NAC Announces its 2015-2016 Dance season –
The 2015-16 season showcases the best dancers, choreographers, and designers from around the world, the line-up includes artists from 14 countries: Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Dada Masilo: Swan Lake
Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet: Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation January 28-30, 2016 A star-studded collaboration between the RWB, Canadian author Joseph Boyden, choreographer Mark Godden, and Canadian composer Christos Hatzis. Going Home Star was 10 years in the making, first envisioned by late Cree elder/activist Mary Richard and RWB Artistic Director André Lewis. Searing and sensitive, this powerfully emotional classical ballet is the deeply resonant love story of Annie and Gordon, a pair of contemporary aboriginal young people coming to terms with a soul-destroying past. Without truth, there is no reconciliation. Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet was last at the NAC in January 2015, performing The Handmaid’s Tale.
Hong Kong Ballet: The Sleeping Beauty March 3-5, 2016. Embrace the timeless enchantment of one of the world’s favourite fairy-tale, The Sleeping Beauty. This sumptuous production, staged by Cynthia Harvey, features technical brilliance and bravura dancing, stunning sets and costumes by Mark Bailey, and Tchaikovsky’s magnificently seductive score. This fast-paced ballet delivers family-friendly fun with all the essential fairy-tale ingredients: storybook characters, romance, fate, good versus evil— and of course, true love! Hong Kong Ballet makes its NAC debut.
The National Ballet of Canada: La Sylphide
April 7-9, 2016
Danish dancer-choreographer Johan Kobborg and the extraordinary NBC dancers breathe intoxicating new life into this transfixing tale of love, loss, and self-sacrifice. Performed to music by Herman Løvenskjold, the ballet’s Scottish hero is fatally bewitched on his wedding day by an ethereal, unattainable woman—La Sylphide. The National Ballet of Canada was last at the NAC in 2014, performing Swan Lake; they will next be at the NAC in April, performing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
SERIES A (4 productions in Southam Hall)
Sankai Juku: UMUSUNA – Memories before History
November 3, 2015
Japan’s famed Butoh company Sankai Juku perform their newest hypnotic masterpiece. UMUSUNA, meaning “the place where humans connect with nature”, is a superb, sharply designed ritual that investigates themes of eternity. Nine male dancers of extraordinary intensity engage in a dialogue with gravity, as continuously falling sand—symbolizing time itself—piles up onstage denoting life as a vertical line. With stunning visuals and immaculate design UMUSUNA is a gripping and poetic work that will leave you speechless.
Sankai Juku was last at the NAC in 2006, performing KAGEMI.
Akram Khan & Israel Galván: Torobaka
February 19-20, 2016
U.K. Kathak wizard Akram Khan confronts Spanish flamenco genius Israel Galván in a blistering dance duel. Khan channels Galván’s uncompromising virility, while Galván borrows Khan’s spiritual elegance. It’s an electrifying showcase of breathtaking technical virtuosity as two brilliant artists square off like fighters in a ring of light, circling each other, arms whirling, testing boundaries. The U.K.’s Akram Khan was last at the NAC in 2013, performing DESH; Spain’s Israel Galván was last at the NAC in 2014, performing La Edad de Oro (The Golden Age)
Hong Kong Ballet: Dancing with the Wind, In Light and Shadow, and Castrati
March 1, 2016
Hong Kong Ballet is acclaimed for beauty, precision, and brilliant dancing. In Dancing with the Wind, a free-flowing all-female work, the Western art form of classical ballet is spiced with music, costumes, and an aesthetic that are unmistakably Chinese. Krzysztof Pastor’s In Light and Shadow is a witty tour de force of elegant Baroque courtliness inspired by the paintings of Rembrandt and Vermeer and the music of J.S. Bach. Nacho Duato’s all-male Castrati—set to turbulent music by Vivaldi—combines strong movement with a disquieting, distinctively androgynous quality. Hong Kong Ballet makes its NAC debut.
São Paulo Companhia de Dança: The Seasons, Mamihlapinatapai, and Gnawa
April 26, 2016
São Paulo Companhia de Dança is one of Brazil’s leading dance troupes. The Seasons is the newest work by Canada’s superstar choreographer Edouard Lock. Performed to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons reinterpreted by Gavin Bryars, The Seasons is a series of vigorous high-energy vignettes for 12 virtuoso dancers. Mamihlapinatapai by Jomar Mesquita features deconstructed elements of Brazilian ballroom dance and imaginative visual design. Gnawa, by Nacho Duato, is elegant and voluptuous, an Islam-inflected exploration of the sensuality and spirituality of the Mediterranean Sea. Brazil’s São Paulo Companhia de Dança makes its NAC debut.
SERIES B (5 productions in the NAC Theatre)
Trisha Brown Dance Company: Set and Reset, If you couldn’t see me, Rogues, and PRESENT TENSE
October 8, 2015
Trisha Brown is a living legend, a choreographic maverick and the grande dame of postmodern dance. Over a 50-year career, her relentless curiosity and the poetic fluidity of her movement revolutionised the art form. This retrospective of her signature works includes the iconic Set and Reset (1983), featuring ingenious choreography, a driving score by Laurie Anderson, and a striking visual design by Robert Rauschenberg. The seductively beautiful female solo If you couldn’t see me (1994) highlights both music and visual presentation by Rauschenberg. Rogues (2011) is a poignant, rhythmic male duet and PRESENT TENSE (2003) features tumbling aerial choreography set to music by John Cage. Trisha Brown Dance Company was last at the NAC in 1988.
Hofesh Shechter Company: barbarians
November 10-11, 2015
British-Israeli choreographer and musician Hofesh Shechter is renowned for fearless
“zeitgeisty, gutsy dance” (The Melbourne Age), for expanding the boundaries of the art form, and for shapes that sear into your mind. For this new program, Shechter sets himself a fresh challenge by creating three distinct works laced with music of the Baroque era. The first of these to be completed, the barbarians in love, recently had its European premiere. Exploring music and themes outside his usual approach—but with his signature movement style—Hofesh displays outrageous physicality, musicality, drive, and energy. The Hofesh Shechter Company was last at the NAC in 2012, performing Political Mother.
Dada Masilo: Swan Lake
January 12, 2016, NAC Theatre
Swan Lake features 15 African dancers in a vibrant, high-energyand very irreverent new look at the world’s most popular ballet. Endowing it with fast-paced new life, Masilo retains elements of the original, but also confronts serious sex, gender, and social issues while adding comedy, carnival, and African dance. Set to Tchaikovsky’ classic score with additional selections by Steve Reich, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Arvo Pärt. Dada Masilo makes her NAC debut.
Kidd Pivot/Electric Company Theatre: Betroffenheit
February 12-13, 2016
AN NAC CO-PRODUCTION. CRYSTAL PITE IS AN NAC ASSOCIATE DANCE ARTIST
Two of Canada’s most adventurous artists, Crystal Pite (Kidd Pivot) and Jonathon Young (Electric Company Theatre) join forces to create an innovative, boundary-stretching theatre-dance mashup. Touching on powerful themes of loss, trauma, addiction and recovery, Betroffenheit (German for extreme shock or distress) is a series of movements sustaining tension between stasis and passage. Kidd Pivot was last at the NAC in 2012, performing The Tempest Replica.
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Companhia Urbana de Dança: ID: Entidades and Na Pista
April 21-22, 2016
Brazil’s Companhia Urbana de Dança burns up the stage in an irresistible explosion of breakneck bravado, exuberant high-speed energy, and powerhouse athleticism. The multicultural troupe is made up of young dancers led by classically trained choreographer Sonia Destri Lie, who deconstructs the thrilling kinetics of Rio de Janeiro street dance. Audacious, vigorous, vibrant and highly inventive, the dancers seamlessly fuse together hip-hop, samba, capoeira, and contemporary dance. Companhia Urbana de Dança makes its NAC debut.
SERIES C (3 productions in the NAC Studio)
Jan Martens: ODE TO THE ATTEMPT and THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER
October 22-24, 2015
Belgium’s Jan Martens combines theatre, dance, and pop culture in workouts for the mind, dressed in cheeky humour. ODE TO THE ATTEMPT is a funny, quirky solo deconstructing the creative process, all lunges and wind-milling arms, bouncing in place with shorts up then shorts down. THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER is dance as a killer workout – literally breathtaking — featuring eight “runners” jiggling, hopping, and leaping in unison. Variations occur, lights and music come and go — and the dancers bounce without pause for 70 extreme minutes. Jan Martens makes his NAC debut.
Company Wang Ramirez: Monchichi
February 25-27, 2016
Company Wang Ramirez is a multiple award-winning duo of artist-dancer choreographers.
As creative directors and performers, they bring dance towards music, film, fashion, contemporary art, and advertisement. In Monchichi, Honji Wang (ballerina, German of Korean descent) and Sébastien Ramirez (B-boy, French of Spanish origin) confront identity, love, and the enigma of cultural difference. Hip-hop meets contemporary dance in an emotionally sophisticated, category-defying fusion as the performers’ own back stories inform every powerful movement. Company Wang Ramirez makes its NAC debut.
María Muñoz: Bach
April 14-16, 2016
Catalan dancer-choreographer María Muñoz’s eloquent, evocative solo is dedicated to pure movement. Embracing Glenn Gould’s recording of J.S. Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, she dances on the edge of a fragile trance. Self-effacing, yet emphatically defining the space around her, Muñoz elegantly recreates the joyous formal lightness of the musical notes, her body transformed into one more element in the sublime score. María Muñoz makes her NAC debut.
Face 2 Face
Face 2 Face is thought-provoking, bold, and adventurous. This 4th edition includes 3 events and features contemporary work by six artists from Finland, France/Germany, Israel, Belgium, and the United States, all of whom are making their NAC debut.
· February 25-27, 2016: In Monchichi, Honji Wang and Sébastien Ramirez confront identity, love, and the enigma of cultural difference. (also part of Series C)
· February 24 and 26-27, 2016: Double bill program featuring work by Ima Iduozee as well as Idan Sharabi & Dancers. This Is the Title, a fluid virtuoso solo by Finnish Ima Iduozee confronts the relationship between personal choices, social norms, and boundaries we ourselves build. In the multiple award-winning duet Ours, performed to music by Joni Mitchell, Idan Sharabi explores the meaning, place, and significance of “home.” Performances take place in the NAC Studio.
· February 24-25 and 27, 2016: Double bill program featuring work by Daniel Linehan as well as Joanna Kotze. Daniel Linehan spins obsessively in Not About Everything. His smart, witty solo is viscerally gripping, forcing us to experience space both visually and sensually. IT HAPPENED IT HAD HAPPENED IT IS HAPPENING IT WILL HAPPEN, a beautifully disordered trio by the USA’s Bessie Award-winning Joanna Kotze, confronts the seductiveness of classifying, ordering, and structuring. This double bill program is co-presented with the Ottawa Dance Directive’s SeriesDanse 10 #22. Performances take place at ODD BOX at Arts Court.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS (2 productions in Southam Hall)
U-Theatre: Sword of Wisdom
November 24, 2015, Southam Hall
Taiwan’s U-Theatre astonishes with the visual and aural spectacle of Sword of Wisdom. Fusing martial arts, drama, dance, and music, this is the compelling story of the Brave One as he faces fear, summons extreme courage, and searches for wisdom. Famous for discipline, virtuosity, and extreme beauty and precision of movement, U-Theatre presents drumming as high art. U-Theatre makes its NAC debut.
Royal Winnipeg Ballet: Nutcracker
December 2-6, 2015, Southam Hall
The RWB’s Nutcracker updates the best of the original ballet with uniquely Canadian such as a snowy hockey game, Mounties, and a model of Parliament Hill! Nutcracker is young Clara’s Christmas fantasy, featuring Filbert the Bear, dancing mice, a Sugar Plum Fairy, a magically growing Christmas tree, and new this year 13 adorable polar bears. With timeless choreography, gorgeous scenic design, 175 dazzling costumes, and Tchaikovsky’s timeless music, Nutcracker is a spun-sugar holiday confection. All four evening and both matinee performances feature the NAC Orchestra. Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet was last at the NAC in January 2015, performing The Handmaid’s Tale.
SPONSORS
NAC Dance and the NAC Foundation would like to thank the donors and partners who have made the season possible. Thank you to Ridley Terminals Inc. for their support of the NAC presentations of Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation by Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Thanks to the Lord Elgin Hotel, the Hotel Partner for the presentations by Hong Kong Ballet.
SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES
Subscription packages to the 2015-2016 Dance season are on sale now. Dance subscribers save up to 15% on regular ticket prices and save an additional 5% if they subscribe online before May 8th. Subscribers also save up to 15% off regular ticket prices when purchasing additional NAC subscription performances of Music, Theatre and Dance. Subscription information is available online or at the NAC Box Office, Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Visit the Box Office located in the Main Foyer, call 613-947-7000, x 620 or online: nac-cna.ca/dance. For additional information, visit the NAC website at nac-cna.ca