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Home , Birthday Offering, Chroma (ballet), Crystal Pite, Frederick Ashton, Greek National Opera, Greta Hodgkinson

World Premiere of Angels’ Atlas by Presented with & and Armand Greta Hodgkinson’s Farewell Performances Casting Announced

February 26, 2020… Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National of , today announced the casting for Angels’ Atlas by Crystal Pite which makes its world premiere on a programme with Chroma by Wayne McGregor and by . The programme is onstage February 29 – March 7, 2020 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. #AngelsAtlasNBC #ChromaNBC #MargueriteandArmandNBC

The opening night cast of Angels’ Atlas features Principal Dancers Heather Ogden and Harrison James, First Soloist Jordana Daumec, Hannah Fischer and Donald Thom, Second Soloists Spencer Hack and Siphesihle November and Corps de Ballet member Hannah Galway.

Principal Dancer Greta Hodgkinson retires from the stage after a career that has spanned over a period of 30 years. She will dance the role of Marguerite opposite Principal Dancer Guillaume Côté in Marguerite and Armand on opening night. The company will honour Ms. Hodgkinson at her final performance on Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 pm. Principal Dancers Sonia Rodriguez, Francesco Gabriele Frola and Harrison James will dance the title roles in subsequent performances.

Chroma will feature an ensemble cast including Principal Dancers Skylar Campbell, , Heather Ogden and Brendan Saye, First Soloists Tina Pereira and Tanya Howard, Second Soloists Christopher Gerty, Siphesihle November and Brent Parolin and Corps de Ballet member Alexander Skinner.

Casting

Angels’ Atlas Heather Ogden and Harrison James or Svetlana Lunkina and Ben Rudisin

Jordana Daumec and Spencer Hack or Chelsy Meiss and Brent Parolin

Spencer Hack and Donald Thom

Hannah Fischer

Hannah Galway and

Siphesihle November

With

Jack Bertinshaw, Skylar Campbell, Joe Chapman, Jimmy Coleman, Trygve Cumpston, Brenna Flaherty, Christopher Gerty, Selene Guerrero-Trujillo, Jeanine Haller, Kathryn Hosier, Tanya Howard, Tirion Law, Chelsy Meiss, Larkin Miller, Tiffany Mosher, Noah Parets, Brent Parolin, Genevieve Penn-Nabity, Tina Pereira, Meghan Pugh, Teagan Richman-Taylor, Kota Sato, Calley Skalnik, Alexander Skinner, Nan Wang, Tene Ward, Ethan Watts, Isaac Wright

Understudies: Clare Peterson, Peng-Fei Jiang, Jennifer Watembach

Marguerite and Armand Marguerite Greta Hodgkinson (February 29, March 4, 5, 6, 7 at 7:30 pm/March 1 at 2:00 pm) Sonia Rodriguez (March 5, 7 at 2:00 pm)

Armand Guillaume Côté (February 29, March 4, 5, 7 at 7:30 pm) Francesco Gabriele Frola (March 1, 5, 7 at 2:00 pm) Harrison James (March 6 at 7:30 pm)

Chroma Skylar Campbell, Christopher Gerty, Tanya Howard, Svetlana Lunkina, Brent Parolin, Siphesihle November, Heather Ogden, Tina Pereira, Brendan Saye, Alexander Skinner (February 29 at 7:30 pm, March 4, 6, 7 at 7:30 pm)

Jordana Daumec, Naoya Ebe, Spencer Hack, Koto Ishihara, Elena Lobsanova, Chelsy Meiss, Noah Parets, Brent Parolin, Ben Rudisin, Kota Sato (March 1, 5, 7 at 2:00 pm, March 5 at 7:30 pm)

Casting subject to change.

More Information About Angels’ Atlas & Chroma & Marguerite and Armand >

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BMO Financial Group presents the 2019/20 Season.

Angels' Atlas is produced and commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada.

Angels' Atlas is a co-production of The National Ballet of Canada and Ballett Zürich.

Philanthropic support for Angels’ Atlas is generously provided by An Anonymous Donor, Rosamond Ivey, Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin, The Producers’ Circle, The Volunteer Committee of The National Ballet of Canada and The Gail Hutchison Fund.

The Producers’ Circle: Gail & Mark Appel, John & Claudine Bailey, Inger Bartlett & Marshal Stearns, Laura Dinner & Richard Rooney, Gail Drummond & Bob Dorrance, The Thor E. and Nicole Eaton Family Charitable Foundation, Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan, Kevin Garland & Roger Garland, C.M., Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin, The William & Nona Heaslip Foundation, Anna McCowan Johnson & Donald K. Johnson, O.C., Judy Korthals & Peter Irwin, Mona & Harvey Levenstein, Jerry & Joan Lozinski, The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain, C.C., Julie Medland, Sandra Pitblado & Jim Pitblado, C.M., Lynda & Jonas Prince, The Harry & Lillian Seymour Family Foundation, Gerald Sheff & Shanitha Kachan and The Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation.

Chroma is produced in association with The Royal House, , London. Skylar Campbell is sponsored through Dancers First by Tricia Younger.

Guillaume Côté is sponsored through Dancers First by Emmanuelle Gattuso, C.M. and Allan Slaight, C.M.

Naoya Ebe is sponsored through Dancers First by Gretchen Ross.

Francesco Gabriele Frola is sponsored through Dancers First by Sherry and Edward Drew.

Harrison James is sponsored through Dancers First by Lucy White.

Svetlana Lunkina is sponsored through Dancers First by Anna McCowan Johnson & Donald K. Johnson, O.C.

Heather Ogden is sponsored through Dancers First by Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin.

Brendan Saye is sponsored through Dancers First by Robin Vaile Robinson.

Jordana Daumec is sponsored through Dancers First by an anonymous donor.

Chelsy Meiss is sponsored through Dancers First by Diana St. B. Weatherall.

Tina Pereira is sponsored through Dancers First by The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain, C.C.

Ben Rudisin is sponsored through Dancers First by an anonymous donor.

Christopher Gerty is sponsored through Dancers First by Ms. Nancy Viner & Dr. Raymond Stein.

Siphesihle November is sponsored through Dancers First by Jerry & Joan Lozinski.

Kota Sato is sponsored through Dancers First by Tony Arrell, C.M. & Anne Arrell.

The National Ballet of Canada gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of the Canada Council for the Arts; the Ontario Arts Council; the City of through the Economic Development & Culture Department; the Government of Canada – Department of Canadian Heritage, through the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism; and the Government of Ontario through The Honourable Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

For more information, please contact:

Catherine Chang Francine Labelle Senior Communications Manager Publicist 416 345 9686 x302 416 345 9686 x312 [email protected] [email protected] national.ballet.ca national.ballet.ca

World Premiere

Angels’ Atlas

Choreography: Crystal Pite Original Music: Owen Belton Additional Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Morten Lauridsen Reflective Light Backdrop Concept: Jay Gower Taylor Reflective Light Backdrop Design: Jay Gower Taylor and Tom Visser Lighting Design: Tom Visser Costume Design: Nancy Bryant Assistant to the Choreographer: Spencer Dickhaus

Premiere: The National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, February 29, 2020

Produced and commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada.

A co-production of The National Ballet of Canada and Ballett Zürich.

Philanthropic support for Angels’ Atlas is generously provided by An Anonymous Donor, Rosamond Ivey, Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin, The Producers’ Circle, The Volunteer Committee of The National Ballet of Canada and The Gail Hutchison Fund.

The Producers’ Circle: Gail & Mark Appel, John & Claudine Bailey, Inger Bartlett & Marshal Stearns, Laura Dinner & Richard Rooney, Gail Drummond & Bob Dorrance, The Thor E. and Nicole Eaton Family Charitable Foundation, Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan, Kevin Garland & Roger Garland, C.M., Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin, The William & Nona Heaslip Foundation, Anna McCowan Johnson & Donald K. Johnson, O.C., Judy Korthals & Peter Irwin, Mona & Harvey Levenstein, Jerry & Joan Lozinski, The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain, C.C., Julie Medland, Sandra Pitblado & Jim Pitblado, C.M., The Harry & Lillian Seymour Family Foundation, Gerald Sheff & Shanitha Kachan and The Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation.

Performance Dates: February 29 – March 7, 2020 Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

Crystal Pite, the choreographer of Emergence, creates a brand new work for The National Ballet of Canada. One of the world’s most in-demand dance artists, the British Columbia- born choreographer has astonished and enthralled audiences both at home and abroad with her nuanced, provocative and often haunting work. A new ballet by this enormously gifted artist will be one of the most highly-anticipated events of the season.

Quotes

“One of the most talented and intriguing choreographers working today”

“An image-maker of rare distinction.” The Australian

“Pite structures her work with a thrilling intelligence” (UK)

Crystal Pite Choreographer, Angels’ Atlas

Crystal Pite is a Canadian choreographer and former company member of Ballet BC and William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt.

Ms. Pite’s professional choreographic debut was in 1990, at Ballet British Columbia. Since then, she has created over 50 works for companies such as Opéra Ballet, , I, Cullberg Ballet, Ballett Frankfurt, The National Ballet of Canada, Les Jazz de Montréal (Resident Choreographer, 2001 – 2004), Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and Ballet British Columbia. She has also collaborated with Electric Company Theatre and Robert Lepage. The recipient of numerous awards for artistic excellence, including the 2017 Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production and most recently, the 2018 Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal (PDM), Ms. Pite is an Associate Choreographer of Nederlands Dans Theater, Associate Dance Artist of Canada’s National Arts Centre and Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London.

In 2002, she formed her own company Kidd Pivot in .

Owen Belton Composer, Angels’ Atlas

Owen Belton lives in Vancouver and graduated from Simon Fraser University in 1993 with a degree in Fine and Performing Arts, majoring in music. He studied acoustic and computer music composition with Owen Underhill and Barry Truax. Mr. Belton has been writing music for dance since 1994 when he created the music for Shapes Of A Passing for choreographer Crystal Pite’s piece for Toronto-based Ballet Jörgen. Since then, he has created many scores for dance companies including Kidd Pivot, The National Ballet of Canada, Nederlands Dans Theater, Cullberg Ballet, Ballet Nuremberg, and 420People in Prague. Mr. Belton also creates sound design and composition for film and live theatre. In 2009, Mr. Belton won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Dance Score for Emergence.

Morten Lauridsen Music, Angels’ Atlas

Named an “American Choral Master” by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2005, Morten Lauridsen received the 2007 National Medal of Arts in a White House ceremony “for his composition of radiant choral works combining musical beauty, power, and spiritual depth.” He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the USC Thornton School of Music where he chaired the department of composition and founded the Advanced Studies Program in Film Scoring and he was Composer-in-Residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1995 to 2001.

His compositions, including eight vocal cycles, arts songs, instrumental works and a series of sacred motets are performed regularly throughout the world and have been recorded on over 200 CDs, several of which have received Grammy nominations. The award-winning documentary, Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen, was released in 2012 and in 2016, Mr. Lauridsen received The ASCAP Foundation Life in Music Award at Lincoln Center.

Jay Gower Taylor Scenic Designer, Angels’ Atlas

Jay Gower Taylor started in theatre as a professional dancer where he accomplished an international career spanning more than 20 years. As a Scenic Designer, Mr. Taylor has collaborated with Crystal Pite over the last decade, creating onstage environments for works such as Plot Point, Frontier, Solo Echo, Parade, In the Event, Partita for 8 Dancers and The Statement for Nederlands Dans Theater, Emergence for The National Ballet of Canada, Polaris for Sadler’s Wells Theatre, The Seasons’ Canon for Paris Opéra Ballet and Flight Pattern for The Royal Ballet. For Ms. Pite’s company, Kidd Pivot, he designed Dark Matters, Replica, Betroffenheit, and most recently, Revisor.

Tom Visser Lighting Designer, Angels’ Atlas

Tom Visser has been working since 2004 as a lighting designer in productions by Johan Inger, Crystal Pite, Stijn Celis, Medhi Walerski, Peeping Tom and Alexander Ekman. His lighting designs have been seen in Nederlands Dans Theater, , Sydney Dance Company and Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, among others. In addition to his work for the stage, Mr. Visser has created art installations and projects with interactive media.

Nancy Bryant Costume Design, Angels’ Atlas

Nancy Bryant works widely as a designer in dance, theatre, opera and film. Based in Vancouver, Ms. Bryant’s previous collaborations with Crystal Pite have included Body and Soul and Seasons’ Canon (Paris Opéra Ballet), Flight Pattern (The Royal Ballet), Partita, Parade and Plot Point (Nederlands Dans Theater), Revisor and The Tempest Replica (Kidd Pivot) and Betroffenheit (Kidd Pivot/Electric Co.). Ms. Bryant first designed for Crystal Pite in 1996 for a piece called Moving Day (Ballet BC).

Costume designs for theatre and opera include collaborations with artists and directors , Stan Douglas, Morris Panych and Kim Collier for The Vancouver Opera and Pacific Opera Victoria, The Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage, Vancouver Playhouse and on international stages. Costume design credits for television include Legend of Earthsea, A Wrinkle in Time, The Snow Queen and Snow White.

Spencer Dickhaus Assistant to the Choreographer, Angels’ Atlas

Spencer Dickhaus is a freelance dancer, teacher, and creator. Most recently Mr. Dickhaus danced with Hofesh Shechter Company on their tour of Grand Finale. Later this year, he will continue to set work by Crystal Pite at Zürich Opera Ballet. As a teacher he has worked with Nederlands Dans Theater, Nuova Officina della Danza (Torino), and Princess Grace Academy (Monaco). For seven seasons (2012 – 2019), he was a member of Nederlands Dans Theater where he had the privilege of working with internationally recognized choreographers including Crystal Pite, Hofesh Shechter, Jiří Kylián, Alexander Ekman, Franck Chartier and Gabriela Carrizo, Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, Johan Inger and Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon. He graduated with a BFA from The Juilliard School in 2012 after completing the LINES Ballet Training Program in San Francisco. Mr. Dickhaus currently lives in The Hague, Netherlands.

Chroma

Choreography: Wayne McGregor Staged by: Odette Hughes Music: and , Set Design: John Pawson Costume Design: Moritz Junge Lighting Design: Lucy Carter

Premiere: The Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, UK, November 17, 2006 The National Ballet of Canada Premiere: Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, November 24, 2010

Chroma is produced in association with The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.

Aluminum † Cloudpark †† The Hardest Button to Button † Blue Orchid † ‘…a yellow disc rising from the sea…’ †† Transit of Venus †† Hovercraft ††

† Music composed by Jack White. Published by Peppermint Stripe Music/EMI Music Publishing Limited. New arrangement by Joby Talbot and orchestration by . By arrangement with Novello & Company Limited on behalf of EMI Music Publishing Limited.

†† Music composed and Arranged by Joby Talbot. Published by Chester Music Limited. By arrangement with Chester Music Limited.

Performance Dates: February 29 - March 7, 2020 Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

Wayne McGregor has created some of the most intellectually challenging and visually ravishing dance works of recent decades. Chroma is a stunning example of his artistry, questioning the nature of choreographed movement and infusing each moment with a unique and surprising vocabulary.

An undeniable sensation when it made its company premiere in 2010, The National Ballet of Canada was the first to perform the work outside of The Royal Ballet. Chroma is set to a

score by Joby Talbot and Jack White, featuring unique orchestrations of songs by The White Stripes alongside Talbot’s own original compositions.

Quotes

“Chroma, a dazzling example of cutting-edge, pushed-to-the-extreme ballet by Wayne McGregor” Toronto Star

“Chroma clearly ranks among the greatest classics of contemporary ballet.” The Globe and Mail

“An edgy, sexy romp that gives the audience a chance to savour the artistry of dancers” Toronto Sun

“Muscular poetry that socks you in the gut” The Hamilton Spectator

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Wayne McGregor, CBE Choreography, Chroma

Wayne McGregor CBE is a British choreographer and director. He is Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor, which pushes the frontiers of physical intelligence through dance, design and technology. Mr. McGregor’s work is rooted in dance, yet encompasses a variety of genres including technology, visual art, film, opera and education, as well as Company Wayne McGregor, his own touring company of dancers.

Mr. McGregor is Resident Choreographer at The Royal Ballet. He has works in the repertories of companies around the world, including Paris Opéra Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, , The , The and . He has choreographed for theatre, opera, film (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sing, Mary Queen of Scots), music videos (, The Chemical Brothers), fashion (Soma for COS, Gareth Pugh at London Fashion Week, Nick Knight for SHOWstudio), campaigns (Selfridges, Boots No 7) and TV.

Odette Hughes Stager, Chroma

Odette Hughes joined Company Wayne McGregor as a dancer in 1997, becoming the company’s Rehearsal Director in 2000 and Associate Director of Studio Wayne McGregor in 2007.

Ms. Hughes is responsible for the every day artistic supervision of Company Wayne McGregor, overseeing all performances and directing all rehearsals. Ms. Hughes was First Assistant Choreographer to Mr. McGregor on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2004) and has restaged numerous of Mr. McGregor’s ballets including Eden | Eden for San Francisco Ballet (2006), Genus for Paris Opéra Ballet (2009), Dyad 1929 for (2013), and the multi-award-winning Chroma for The National Ballet of Canada (2010) and The Bolshoi Ballet (2011). Ms. Hughes has conducted community outreach work for all ages and abilities, including commissioned work with the Centre for Advanced Training at the Lowry, the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance.

Joby Talbot Music, Chroma

Joby Talbot was born in London, and holds a Master of Music (Composition) from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Mr. Talbot’s diverse catalogue includes ballets such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (2011) and The Winter’s Tale (2014) for The Royal Ballet and The National Ballet of Canada; the a cappella Path of Miracles (, 2005) describing the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela; arrangements of songs by The White Stripes alongside Mr. Talbot's original works for Wayne McGregor’s Chroma; Ink Dark Moon, a concerto for acclaimed guitarist Miloš Karadaglić (BBC Symphony Orchestra, 2018); and the cantata A Sheen of Dew on Flowers, premiered by Britten Sinfonia and Britten Sinfonia Voices in 2019. Mr Talbot’s critically acclaimed first opera, was premiered in 2015 by The Dallas Opera. Future works include a second opera for The Dallas Opera and a third narrative ballet with for The Royal Ballet.

John Pawson Set Designer, Chroma

John Pawson was born in Halifax, Yorkshire. He trained at the Architecture Association in London, leaving to establish his own practice in 1981. His work has focused on ways of approaching fundamental problems of space, proportion, light and materials, rather than on developing a set of stylistic mannerisms – themes Mr. Pawson also explored in his book Minimum.

Early commissions included homes for writer Bruce Chatwin, opera director Pierre Audi and collector Doris Lockhart Saatchi, as well as art galleries in London, Dublin and New York. Subsequent projects include Calvin Klein Collection’s flagship store in Manhattan, airport lounges for Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong and sets for new ballets at London’s Royal Opera House and the Opéra Bastille in Paris.

Over the years Mr. Pawson has accrued extensive experience of working within environments of historic, landscape and ecological significance. Examples include the Sackler Crossing, Kew in Bohemia, the interior renovation of the basilica of the Benedictine Archabbey of Pannonhalma in Hungary and the remodeling of the former Commonwealth Institute in London, which opened as a new permanent home for the Design Museum in 2016.

Moritz Junge Costume Designer, Chroma

Moritz Junge was born in and studied at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin and at the Slade School of Fine Art in London.

Mr. Junge’s costume designs include Wayne McGregor’s Live Fire Exercise, Limen, Infra and Chroma (The Royal Ballet), F.A.R. and Dyad by Wayne McGregor for Random Dance, L’Anatomie de la Sensation for Paris Opéra Ballet, Outlier for New York City Ballet, Dyad 1929 for The Australian Ballet and Songs of Bukovina for ; The Trojans and Aida (The Royal Opera); The Messiah (); The Visit, Macbeth, The Kitchen, Dido, Queen of Carthage and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other (National Theatre); All About My Mother (); Dance Nation, Judgment Day (Almeida Theatre); La Cenerentola (Glyndebourne Festival Opera/Deutsche Oper Berlin); Ottone in villa (Kiel); Rigoletto (Hanover) and Die Zauberflöte (Lucerne). Costumes and co- set designs for The Tempest (The Royal Opera) and Adriana Lecouvrer, The Bartered Bride and Un ballo in maschera (Theater Freiburg). Set and costume designs include Cosi fan tutte (Opera Australia) and The Love for Three Oranges (Karlsruhe).

Mr. Junge was the winner of the Linbury Prize for Stage Design in 2001 and designed the costumes for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Lucy Carter Lighting Design, Chroma

Lucy Carter is a multi-award-winning, critically acclaimed lighting designer and has done work for dance, theatre and opera. Her work for dance includes Woolf Works, Obsidian Tear, Afterite, Yugen, Multiverse, Chroma, Autobiography (Wayne McGregor); Threshold (Le Patin Libre) and The Most Incredible Thing (). Her work for opera includes Orphée, Salomé, of Gerontius (ENO), Katya Kabanova, Hansel and Gretel (ROH), Werther (Bergen National Opera), Elektra (Goteborg Opera), Lohengrin (Greek National Opera, Polish National Opera, Welsh National Opera), La Finta Giardiniera (Glyndebourne and Teatro alla Scala) and Peter Grimes (Aldeburgh). Her work for theatre includes Everybody’s Talking About Jamie ( & UK Tour), On The Town (Hyogo Performing Arts), Home, I’m Darling (National Theatre and West End, London), The Almighty Sometimes (The Royal Exchange), Oil (Almeida) and The End of Longing (Playhouse).

Ms. Carter received the 2018 Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Contribution to Dance, Knight of Award for Dance for Chroma (2008) and for Woolf Works (2015), 2013 TMA Achievement Award in Opera for Lohengrin and the 2004 Olivier Award for 2 Human.

Company Premiere

Marguerite and Armand

Choreography: Frederick Ashton Staged by: Grant Coyle Music: Franz Liszt, Orchestrated by Dudley Simpson Set and Costume Design: Cecil Beaton Original Lighting Concept: John B. Read

Premiere: The Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, March 12, 1963 The National Ballet of Canada Premiere: Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, February 29, 2020

Performance Dates: February 29 – March 7, 2020 Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

Frederick Ashton created Marguerite and Armand for and in 1963 as a celebration of their unique dance partnership. Set to Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor, the narrative was inspired by the famous novel La Dame aux camélias by . In his ballet, Ashton concentrates on the tragic life of Parisian courtesan Marguerite and her ill-fated love for the young Armand. Nureyev and Fonteyn last danced the celebrated work in 1973 and it was not danced again until 2000. Rarely performed, the ballet features two of the most dramatically intense roles in the ballet canon and has been danced by internationally celebrated artists.

Quotes

“The final pas de deux, as Marguerite lies dying in Armand’s arms, is among the most moving in Ashton’s [ballets].” What’s Onstage

“It’s a vehicle… needing stars who can bring charisma and point to Ashton’s retelling of the Dame aux camélias story.” The Independent

“An international vehicle for star dancers” DanceTabs

Frederick Ashton, CBE Choreographer, Marguerite and Armand

Frederick Ashton CBE created a distinct style of classical ballet imbued with a wonderful sense of musicality and intertwining of steps. Active until his death in 1988 at the age of 83, he created a vast repertoire of ballets which are performed around the world. Born in Ecuador in 1905 and raised in Peru, Mr. Ashton moved to England at the age of 18, where he studied with the great dancer and choreographer Léonide Massine and with at the . It was Ms. Rambert who discovered his talent for choreography and helped him earn his first commission in 1926, A Tragedy of Fashion. Mr. Ashton created hundreds of works, including Daphnis and Chlöe, The Two Pigeons, , La Fille mal gardée, The Dream, A Month in the Country, I and II, Rhapsody, Scenes de Ballet, Symphonic Variations, Tales of , The Two Pigeons, , Five Brahms Waltzes in the manner of and Meditation from Thais and Voices of Spring.

Mr. Ashton received a CBE in 1951 and was knighted in 1962. In 1970, he was made a Companion of Honour and received the in 1977. He was also made a member of the Legion d'Honneur by the French government, a Commander of the Danish Order of Dannebrog and was awarded the Swedish Carina Ari Gold Medal. Recognition of his achievements within the dance world came when in 1959 he received the QEII award from The . He received honorary Doctorates of Letters from the Universities of Durham and East Anglia and Doctorates of Music from the Universities of London and Oxford.

Grant Coyle Staging, Marguerite and Armand

Born in Australia, Grant Coyle attended The Australian Ballet School and danced with companies in Australia and Germany. In 1976, he moved to London where he trained at the Institute of Choreology. After graduating in 1978, Mr. Coyle worked as a Dance Notator with and Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet. In 1987, he was invited to join the Covent Garden Royal Ballet as its Principal Notator. He has worked with many choreographers, including , Kenneth MacMillan, Frederick Ashton, Peter Darrell and , reproducing ballets for many companies abroad including Paris Opéra Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, , Bavarian State Opera Ballet, The , National Ballet of Hungary and Teatro alla Scala.

In 2004, Mr. Coyle became a répétiteur for The Royal Ballet. He left the company in 2013 to pursue a freelance career. In 2008, he was made a Fellow of the Institute of Choreolgy.

John B. Read Original Lighting Design, Marguerite and Armand

John B. Read has worked with most major classical and contemporary ballet companies, including dance companies in Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, Milan and Australia as well as New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. Mr. Read made his debut with The National Ballet of Canada in 1988 with his lighting designs for Kenneth MacMillan’s Song of the Earth and Glen Tetley's Voluntaries.

Mr. Read has designed the lighting for many of Glen Tetley’s works following their first collaboration, Freefall in 1967. As the Consultant Lighting Designer to The Royal Ballet, Mr. Read has worked with Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan, George Balanchine, , , Rudolf Nureyev, and . Internationally, Mr. Read has worked with many companies including , San Francisco Ballet, , Paris Opéra Ballet, Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, and Scottish Ballet.

Page 1 of 1 Angels’ Atlas A Note from Crystal Pite

The impetus for this creation came from my partner and set designer Jay Gower Taylor. Through our last few creations, Jay has been developing a system that allows him to manipulate reflected light. Working with lighting designer Tom Visser, they've been discovering a myriad of ways to deliver light to a surface.

The system is analog, made of the simplest materials, yet it manifests complex, painterly images that have the illusion of depth and a sense of the natural world.

There is a quality of controlled chaos about it. The light dances on a pivoting, reflective topography, creating the conditions for the unexpected to appear. For us, this wall of morphing, shifting light is a frontier, a portal, a portrait of the unknown.

When I was a little kid, my uncle and my dad talked to me a lot about the cosmos. Sometimes I would experience a dizzying thrill in brief moments of embodied comprehension: it felt like I was falling within the vastness of it all. They inspired me to wonder about colossal ideas that were, and always will be, beyond my grasp and to approach great unanswerable questions with imagination and creativity.

Working with light in this way reminds me of that feeling of wonder and my longing to lean into the unknowable. The light looks intelligent, awesome. The chaos and beauty of it make me feel small in a thrilling, destabilized way. Small, in the face of unanswerable questions about things like love, death and the infinite.

The movement of the light is mercurial and ephemeral in the same way that choreography is. It reminds me of something the writer and critic Max Wyman said about dance:

It is an artform that simultaneously defines and defies the ephemerality of existence. We have nothing but the body, and soon enough we will not even have the body.

But it is that physicality that speaks so eloquently about the implications of mortality and at the same time voices our defiance.

No other artform speaks so directly about the fragile, temporary quality of life, or about the human instinct to transcend those bonds and aim for that perfect moment of self-realization.

I like to think of the body as a location, a place where being is held and shaped. In this way, dance gives form to the unknown. In the dancing body, the unknown appears as something both familiar and extraordinary. We might possibly catch a glimpse of something eternal. But both the dancers and the dance are temporary: their beauty resonates with meaning because of their impermanence. This is potent for me. I like working in a form that is always in a state of disappearing.

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Our dances, like our lives, are built in relationship with time… and by extension, mortality.

I am trying to create something that speaks of our impermanence and ‘voices our defiance’ as Wyman says. Something that evokes a fierce pulse of life. The ephemeral part will take care of itself.

I would like to thank my masterful and inspiring design team: Jay, Tom, Nancy and Owen, and my tireless assistants Spencer and Stephanie. Thank you to Artemis Gordon and the students of Arts Umbrella in Vancouver who helped me prepare and test choreographic material for this creation. Thank you to Karen Kain for giving me this precious opportunity to make and share my work here. Finally, thank you to the beautiful dancers of The National Ballet of Canada, who are truly the lifeblood of this creation.

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