NBCSON 0809 Mixed

Ballet Notes

Symphony in C & Polyphonia & In The Upper RoomNovember 5-9, 2008

Patrick Lavoie and Bridgett Zehr in PolyphoniaPhotography: David Cooper

2008/09 Souvenir Book On Sale Now in the Lobby

Featuring beautiful new images by Canadian photographer Sian Richards

Piotr StanczykPhotography: Sian Richards

Celia Franca, C.C., Founder

George Crum, Music Director Emeritus

Karen Kain, C.C. Kevin GarlandArtistic Director Executive Director

David Briskin Rex Harrington, O.C.Music Director and Artist-in-ResidencePrincipal Conductor

Magdalena Popa Lindsay FischerPrincipal Artistic Coach Artistic Director,

YOU dance / Ballet Master

Aleksandar Antonijevic, Guillaume Côté, Chan Hon Goh, Greta Hodgkinson, Nehemiah Kish, Zdenek Konvalina, Heather Ogden, Sonia Rodriguez, Piotr Stanczyk, Xiao Nan Yu

Victoria Bertram, Kevin D. Bowles, Lorna Geddes,Tomas Schramek, Hazaros Surmeyan*

Christopher Body, Keiichi Hirano, Tanya Howard+,Stephanie Hutchison, Erkan Kurt, Richard Landry,Etienne Lavigne, Patrick Lavoie, Stacey Shiori Minagawa, Rebekah Rimsay+, Jillian Vanstone, Bridgett Zehr

Alexandra Golden, Tina Pereira, Alejandra Perez-Gomez,Jonathan Renna, Lisa Robinson, Avinoam Silverman

Wei Chen, Jordana Daumec, Krista Dowson, Nadine Drouin,Naoya Ebe, Selene Guerrero-Trujillo, Juri Hiraoka, Klara Houdet, Tamara Jones, Lise-Marie Jourdain, James Leja, Martin Lindinger, Elena Lobsanova, Noah Long,Alexandra MacDonald, Elizabeth Marrable, Catherine Maitland, Antonella Martinelli, Chelsy Meiss, Tiffany Mosher, Amber Munro, Andreea Olteanu, Marissa Parzei, Jenna Savella, James Shee, Christopher Stalzer, Robert Stephen, Adam L. Toth, Brett van Sickle, Nan Wang,Joseph Welbes, Aarik Wells, Sarah Wolff

RBC Apprentice Programme / YOU dance: Ryan Booth,Mark Dennis, Sara Garbowski, Nikki Holck, Claire Maurey,Shino Mori, Ian Parsons, Julia Sedwick, Brendan Saye,Thomas Snee

Peter Ottmann Mandy-Jayne Senior Ballet Master Richardson

Senior Ballet Mistress

Lorna Geddes Tomas SchramekPointe Shoe Manager/ Assistant Ballet MasterAssistant Ballet Mistress

Joysanne Sidimus Ernest AbugovGuest Repetiteur Jeff Morris

Stage Managers

Janelle Rainville *Guest Artist-in-ResidenceStage Manager, +On maternity leaveYOU dance

OrchestraViolinsFujiko Imajishi,

ConcertmasterLynn Kuo,

Assistant ConcertmasterDominique Laplante,

Principal Second ViolinJames AylesworthJennie BaccanteSheldon Grabke• Xiao Grabke• Nancy KershawSonia Klimasko-LeheniukCsaba KoczóYakov LernerJayne MaddisonRon MahWendy RogersFilip TomovJoanna ZabrowarnaPaul Zevenhuizen

ViolasAngela Rudden, PrincipalTheresa Rudolph Koczó,

Assistant PincipalValerie KuinkaJohann LotterBeverley SpottonLarry Toman

CellosMaurizio Baccante,

PrincipalOlga LaktionovaAndrew McIntoshMarianne PackElaine ThompsonPaul Widner

BassesHans J.F. Preuss,

PrincipalPaul LangleyRobert SpeerCary Takagaki

FlutesLeslie J. Allt, PrincipalMaria PelletierShelley Brown, Piccolo

OboesMark Rogers, Principal• Karen RotenbergLesley Young,

English Horn

ClarinetsMax Christie, Principal• Emily MarlowGary Kidd, Bass Clarinet

BassoonsStephen Mosher, PrincipalJerry RobinsonElizabeth Gowen,

Contra Bassoon

HornsGary Pattison, PrincipalVincent BarbeeDerek ConrodScott Wevers

TrumpetsRichard Sandals, PrincipalMark DharmaratnamRaymond Tizzard

TrombonesDavid Archer, PrincipalRobert FergusonDavid Pell,

Bass Trombone

HarpLucie Parent, Principal

TimpanyMichael Perry, Principal

PercussionRobert Comber, PrincipalMark Mazur

Orchestra PersonnelManager and MusicAdministratorJean Verch

Assistant OrchestraPersonnel ManagerRaymond Tizzard

Library AssistantLucie Parent

Extra PlayersAnne Armstrong, ViolinFoortje Gerritsen, ViolinMia King, ViolinRenée London, ViolinAya Miyagawa, ViolinSonia Vizante, ViolinRebekah Wolkstein,

ViolinBridget La Marche, ViolaNicholaos Papadakis,

ViolaJill Vitols, CelloColleen Cook, Clarinet

• On Leave of Absence

Page 4 national.ballet.ca

Wednesday November 5, 2008 at 7:30 pm

Thursday November 6, 2008 at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm

Friday November 7, 2008 at 7:30 pm

Saturday November 8, 2008 at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm

Sunday November 9, 2008 at 2:00 pm

Symphony in CChoreography: George Balanchine © School of American BalletStaged by: Lindsay Fischer, Mandy-Jayne Richardson, Joysanne SidimusMusic: Georges Bizet, Symphony No. 1 in C majorCostume Design: KarinskaLighting Design: Ronald BatesConductors: David Briskin, Music Director and Principal Conductor (Nov. 5, 6 eve, 7, 8 eve)

Judith Yan, Assistant Conductor (Nov 6 mat, 8 mat, 9)

Premiere (as Le Palais de Cristal): Paris Opera Ballet, July 28, 1947 – Paris, FranceThe National Ballet of Canada Premiere: November 14, 1984 – Toronto, Ontario

Symphony in C is a gift from THE VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE, THE NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA.

First Movement: Allegro VivoGreta Hodgkinson, Zdenek Konvalina (Nov 5, 6 eve, 8 mat)Heather Odgen, Aleksandar Antonijevic (Nov 6 mat, 7, 8 eve, 9)

Jillian Vanstone (Nov 5, 8), Stephanie Hutchison (Nov 6, 7, 9)Brett van Sickle Tina Pereira (Nov 5, 8 mat), Alejandra Perez-Gomez (Nov 6, 7, 8 eve, 9)Nan Wang

Second Movement: AdagioXiao Nan Yu, Tiit Helimets* (Nov 5, 6 mat, 7)Heather Ogden, Etienne Lavigne (Nov 6 eve)Heather Ogden, Tiit Helimets* (Nov 8 mat)Greta Hodgkinson, Etienne Lavigne (Nov 8 eve, 9)

Klara Houdet James Leja (Nov 5, 6 eve, 7, 8 eve), Martin Lindinger (Nov 6 mat, 8 mat, 9)

Elena Lobsanova Joseph Welbes (Nov 5, 6 eve, 7, 8 eve), Robert Stephen (Nov 6 mat, 8 mat, 9)

The 2008/09 season is presented by:

In The Upper Room & Polyphonia & Symphony in C are presented by:

Page 5

Third Movement: Allegro VivaceChan Hon Goh, Ethan Stiefel* (Nov 5, 8 eve)Jenna Savella, Naoya Ebe (Nov 6 mat, 8 mat)Jillian Vanstone, Keiichi Hirano (Nov 6 eve, 9)Jillian Vanstone, Ethan Stiefel* (Nov 7)

Stephanie Hutchison (Nov 5, 8 eve), Juri Hiraoka (Nov 6, 7, 8 mat, 9)Naoya Ebe (Nov 5, 8 eve), Jonathan Renna (Nov 6, 7, 8 mat, 9)Alexandra Golden Richard Landry

Fourth Movement: Allegro VivaceSonia Rodriguez, Piotr Stanczyk (Nov 5, 6 eve, 8 mat, 9)Tina Pereira, Erkan Kurt (Nov 6 mat, 7, 8 eve)

Alejandra Perez-Gomez (Nov 5, 8 mat), Jordana Daumec (Nov 6, 7, 8 eve, 9)James SheeJenna Savella (Nov 5, 6 eve, 8 eve), Lise-Marie Jourdain (Nov 6 mat, 7, 8 mat, 9)Aarik Wells

And Ensemble

* Guest Artists

Danielle Bezaire, Jessica Burrows, Alexandra Inculet, Kailey Kaba, Liisa Himalainen andAlexandra Pike appear courtesy of Canada’s National Ballet School and with the kind permissionof Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.

Intermission

Etienne Lavigne and Heather Ogden with Artists of the Ballet in Symphony in CPhotography: Bruce Zinger


PolyphoniaChoreography: Christopher Wheeldon©

Music: György LigetiUsed by arrangement with European Music Distributors LLC, sole Canadian and U.S. agent forSchott Music, publisher and copyright owner.Costume Design: Holly HynesLighting Design: Mark StanleyPiano Soloist: Edward Connell

Premiere: New York City Ballet, January 4, 2001 – New York, New YorkThe National Ballet of Canada Premiere: June 2, 2007 – Toronto, Ontario

Polyphonia is made possible by generous gifts from Sandra Simpson and Gretchen & Donald Ross.

Xiao Nan Yu and Noah Long (Nov 5, 6 eve, 8 eve, 9)Sonia Rodriguez and Nan Wang (Nov 6 mat, 7, 8 mat)

Heather Ogden and Etienne Lavigne (Nov 5, 8 mat)Greta Hodgkinson and Aleksandar Antonijevic (Nov 6 mat, 8 eve)Jillian Vanstone and Brett van Sickle (Nov 6 eve, 7, 9)

Chan Hon Goh and Piotr Stanczyk (Nov 5, 6 mat, 8 eve, 9)Tina Pereira and Etienne Lavigne (Nov 6 eve, 7)Tina Pereira and Piotr Stanczyk (Nov 8 mat)

Jillian Vanstone and Zdenek Konvalina (Nov 5, 8 mat)Tina Pereira and Richard Landry (Nov 6 mat, 8 eve, 9)Jenna Savella and Richard Landry (Nov 6 eve, 7)

I Désordre from Etudes pour piano, premier livre, 1985Entire cast

II Arc-en-ciel from Etudes pour piano, premier livre, 1985Xiao Nan Yu and Noah Long or Sonia Rodriguez and Nan Wang

III No. 4 Tempo di Valse from Musica Ricercata, 1951-53 Heather Ogden and Etienne Lavigne or Greta Hodgkinson and Aleksandar Antonijevic, or Jillian Vanstone and Brett van Sickle

IV Invention, 1948Heather Ogden or Greta Hodgkinson or Jillian Vanstone, Chan Hon Goh or Tina Pereira,Jillian Vanstone or Tina Pereira or Jenna Savella

V No. 8 Vivace energico from Musica Ricercata, 1951-53Etienne Lavigne or Aleksandar Antonijevic or Brett van Sickle, Zdenek Konvalina or Richard Landry

Page 7

VI No. 2 Hopp ide tisztán from Three Wedding Dances, 1950Chan Hon Goh and Piotr Stanczyk or Tina Pereira and Etienne Lavigne

VII No. 7 Cantabile molto legato from Musica Ricercata, 1951-53Xiao Nan Yu and Noah Long or Sonia Rodriguez and Nan Wang,Heather Ogden and Etienne Lavigne or Greta Hodgkinson and Aleksandar Antonijevic or Jillian Vanstone and Brett van Sickle

VIII No. 3 Allegro con spirito from Musica Ricercata, 1951-53Jillian Vanstone and Zdenek Konvalina or Tina Pereira and Richard Landry or Jenna Savella and Richard Landry

IX No. 2 Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale from Musica Ricercata, 1951-53Xiao Nan Yu and Noah Long or Sonia Rodriguez and Nan Wang

X Capriccio No. 2 – Allegro robusto, 1947Entire cast

Intermission

Xiao Nan Yu and Nehemiah Kish in PolyphoniaPhotography: Cylla von Tiedemann


In The Upper RoomCompany PremiereChoreography: Twyla TharpStaged by: Elaine KudoMusic: Philip Glass, In The Upper Room© 1986 Dunvagen Music Publishers Inc. Used by Permission.Costume Design: Norma KamaliLighting Design: Jennifer Tipton

Premiere: August 28, 1986, Twyla Tharp Dance – Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, Illinois

The performance of In The Upper Room a Tharpsm Ballet, is presented under license with W.A.T. Limited, and has been produced in accordance with Tharpsm Service Standards; In The Upper Room Choreography by Twyla Tharp, © 1992 Twyla Tharp.

In The Upper Room is a gift from Walter Carsen, O.C.

Greta Hodgkinson or Sonia RodriguezAleksandar Antonijevic or Etienne Lavigne

Zdenek Konvalina or Piotr Stanczyk or Aarik Wells, James Shee or Nan Wang Jillian Vanstone or Lise-Marie Jourdain, Tina Pereira or Jenna Savella

Heather Ogden or Alexandra Golden

Xiao Nan Yu or Andreea Olteanu, Stephanie Hutchison or Jordana Daumec, Jordana Daumec or Alejandra Perez-GomezJames Leja or Jonathan Renna, Noah Long or Robert Stephen, Keiichi Hirano orChristopher Stalzer

Symphony in C, created for the Paris

Opéra Ballet in 1947 under the title Le Palais

de Cristal, is brilliantly constructed, elegant

and virtuosic, all flash and dazzle. It drew

heavily on the vast financial and artistic

resources of that acclaimed company at a

time when, in New York, Balanchine had few

dancers, high school auditoria for stages,

and a minuscule costume budget. Like most

of Balanchine’s works, it follows the music

closely and perceptively – in this case, the

long-lost score of the 17-year-old Bizet’s

unpublished first symphony, rediscovered

only in 1935 – allowing us, as Balanchine

always wished, to “see the music, hear the

dancing.”

That goal would be easier to achieve

when Balanchine brought the work to New

York the next year, stripping it of its fancy

title, its elaborate costumes (one colour to

each movement, rather like Jewels), its lavish

scenery with galleries, balconies, a staircase,

and ornaments galore, and its huge initial

cast. As always, Balanchine’s impulse was to

simplify and clarify his works over the years.

One of the most startling facts about this

ballet is that it took only two weeks to

choreograph, matching the mere two weeks

Bizet devoted to his musical composition.

Brought into the repertoire of The National

Ballet of Canada by Erik Bruhn in 1984 as

part of a Balanchine Evening, Symphony in C

contains the traditional four movements

of a classical symphony and embodies

Balanchine’s assertion that “Ballet is

Woman.” Structurally, each movement has a

principal couple with the woman dominant,

two secondary couples, and six to eight

female corps, depending on the size of the

company (the full Paris cast numbered 52

dancers). Each movement plays inventively

with geometrical shapes – squares,

diagonals, sculptural groupings – that

illustrate the variety of effects possible using

a very active and technically adept corps de

ballet.

Three movements of Bizet’s symphony

(1, 3, and 4) are marked Allegro Vivo or

Allegro Vivace in the score – buoyant, crisp,

lively. The first presents a commandingly

regal ballerina (Maria Tallchief, Balanchine’s

then-wife, in the New York premiere). In

marked contrast to the other movements,

the second movement – Adagio – is the

longest, most admired in its music and

Symphony in C

Page 9

Artists of the Ballet in Symphony in CPhotography: Sian Richards


dance alike. Subtly Spanish in flavour, graced

by a hypnotic oboe melody that only Bizet

could have written, the section is sensuous,

exotic, seductive, as the ballerina bourrées

effortlessly and skims the floor in low serene

lifts. Towards the end, she displays her trust,

and her partner’s reliability, when three times

she faints backwards, only to be caught

securely at the last minute.

The ebullient third movement is Scottish

in flavour (hear the orchestral imitation of

bagpipe). It demands a principal couple

capable of huge side-by-side jumps and

possessing remarkable stamina.

The spectacular perpetual-motion final

movement begins with its own soloists and

corps but each time it appears to reach a

climax, dancers from an earlier section crest

onto the stage, wave after wave, until finally

over 50 dancers are leaping in unison in one

of the most flamboyant finales in all ballet. No

wonder the finicky French audience gave it a

standing ovation, or that its New York

premiere was so successful that the Ballet

Society, as Balanchine’s company was then

named, had to change from a private

subscription-only enterprise and sell tickets

to a general public demanding to see the

piece everyone was talking about.

– Penelope Reed Doob

Artists of the Ballet in Symphony in CPhotography: Sian Richards

British choreographer Christopher

Wheeldon is one of the most sought-after

dancemakers around and Polyphonia one of

his most admired ballets. After a stunningly

successful New York City Ballet premiere on

January 4th, 2001, it was performed the next

year by London’s Royal Ballet and won the

Laurence Olivier Prize for Best New Dance

Production. Many other companies have

adopted this instant classic, among them

San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Pacific

Northwest Ballet, Les Grands Ballets

Canadiens de Montréal and The National

Ballet of Canada.

The work’s title alludes to a musical style

popular in the Renaissance and exemplified

by the work of Palestrina and the

madrigalists, where many voices sing at once

but each vocal or instrumental part has

different melodies, rhythms and beginnings

and endings of phrases. The title hints at the

movement: not relentless unison but far more

complicated interminglings of unison, canon,

mirror-image patterns and apparent chaos.

No wonder the work is so popular. It’s

edgy and clever, cool and chic, inventive

and sassy, intellectually and aesthetically

challenging, crisp and pure. Wheeldon’s

choreographic voice is at once traditional –

formalist, musical, committed to classicism

and beauty – and novel.

The music aptly made visible by

Wheeldon is a selection of ten short piano

pieces written between 1947 and 1985

by the avant garde Hungarian-Austrian

composer György Ligeti (1923 – 2006).

Ligeti’s style varied from the folk-like

melodies and percussiveness of his

compatriots Bartók and Kodaly to the

electronic manipulation of sound and what

he dubbed “micropolyphony,” the creation

of orchestral sound clusters that gradually

transform themselves. In the Polyphonia

pieces, despite the limitations of having only

one instrument, we experience the

composer’s tremendous wit and variety.

The ballet, for eight dancers in leotards,

presents ten dances in a mere half hour and

the titles that composer György Ligeti gave

each selection are reflected in both music

and dance.

I, Désordre from Etudes pour piano,

premier livre, uses concepts Ligeti

borrowed from African drumming, with the

pianist playing in perfect time but the musical

accents shifted so that the listener

experiences chaos. The dance begins with

the four couples neatly in place, but each

does set steps in seemingly random order.

The visual and musical cacophony deepen

as the dancers’ shadows are projected on a

scrim. Finally, order emerges from chaos as

some steps begin to occur in unison.

II, Arc-en-ciel (rainbow) from Etudes pour

piano, premier livre, is slow and mysterious,

seemingly danced underwater.

III, No. 4 Tempo di Valse from Musica

Ricercata, is a romantic hesitation waltz

with a few quirky hiccups.

IV, Invention, wittily shows three dancers

performing a Bach-like two-part invention.

V, No. 8 Vivace energico from Musica

Ricercata, shows two men dancing jauntily

in intermittent disunity to a fanfare.

VI, No. 2 Hopp ide tisztán from Three

Wedding Dances, a Hungarian wedding

song, is a ravishing almost-classical pas de

deux that shocks us when the man exits,

leaving the woman to dance alone.

Page 11

Polyphonia


VII, No. 7 Cantabile molto legato from

Musica Ricercata, perhaps the most

glorious section, involves two couples in

varying configurations, sometimes in unison,

sometimes mirroring each other, and

sometimes completely independent of a

slow melody supported by rapid ostinato

(repeated) passages in the bass.

VIII, No. 3 Allegro con spirito from Musica

Ricercata, is another fanfare of major thirds

with a very abrupt ending.

IX, No. 2 Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale from

Musica Ricercata, marked dramatically as

gloomy, austere, and formal, is an eccentric,

intense pas de deux to an ominously

constrained but insistent pseudo-melody

of minor seconds.

X, Capriccio No. 2 – Allegro robusto,

echoes themes from the opening, including

the shadow dance, giving structure to the

whole.

Wheeldon’s Polyphonia is generally seen

as an homage to George Balanchine’s

angular leotard ballets, but it’s more diverse

in vocabulary, the blossoming of a new

branch on the tree of neoclassicism,

definitely “romantic with comic twists,” as

Wheeldon described it and the ballet ends

appropriately with effortlessly weightless

horizontal lifts, a signpost that we’ve veered

90 degrees off the common path.

– Penelope Reed Doob

Xiao Nan Yu and Nehemiah Kish in PolyphoniaPhotography: Cylla von Tiedemann

Page 13

Choreographer Twyla Tharp thinks of the

two women who initiate In The Upper Room

in terms of ceramic, Chinese temple guard

dogs. From the “cells” of their side-by-side

moves, with stretching, kicking and swinging

legs, the dramatic, nearly religious and

hypnotic, on-rushing work pours forth.

An inky yet celestially lighted void frames

the advancing, receding, exploding and

imploding activities of the many-layered

work. Beyond her “china dog” markers, the

choreographer characterizes the running-

shoe-wearing three couples as “stompers”

and two pointe-shoe-wearing women as a

“bomb squad.” All work according to their

nicknames, stomping and “bombing” the

space with their finesse, energy and force.

The cast of “participants” builds gradually

and, once established, evolves partly

through an altering of costumes and through

elaborating their dancing and their

connection to the other dancers. Tharp has

described her movements here as “fierce,

driving, and relentless,” aiming to make

some furiously fast unison moves “burn the

retina.”

The dancers play with and feed on the

music’s driving pulse, much of their

locomotion can be seen as jogging,

sometimes nonchalantly backwards. The

“bomb squad” amplifies into the “ballet

cadre” and their red costuming stands out

with special fire in the black velvet surround.

The music’s unwinding, and unskeining

character climaxes in a finale that

encapsulates the entire ballet up to that

point, with each recapitulation coloured

and/or twisted this way or that from its

original presentation.

With the first-time appearance of the

entire cast, the piece winds down. In the

process, it re-dramatizes the magical void

created as a scenic component by Jennifer

Tipton’s innovative lighting plot. The dancers

variously disappear into the dense, rich

blackness that stands like a shadowy infinity

behind the more immediate space showered

by shafts of warm light. Two “stomper” men

bolt backward into the void by way of

throwing forward a sharp punch as they

“disappear.” For summary punctuation the

“china dogs” cue the ringing down of the

curtain by pulling down their fists, as if

sharply closing shut a window blind.

In The Upper Room

David Hallberg and Paloma Herrera fromAmerican Ballet Theatre in In The Upper RoomPhotography: Marty Sohl

Karen Kain,

C.C., LL.D., D.Litt., O.Ont.,

Artistic Director

Acknowledged as one of the

leading classical ballerinas of

her time, Karen Kain is also

one of Canada’s foremost

arts advocates, bringing

the same passion and

dedication she exemplified

as a dancer to her roles as a

spokesperson for Canadian

culture and as the Artistic

Director of The National

Ballet of Canada. A native of

Hamilton, Ontario, Ms. Kain

studied at Canada’s National

Ballet School, graduating in

1969 when she joined The

National Ballet of Canada.

After quickly rising to the

rank of Principal Dancer, she

came to the attention of

international audiences when

she won the Silver Medal at

the Moscow International

Ballet Competition in 1973.

This led to a highly

successful career on stages

throughout the world. Ms.

Kain retired from dance in

1997 and shortly afterwards

assumed the position of

Artist-in-Residence with the

National Ballet. In 1999, her

role was expanded to that of

Artistic Associate and in

June of 2005, she was

appointed Artistic Director

of the company. Ms. Kain

has received numerous

accolades and awards

throughout her career. She is

a Companion of the Order of

Canada, the first Canadian

recipient of the Cartier

Lifetime Achievement Award

and was named an Officer of

the Order of Arts and Letters

by the government of

France. In 2002, she was

honoured with a Governor

General’s Award for Lifetime

Artistic Achievement and

from 2004 to 2008 was

Chair of the Canada Council

for the Arts. In 2007, she

received the Barbara

Hamilton Memorial Award for

demonstrating excellence

and professionalism in the

performing arts.

George Balanchine

Choreographer,

Symphony in C

George Balanchine was

born in St. Petersburg,

Russia in 1904. He joined

the Maryinsky Ballet as a

member of the Corps de

Ballet at the age of 17. In

1924, Mr. Balanchine was

invited by Serge Diaghilev to

join Ballets Russes in Paris.

Mr. Balanchine was hired as

Ballet Master in 1925, and

held this position until the

company was dissolved in

1929. Mr. Balanchine formed

his own company Les Ballets

1933, and shortly thereafter

met the American dance

connoisseur Lincoln Kirstein,

which led him to move

to the United States. In

collaboration with Mr.

Kirstein, Mr. Balanchine

formed the School of

American Ballet and

American Ballet, which

was resident ballet company

at the Metropolitan Opera.

Mr. Balanchine worked as

Artistic Director of Ballet

Russes de Monte Carlo from

1944 to 1946, and in 1946

he formed Ballet Society,

which later became New

York City Ballet. He served

as Artistic Director of New

York City Ballet until his

death in 1983.

Joysanne Sidimus

Staging, Symphony in C

Internationally recognized

as one of the foremost

authorities on the ballets

of George Balanchine,

Joysanne Sidiumus has

staged the eminent

choreographer’s work for

dance companies the world


Selected Biographies

over. Born in New York City,

Ms. Sidimus studied under

George Balanchine at the

School of American Ballet,

subsequently joining the

choreographer’s New York

City Ballet. She later

performed as a Soloist with

London’s Festival Ballet and

as a Principal Dancer with

Pennsylvania Ballet and The

National Ballet of Canada.

Ms. Sidimus is the founder

of the Dancer Transition

Resource Centre and the

co-author, with Carol

Anderson, of Reflections in a

Dancing Eye: The Role and

Value of the Artist in

Contemporary Canadian

Society, published by the

Banff Centre Press. As well,

she serves on numerous

advisory panels and was

the founding Vice President

of the Board of Directors of

the Artists’ Health Centre

Foundation, which created

the Artists’ Health Centre, a

comprehensive health care

faculty for artists at Toronto

Western Hospital. She has

lectured extensively on the

art of dance at numerous

universities and in 2003,

was awarded the Governor

General’s Meritorious

Service Medal for her work

in founding the Dancer

Transition Resource Centre.

In 2006, Ms. Sidimus

received the Governor

General’s Performing Arts

Award for Lifetime Artistic

Achievement.

Georges Bizet

Composer, Symphony in C

Georges Bizet was a French

composer of the romantic

era, best known for his

opera Carmen. A child

prodigy, Mr. Bizet entered

the prestigious Paris

Page 15

Artists of the Ballet in Symphony in CPhotography: Cylla von Tiedemann

Conservatory of Music at

the age of nine. In 1857, he

shared a prize offered by

Jacques Offenbach for a

setting of the one-act

operetta Le Docteur Miracle.

Later that year, he won the

coveted Prix de Rome. As

per the conditions of the

scholarship, he studied in

Rome for three years. There,

his talent began to mature

with such works as

Symphony in C and the

opera Don Procopio. Mr.

Bizet’s best-known work,

Carmen, was based on an

1846 novel of the same

name by Prosper Mérimée.

Influenced by Giuseppe

Verdi, he composed the title

role in Carmen for a mezzo-

soprano. Not an immediate

success, Bizet became

despondent over the

perceived failure, but praise

came from such luminaries

as Camille Saint-Saëns,

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

and Claude Debussy, who

recognized its greatness.

Their views were prophetic,

as the public made Carmen

one of the most popular

works in operatic history.

Just a few months after the

opera’s debut, Mr. Bizet died

at the age of 36.

Karinska

Costume Designer,

Symphony in C

Barbara Karinska was born

in Russia in 1886. As a

young woman she ran a

Moscow embroidery shop

before leaving the country

after the October Revolution.

Before settling in America in

1938, Ms. Karinska worked

in Paris, making costumes

from the sketches of artists

such as Berard, Derain, Dali,

Chagall and Beaton. After

arriving in New York, Ms.

Karinska designed many of

the tutus and conventional

romantic ballet dresses for

New York City Ballet. As the

company’s most respected

costume designer, she

created the costumes for

several of George

Balanchine’s works,

including Divertimento No.

15, Symphony in C, Bourée

Fantasque, Serenade, La

Valse, Star and Stripes, The

Nutcracker, A Midsummer

Night’s Dream, Liebeslieder

Walzer, Bugaku and Jewels.

Ms. Karinska also designed


Artists of the Ballet in Symphony in CPhotography: Bruce Zinger

and executed costumes

for theatre, opera and

cinema. In 1962, she

was given the Capezio

Award in recognition of her

contribution to dance. Ms.

Karinska died in New York

City in 1983.

Ronald Bates

Lighting Designer,

Symphony in C

Ronald Bates studied scenic

design at Los Angeles City

College. He worked as a

stage manager for the

Mozart Festival and the

Shakespeare Festival in

Stratford, Connecticut and

for the NBC Opera Company

in New York. In 1957, Mr.

Bates accepted an invitation

to join New York City Ballet

as Production Manager. He

also served as Resident

Lighting Designer for New

York City Ballet and worked

closely with choreographers

George Balanchine and

Jerome Robbins. An

authority on the construction

of permanent and portable

stage floors, he developed

the “Balanchine basket-

weave floor”, a surface that

helped reduce injuries to

dancers. The floor design is

in wide use in theatres

throughout the United States

and abroad. Mr. Bates also

worked with the Dance

Theater of Harlem, San

Francisco Ballet, Paris Opera

Ballet and Zurich Ballet. Mr.

Bates died in 1986 at the

age of 54.

Tiit Helimets

Guest Artist,

Symphony in C

Tiit Helimets was born in

Viljandi, Estonia and trained

at the Tallinn Ballet School.

In 1996, Mr. Helimets joined

the Estonian National Ballet

as a Soloist, and was

appointed Principal Dancer

six months later. Mr.

Helimets’ repertoire with the

company included Prince

Desire and Bluebird in The

Sleeping Beauty, Albrecht in

Giselle, Siegfried in Swan

Lake, Romeo in Romeo and

Juliet and Daphnis in

Daphnis and Chloë. In 1999,

Mr. Helimets joined the

Birmingham Royal Ballet and

was promoted to Principal

Dancer in 2002. He joined

San Francisco Ballet as

Page 17

Principal Dancer in 2005

where his roles include The

Prince in Helgi Tomasson’s

The Nutcracker, Siegfried in

Swan Lake, The Prince in

The Sleeping Beauty, Basilio

in Don Quixote, Albrecht in

Giselle, Balanchine’s Apollo,

Diamonds, Allegro Brilliante,

Divertimento #15 and

Symphony in C, among

others. Mr. Helimets created

Summer in Bintley’s The

Seasons and Apollo in

Bintley’s Orpheus Suite. In

1999, he received an award

from the Arts Council of

Estonia for his performances

in The Sleeping Beauty and

Romeo and Juliet.

Ethan Stiefel

Guest Artist,

Symphony in C

Ethan Stiefel started his

professional career with New

York City Ballet and, later,

was a Principal Dancer with

Zurich Ballet. He is currently

a Principal Dancer with

American Ballet Theatre and

Dean of the School of Dance

at the North Carolina School

of the Arts. Mr. Stiefel

starred in the feature film

Center Stage, and returns

to play the role of Cooper

Nielsen in Center Stage 2,

scheduled for release in

November 2008. His

repertoire includes leading

roles in all of the full-length

classics as well as works by

Twyla Tharp, Sir Frederick

Ashton, Jirí Kylían, Paul

Taylor, Christopher

Wheeldon, August

Bournonville, William


Heather Ogden with Artists of the Ballet in Symphony in CPhotography: Bruce Zinger

Forsythe, Jerome Robbins,

Lar Lubovitch, George

Balanchine, Anthony Tudor

and Mark Morris. Mr.

Stiefel’s television credits

include The Dream,

Le Corsaire and the

documentary Born to

be Wild. He has made

numerous appearances as a

guest artist with The Royal

Ballet, Kirov Ballet, New York

City Ballet, The Australian

Ballet and other companies

throughout the world. He

has been a guest teacher for

many institutions including

American Ballet Theatre II,

American Ballet Theatre’s

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

School and The Royal Ballet

School. His Royal Highness

Crown Prince Albert of

Monaco presented Mr.

Stiefel with the Statue

Award of the Princess Grace

Foundation in October 1999.

He will receive the Dance

Magazine Award in

December 2008.

Christopher Wheeldon

Choreographer,

Polyphonia

Internationally acclaimed

choreographer Christopher

Wheeldon is Artistic Director

and Co-Founder of

Morphoses/The Wheeldon

Company. He has received

many awards for his work

including the London Critics’

Circle Award for Best New

Ballet for Polyphonia, the

American Choreography

Award and the Olivier Award.

Mr. Wheeldon studied at The

Royal Ballet School and

joined The Royal Ballet in

1991. That same year, he

won the Gold Medal at the

Prix de Lausanne

competition. In 1993, he

joined New York City Ballet.

He began his choreographic

career with NYCB in 1997

when he created Slavonic

Dances for the company’s

annual showcase. In 2000,

he retired from dancing

to concentrate on

choreography and served

as NYCB’s first Artist in

Residence, creating two

ballets, Polyphonia and

Variations Sérieuses. In

2001, Mr. Wheeldon was

named NYCB’s first

Resident Choreographer.

During this time, he

choreographed works

including Morphoses, After

the Rain, An American in

Paris and The Nightingale

and the Rose. Among

the celebrated ballets Mr.

Wheeldon has created

for other companies are

Continuum for San Francisco

Ballet, Tryst and DGV (Danse

à Grande Vitesse) for The

Royal Ballet, and a full-length

Swan Lake for Pennsylvania

Ballet. For Morphoses/The

Wheeldon Company’s

inaugural season, Wheeldon

choreographed two new

works, Fools’ Paradise and

Prokofiev Pas de Deux.

György Ligeti

Composer,

Polyphonia

György Ligeti was born in

1923 in Transylvania. His

musical studies began in

childhood and after the war

he attended the Franz Liszt

Academy in Budapest. He

went on to teach at the

academy following his

graduation. He stayed in

this position until he fled the

Hungarian Revolution in

1956. His arrival in Vienna

introduced him to the avant-

garde school of music,

which allowed him to further

develop his musical style.

His first pieces of this era

attracted critical acclaim.

Mr. Ligeti’s style continued

to evolve and he became

known for the use of dense

polyphony, in which he

layered so many musical

colours and textures that the

distinctions between melody,

harmony and rhythm

became indistinguishable.

He gained a mass audience

when his 1966 work Lux

Aeterna was used in the

Page 19


Patrick Lavoie and Bridgett Zehr in PolyphoniaPhotography: David Cooper

soundtrack for Stanley

Kubrick’s 2001: A Space

Odyssey.

Holly Hynes

Costume Designer,

Polyphonia

Holly Hynes has designed

over 120 ballets in her

long career as a costume

designer. For 21 years

she was the Director of

Costumes for New York City

Ballet where she designed

over 60 ballets. In North

America, her theatrical

designs have been seen

on Broadway as well as

in ballets for such major

companies as American

Ballet Theatre, San

Francisco Ballet, The

National Ballet of Canada,

Houston Ballet, The Joffrey

Ballet, The Suzanne Farrell

Ballet Company,

Pennsylvania Ballet, Alberta

Ballet, Boston Ballet, Boris

Eifmann Company, BalletMet

and Morphoses/The

Wheeldon Company.

Abroad, her designs have

been acclaimed at such

companies as The Royal

Ballet, Ballet Flanders, La

Scala, the Kirov and the

Royal Danish Ballet. In 2007,

she made her Metropolitan

Opera debut as a designer

on the revival of the opera

La Gioconda. In addition to

her design work, Ms. Hynes

serves as a consultant with

authority to teach costume

reproductions of various

established designs for the

Jerome Robbins Foundation,

the George Balanchine Trust

and Peter Martins, serving

many companies

internationally.

Mark Stanley

Lighting Design,

Polyphonia

Mark Stanley is the Lighting

Director for New York City

Ballet, where he has

designed over 100 of the

company’s premieres. He

has worked with numerous

choreographers including

Peter Martins, Kevin O’Day,

William Forsythe, Susan

Marshall, Ulysses Dove, Lar

Lubovitch and Laura Dean.

His designs are in the

repertories of the Royal

Danish Ballet, the Dutch

National Ballet, the Berlin

Opera Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet,

the Bolshoi Ballet, the Kirov

Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet,

The Donestk Ballet, San

Francisco Ballet, The Joffrey

Ballet, The National Ballet of

Canada, Pennsylvania Ballet,

the Vienna Volks Oper, San

Kai Juku and Alvin Ailey

Dance Theater, among

others. Mr. Stanley

previously served as

Resident Lighting Designer

for New York City Opera.

His designs have been seen

nationally on PBS in “Live

from Lincoln Center” and

“Great Performances”.

Edward Connell

Piano Soloist, Polyphonia

Edward Connell joined the

National Ballet as a pianist

in 2005, and made his solo

debut with the company in

24 Preludes by Chopin in

March 2008. Trained as a

concert pianist, he has had

a very successful career in

theatre, including more than

200 professional productions

and 11 original musicals.

Mr. Connell was the Head

of Music Theory and Piano

at the Alberta College

Conservatory and was also

the Music Director of the

Timothy Eaton Memorial

Church for several years.

His choral career includes

engagements as a singer,

pianist and conductor with

ProCoro Canada, the Artistic

Directorship of Cantilena

Consort and his on-going

leadership of Forte – The

Toronto Men’s Chorus. Mr.

Connell’s many honours

include being named a

Fellow of the Royal Canadian

College of Organists with the

Healey Willan Prize. He has

also received gold medals in

Page 21

both piano and organ from

the Royal Conservatory of

Music and other renowned

musical institutions.

Twyla Tharp

Choreographer,

In The Upper Room

In 1965, Twyla Tharp formed

Twyla Tharp Dance and

has created over 125 works

to date. She has also

choreographed for American

Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera

Ballet, The Royal Ballet, New

York City Ballet, Boston

Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet,

Hubbard Street Dance and

Martha Graham Company,

etc. Ms. Tharp’s Broadway

credits include When We

Were Very Young, The

Catherine Wheel, Singin’ in

The Rain and Movin’ Out.

She collaborated in film on

Hair, Ragtime, Amadeus,

White Nights and I’ll Do

Anything. Ms. Tharp is the

author of two books: Push

Comes To Shove and The

Creative Habit: Learn It And

Use It For Life.

Elaine Kudo

Staging,

In The Upper Room

Elaine Kudo trained at the

Metropolitan Opera Ballet

School, School of American

Ballet and American Ballet

Theatre School. She joined

American Ballet Theatre in

1975 and was promoted to

Soloist in 1981, dancing in

a wide range of works until

1989. During her tenure

with ABT, Ms. Kudo worked

extensively with all the major

choreographers of that

period. She also appeared

with Tharp Dance Co. and

Baryshnikov & Co., and

was Baryshnikov’s partner

in Sinatra Suite and Push

Comes to Shove in the PBS

Great Performances special

Baryshnikov by Tharp. Since

her retirement from the

stage, Ms. Kudo has worked

as Ballet Mistress for ABT,

Twyla Tharp, The Jersey

Ballet Company and The

American Repertory Ballet

Co. She has staged Tharp

works throughout the

US and Europe and

began staging her own

choreography in 1997. As a

teacher and co-director of

Theatre Arts Dance America

located in New Jersey, she

teaches intermediate and

advanced level classes,

and works with students

on school and company

(Theatre Dance America)

productions. Ms. Kudo has

choreographed numerous

pieces for T.A.D.A. and the

ABT Summer Intensive. She

is continually adding to her

choreographic repertory and

has had her work performed

by companies including New

Jersey Ballet, the Carolina

Ballet and American

Repertory Ballet.

Philip Glass

Composer,

In The Upper Room

Born in Maryland, Philip

Glass is a graduate of the

Juilliard School. In the early

1960s, he spent two years

studying in Paris and earned

money by transcribing Ravi

Shankar’s Indian music

into western notation. Upon

his return to New York,

he applied these eastern

techniques to his own music,

developing a new musical

style known as minimalism.

By 1974, Mr. Glass had a

number of innovative works

for his group, the Philip

Glass Ensemble, including

Music in Twelve Parts and

Einstein on the Beach.

He has scored for opera,

dance, theatre, ensembles,

orchestra and film. His

score for Kundun received

an Oscar. In 2004, he

premiered Orion as part of

the cultural celebration of the

2004 Olympics in Greece.

He has collaborated with

Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt

and Yo-Yo Ma, among

others. Mr. Glass presents

lectures, workshops and


solo keyboard performances

internationally and continues

to appear regularly with the

Philip Glass Ensemble.

Norma Kamali

Costume Designer,

In The Upper Room

Norma Kamali is a New York

based fashion designer. Her

career began in 1964 when

she graduated from the

Fashion Institute of

Technology in New York City

with a Bachelor of Fine Arts

degree in Fashion Illustration.

Four years later she opened

her first store on East 53rd

Street, which she moved to

Madison Avenue in 1974.

Since then, Ms. Kamali has

become an internationally

recognized designer in a

wide range of street wear,

sportswear, swimwear,

accessories and cosmetics.

Among many awards,

Ms. Kamali has won

Coty Awards for Design

Innovation and Women’s

Fashion Design, a CFDA

Award for Outstanding

Women’s Fashion and an

American Success Award

for Vocational Technical

Education, which was

presented to her by

President George Bush at

the White House. In 2005,

Ms. Kamali won the CFDA’s

Board of Directors’ Special

Tribute Award and in 2008,

she signed on to create a

discount line of clothing for

Wal-Mart.

Page 23

Stacey Shiori Minagawa and Guillaume Côté in PolyphoniaPhotography: Cylla von Tiedemann

Jennifer Tipton

Lighting Designer,

In The Upper Room

Jennifer Tipton has created

the lighting for many

theatrical, dance and

opera productions. She has

worked with choreographers

Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jirí

Kylián, Dana Reitz, Jerome

Robbins, Paul Taylor, Twyla

Tharp and Dan Wagoner,

among many others, and

has won two Bessie Awards

and an Olivier Award for

lighting dance. Ms. Tipton

first worked with The

National Ballet of Canada

in 1983 and has since lit

multiple productions with

the company including Glen

Tetley’s La Ronde, Anthony

Tudor’s The Leaves are

Falling and Jerome Robbins’

The Concert. In 1995, she

designed the lighting for

James Kudelka’s production

of The Nutcracker. Ms.

Tipton has received many

distinctions including the

Creative Arts Award in

Dance from Brandeis

University, a Guggenheim

Fellowship, the Common

Wealth Award in Dramatic

Arts, a Dance Magazine

Award, the Dorothy and

Lillian Gish Prize and the

Jerome Robbins Prize. Ms.

Tipton teaches lighting at the

Yale University School of

Drama.

David Briskin

Music Director and

Principal Conductor

A conductor renowned for the

versatility of his repertoire

and the depth of his musical

interpretations, David Briskin

joined The National Ballet of

Canada as Music Director and

Principal Conductor in 2006.

Prior to his appointment

with The National Ballet of

Canada, Mr. Briskin served

as Conductor with American

Ballet Theatre for seven

years, leading performances

at the Metropolitan Opera

House, New York’s City

Center and in major opera

houses throughout the

world. Since 2006, Mr.

Briskin has been a regular

guest conductor with New


York City Ballet appearing

most recently with the

company in Copenhagen in

September 2008. Last

season he appeared with

San Francisco Ballet for their

New Works Festival,

celebrating the company’s

75th anniversary and will join

the company again this

season in Chicago, New

York and San Francisco. Mr.

Briskin has also conducted

for Houston Ballet, The

Joffrey Ballet of Chicago,

and Les Grands Ballets

Canadiens de Montréal,

among others. For 12 years

he served as Conductor of

The Juilliard School’s Dance

Division. Equally at home on

the concert stage and in the

opera house, Mr. Briskin has

conducted symphony

orchestras and opera

productions throughout

Europe, Asia and North

America and served for six

years as the Music Director

of the Masterwork Chorus

and Orchestra, conducting

annual performances of

Handels’s Messiah at

Carnegie Hall. In July 2008,

he was appointed Director

of Orchestral Studies at the

University of Toronto Faculty

of Music and Conductor of

the University of Toronto

Symphony Orchestra.

Judith Yan

Assistant Conductor

A native of Toronto, Judith

Yan joined The National

Ballet of Canada as

Assistant Conductor in 2007.

As Staff Conductor of the

San Francisco Opera, Ms.

Yan served as assistant to

Donald Runnicles and as

Cover/Rehearsal Conductor

on 12 productions. For the

company, she conducted

three productions, one of

which was included in the

San Francisco Chronicle’s

Top Ten Performances of

2005. Prior to her position at

the SFO, Ms. Yan was

Conductor-in-Residence

at the Canadian Opera

Company. Appointed by the

late Richard Bradshaw, she

worked on numerous

productions, recordings and

concerts. Ms. Yan made her

German conducting debut

with Mozart’s Idomeneo

Page 25

Zdenek Konvalina, Heather Ogden,Nehemiah Kish, Xiao Nan Yu,Guillaume Côté and Stacey ShioriMinagawa in PolyphoniaPhotography: Cylla von Tiedemann

in 2005, and her Italian

conducting debut with

Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro

in 2007. She recently

returned to Italy to conduct

La Bohème.

Ernest Abugov

Stage Manager

Ernest (Ernie) Abugov has

served as Stage Manager of

The National Ballet of Canada

since 1973, working with

every Artistic Director in the

company’s history from Celia

Franca to Karen Kain. He has

traveled with the company

all over the world touring to

Israel, Asia, Europe, Mexico,

New York and throughout

North America. Mr. Abugov

has worked with many of

the world’s most renowned

choreographers who have

created original works for the

National Ballet including John

Neumeier, William Forsythe

and Glen Tetley. Mr. Abugov

was born in Montréal,

Québec. Before beginning

his long association with the

National Ballet, he worked

with Les Feux Follets, The

Charlottetown Festival, La

Poudriere Theatre and The

Studio Lab Theatre. He

worked at Expo ’67 in

Montréal, stage managing

over 4,000 puppet shows.

Mr. Abugov also toured with

Harry Belafonte. In what little

spare time that he has, Mr.

Abugov guest-lectures to

theatre students.

Jeff Morris

Stage Manager

Jeff Morris studied technical

theatre production and

administration at Ryerson

Theatre School. After

graduating, he worked as

Production Stage Manager

for Toronto Dance Theatre

and with the Fringe Festival of

Independent Dance Artists, in

addition to a broad range of

Toronto’s independent dance

artists. In 1995, Mr. Morris

joined The National Ballet of

Canada and has since stage-

managed a wide range of

the company’s classical and

contemporary repertoire,

including world premieres of

James Kudelka’s The Four

Seasons, Cinderella and An

Italian Straw Hat. He is also

an adjunct faculty member at

the School of Toronto Dance

Theatre, where he teaches

Production Elements for

Dancers.

The National Ballet of

Canada Orchestra

The National Ballet of Canada

is privileged to have its own

full orchestra with over 60

members. The orchestra has

performed in each of the

National Ballet’s 57 seasons

and is led by Music Director

and Principal Conductor

David Briskin. The company’s

first Music Director was

George Crum who, along

with Founder Celia Franca,

was a pioneer of the

company. Mr. Crum held the

position from the company’s

inception in 1951 to 1984,

when he was appointed

Music Director Emeritus.

The orchestra was led by

Ermanno Florio from 1985

to 1990 and Ormsby Wilkins

from 1990 to 2006. The

National Ballet Orchestra has

toured extensively with the

company through Canada,

the United States and

Europe. Over the years, the

orchestra has received much

acclaim from audiences and

critics alike and has recorded

two CDs of Michael Torke’s

compositions for The

Contract (The Pied Piper)

and An Italian Straw Hat.

For more detailed

information visit

national.ballet.ca


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