jenna Savella, James Shee, Christopher Stalzer, Robert Stephen, Adam L. Toth, Brett van Sickle, Nan Wang,Joseph Welbes, Aarik Wells, Sarah Wolff
RBC Apprentice Programme / YOU dance: Ryan Booth,Mark Dennis, Sara Garbowski, Nikki Holck, Claire Maurey,Shino Mori, Ian Parsons, Julia Sedwick, Brendan Saye,Thomas Snee
Peter Ottmann Mandy-Jayne Senior Ballet Master Richardson
Senior Ballet Mistress
Lorna Geddes Tomas SchramekPointe Shoe Manager/ Assistant Ballet MasterAssistant Ballet Mistress
Joysanne Sidimus Ernest AbugovGuest Repetiteur Jeff Morris
Stage Managers
Janelle Rainville *Guest Artist-in-ResidenceStage Manager, +On maternity leaveYOU dance
OrchestraViolinsFujiko Imajishi,
ConcertmasterLynn Kuo,
Assistant ConcertmasterDominique Laplante,
Principal Second ViolinJames AylesworthJennie BaccanteSheldon Grabke• Xiao Grabke• Nancy KershawSonia Klimasko-LeheniukCsaba KoczóYakov LernerJayne MaddisonRon MahWendy RogersFilip TomovJoanna ZabrowarnaPaul Zevenhuizen
ViolasAngela Rudden, PrincipalTheresa Rudolph Koczó,
Assistant PincipalValerie KuinkaJohann LotterBeverley SpottonLarry Toman
CellosMaurizio Baccante,
PrincipalOlga LaktionovaAndrew McIntoshMarianne PackElaine ThompsonPaul Widner
BassesHans J.F. Preuss,
PrincipalPaul LangleyRobert SpeerCary Takagaki
FlutesLeslie J. Allt, PrincipalMaria PelletierShelley Brown, Piccolo
OboesMark Rogers, Principal• Karen RotenbergLesley Young,
English Horn
ClarinetsMax Christie, Principal• Emily MarlowGary Kidd, Bass Clarinet
BassoonsStephen Mosher, PrincipalJerry RobinsonElizabeth Gowen,
Contra Bassoon
HornsGary Pattison, PrincipalVincent BarbeeDerek ConrodScott Wevers
TrumpetsRichard Sandals, PrincipalMark DharmaratnamRaymond Tizzard
TrombonesDavid Archer, PrincipalRobert FergusonDavid Pell,
Bass Trombone
HarpLucie Parent, Principal
TimpanyMichael Perry, Principal
PercussionRobert Comber, PrincipalMark Mazur
Orchestra PersonnelManager and MusicAdministratorJean Verch
Assistant OrchestraPersonnel ManagerRaymond Tizzard
Library AssistantLucie Parent
Extra PlayersAnne Armstrong, ViolinFoortje Gerritsen, ViolinMia King, ViolinRenée London, ViolinAya Miyagawa, ViolinSonia Vizante, ViolinRebekah Wolkstein,
ViolinBridget La Marche, ViolaNicholaos Papadakis,
ViolaJill Vitols, CelloColleen Cook, Clarinet
• On Leave of Absence
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Wednesday November 5, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Thursday November 6, 2008 at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm
Friday November 7, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Saturday November 8, 2008 at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm
Sunday November 9, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Symphony in CChoreography: George Balanchine © School of American BalletStaged by: Lindsay Fischer, Mandy-Jayne Richardson, Joysanne SidimusMusic: Georges Bizet, Symphony No. 1 in C majorCostume Design: KarinskaLighting Design: Ronald BatesConductors: David Briskin, Music Director and Principal Conductor (Nov. 5, 6 eve, 7, 8 eve)
Judith Yan, Assistant Conductor (Nov 6 mat, 8 mat, 9)
Premiere (as Le Palais de Cristal): Paris Opera Ballet, July 28, 1947 – Paris, FranceThe National Ballet of Canada Premiere: November 14, 1984 – Toronto, Ontario
Symphony in C is a gift from THE VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE, THE NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA.
First Movement: Allegro VivoGreta Hodgkinson, Zdenek Konvalina (Nov 5, 6 eve, 8 mat)Heather Odgen, Aleksandar Antonijevic (Nov 6 mat, 7, 8 eve, 9)
Jillian Vanstone (Nov 5, 8), Stephanie Hutchison (Nov 6, 7, 9)Brett van Sickle Tina Pereira (Nov 5, 8 mat), Alejandra Perez-Gomez (Nov 6, 7, 8 eve, 9)Nan Wang
Second Movement: AdagioXiao Nan Yu, Tiit Helimets* (Nov 5, 6 mat, 7)Heather Ogden, Etienne Lavigne (Nov 6 eve)Heather Ogden, Tiit Helimets* (Nov 8 mat)Greta Hodgkinson, Etienne Lavigne (Nov 8 eve, 9)
Klara Houdet James Leja (Nov 5, 6 eve, 7, 8 eve), Martin Lindinger (Nov 6 mat, 8 mat, 9)
Elena Lobsanova Joseph Welbes (Nov 5, 6 eve, 7, 8 eve), Robert Stephen (Nov 6 mat, 8 mat, 9)
The 2008/09 season is presented by:
In The Upper Room & Polyphonia & Symphony in C are presented by:
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Third Movement: Allegro VivaceChan Hon Goh, Ethan Stiefel* (Nov 5, 8 eve)Jenna Savella, Naoya Ebe (Nov 6 mat, 8 mat)Jillian Vanstone, Keiichi Hirano (Nov 6 eve, 9)Jillian Vanstone, Ethan Stiefel* (Nov 7)
Stephanie Hutchison (Nov 5, 8 eve), Juri Hiraoka (Nov 6, 7, 8 mat, 9)Naoya Ebe (Nov 5, 8 eve), Jonathan Renna (Nov 6, 7, 8 mat, 9)Alexandra Golden Richard Landry
Fourth Movement: Allegro VivaceSonia Rodriguez, Piotr Stanczyk (Nov 5, 6 eve, 8 mat, 9)Tina Pereira, Erkan Kurt (Nov 6 mat, 7, 8 eve)
Alejandra Perez-Gomez (Nov 5, 8 mat), Jordana Daumec (Nov 6, 7, 8 eve, 9)James SheeJenna Savella (Nov 5, 6 eve, 8 eve), Lise-Marie Jourdain (Nov 6 mat, 7, 8 mat, 9)Aarik Wells
And Ensemble
* Guest Artists
Danielle Bezaire, Jessica Burrows, Alexandra Inculet, Kailey Kaba, Liisa Himalainen andAlexandra Pike appear courtesy of Canada’s National Ballet School and with the kind permissionof Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.
Intermission
Etienne Lavigne and Heather Ogden with Artists of the Ballet in Symphony in CPhotography: Bruce Zinger
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PolyphoniaChoreography: Christopher Wheeldon©
Music: György LigetiUsed by arrangement with European Music Distributors LLC, sole Canadian and U.S. agent forSchott Music, publisher and copyright owner.Costume Design: Holly HynesLighting Design: Mark StanleyPiano Soloist: Edward Connell
Premiere: New York City Ballet, January 4, 2001 – New York, New YorkThe National Ballet of Canada Premiere: June 2, 2007 – Toronto, Ontario
Polyphonia is made possible by generous gifts from Sandra Simpson and Gretchen & Donald Ross.
Xiao Nan Yu and Noah Long (Nov 5, 6 eve, 8 eve, 9)Sonia Rodriguez and Nan Wang (Nov 6 mat, 7, 8 mat)
Heather Ogden and Etienne Lavigne (Nov 5, 8 mat)Greta Hodgkinson and Aleksandar Antonijevic (Nov 6 mat, 8 eve)Jillian Vanstone and Brett van Sickle (Nov 6 eve, 7, 9)
Chan Hon Goh and Piotr Stanczyk (Nov 5, 6 mat, 8 eve, 9)Tina Pereira and Etienne Lavigne (Nov 6 eve, 7)Tina Pereira and Piotr Stanczyk (Nov 8 mat)
Jillian Vanstone and Zdenek Konvalina (Nov 5, 8 mat)Tina Pereira and Richard Landry (Nov 6 mat, 8 eve, 9)Jenna Savella and Richard Landry (Nov 6 eve, 7)
I Désordre from Etudes pour piano, premier livre, 1985Entire cast
II Arc-en-ciel from Etudes pour piano, premier livre, 1985Xiao Nan Yu and Noah Long or Sonia Rodriguez and Nan Wang
III No. 4 Tempo di Valse from Musica Ricercata, 1951-53 Heather Ogden and Etienne Lavigne or Greta Hodgkinson and Aleksandar Antonijevic, or Jillian Vanstone and Brett van Sickle
IV Invention, 1948Heather Ogden or Greta Hodgkinson or Jillian Vanstone, Chan Hon Goh or Tina Pereira,Jillian Vanstone or Tina Pereira or Jenna Savella
V No. 8 Vivace energico from Musica Ricercata, 1951-53Etienne Lavigne or Aleksandar Antonijevic or Brett van Sickle, Zdenek Konvalina or Richard Landry
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VI No. 2 Hopp ide tisztán from Three Wedding Dances, 1950Chan Hon Goh and Piotr Stanczyk or Tina Pereira and Etienne Lavigne
VII No. 7 Cantabile molto legato from Musica Ricercata, 1951-53Xiao Nan Yu and Noah Long or Sonia Rodriguez and Nan Wang,Heather Ogden and Etienne Lavigne or Greta Hodgkinson and Aleksandar Antonijevic or Jillian Vanstone and Brett van Sickle
VIII No. 3 Allegro con spirito from Musica Ricercata, 1951-53Jillian Vanstone and Zdenek Konvalina or Tina Pereira and Richard Landry or Jenna Savella and Richard Landry
IX No. 2 Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale from Musica Ricercata, 1951-53Xiao Nan Yu and Noah Long or Sonia Rodriguez and Nan Wang
X Capriccio No. 2 – Allegro robusto, 1947Entire cast
Intermission
Xiao Nan Yu and Nehemiah Kish in PolyphoniaPhotography: Cylla von Tiedemann
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In The Upper RoomCompany PremiereChoreography: Twyla TharpStaged by: Elaine KudoMusic: Philip Glass, In The Upper Room© 1986 Dunvagen Music Publishers Inc. Used by Permission.Costume Design: Norma KamaliLighting Design: Jennifer Tipton
Premiere: August 28, 1986, Twyla Tharp Dance – Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, Illinois
The performance of In The Upper Room a Tharpsm Ballet, is presented under license with W.A.T. Limited, and has been produced in accordance with Tharpsm Service Standards; In The Upper Room Choreography by Twyla Tharp, © 1992 Twyla Tharp.
In The Upper Room is a gift from Walter Carsen, O.C.
Greta Hodgkinson or Sonia RodriguezAleksandar Antonijevic or Etienne Lavigne
Zdenek Konvalina or Piotr Stanczyk or Aarik Wells, James Shee or Nan Wang Jillian Vanstone or Lise-Marie Jourdain, Tina Pereira or Jenna Savella
Heather Ogden or Alexandra Golden
Xiao Nan Yu or Andreea Olteanu, Stephanie Hutchison or Jordana Daumec, Jordana Daumec or Alejandra Perez-GomezJames Leja or Jonathan Renna, Noah Long or Robert Stephen, Keiichi Hirano orChristopher Stalzer
Symphony in C, created for the Paris
Opéra Ballet in 1947 under the title Le Palais
de Cristal, is brilliantly constructed, elegant
and virtuosic, all flash and dazzle. It drew
heavily on the vast financial and artistic
resources of that acclaimed company at a
time when, in New York, Balanchine had few
dancers, high school auditoria for stages,
and a minuscule costume budget. Like most
of Balanchine’s works, it follows the music
closely and perceptively – in this case, the
long-lost score of the 17-year-old Bizet’s
unpublished first symphony, rediscovered
only in 1935 – allowing us, as Balanchine
always wished, to “see the music, hear the
dancing.”
That goal would be easier to achieve
when Balanchine brought the work to New
York the next year, stripping it of its fancy
title, its elaborate costumes (one colour to
each movement, rather like Jewels), its lavish
scenery with galleries, balconies, a staircase,
and ornaments galore, and its huge initial
cast. As always, Balanchine’s impulse was to
simplify and clarify his works over the years.
One of the most startling facts about this
ballet is that it took only two weeks to
choreograph, matching the mere two weeks
Bizet devoted to his musical composition.
Brought into the repertoire of The National
Ballet of Canada by Erik Bruhn in 1984 as
part of a Balanchine Evening, Symphony in C
contains the traditional four movements
of a classical symphony and embodies
Balanchine’s assertion that “Ballet is
Woman.” Structurally, each movement has a
principal couple with the woman dominant,
two secondary couples, and six to eight
female corps, depending on the size of the
company (the full Paris cast numbered 52
dancers). Each movement plays inventively
with geometrical shapes – squares,
diagonals, sculptural groupings – that
illustrate the variety of effects possible using
a very active and technically adept corps de
ballet.
Three movements of Bizet’s symphony
(1, 3, and 4) are marked Allegro Vivo or
Allegro Vivace in the score – buoyant, crisp,
lively. The first presents a commandingly
regal ballerina (Maria Tallchief, Balanchine’s
then-wife, in the New York premiere). In
marked contrast to the other movements,
the second movement – Adagio – is the
longest, most admired in its music and
Symphony in C
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Artists of the Ballet in Symphony in CPhotography: Sian Richards
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dance alike. Subtly Spanish in flavour, graced
by a hypnotic oboe melody that only Bizet
could have written, the section is sensuous,
exotic, seductive, as the ballerina bourrées
effortlessly and skims the floor in low serene
lifts. Towards the end, she displays her trust,
and her partner’s reliability, when three times
she faints backwards, only to be caught
securely at the last minute.
The ebullient third movement is Scottish
in flavour (hear the orchestral imitation of
bagpipe). It demands a principal couple
capable of huge side-by-side jumps and
possessing remarkable stamina.
The spectacular perpetual-motion final
movement begins with its own soloists and
corps but each time it appears to reach a
climax, dancers from an earlier section crest
onto the stage, wave after wave, until finally
over 50 dancers are leaping in unison in one
of the most flamboyant finales in all ballet. No
wonder the finicky French audience gave it a
standing ovation, or that its New York
premiere was so successful that the Ballet
Society, as Balanchine’s company was then
named, had to change from a private
subscription-only enterprise and sell tickets
to a general public demanding to see the
piece everyone was talking about.
– Penelope Reed Doob
Artists of the Ballet in Symphony in CPhotography: Sian Richards
British choreographer Christopher
Wheeldon is one of the most sought-after
dancemakers around and Polyphonia one of
his most admired ballets. After a stunningly
successful New York City Ballet premiere on
January 4th, 2001, it was performed the next
year by London’s Royal Ballet and won the
Laurence Olivier Prize for Best New Dance
Production. Many other companies have
adopted this instant classic, among them
San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Pacific
Northwest Ballet, Les Grands Ballets
Canadiens de Montréal and The National
Ballet of Canada.
The work’s title alludes to a musical style
popular in the Renaissance and exemplified
by the work of Palestrina and the
madrigalists, where many voices sing at once
but each vocal or instrumental part has
different melodies, rhythms and beginnings
and endings of phrases. The title hints at the
movement: not relentless unison but far more
complicated interminglings of unison, canon,
mirror-image patterns and apparent chaos.
No wonder the work is so popular. It’s
edgy and clever, cool and chic, inventive
and sassy, intellectually and aesthetically
challenging, crisp and pure. Wheeldon’s
choreographic voice is at once traditional –
formalist, musical, committed to classicism
and beauty – and novel.
The music aptly made visible by
Wheeldon is a selection of ten short piano
pieces written between 1947 and 1985
by the avant garde Hungarian-Austrian
composer György Ligeti (1923 – 2006).
Ligeti’s style varied from the folk-like
melodies and percussiveness of his
compatriots Bartók and Kodaly to the
electronic manipulation of sound and what
he dubbed “micropolyphony,” the creation
of orchestral sound clusters that gradually
transform themselves. In the Polyphonia
pieces, despite the limitations of having only
one instrument, we experience the
composer’s tremendous wit and variety.
The ballet, for eight dancers in leotards,
presents ten dances in a mere half hour and
the titles that composer György Ligeti gave
each selection are reflected in both music
and dance.
I, Désordre from Etudes pour piano,
premier livre, uses concepts Ligeti
borrowed from African drumming, with the
pianist playing in perfect time but the musical
accents shifted so that the listener
experiences chaos. The dance begins with
the four couples neatly in place, but each
does set steps in seemingly random order.
The visual and musical cacophony deepen
as the dancers’ shadows are projected on a
scrim. Finally, order emerges from chaos as
some steps begin to occur in unison.
II, Arc-en-ciel (rainbow) from Etudes pour
piano, premier livre, is slow and mysterious,
seemingly danced underwater.
III, No. 4 Tempo di Valse from Musica
Ricercata, is a romantic hesitation waltz
with a few quirky hiccups.
IV, Invention, wittily shows three dancers
performing a Bach-like two-part invention.
V, No. 8 Vivace energico from Musica
Ricercata, shows two men dancing jauntily
in intermittent disunity to a fanfare.
VI, No. 2 Hopp ide tisztán from Three
Wedding Dances, a Hungarian wedding
song, is a ravishing almost-classical pas de
deux that shocks us when the man exits,
leaving the woman to dance alone.
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Polyphonia
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VII, No. 7 Cantabile molto legato from
Musica Ricercata, perhaps the most
glorious section, involves two couples in
varying configurations, sometimes in unison,
sometimes mirroring each other, and
sometimes completely independent of a
slow melody supported by rapid ostinato
(repeated) passages in the bass.
VIII, No. 3 Allegro con spirito from Musica
Ricercata, is another fanfare of major thirds
with a very abrupt ending.
IX, No. 2 Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale from
Musica Ricercata, marked dramatically as
gloomy, austere, and formal, is an eccentric,
intense pas de deux to an ominously
constrained but insistent pseudo-melody
of minor seconds.
X, Capriccio No. 2 – Allegro robusto,
echoes themes from the opening, including
the shadow dance, giving structure to the
whole.
Wheeldon’s Polyphonia is generally seen
as an homage to George Balanchine’s
angular leotard ballets, but it’s more diverse
in vocabulary, the blossoming of a new
branch on the tree of neoclassicism,
definitely “romantic with comic twists,” as
Wheeldon described it and the ballet ends
appropriately with effortlessly weightless
horizontal lifts, a signpost that we’ve veered
90 degrees off the common path.
– Penelope Reed Doob
Xiao Nan Yu and Nehemiah Kish in PolyphoniaPhotography: Cylla von Tiedemann
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Choreographer Twyla Tharp thinks of the
two women who initiate In The Upper Room
in terms of ceramic, Chinese temple guard
dogs. From the “cells” of their side-by-side
moves, with stretching, kicking and swinging
legs, the dramatic, nearly religious and
hypnotic, on-rushing work pours forth.
An inky yet celestially lighted void frames
the advancing, receding, exploding and
imploding activities of the many-layered
work. Beyond her “china dog” markers, the
choreographer characterizes the running-
shoe-wearing three couples as “stompers”
and two pointe-shoe-wearing women as a
“bomb squad.” All work according to their
nicknames, stomping and “bombing” the
space with their finesse, energy and force.
The cast of “participants” builds gradually
and, once established, evolves partly
through an altering of costumes and through
elaborating their dancing and their
connection to the other dancers. Tharp has
described her movements here as “fierce,
driving, and relentless,” aiming to make
some furiously fast unison moves “burn the
retina.”
The dancers play with and feed on the
music’s driving pulse, much of their
locomotion can be seen as jogging,
sometimes nonchalantly backwards. The
“bomb squad” amplifies into the “ballet
cadre” and their red costuming stands out
with special fire in the black velvet surround.
The music’s unwinding, and unskeining
character climaxes in a finale that
encapsulates the entire ballet up to that
point, with each recapitulation coloured
and/or twisted this way or that from its
original presentation.
With the first-time appearance of the
entire cast, the piece winds down. In the
process, it re-dramatizes the magical void
created as a scenic component by Jennifer
Tipton’s innovative lighting plot. The dancers
variously disappear into the dense, rich
blackness that stands like a shadowy infinity
behind the more immediate space showered
by shafts of warm light. Two “stomper” men
bolt backward into the void by way of
throwing forward a sharp punch as they
“disappear.” For summary punctuation the
“china dogs” cue the ringing down of the
curtain by pulling down their fists, as if
sharply closing shut a window blind.
In The Upper Room
David Hallberg and Paloma Herrera fromAmerican Ballet Theatre in In The Upper RoomPhotography: Marty Sohl
Karen Kain,
C.C., LL.D., D.Litt., O.Ont.,
Artistic Director
Acknowledged as one of the
leading classical ballerinas of
her time, Karen Kain is also
one of Canada’s foremost
arts advocates, bringing
the same passion and
dedication she exemplified
as a dancer to her roles as a
spokesperson for Canadian
culture and as the Artistic
Director of The National
Ballet of Canada. A native of
Hamilton, Ontario, Ms. Kain
studied at Canada’s National
Ballet School, graduating in
1969 when she joined The
National Ballet of Canada.
After quickly rising to the
rank of Principal Dancer, she
came to the attention of
international audiences when
she won the Silver Medal at
the Moscow International
Ballet Competition in 1973.
This led to a highly
successful career on stages
throughout the world. Ms.
Kain retired from dance in
1997 and shortly afterwards
assumed the position of
Artist-in-Residence with the
National Ballet. In 1999, her
role was expanded to that of
Artistic Associate and in
June of 2005, she was
appointed Artistic Director
of the company. Ms. Kain
has received numerous
accolades and awards
throughout her career. She is
a Companion of the Order of
Canada, the first Canadian
recipient of the Cartier
Lifetime Achievement Award
and was named an Officer of
the Order of Arts and Letters
by the government of
France. In 2002, she was
honoured with a Governor
General’s Award for Lifetime
Artistic Achievement and
from 2004 to 2008 was
Chair of the Canada Council
for the Arts. In 2007, she
received the Barbara
Hamilton Memorial Award for
demonstrating excellence
and professionalism in the
performing arts.
George Balanchine
Choreographer,
Symphony in C
George Balanchine was
born in St. Petersburg,
Russia in 1904. He joined
the Maryinsky Ballet as a
member of the Corps de
Ballet at the age of 17. In
1924, Mr. Balanchine was
invited by Serge Diaghilev to
join Ballets Russes in Paris.
Mr. Balanchine was hired as
Ballet Master in 1925, and
held this position until the
company was dissolved in
1929. Mr. Balanchine formed
his own company Les Ballets
1933, and shortly thereafter
met the American dance
connoisseur Lincoln Kirstein,
which led him to move
to the United States. In
collaboration with Mr.
Kirstein, Mr. Balanchine
formed the School of
American Ballet and
American Ballet, which
was resident ballet company
at the Metropolitan Opera.
Mr. Balanchine worked as
Artistic Director of Ballet
Russes de Monte Carlo from
1944 to 1946, and in 1946
he formed Ballet Society,
which later became New
York City Ballet. He served
as Artistic Director of New
York City Ballet until his
death in 1983.
Joysanne Sidimus
Staging, Symphony in C
Internationally recognized
as one of the foremost
authorities on the ballets
of George Balanchine,
Joysanne Sidiumus has
staged the eminent
choreographer’s work for
dance companies the world
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Selected Biographies
over. Born in New York City,
Ms. Sidimus studied under
George Balanchine at the
School of American Ballet,
subsequently joining the
choreographer’s New York
City Ballet. She later
performed as a Soloist with
London’s Festival Ballet and
as a Principal Dancer with
Pennsylvania Ballet and The
National Ballet of Canada.
Ms. Sidimus is the founder
of the Dancer Transition
Resource Centre and the
co-author, with Carol
Anderson, of Reflections in a
Dancing Eye: The Role and
Value of the Artist in
Contemporary Canadian
Society, published by the
Banff Centre Press. As well,
she serves on numerous
advisory panels and was
the founding Vice President
of the Board of Directors of
the Artists’ Health Centre
Foundation, which created
the Artists’ Health Centre, a
comprehensive health care
faculty for artists at Toronto
Western Hospital. She has
lectured extensively on the
art of dance at numerous
universities and in 2003,
was awarded the Governor
General’s Meritorious
Service Medal for her work
in founding the Dancer
Transition Resource Centre.
In 2006, Ms. Sidimus
received the Governor
General’s Performing Arts
Award for Lifetime Artistic
Achievement.
Georges Bizet
Composer, Symphony in C
Georges Bizet was a French
composer of the romantic
era, best known for his
opera Carmen. A child
prodigy, Mr. Bizet entered
the prestigious Paris
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Artists of the Ballet in Symphony in CPhotography: Cylla von Tiedemann
Conservatory of Music at
the age of nine. In 1857, he
shared a prize offered by
Jacques Offenbach for a
setting of the one-act
operetta Le Docteur Miracle.
Later that year, he won the
coveted Prix de Rome. As
per the conditions of the
scholarship, he studied in
Rome for three years. There,
his talent began to mature
with such works as
Symphony in C and the
opera Don Procopio. Mr.
Bizet’s best-known work,
Carmen, was based on an
1846 novel of the same
name by Prosper Mérimée.
Influenced by Giuseppe
Verdi, he composed the title
role in Carmen for a mezzo-
soprano. Not an immediate
success, Bizet became
despondent over the
perceived failure, but praise
came from such luminaries
as Camille Saint-Saëns,
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
and Claude Debussy, who
recognized its greatness.
Their views were prophetic,
as the public made Carmen
one of the most popular
works in operatic history.
Just a few months after the
opera’s debut, Mr. Bizet died
at the age of 36.
Karinska
Costume Designer,
Symphony in C
Barbara Karinska was born
in Russia in 1886. As a
young woman she ran a
Moscow embroidery shop
before leaving the country
after the October Revolution.
Before settling in America in
1938, Ms. Karinska worked
in Paris, making costumes
from the sketches of artists
such as Berard, Derain, Dali,
Chagall and Beaton. After
arriving in New York, Ms.
Karinska designed many of
the tutus and conventional
romantic ballet dresses for
New York City Ballet. As the
company’s most respected
costume designer, she
created the costumes for
several of George
Balanchine’s works,
including Divertimento No.
15, Symphony in C, Bourée
Fantasque, Serenade, La
Valse, Star and Stripes, The
Nutcracker, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Liebeslieder
Walzer, Bugaku and Jewels.
Ms. Karinska also designed
Page 16 national.ballet.ca
Artists of the Ballet in Symphony in CPhotography: Bruce Zinger
and executed costumes
for theatre, opera and
cinema. In 1962, she
was given the Capezio
Award in recognition of her
contribution to dance. Ms.
Karinska died in New York
City in 1983.
Ronald Bates
Lighting Designer,
Symphony in C
Ronald Bates studied scenic
design at Los Angeles City
College. He worked as a
stage manager for the
Mozart Festival and the
Shakespeare Festival in
Stratford, Connecticut and
for the NBC Opera Company
in New York. In 1957, Mr.
Bates accepted an invitation
to join New York City Ballet
as Production Manager. He
also served as Resident
Lighting Designer for New
York City Ballet and worked
closely with choreographers
George Balanchine and
Jerome Robbins. An
authority on the construction
of permanent and portable
stage floors, he developed
the “Balanchine basket-
weave floor”, a surface that
helped reduce injuries to
dancers. The floor design is
in wide use in theatres
throughout the United States
and abroad. Mr. Bates also
worked with the Dance
Theater of Harlem, San
Francisco Ballet, Paris Opera
Ballet and Zurich Ballet. Mr.
Bates died in 1986 at the
age of 54.
Tiit Helimets
Guest Artist,
Symphony in C
Tiit Helimets was born in
Viljandi, Estonia and trained
at the Tallinn Ballet School.
In 1996, Mr. Helimets joined
the Estonian National Ballet
as a Soloist, and was
appointed Principal Dancer
six months later. Mr.
Helimets’ repertoire with the
company included Prince
Desire and Bluebird in The
Sleeping Beauty, Albrecht in
Giselle, Siegfried in Swan
Lake, Romeo in Romeo and
Juliet and Daphnis in
Daphnis and Chloë. In 1999,
Mr. Helimets joined the
Birmingham Royal Ballet and
was promoted to Principal
Dancer in 2002. He joined
San Francisco Ballet as
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Principal Dancer in 2005
where his roles include The
Prince in Helgi Tomasson’s
The Nutcracker, Siegfried in
Swan Lake, The Prince in
The Sleeping Beauty, Basilio
in Don Quixote, Albrecht in
Giselle, Balanchine’s Apollo,
Diamonds, Allegro Brilliante,
Divertimento #15 and
Symphony in C, among
others. Mr. Helimets created
Summer in Bintley’s The
Seasons and Apollo in
Bintley’s Orpheus Suite. In
1999, he received an award
from the Arts Council of
Estonia for his performances
in The Sleeping Beauty and
Romeo and Juliet.
Ethan Stiefel
Guest Artist,
Symphony in C
Ethan Stiefel started his
professional career with New
York City Ballet and, later,
was a Principal Dancer with
Zurich Ballet. He is currently
a Principal Dancer with
American Ballet Theatre and
Dean of the School of Dance
at the North Carolina School
of the Arts. Mr. Stiefel
starred in the feature film
Center Stage, and returns
to play the role of Cooper
Nielsen in Center Stage 2,
scheduled for release in
November 2008. His
repertoire includes leading
roles in all of the full-length
classics as well as works by
Twyla Tharp, Sir Frederick
Ashton, Jirí Kylían, Paul
Taylor, Christopher
Wheeldon, August
Bournonville, William
Page 18 national.ballet.ca
Heather Ogden with Artists of the Ballet in Symphony in CPhotography: Bruce Zinger
Forsythe, Jerome Robbins,
Lar Lubovitch, George
Balanchine, Anthony Tudor
and Mark Morris. Mr.
Stiefel’s television credits
include The Dream,
Le Corsaire and the
documentary Born to
be Wild. He has made
numerous appearances as a
guest artist with The Royal
Ballet, Kirov Ballet, New York
City Ballet, The Australian
Ballet and other companies
throughout the world. He
has been a guest teacher for
many institutions including
American Ballet Theatre II,
American Ballet Theatre’s
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
School and The Royal Ballet
School. His Royal Highness
Crown Prince Albert of
Monaco presented Mr.
Stiefel with the Statue
Award of the Princess Grace
Foundation in October 1999.
He will receive the Dance
Magazine Award in
December 2008.
Christopher Wheeldon
Choreographer,
Polyphonia
Internationally acclaimed
choreographer Christopher
Wheeldon is Artistic Director
and Co-Founder of
Morphoses/The Wheeldon
Company. He has received
many awards for his work
including the London Critics’
Circle Award for Best New
Ballet for Polyphonia, the
American Choreography
Award and the Olivier Award.
Mr. Wheeldon studied at The
Royal Ballet School and
joined The Royal Ballet in
1991. That same year, he
won the Gold Medal at the
Prix de Lausanne
competition. In 1993, he
joined New York City Ballet.
He began his choreographic
career with NYCB in 1997
when he created Slavonic
Dances for the company’s
annual showcase. In 2000,
he retired from dancing
to concentrate on
choreography and served
as NYCB’s first Artist in
Residence, creating two
ballets, Polyphonia and
Variations Sérieuses. In
2001, Mr. Wheeldon was
named NYCB’s first
Resident Choreographer.
During this time, he
choreographed works
including Morphoses, After
the Rain, An American in
Paris and The Nightingale
and the Rose. Among
the celebrated ballets Mr.
Wheeldon has created
for other companies are
Continuum for San Francisco
Ballet, Tryst and DGV (Danse
à Grande Vitesse) for The
Royal Ballet, and a full-length
Swan Lake for Pennsylvania
Ballet. For Morphoses/The
Wheeldon Company’s
inaugural season, Wheeldon
choreographed two new
works, Fools’ Paradise and
Prokofiev Pas de Deux.
György Ligeti
Composer,
Polyphonia
György Ligeti was born in
1923 in Transylvania. His
musical studies began in
childhood and after the war
he attended the Franz Liszt
Academy in Budapest. He
went on to teach at the
academy following his
graduation. He stayed in
this position until he fled the
Hungarian Revolution in
1956. His arrival in Vienna
introduced him to the avant-
garde school of music,
which allowed him to further
develop his musical style.
His first pieces of this era
attracted critical acclaim.
Mr. Ligeti’s style continued
to evolve and he became
known for the use of dense
polyphony, in which he
layered so many musical
colours and textures that the
distinctions between melody,
harmony and rhythm
became indistinguishable.
He gained a mass audience
when his 1966 work Lux
Aeterna was used in the
Page 19
Page 20 national.ballet.ca
Patrick Lavoie and Bridgett Zehr in PolyphoniaPhotography: David Cooper
soundtrack for Stanley
Kubrick’s 2001: A Space
Odyssey.
Holly Hynes
Costume Designer,
Polyphonia
Holly Hynes has designed
over 120 ballets in her
long career as a costume
designer. For 21 years
she was the Director of
Costumes for New York City
Ballet where she designed
over 60 ballets. In North
America, her theatrical
designs have been seen
on Broadway as well as
in ballets for such major
companies as American
Ballet Theatre, San
Francisco Ballet, The
National Ballet of Canada,
Houston Ballet, The Joffrey
Ballet, The Suzanne Farrell
Ballet Company,
Pennsylvania Ballet, Alberta
Ballet, Boston Ballet, Boris
Eifmann Company, BalletMet
and Morphoses/The
Wheeldon Company.
Abroad, her designs have
been acclaimed at such
companies as The Royal
Ballet, Ballet Flanders, La
Scala, the Kirov and the
Royal Danish Ballet. In 2007,
she made her Metropolitan
Opera debut as a designer
on the revival of the opera
La Gioconda. In addition to
her design work, Ms. Hynes
serves as a consultant with
authority to teach costume
reproductions of various
established designs for the
Jerome Robbins Foundation,
the George Balanchine Trust
and Peter Martins, serving
many companies
internationally.
Mark Stanley
Lighting Design,
Polyphonia
Mark Stanley is the Lighting
Director for New York City
Ballet, where he has
designed over 100 of the
company’s premieres. He
has worked with numerous
choreographers including
Peter Martins, Kevin O’Day,
William Forsythe, Susan
Marshall, Ulysses Dove, Lar
Lubovitch and Laura Dean.
His designs are in the
repertories of the Royal
Danish Ballet, the Dutch
National Ballet, the Berlin
Opera Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet,
the Bolshoi Ballet, the Kirov
Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet,
The Donestk Ballet, San
Francisco Ballet, The Joffrey
Ballet, The National Ballet of
Canada, Pennsylvania Ballet,
the Vienna Volks Oper, San
Kai Juku and Alvin Ailey
Dance Theater, among
others. Mr. Stanley
previously served as
Resident Lighting Designer
for New York City Opera.
His designs have been seen
nationally on PBS in “Live
from Lincoln Center” and
“Great Performances”.
Edward Connell
Piano Soloist, Polyphonia
Edward Connell joined the
National Ballet as a pianist
in 2005, and made his solo
debut with the company in
24 Preludes by Chopin in
March 2008. Trained as a
concert pianist, he has had
a very successful career in
theatre, including more than
200 professional productions
and 11 original musicals.
Mr. Connell was the Head
of Music Theory and Piano
at the Alberta College
Conservatory and was also
the Music Director of the
Timothy Eaton Memorial
Church for several years.
His choral career includes
engagements as a singer,
pianist and conductor with
ProCoro Canada, the Artistic
Directorship of Cantilena
Consort and his on-going
leadership of Forte – The
Toronto Men’s Chorus. Mr.
Connell’s many honours
include being named a
Fellow of the Royal Canadian
College of Organists with the
Healey Willan Prize. He has
also received gold medals in
Page 21
both piano and organ from
the Royal Conservatory of
Music and other renowned
musical institutions.
Twyla Tharp
Choreographer,
In The Upper Room
In 1965, Twyla Tharp formed
Twyla Tharp Dance and
has created over 125 works
to date. She has also
choreographed for American
Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera
Ballet, The Royal Ballet, New
York City Ballet, Boston
Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet,
Hubbard Street Dance and
Martha Graham Company,
etc. Ms. Tharp’s Broadway
credits include When We
Were Very Young, The
Catherine Wheel, Singin’ in
The Rain and Movin’ Out.
She collaborated in film on
Hair, Ragtime, Amadeus,
White Nights and I’ll Do
Anything. Ms. Tharp is the
author of two books: Push
Comes To Shove and The
Creative Habit: Learn It And
Use It For Life.
Elaine Kudo
Staging,
In The Upper Room
Elaine Kudo trained at the
Metropolitan Opera Ballet
School, School of American
Ballet and American Ballet
Theatre School. She joined
American Ballet Theatre in
1975 and was promoted to
Soloist in 1981, dancing in
a wide range of works until
1989. During her tenure
with ABT, Ms. Kudo worked
extensively with all the major
choreographers of that
period. She also appeared
with Tharp Dance Co. and
Baryshnikov & Co., and
was Baryshnikov’s partner
in Sinatra Suite and Push
Comes to Shove in the PBS
Great Performances special
Baryshnikov by Tharp. Since
her retirement from the
stage, Ms. Kudo has worked
as Ballet Mistress for ABT,
Twyla Tharp, The Jersey
Ballet Company and The
American Repertory Ballet
Co. She has staged Tharp
works throughout the
US and Europe and
began staging her own
choreography in 1997. As a
teacher and co-director of
Theatre Arts Dance America
located in New Jersey, she
teaches intermediate and
advanced level classes,
and works with students
on school and company
(Theatre Dance America)
productions. Ms. Kudo has
choreographed numerous
pieces for T.A.D.A. and the
ABT Summer Intensive. She
is continually adding to her
choreographic repertory and
has had her work performed
by companies including New
Jersey Ballet, the Carolina
Ballet and American
Repertory Ballet.
Philip Glass
Composer,
In The Upper Room
Born in Maryland, Philip
Glass is a graduate of the
Juilliard School. In the early
1960s, he spent two years
studying in Paris and earned
money by transcribing Ravi
Shankar’s Indian music
into western notation. Upon
his return to New York,
he applied these eastern
techniques to his own music,
developing a new musical
style known as minimalism.
By 1974, Mr. Glass had a
number of innovative works
for his group, the Philip
Glass Ensemble, including
Music in Twelve Parts and
Einstein on the Beach.
He has scored for opera,
dance, theatre, ensembles,
orchestra and film. His
score for Kundun received
an Oscar. In 2004, he
premiered Orion as part of
the cultural celebration of the
2004 Olympics in Greece.
He has collaborated with
Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt
and Yo-Yo Ma, among
others. Mr. Glass presents
lectures, workshops and
Page 22 national.ballet.ca
solo keyboard performances
internationally and continues
to appear regularly with the
Philip Glass Ensemble.
Norma Kamali
Costume Designer,
In The Upper Room
Norma Kamali is a New York
based fashion designer. Her
career began in 1964 when
she graduated from the
Fashion Institute of
Technology in New York City
with a Bachelor of Fine Arts
degree in Fashion Illustration.
Four years later she opened
her first store on East 53rd
Street, which she moved to
Madison Avenue in 1974.
Since then, Ms. Kamali has
become an internationally
recognized designer in a
wide range of street wear,
sportswear, swimwear,
accessories and cosmetics.
Among many awards,
Ms. Kamali has won
Coty Awards for Design
Innovation and Women’s
Fashion Design, a CFDA
Award for Outstanding
Women’s Fashion and an
American Success Award
for Vocational Technical
Education, which was
presented to her by
President George Bush at
the White House. In 2005,
Ms. Kamali won the CFDA’s
Board of Directors’ Special
Tribute Award and in 2008,
she signed on to create a
discount line of clothing for
Wal-Mart.
Page 23
Stacey Shiori Minagawa and Guillaume Côté in PolyphoniaPhotography: Cylla von Tiedemann
Jennifer Tipton
Lighting Designer,
In The Upper Room
Jennifer Tipton has created
the lighting for many
theatrical, dance and
opera productions. She has
worked with choreographers
Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jirí
Kylián, Dana Reitz, Jerome
Robbins, Paul Taylor, Twyla
Tharp and Dan Wagoner,
among many others, and
has won two Bessie Awards
and an Olivier Award for
lighting dance. Ms. Tipton
first worked with The
National Ballet of Canada
in 1983 and has since lit
multiple productions with
the company including Glen
Tetley’s La Ronde, Anthony
Tudor’s The Leaves are
Falling and Jerome Robbins’
The Concert. In 1995, she
designed the lighting for
James Kudelka’s production
of The Nutcracker. Ms.
Tipton has received many
distinctions including the
Creative Arts Award in
Dance from Brandeis
University, a Guggenheim
Fellowship, the Common
Wealth Award in Dramatic
Arts, a Dance Magazine
Award, the Dorothy and
Lillian Gish Prize and the
Jerome Robbins Prize. Ms.
Tipton teaches lighting at the
Yale University School of
Drama.
David Briskin
Music Director and
Principal Conductor
A conductor renowned for the
versatility of his repertoire
and the depth of his musical
interpretations, David Briskin
joined The National Ballet of
Canada as Music Director and
Principal Conductor in 2006.
Prior to his appointment
with The National Ballet of
Canada, Mr. Briskin served
as Conductor with American
Ballet Theatre for seven
years, leading performances
at the Metropolitan Opera
House, New York’s City
Center and in major opera
houses throughout the
world. Since 2006, Mr.
Briskin has been a regular
guest conductor with New
Page 24 national.ballet.ca
York City Ballet appearing
most recently with the
company in Copenhagen in
September 2008. Last
season he appeared with
San Francisco Ballet for their
New Works Festival,
celebrating the company’s
75th anniversary and will join
the company again this
season in Chicago, New
York and San Francisco. Mr.
Briskin has also conducted
for Houston Ballet, The
Joffrey Ballet of Chicago,
and Les Grands Ballets
Canadiens de Montréal,
among others. For 12 years
he served as Conductor of
The Juilliard School’s Dance
Division. Equally at home on
the concert stage and in the
opera house, Mr. Briskin has
conducted symphony
orchestras and opera
productions throughout
Europe, Asia and North
America and served for six
years as the Music Director
of the Masterwork Chorus
and Orchestra, conducting
annual performances of
Handels’s Messiah at
Carnegie Hall. In July 2008,
he was appointed Director
of Orchestral Studies at the
University of Toronto Faculty
of Music and Conductor of
the University of Toronto
Symphony Orchestra.
Judith Yan
Assistant Conductor
A native of Toronto, Judith
Yan joined The National
Ballet of Canada as
Assistant Conductor in 2007.
As Staff Conductor of the
San Francisco Opera, Ms.
Yan served as assistant to
Donald Runnicles and as
Cover/Rehearsal Conductor
on 12 productions. For the
company, she conducted
three productions, one of
which was included in the
San Francisco Chronicle’s
Top Ten Performances of
2005. Prior to her position at
the SFO, Ms. Yan was
Conductor-in-Residence
at the Canadian Opera
Company. Appointed by the
late Richard Bradshaw, she
worked on numerous
productions, recordings and
concerts. Ms. Yan made her
German conducting debut
with Mozart’s Idomeneo
Page 25
Zdenek Konvalina, Heather Ogden,Nehemiah Kish, Xiao Nan Yu,Guillaume Côté and Stacey ShioriMinagawa in PolyphoniaPhotography: Cylla von Tiedemann
in 2005, and her Italian
conducting debut with
Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro
in 2007. She recently
returned to Italy to conduct
La Bohème.
Ernest Abugov
Stage Manager
Ernest (Ernie) Abugov has
served as Stage Manager of
The National Ballet of Canada
since 1973, working with
every Artistic Director in the
company’s history from Celia
Franca to Karen Kain. He has
traveled with the company
all over the world touring to
Israel, Asia, Europe, Mexico,
New York and throughout
North America. Mr. Abugov
has worked with many of
the world’s most renowned
choreographers who have
created original works for the
National Ballet including John
Neumeier, William Forsythe
and Glen Tetley. Mr. Abugov
was born in Montréal,
Québec. Before beginning
his long association with the
National Ballet, he worked
with Les Feux Follets, The
Charlottetown Festival, La
Poudriere Theatre and The
Studio Lab Theatre. He
worked at Expo ’67 in
Montréal, stage managing
over 4,000 puppet shows.
Mr. Abugov also toured with
Harry Belafonte. In what little
spare time that he has, Mr.
Abugov guest-lectures to
theatre students.
Jeff Morris
Stage Manager
Jeff Morris studied technical
theatre production and
administration at Ryerson
Theatre School. After
graduating, he worked as
Production Stage Manager
for Toronto Dance Theatre
and with the Fringe Festival of
Independent Dance Artists, in
addition to a broad range of
Toronto’s independent dance
artists. In 1995, Mr. Morris
joined The National Ballet of
Canada and has since stage-
managed a wide range of
the company’s classical and
contemporary repertoire,
including world premieres of
James Kudelka’s The Four
Seasons, Cinderella and An
Italian Straw Hat. He is also
an adjunct faculty member at
the School of Toronto Dance
Theatre, where he teaches
Production Elements for
Dancers.
The National Ballet of
Canada Orchestra
The National Ballet of Canada
is privileged to have its own
full orchestra with over 60
members. The orchestra has
performed in each of the
National Ballet’s 57 seasons
and is led by Music Director
and Principal Conductor
David Briskin. The company’s
first Music Director was
George Crum who, along
with Founder Celia Franca,
was a pioneer of the
company. Mr. Crum held the
position from the company’s
inception in 1951 to 1984,
when he was appointed
Music Director Emeritus.
The orchestra was led by
Ermanno Florio from 1985
to 1990 and Ormsby Wilkins
from 1990 to 2006. The
National Ballet Orchestra has
toured extensively with the
company through Canada,
the United States and
Europe. Over the years, the
orchestra has received much
acclaim from audiences and
critics alike and has recorded
two CDs of Michael Torke’s
compositions for The
Contract (The Pied Piper)
and An Italian Straw Hat.
For more detailed
information visit
national.ballet.ca
Page 26 national.ballet.ca