Thanks for chiming in on a very sensitive subject Keira! I imagine many of the ballerinas will avoid the Canadian National Exhibition for fear they will run into the carnival weight guesser or get caught on camera devouring some cotton candy or a candy apple (God forbid)! What are the odds of a shapely ballerina making it with the NBoC: Fat Chance. From my view of the stage many have slimmed down through whatever means possible. This doesn’t do much for drawing in the male audience for a romantic role.

Back to Onegin...Given the bulk of ticket sales are generated via Season tickets at savings of up to 50% I believe single ticket sales will be a tough sell. The first to go will be the 2 upper rings. To fill out the pricier seats, I suspect the National may offer this Onegin performance to flex subscribers or at a discount to season subscribers as they get closer to opening night. You also might see a credit card promotion or special magazine code promo offer to ensure the 4 Seasons isn’t half empty.

They haven’t published single ticket prices for 2010/2011 yet but based on last year the top Orchestra seats will go for around $180 with the HST. That’s a lot of dough which will make a couple think about going out for a nice dinner and movie in lieu of the ballet. Would the average couple prefer to cough up $360 (no dinner) for one night at the ballet or 2 nights out for dinner with wine and the movies? It is a harsh economic reality the National will soon have to deal with.

Agreed. It's just not aesthetically pleasing, in my opinion. On top of the health concerns, obviously.

I really am surprised they're doing Onegin again so soon. Because of the half price G20 sale, my friend and I bought orch tickets instead of rushing as usual. But I certainly can't afford $160 per ticket! I don't know many people who can. And for me, there's no point in sitting in the upper rings. It's just too far away from the stage to really enjoy it.

One would think ballet companies would know better to follow the Mr. B Diet-Especially after Gelsey Kirkland’s infamous exposé, ‘Dancing on My Grave.’ Of course, she didn’t help her situation by eating a bowl of ciggies washed down with booze for breakfast and then there was the drug habit. If you dance too close to Anorexia, you risk playing a dangerous game of roulette, which could lead to injuries and far worse. Who wants to pay $100 plus to watch skeletons dance on stage? It’s not attractive.

Many of the National’s female dancers are all of the same body type now and hence one would think there would be room for a little variety in the lovely form of Antonella Martinelli. Only my opinion but she was the absolute best silent screen actress of the entire corps de ballet! She always stayed in character throughout the ballet. To me the National is trying to nurture a company of potential principals and soloists, who can dance every step but can’t act their way onto a soap opera. What will happen when they don’t get that promotion, or become frustrated looking for work elsewhere, or discover they’re not good enough to make the move up? Then you’re stuck with a dancer who can’t act and doesn’t like playing a supporting role.

As for the upper rings, ring 4 is not that bad if you are in the front row and bring opera glasses.

For those of you Ogdenites out there who haven’t had your fill from wedding news, Toronto Life shows the happy couple along with a small blurb of an article. You want more; yes there is more from Wedluxe Mag in a day dreamy shoot!

I'm a great fan of The National Ballet of Canada and I found these pictures of Bridgett Zehr to be quite incredible. I love the physicality and stregnth Zehr displays in the photos, I notice this same commitment when I have seen her dance. I have watched the company for years and wish that there were more photo shoots like this one. The wedding video of Heather Ogden is very lovely... lets hope these talents have more exposure in the future so their adoring fans can enjoy them more often!!

http://tdfoto.ca/blog

S.L.

Thank you for sharing Sailingship and welcome to CD. Indeed, many of the NBoC dancers are quite photogenic and thus I hope to see similar photo shoots in the future. The photos certainly revealed the many facets of Bridgett Zehr’s persona.

This is not the kind of news story you like to post or read about for that matter. The home of Sonia Rodriguez Browning & Kurt was destroyed in a major fire apparently caused by Kurt trying to dry the wet seats of his Porsche with a Leaf Blower. The important thing is no one was harmed. After reading this story you will be extra careful around your home.

Dear Kevin D. Bowles: Get out your drag outfit because Victoria ‘Carabosse’ Bertram has retired after 47 years with the National Ballet of Canada! These days most people are lucky to work 4.7 years for the same company! Enjoy your retirement, it was well earned.

So sad to see Victoria Bertram go! Those are some big shoes to fill. What a commitment to be with the company for so long.... will there be a special performance as there was with Jennifer Fournier and Chan Hon Goh? I would really hope so after the amazing contributions she made to the company!

I believe they already had a night or celebration of her career of sorts, as article mentions below:



Victoria is still listed as a character artist on the website, so not 100% sure if this will be her last year or if this is it. If she has a farewell night, it would likely be for Cinderella.

Heather Ogden along with Peggy Baker were interviewed on Voice America’s ‘Alive! Bodies in Motion’ talking about dance and how it inspires and motivates dance goers. Of course, this begs the question why they were not interviewed on Voice Canada’s ‘Alive! Bodies in Motion.’ Could be because there is no such thing and radio stations like the CBC and Classical 96.3 FM don’t devote that much time to dance-Though they would like to give you the impression they do.

I stumbled across this image whiles googling the CEO of Capitalism and all things to do with $: Kevin O’Leary! In case you are wondering, yes the image must have been altered, as someone must have airbrushed out his horns!

Sonia Rodriguez and Piotr Stanczyk draw rave reviews in The Dali Universe for a dance work that drew mixed reviews.

Yes Of course actually the sight of Adeline playing solitaire was hilarious. Thanks for sharing the info about Robinson and Golden. I thought the same but thought perhaps they were moving on, as I don’t believe they were that old.
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