<BR><font size=1>Photo: Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal</font><P>Linde Howe-Beck, Montreal Gazette - 12.08.01:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>A holiday feast of dance confections</B><P>Les Sortilèges Danses du Monde might be Canada's oldest professional folk-dance company, but it is the new kid on the block when it comes to holiday entertainment. Sandwiched between the two Nutcrackers, the company celebrates its rebirth and its 35th anniversary with a facelift, a name change and a new artistic vision.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>[url=http://www.canada.com/montreal/aroundtown/story.asp?id={1004380E-A17F-4C8C-B4B7-CD515DFA2993}]<B>more...</B>[/url]<P>To watch a video clip of Les Grands' Casse-Noisette --> <a href="http://205.205.203.222:3594/ramgen/gbc/nutcracker.rm">click here</a><P>-<B>Les Sortilèges Danses du Monde</B> presents Au Rythme de la Ville from Thursday through Dec. 15 at 8 p.m., and Dec. 15 at 2 p.m., at Salle Pierre Mercure<P>- <B>Ballet Ouest</B> performs The Nutcracker today at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and tomorrow at 1 and 5 p.m. at Salle Pierre Mercure<P>- <B><A HREF="http://www.grandsballets.qc.ca/en/index_saison_3.cfm" TARGET=_blank>Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal</B></A> performs The Nutcracker Dec. 15 to 30 at 2 p.m. and/or 7:30 p.m. at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts

NICHOLAS LAVERY-BREIER - Montreal Gazette, 12.17.01:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>My magical night as a rat<BR>Experiencing the backstage hustle and bustle of The Nutcracker was a thrill</B><P>Nicholas Lavery-Breier, 13, is a student at Royal West Academy in Montreal West. We asked him to attend The Nutcracker ballet at Place des Arts on Saturday as both a cast member and as part of the audience. Here is what he experienced.<P>I was to scare the maid from behind a crack in the wall. After doing that, I returned to the edge of the stage and got ready to scurry across the stage, swinging my tail in one hand while holding on to the tail of the younger winner of the "mouse for a night." <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>[url=http://www.canada.com/montreal/aroundtown/story.asp?id={F04761CE-6F75-4B27-8892-BE490FBEB4BF}]<B>more...</B>[/url]

ALANA RONALD - Montreal Gazette, 12.28.01:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Nutcracker dream comes true</B><BR>18-year-old dancer can hardly believe he's on stage with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens<P>Just six short years ago, David Zheng was horrified at the very idea of men in tights. Yet since Dec. 15, not only has he been wearing them - he's been loving every minute of it while making his professional debut as a dancer in Les Grands Ballets Canadiens' holiday classic The Nutcracker.<P>"David never wanted to dance," teacher Edward Hillyer said. "His father enrolled him at l'École Laurier because of its reputation for academic excellence. They had no idea that David was being automatically enrolled in that school's accredited ballet program," a tandem effort with l'École Supérieure de Danse du Québec.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>[url=http://www.canada.com/montreal/aroundtown/story.asp?id={7BFACF4C-76B6-4C1E-A11F-1EE051568E6A}]<B>more...</B>[/url]<P>