National Ballet of Canada On Tour
One of the cultural gems of North America, the National Ballet of Canada has strived to push choreographic boundaries and elevate Canadian talent for more than half a century. Founded in 1951 by Celia Franca, the National Ballet regularly features more than 70 dancers in its company, which has its own orchestra and administrative team. The company has performed for more than 10 million people.
Even the genesis of the National Ballet was rooted in an effort to make something distinctive and new, apart from the old guard of ballets. Until the 1950s, the primary ballet companies in Canada were the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Volkoff Canadian Ballet. Both were somewhat niche groups, so a special board set out to create a company that would represent the country as a whole.
They created the National Ballet of Canada and hired British dancer Celia Franca. She was an established choreographer and would ostensibly be unbiased in creating a national company from scratch, especially since she'd spent very little time in Canada.
In 1989, Reid Anderson became the artist director of the National Ballet of Canada, and he started an initiative to get more Canadian and high-profile international choreographers to create new works for the ballet. He succeeded in this until his departure in the early ‘00s.
He was replaced by Karen Kain, who has been the company's artistic director since 2005. Kain previously worked with renowned dancer Rudolf Nureyev and has performed all over the world at places like the Bolshoi Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, and the London Festival Ballet.
Throughout its prestigious run, the National Ballet of Canada has amassed a repertoire that includes works by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Rudolf Nureyev, and Crystal Pite. The group has toured Canada and the U.S. as well as internationally, performing in places like Paris, London, Moscow, and New York City.
