January 23, 2004 -

OTTAWA -- Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal perform Master Choreographers: Mats Ek and Nacho Duato in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Saturday February 7 at 20:00. This stunning triple bill spotlights two of the world’s most masterful choreographers, set on some of Canada’s most lyrical dancers. Swedish choreographer Mats Ek created Solo for Two, a melancholy love duet, and Appartement (originally created for the Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris), a witty examination of our daily lives. Without Words by Nacho Duato (Artistic Director of Spain’s Compañía Nacional de Danza) explores themes of love and death – and it is sculptural, stark, strikingly moving, and beautiful all at once. The evening promises to be a lyrical, sensual, and intensely emotional feast for the senses. Please be advised: there is nudity in this production.

 This performance by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal is part of the NAC’s Dance Series A, which is generously sponsored by Casino du Lac Leamy.

Originally entitled Smoke, Solo for Two was created for Swedish television. In the autumn of 1996, it was awarded an Emmy award. “A chamber piece, wistfully blue, that winds its way into the recesses of the viewer’s mind” wrote Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet of the TV ballet. The stage version, entitled Solo for Two, has been adapted and revamped by Mats Ek for the Cullberg Ballet. Solo for Two is a melancholy love duet to music by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. The two characters, a man and a woman, are each other’s reflections. In the world of Mats Ek, Appartement is the place “in which we pass our lives, in close contact with ourselves and with others, the place in which our daily drama unfolds. But ‘appartement’ also signifies separation and isolation -- a place in which we can be both together and apart at the same time. The title of the ballet attempts to resume different images and actions which do not tell a story but which relate to this key word.” Through everyday events, the choreographer creates an unusual and disturbing universe that it almost phantasmagoric.

Nacho Duato’s title Without Words^, refers to Schubert's song scores, which are instrumental pieces without words. As in the music, the choreographer has stripped the dancing of any obvious romantic overtones. Love and death appear as the central themes taken from the music, but Duato presents the work as a contemporary contribution to the 19th century's obsession, so present in Schubert's music. A new world, with all its possibilities, is revealed through a dark, existential, scenographic space typical of the 20th century. Duato portrays a universal vital cycle in all its spontaneity, free of unnecessary artifice and ornament.

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, founded in 1957 by Ludmilla Chiriaeff, has made a significant contribution to the evolution of dance in Canada. The company performs ballet masterpieces of the 19th century and has also commissioned original works from exceptional contemporary choreographers, notably Nacho Duato, Mark Morris, and Kevin O’Day. Choreographer emeritus Fernand Nault created works that stand among the company’s greatest successes (Tommy, Carmina Burana and The Nutcracker) and which are still being performed today. Several other Canadian choreographers have worked with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, including James Kudelka, Edouard Lock, Ginette Laurin, Jean Grand-Maître, and Gioconda Barbuto. Former Artistic Director Lawrence Rhodes also welcomed such internationally renowned choreographers as Nils Christe, Jirí Kylián and Ohad Naharin. Gradimir Pankov, a native of Macedonia, became Artistic Director in January 2000. Mr. Pankov excelled as a dancer in the former Yugoslavia and Germany and as a guest teacher at some of the world’s most prestigious ballet companies. He has been the Artistic Director of Nederlands Dans Theater II, the National Ballet of Finland, Cullberg Ballet Riksteatern in Sweden, and the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève. Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal is now recognized throughout the world, touring successfully in Asia, Europe, South America, the United States, and Canada.

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal performs Master Choreographers: Mats Ek and Nacho Duato in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Saturday, February 7, 2004 at 20:00. Tickets are $48.50, $45.50, $36 and $27.50, and $25.25, $23.75, $19 and $14.75 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card). Tickets are available at the NAC Box Office (in person) and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at (613) 755-1111; Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s web-site at www.nac-cna.ca. Last-minute tickets (subject to availability) for full-time students are $9.50 at the Live Rush Centre in the NAC Foyer after 18:00 on the day of performance only, upon presentation of a valid `Live Rush’ card.

Photos for all dance events can be viewed and downloaded at: www.nac-cna.ca/media/

Information:
Gerald Morris Marketing and Media Relations,
NAC Dance Department
(613) 947-7000, ext. 249
gmorris@nac-cna.ca

MATS EK
Mats Ek, born in Sweden in 1945, has for thirty years been a highly esteemed choreographer throughout the world. He studied dance and theatre and directed theatre at the Marionette Theatre, the Stockholm City Theatre and the Royal Dramatic Theatre. In 1973, Mats Ek joined the Cullberg Ballet as a dancer. Three years later he began choreographing for the company with immediate success. Saint George and the Dragon, Soweto and The House of Bernarda Alba are his earliest ballets. From 1981 until 1993, Mats Ek was the artistic director of the Cullberg Ballet, succeeding his mother Birgit Cullberg. Mats Ek's extensive production of ballets includes more than twenty works for the Cullberg Ballet, among them sensational rewrites of the great classics, such as Giselle (1982), Swan Lake (1987) and Carmen (1992). After leaving the Cullberg Ballet, Mats Ek became guest choreographer with many major international dance companies. He created Sleeping Beauty for the Hamburg Ballet (1996), A Sort Of for the Nederlands Dans Theater (1997) and Appartement for the Paris Opera (2000). Several of Mats Ek’s ballets have been adapted for television, and two of them received Emmy awards. Mats Ek is also acclaimed for his choreographed theatre works, such as Don Giovanni (1999) and Andromaque (2001). With his latest choreography FLUKE, premiered in November 2002 at Dansens Hus in Stockholm, Mats Ek has once again created a work for the Cullberg Ballet, this time in cooperation with the music ensemble Flesh Quartet.

NACHO DUATO
Born in Valencia, Spain, Nacho Duato is an exceptionally talented dancer and choreographer whose passionate works have impressed and thrilled many the world over. After his first choreography, Jardí Tancat, had won him the first prize at the International Choreographic Workshop at Cologne, Duato went on to win over many hearts with his inventive, powerful and beautiful works. In 1988, Nacho Duato was named the Resident Choreographer for Nederlands Dans Theatre next to Hans van Manen and Jirí Kylián. Since he became the Artistic Director of the Compañía Nacional de Danza of Spain in 1990, he has brought the company to international fame and its well-earned place in the international dancing arena. Founded in 1979, Compañía Nacional de Danza has seen extraordinary leadership held by many outstanding artistic directors, including Víctor Ullate, its first Director. However, it was the appointment of Duato as its Artistic Director that marked a innovative change in the company's history. With a firm intention to transform it into a ballet company with a personality of its own, Duato has adopted a more contemporary approach while not neglecting classical precepts. He is careful in integrating Spanish culture into his works and sees the richness of Spanish culture and folklore as an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Today, Compañía Nacional de Danza has built up a solid reputation, giving performances in Spain and in many other countries. In April 2000, Nacho Duato won the Benois de la Danse Award, one of the most prestigious International Choreographic Awards given by the International Dance Association, for his work Multiplicity.