Heather Ogden talks about dancing as the Snow Queen and the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Dear Artistic Director of the North Pole:

Please give the NBoC some more male dancers capable of commanding lots of stage time. It would also be nice if Ballet BC was saved or better yet, merge all the companies across Canada into 1! Lastly, it would be great if the NBoC received more funding. Happy Egg Nog to ALL!

There’s not much news to report and hence I thought I would keep Critical Dancers abreast of newcomers who may one day shine in a more prominent role! Browsing through the pics of NBoC dancers I paused to gaze at the lovely Sarah Wolff! Sometimes the odds can be stacked against a dancer who does not conform to the ideal body type. I’m very happy to see the National fills out their roster with dancers of various sizes.

* I must confess I agree 150% with the words of the box she is posing upon!!

At long last, some news to report! Jason Reilly is returning to Canada from Stuttgart Ballet to dance as a Principal for the NBoC. That’s good news in that the male dancers needed some more AAA beef but may be bad news in regards to the health of Guillaume Côté, out with an undisclosed injury.

My ballet friends know that I am incredibly happy (ok, that is an understatement) about Jason Reilly coming to NBOC.

I guess that means I will renew my subscription - I think I even promised someone that I would make a donation if this ever really happened.

Thank you, KK.

Wow, that is quite the endorsement.

Elena Lobsanova and Noah Long will dance for the NBoC at the 8th International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize on March 18.

January 20, 2009... Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada,
is pleased to announce that Jason Reilly will join the company as a Principal Dancer
in the 2009/10 season. After dancing 12 years with Stuttgart Ballet, Mr. Reilly will
return to his hometown Toronto.

"I noticed and admired Jason's wonderful talent as a young man at Canada's National
Ballet School and, over the years, have had great pleasure following his career and
successes in Europe, as well as having him come to dazzle our audience in a number
of guesting engagements with us. He has developed into an extraordinary dancer under
the direction and guidance of Reid Anderson and his artistry will be a great asset
to our company," said Ms. Kain.

Prior to joining the National Ballet in 2009/10, Mr. Reilly will perform as a guest
artist in Romeo and Juliet this coming March.

Jason Reilly was born in Toronto and trained at Canada's National Ballet School. He
graduated in 1997 and became a member of the Corps de Ballet of Stuttgart Ballet. In
2001, he was promoted to Demi-Soloist, in 2002 to Soloist and in 2003 he became a
Principal Dancer. With Stuttgart Ballet, Mr. Reilly has danced numerous major roles
in full-length ballets by significant choreographers such as Prince Siegfried in
Swan Lake, the title roles in Onegin, Romeo and Juliet as well as Petrucchio in The
Taming of the Shrew (all: John Cranko), the title role in Othello, Armand in The
Lady of the Camellias, Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (all: John
Neumeier), Prince Desiré and Carabosse in The Sleeping Beauty (Márcia Haydée after
Marius Petipa) as well as Albrecht in Giselle (production: Reid Anderson, Valentina
Savina). His wide-ranging repertoire also includes neoclassical and modern works of
John Cranko, George Balanchine, Maurice Béjart, Jerome Robbins, Glen Tetley, Itzik
Galili, Jiří Kylián, Hans van Manen and William Forsythe. Many roles have been
created for him by contemporary choreographers, among them Mauro Bigonzetti, Wayne
McGregor, Kevin O'Day, Marco Goecke and Christian Spuck. In February 2006, Mr.
Reilly received the German Dance Prize "Future" 2006, which is awarded each year by
the German Association for Dance Education and the German Association for the
Promotion of the Art of Dance.

The 2008/09 Season is presented by CTV and The Globe and Mail.

Elena Lobsanova and Noah Long Compete in the
Eighth International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize
March 18, 2009



January 26, 2009... Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada,
today announced that Corps de Ballet members Elena Lobsanova and Noah Long will
represent the company at the Eighth International Competition for The Erik Bruhn
Prize on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 7:30 pm at the Four Seasons Centre for the
Performing Arts.

Hosts for the evening will be Principal Dancers Chan Hon Goh and Aleksandar
Antonijevic.

New this year is a Choreographic Prize. For the first time, competing couples will
perform contemporary works specifically commissioned for this occasion by each of
the participating companies. A $2,000 cash prize will be awarded to one
choreographer for best new contemporary choreography as determined by the panel of
judges.

Competitors from Royal Danish Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet
and Stuttgart Ballet will be announced shortly along with the choreographers
competing for the Choreographic Prize.

Judging the competition are Artistic Directors Karen Kain, Kevin McKenzie (American
Ballet Theatre), Nikolaj Hübbe (Royal Danish Ballet), Helgi Tomasson (San Francisco
Ballet) and Artistic Associate Tamas Detrich (Stuttgart Ballet).

During the evening, First Soloist Keiichi Hirano and Second Soloist Tina Pereira,
winner of the 2007 Erik Bruhn Prize, will perform Sabrina Matthews' veer.
Commissioned for the National Ballet for the competition in 2007, veer was not
performed due to an onstage injury suffered by Mr. Hirano.

One of the most acclaimed and revered male dancers of the 20th century, Erik Bruhn
personified the danseur noble tradition in all its classical, regal glory. His
affiliation with The National Ballet of Canada was a lengthy and fruitful one,
culminating in his Artistic Directorship of the company from 1983 until his untimely
death in 1986. Mr. Bruhn was always keenly interested in the development of younger
dancers and in a codicil to his will, Mr. Bruhn left part of his estate for the
establishment of The Erik Bruhn Prize, which was to be awarded to one male and one
female dancer who "reflect such technical ability, artistic achievement and
dedication as I endeavoured to bring to dance."

Since it began in 1988, the competition has showcased the talents of many of the
finest young dancers from the companies with whom Mr. Bruhn was most closely
associated: Royal Danish Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Royal Ballet and The
National Ballet of Canada. As The Royal Ballet is unable to compete this year, San
Francisco Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet, who have both competed in past years, have
been invited to send two young dancers to the competition. Competitors for the prize
must be between 18 and 23 years old and are selected by the Artistic Directors of
their respective companies. Each pair performs in a classical pas de deux and
variation and in a contemporary pas de deux or solo work.

Each participant receives a medal and the winners each receive a prize of $7,500 and
a sculpture by Canadian artist Jack Culiner generously donated by Artcast. The
winner of the Choreographic Prize will also receive a Jack Culiner sculpture in
addition to the $2,000 cash prize.

Many of the past winners have gone on to become Principal Dancers, enjoying
international careers, making the competition a glimpse of the future stars of the
ballet world in one exhilarating evening of dance.

Full list of past winners of The Erik Bruhn Prize >
<http://national.ballet.ca/performances/season0809/erik_bruhn.php>

Full biography of Elena Lobasanova >
<http://national.ballet.ca/thecompany/corps/bios/elena_lobsanova.php>

Full biography of Noah Long >
<http://national.ballet.ca/thecompany/corps/bios/noah_long.php>

NBoC fans will be treated to a special treat for the upcoming mixed smorgasbord of ballets by Peter Quanz, Sabrina Matthews and Crystal Pite-The Dean of London ballet critics, 77 years young, Clement Crisp, will be co-hosting the Ballet Talks with Michael Crabb! I, myself, own several ballet books authored or co-authored by Crisp.

Michael, will you be going? I would love a report!

I will definitely be there. I’m a subscriber and have no confliction in my schedule and hence will be attending the mixed program along with the Ballet Talk. I’m very much looking forward to hearing and seeing Clement Crisp.

2009/10 season announced.

I'm surprised to see 24 Preludes, West Side Story Suite and Glass Pieces again so soon. Lots of Robbins on the schedule, which I'm not complaining about.

Any word on whether Nehemiah Kish will be back for everything this spring/summer? I'm not sure when the Danish season runs...

Oh, and hello. Nice to find somewhere to talk NBoC!

I hope Kish will be back in March - if casting came up a little faster we would know. Does anyone know if Cote will be back for the Spring season as well?

Greetings

I think Kish is essentially now a guest dancer with NBoC - the only thing he's done this year so far is a short run in the Nutcracker. Other than that, my guess is that he might return for an occasional guest stint in roles he's done before.

The RDB year runs from late July to mid-late May. The dancers return for rehearsals at the end of July, then performances start in late August (with an occasional summer performance earlier in August) and continue until mid t late May. There are several breaks during the year between performance runs including Christmas and Easter, though it varies each year (state holidays excepted), depending on the exact performance and rehearsal schedule.

Kate