April 12, 2005 -

OTTAWA -- Cathy Levy, Producer of Dance Programming at the National Arts Centre, today released details of an incredibly exciting season of dance. The 2005-2006 season is literally a world of dance in Ottawa! Featuring the best dancers, choreographers, and designers from around the world, the line-up includes artists from 10 countries: Belgium, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Africa, the United States, and Canada.

There are 41 performances of 19 separate dance events from 18 different companies (presented in four distinct series). The season includes 4 NAC co-productions, as well as 2 world premieres, 2 North American premieres, and 4 Canadian premieres.

The 2005-2006 season also features two Special Presentations, including perennial favourite Nutcracker; and Diary / Journal intime, the third NAC—CGI Youth Commission for Dance, a partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts, created for youth audiences by one of Canada’s hottest dance companies.

CANRIL CORPORATION BALLET SERIES

The renowned National Arts Centre Orchestra is featured at all performances in this series. The NAC is delighted to welcome Canril Corporation for the fifth year of their sponsorship agreement. In honour of their generous support and profound commitment to the performing arts, the classical ballet series was re-named for Canril Corporation in 2001. Headquartered in Canada’s Capital, Canril Corporation is a leading commercial property developer. For more than 15 years, Canril has proven its ability to analyze and act on development opportunities of all sizes and levels of complexity.

• Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet inaugurates this series with their spectacular Dracula, a stunning crowd-pleaser choreographed by Mark Godden to a striking Gustav Mahler score
• The National Ballet of Canada performs their brand new production of the exuberant farce, An Italian Straw Hat, choreographed by Artistic Director James Kudelka
• The vibrant and exciting Houston Ballet brings an evening of mixed repertoire, featuring Divergence and Nosotros, choreographed by newly-appointed Artistic Director Stanton Welch and The Accidental by award-winning Ottawa-born choreographer Julia Adam

SERIES A

• Irrepressible, multiple-award winning Savion Glover – simply the best tap dancer on the planet – brings his sizzling show Improvography to the NAC in an exclusive Canadian engagement
• Returning to Ottawa after 20 years, the pope of avant-garde dance and his dazzling Merce Cunningham Dance Company are at their spellbinding best performing in Split Sides to music by Britain’s Radiohead and Iceland’s Sigur Rós
• Brazil’s hugely popular Grupo Corpo Brazilian Dance Theater returns to the NAC with ONQOTÔ, a sensual work set to the music of Brazilian superstars Caetano Veloso and José Miguel Wisnik, and Lecuona, flamboyantly performed to the music of Ernesto Lecuona, ‘the Cuban Gershwin’
• Rounding out the season, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal perform Bella Figura, Forgotten Land,and  Six Dances, all choreographed by genius Czech choreographer Jirí Kylián

SERIES B

• France’s Gallotta-Danse proves that dance is as ageless as it is timeless in trois generations, a remarkable contemporary work performed three times by three generations of dancers
• D’Avant -- created and performed by dancer-singer-choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (an Ottawa favourite), Luc Dunberry, Damien Jalet, and Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola -- is a magnificent mosaic of voice and movement, whirling through the ages with incendiary images
• Japan’s Pappa TARAHUMARA blurs the physical limits of the human body and the boundaries between theatre, dance, opera, and visual art in Hiroshi Koike’s mesmerizing Ship in a View
• The Tero Saarinen Company from Finland combines classical ballet, Butoh and Western contemporary dance into a unique personal style in this stunning triple bill
• Choreographer-dancers Meg Stuart and Benoît Lachambre and composer-musician Hahn Rowe of Damaged Goods & par b.l.eux create a brutally honest and corrosive comedy of manners in FORGERIES, LOVE AND OTHER MATTERS
• Choreographed by Canada’s sensational Crystal Pite and performed by [bjm_danse] -- Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, The Stolen Show trilogy is a study of movement, with the dancers’ masterful improvisations interwoven into witty and ironic choreography

SERIES C

• In NDAA and Ntu, Soweto-born Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe (an Ottawa favourite) displays his uniquely contemporary approach to African dance, uniting history, spirituality, and his own phenomenal physical presence
• Choreographer-dancer José Navas of Montreal’s Compagnie Flak explores design in movement, all-white space, light, and sound in this solo, duet, and trio entitled Portable Dances
• Sisters Caterina and Carlotta of Italy’s Compagnia Caterina Sagna have created Relation publique, a raucously theatrical open rehearsal, work in progress, and press conference which is also a hilarious postmodern festival of ego, conflict, and backbiting
• Deconstructing the notion of romantic love in articulate phrases of both movement and words, Germany’s wisecracking dancer-visual artist-choreographer Tony Rizzi stars in Snowman Sinking

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: THE ROYAL WINNIPEG BALLET’S NUTCRACKER

This Nutcracker features a life-size bear, dancing mice, a sugar-plum fairy, and a magically growing Christmas tree, all wrapped in a turn-of-the-century Canadian setting. This spellbinding fantasy of enchantment is highlighted by Tchaikovsky’s memorable music, Nina Menon and Galina Yordanova’s brilliant choreography, magnificent sets, and over 175 opulent costumes. Nutcracker is a classic holiday treat for the whole family!

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: DIARY / JOURNAL INTIME BY CAS PUBLIC

Diary / Journal intime is the third NAC-CGI Youth Commission for Dance, a partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts. A new dance work aimed at both adult and youth audiences, it is choreographed by Artistic Director/choreographer Hélène Blackburn of Montreal’s acclaimed Cas Public. Hélène Blackburn has always been one of most gifted artists on the contemporary dance scene. Now internationally-acclaimed, Blackburn is an audacious choreographer of rare daring and energy – she displays an absolute passion for the dancing body. Experienced in creating bold work for audiences of all ages, her fiery, physically demanding dance shows dynamism and innovation as it exemplifies creation – she and her dancers continually revitalize their vocabulary and approach, achieving freshness and vigour with each new creative journey.

Subscription packages to the 2005-2006 Dance season are on sale now. Dance subscribers save up to 20% on regular ticket prices when choosing two or more series and 15% on regular ticket prices when choosing one series. Subscribers may also create their own Designer Series by choosing at least four subscription performances (excluding Special Presentations such as Nutcracker) and save up to 10%. Full-time students save 50% when purchasing subscriptions. Subscribers also save 10% on extra tickets for dance performances throughout the year, as well as 10% on regular price tickets to concerts with the NAC Orchestra, and English Theatre or French Theatre productions. Subscription information is available at the NAC Subscription Office, (613) 947-7000, x 620 Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 17:00 or online: www.nac-cna.ca/subscribe/.

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

NAC DANCE 2005-2006 FACTS AT A GLANCE

• A WORLD OF DANCE IN OTTAWA! Only at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa is such a variety and concentration of companies available in one season
• The NAC dance season is one of the top in North America, incorporating 20 events: there is something for everyone, aficionado or novice, regardless of taste in dance. The NAC season is an important cross-section of the finest classical and contemporary dance, something to move, excite, and transport audiences
• The NAC presents the best in Canadian and international dance: 41 performances, 19 events, 18 companies, 10 countries -- Belgium, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Africa, the United States, and Canada.
• Numerous premieres: 2 world premieres (Ntu by Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe and Diary Journal intime by Cas Public), 2 North American premieres (D’avant, a production of Sasha Waltz & Guests in cooperation with Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz Berlin and FORGERIES, LOVE AND OTHER MATTERS by Meg Stuart/Benoît Lachambre/Hahn Rowe Damaged Goods & par b.l.eux, and 4 Canadian premieres (Improvography by Savion Glover; Split Sides by Merce Cunningham Dance Company; Ship in a View by Pappa TARAHUMARA; and Relation publique by Compagnia Caterina Sagna)
• 2 Special Presentations Diary / Journal intime by Cas Public and  Nutcracker by Royal Winnipeg Ballet
• NAC strategic goal: emphasize NAC’s national role: 4 NAC co-productions, with Meg Stuart/Benoît Lachambre/Hahn Rowe Damaged Goods & par b.l.eux; [bjm_danse] -- Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal; Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe; and Cas Public. The NAC maintains and strengthens ties to Canadian dance artists and partners with other presenters in coordinating tours
• The NAC is happy to welcome returning sponsor Canril Corporation for the Canril Corporation Ballet Series
• The Dance department is delighted to welcome the NAC Orchestra for each presentation in the Canril Corporation Ballet Series
• NAC strategic goals: artistic expansion and innovation and commitment to youth and education: the NAC presents the world premiere of Cas Public’s Diary / Journal intime, the third NAC-CGI Youth Commission for Dance, and maintains the tradition of presenting special student matinees
• The NAC is seen by dance artists as one of the finest places in the world to perform