Nac Dance 2016-17 Archives - Capital Critics' Circle / Le cercle des critiques de la capitale

Dance at the NAC. The Jardin Des Délices – Marie Chouinard renews her sources of inspiration and the effect is magic

By Alvina Ruprecht | July 15, 2017

Marie Chouinard admits that this performance represents the “joy of bowing before a masterpiece (NAC program p.3) as she subjects her choreography to the spirit of Bosch’s Triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights. The one dimensional language of the painter that spreads out on a flat canvass before us, marked by the visual esthetics of the Northern Renaissance , is given a new spirit on the NAC stage. Contemporary androgynous bodies moving in space with musical accompaniment, subjected to predetermined steps and a form of perfectly orchestrated chaos, reveal the enormous shift in creativity that was required by Chouinard to capture the spirit of Bosch’s three movements that inspired her work: The Garden of Earthly Delights, Hell and Paradise. …

São Paulo Companhia de Dança :Extremely strong dancers do justice to all the choreographers!

By Alvina Ruprecht | April 28, 2016

Photo (promotionnelle) © (The Seasons) Édouard Lock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-uwuH_Qix4 Norman McLaren, Pas de deux (1968)

The Canadian premiere of this Brazilian Dance Company – the São Paulo Companhia de Dança – at the National Arts Centre, offered three pieces each by a different choreographer. The Seasons by choreographer Edouard Lock, whose work is well known on the stages of Canada/Quebec, was no doubt the most interesting piece. As the Brazilian dancers appeared to easily grasp the emotional, the high spirited and pressing physical demands of this clash of bodies and lighting effects, The Seasons also incorporated a most exciting remix and reinterpretation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and thus soared above the other two pieces , Mamihlapinatapai (Jomar Mesquita) and Gnawa (Nacho Duato), which almost seemed “déjà vu” in the aftermath of Lock’s tsunami that came crashing down on us with all its strength.

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Exquisite 2016-17 Dance Programme Coming Next Season: Cathy Levy Brings the Best in International and National Dance to the National Arts Centre.

By Capital Critics Circle | March 22, 2016

Photo: Penguin.JPG Virginie Brunelle.

Cathy Levy established an NAC Associate Dance Artists program in 2007, with the goal of creating a community of artists and giving them an opportunity to meet and explore ideas with each other and with some of the greatest dance artists from around the world. Three of these eleven Associate Dance Artists will be featured on a special evening entitled The Associates in March of 2017. Work by Marie Chouinard, Crystal Pite, and Christopher House, will no doubt delight audiences.

NAC Dance is also proud to present Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montréal and The National Ballet of Canada as well as co-produce new work by Montreal’s Virginie Brunelle. We also have the chance to celebrate Canadians working abroad with Germany’s Gauthier Dance, founded by Canadian Dancer Eric Gauthier.

Photo: Regine Brocke, Gauthier Dance.

RETURN VISITS

Highlights include return visits by international superstar Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and his company Eastman, NAC Associate Dance Artists Crystal Pite, Marie Chouinard and Christopher House; Montreal’s Virginie Brunelle, America’s dazzling Hubbard Street Dance Chicago; and Israel’s incomparable Batsheva. Shanghai Ballet returns after a long absence, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo returns with their unique flare as well Albert Ballet with their festive special The Nutcracker; and The National Ballet of Canada makes their annual visit with Onegin, an exquisite romantic classic.

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