The National Ballet of Canada Summer 2013 Per forman ce Carmen Heather Ogden and Former Soloist Noah Long. Photo by Sian Richards. Conten ts 4 The National Ballet of Canada Today Interview with Karen Kain by John Reardon 12 A Dancer’s Daily Ritual Company Class by Lindsay Fischer centre Today’s Performance 16 Dancer Biographies First Soloist Tina Pereira. Photo by Sian Richards. The National Ballet of Canada Summer 2013 Per forman ce n National Ballet Editors: Julia Drake and Belinda Bale n RJ Performance Media Inc .: n President and Publisher: Joe Marin o n CEO: Frank Barbosa n Finance: Gina Zicari n Secretary Treasurer: Rajee Muthuraman n Art Director /Design: Jan Haring a n Graphic Artist: Glenda Moniz n National Account Directors: Danny Antunes, Gary Bel l , Tom Marino, Paul Radford The National Ballet of Canada’s edition of Performance magazine is published quarterly by RJ Performance Media Inc., 2724 Coventry Road, Oakville, Ontario, L6H 6R1. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written consent is prohibited. Contents copyright © Performance Inc. Subscriptions available by contacting publisher. Direct all advertising enquiries to 2724 Coventry Road, Oakville, Ontario, L6H 6R1 or Telephone 905-829-3900, Ext. 222, Fax 905-829-3901. The National Ballet of Canada Today Interview with Karen Kain by John Reardon ou have to wonder how many frequent flyer points The Karen Kain Photo by Sian Richards. YNational Ballet of Canada will have amassed by the end of the year. With tours to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre already behind it, and a trip to New York in the offing, the company seems to be jetting as much as jete -ing these days. All of this travel is the result of a new and exciting repertoire (Christopher Wheeldon’s riotously exuberant Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland bowled over audiences in Los Angeles and Washington, and Alexei Ratmansky’s freshly invigorated Romeo and Juliet was the company’s calling card in London) that other dance centres are eager to see, and of a talented, dynamic and pleasingly cohesive group of dancers executing these works with verve and style. On the return Page 4 national.ballet.ca Heather Ogden and Guillaume Côté in Romeo and Juliet at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, England. Photo by Johan Persson. of the National Ballet’s tour to England, we spoke to Artistic Director Karen Kain to consider the company’s current profile, it’s talk-of-the-dance-world repertoire, its artistic ambitions and its high-flying ways. Performance: You’ve always said the quality of the dancing is what comes first in a good ballet company and you’ve always stressed how important it is to attract and keep good dancers. In that light, how would you assess your company’s strengths right now? Karen Kain: It’s always been a challenge for the National Ballet to attract the best dancers and keep them here, simply because Toronto isn’t one of the leading world dance centres and there are other companies with greater reputations than ours. That said, I think the quality of our dancers right now is as high as it’s ever been and our best dancers are as good as any you’ll find anywhere, both technically and in their overall artistry. We’re also seeing more dancers than ever audition for our company. Page 5 Sonia Rodriguez in Performance: What do you attribute that to? Alice’s Adventures Karen Kain: I think it’s our focus on a strong and innovative in Wonderland at The Music Centre repertoire. If we can’t match the aura or allure of the legendary in Los Angeles. companies, we can offer something else in the challenge and Photo by Bruce Zinger. excitement of working with terrifically interesting choreographers, of realizing the kinds of works few other companies have access to. That’s true for attracting established dancers and for developing and keeping younger ones here, keeping them committed to the ongoing project of this company. Dancers are artists and if you make the work itself the prize, good dancers will want to be a part of that. Performance: Who are some of the choreographers you’re most excited about working with? Karen Kain: Well, the recent experience of working with established and renowned choreographers like Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky and Wayne McGregor and young Canadian dancemakers like Robert Binet, Crystal Pite and Aszure Barton, all of whom are making a name for themselves internationally, has been hugely rewarding for the company. They’re all choreographers with distinctive and very different dance visions, with very individual approaches to understanding and creating dance, so their works stretch and challenge the dancers in incredible ways. You can watch the dancers grow and advance their artistry as they learn and absorb these works, whether in a classical or more abstract mode. The other advantage to forging relationships with artists like these is that their work is in great demand internationally. People want to see it and that leads to invitations to tour to larger centres. Page 6 national.ballet.ca Performance: Speaking of which, you’ve been touring a lot recently. How does touring fit into your vision for the company? Karen Kain: Touring brings exposure. It puts the company in the eye of audiences, critics and other dance artists in many of the most important dance centres of the world. It puts us on the map. And that helps build and solidify the company’s reputation. If we simply stayed at home in Canada, we could be the best company there is, but we’d just be a rumour to the rest of the world. By touring, others can actually see and experience what we can do, and that helps us attract creative forces. This goes back to bringing talent to the company. If we get out and are seen, people – choreographers, dancers, artistic directors – will know what we have here and appreciate what we’re doing and they’ll want to be a part of it. Karen Kain and Performance: I would imagine the dancers must derive Christopher Wheeldon. a lot from touring, too. Photo by Aleksandar Antonijevic. Karen Kain: Touring is hard work, but it’s also a great motivator for the dancers. It’s exciting and galvanizing to perform before different audiences in different theatres and in different cultures. The atmosphere, especially in the major centres, is a change from home and even the way audiences respond to a performance can be a new experience. Touring was certainly an enlarging and enriching experience for me when I danced, and I think it’s the same for dancers today. It keeps you on your game, keeps you excited about what you’re doing. As a dancer, you always want to communicate with as many people as you can. You want audiences, and the more diverse, the better. Knowing that people may be seeing you for the first time and that you’re representing both the company and, to an extent, the country abroad, sharpens and brings a new self-awareness to your art. Performance: Your recent success, both here and in the U.S., with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland , raises the question of co-productions and how that arrangement may figure in future works. Karen Kain: The way Alice came about and unfolded was almost perfect. After Christopher Wheeldon set Polyphonia on our company, I asked him if he would be interested in creating a new work for us. He told me of his plans for Alice and asked if we would be interested co-producing it with The Royal Ballet. After I discussed it with Monica Mason and we firmed up the details, everything fell into place with remarkably little stress. The fact that the ballet was such a success – both financially Page 8 national.ballet.ca 3:51 PM THIS IS EXTRAORDINARY. THIS IS RLX. U.S. model shown. The 2014 RLX is the most powerful, luxurious and advanced Acura ever. A groundbreaking Precision All Wheel SteerTM system delivers superior handling, while striking signature Jewel EyeTM headlamps provide powerful down-the-road illumination—setting the stage for car and driver to connect like never before. Visit acura.ca to explore. and artistically – and that the process was so rewarding naturally made us want to try it again. So we’re going to be co-producing Christopher’s The Winter’s Tale with The Royal Ballet in the coming year. If the experience of Alice is anything to go by, it should be a very exciting project and it’s one that we’re really looking forward to. Performance: What’s in store for next season? Karen Kain: In purely choreographic terms, one of the most exciting programs will be Innovation. It involves new works by three exceptional Canadian choreographers – Robert Binet, José Navas and James Kudelka. There’s a great appetite for homegrown work among our audience and these three artists, all at different stages of their careers, represent the best that contemporary ballet has to offer. Then there is Aszure Barton’s Watch her, which wowed audiences when it premiered in 2009, a revival of Sir Frederick Ashton’s A Month in the Country, which I think is a work ideally suited to our dancers, a mixed program of Marco Goecke’s stunning re-working La Spectre de la Rose, Jerome Robbins’ beautiful Opus 19/The Dreamer and William Forsythe’s wittily subversive the second detail, as well as three full-length works from our classical repertoire, Swan Lake, Onegin and Cinderella.