By Hannah Skrypnyk
In Solo 70, acclaimed dancer and choreographer Paul-André Fortier performs his final piece with Fortier Danse-Création: a riveting and often bewildering meditation on old age and the trials and tribulations of an artist coming to grips with retirement. However, and to the audience’s surprise, Fortier is not the only one to grace the stage. …
Reviewed by Natasha Lomonossoff on Saturday April 7, 2018
Betroffenheit, a creation by renowned Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite and writer Jonathon Young, is at once a powerful visual and emotional spectacle. A well-executed combination of dance and theatre, the production explores the difficult subjects of trauma and addiction through searing and imaginative physical manifestations of one’s inner demons. A co-production between Pite’s (also the director) Kidd Pivot group and Young’s Electric Company Theatre, Betroffenheit has received critical acclaim since it premiered at Panamia in Toronto three years ago. Indeed, it’s a pity that it played at the Babs Asper Theatre in the NAC for only two nights (April 6 and 7 respectively), since this production is easily one of the more unique offerings in the organization’s dance program. …
The National Ballet of Canada’s staging of John Neumeier’s Nijinsky, the artist who, by his personal and professional life, has certainly had the most influence on contemporary dance in the world, will go down in the annals of dance drama performance. For the spectator, it does help if one is aware of the history of the Ballet Russe and the different individuals who worked with Nijinsky during his brief professional life because Neumeier’s vision of the work does not try to reproduce autobiographical accuracy or even imitate the many performances that attracted attention to Nijinsky’s dancing . His emphasis is elsewhere. …
NAC Presentation from the National Ballet of Canada
Thrilling in scope, John Neumeier’s dazzling ballet is theatrical and unflinching, paying reverent, astute tribute to a tortured genius. Vaslav Nijinsky changed the trajectory of dance in a spectacular and ephemeral career that came to an abrupt end with his descent into madness at the age of only 29. In this exhilarating production, the entire company draws on its extraordinary heart and stamina to bring to dramatic life a provocative and fascinating exploration of the artist’s complex inner journey. Nijinsky is an unforgettable, balletic tour de force of artistry, narrative and spectacle. …