April 16, 2004 -

OTTAWA -- Raymonda comes to the National Arts Centre’s Southam Hall on April 29-30 and May 1 at 20:00. With breathtaking sets and costumes and new choreography by Ray Barra after Marius Petipa, Raymonda provides a spectacular showcase for Germany’s famous Bayerisches Staatsballett in their Ottawa debut. Guaranteed to dazzle dance lovers of all ages, Raymonda is a classic 19th-century story ballet updated for today’s audiences. This opulent new 2001 production throbs with erotic force and emotional conflict as the lovely Countess Raymonda is torn between the virile Count Jean de Brienne and a seductive Saracen prince. Raymonda highlights a wide variety of dance styles as well as a brilliant score by Alexander Glazunow. All performances feature the NAC Orchestra.

Raymonda is part of the National Arts Centre’s Canril Corporation Ballet Series, which is generously sponsored by Canril Corporation.

Raymonda is the last of the great full-length ballets by Marius Petipa, a late highlight of the glamorous Tsarist era of ballet in St. Petersburg, which indeed is the essence of our contemporary concept of classical ballet. Raymonda has a brilliant score revelling in sumptuous colours and glowing with passion, and a plot that delves into deep emotional conflicts. Choreographer Ray Barra, who has also created revised versions of Don Quixote (1991) and Swan Lake (1995), adapted Raymonda for today’s audiences, but the famous jewels of Petipa choreography remain unchanged. Raymonda is often regarded as the most complex of classical ballerina roles, requiring the highest technical and stylistic abilities as well as convincing acting ability to convey the heroine’s deep inner conflict. It is the human aspect of Raymonda’s destiny that is at the centre of Ray Barra’s version of the ballet. Barra says, “There is no more demanding and multi-layered role for a ballerina in the repertoire … a perfect example of how formal classical dance can fuse with psychological human portrayal.”

After more than twenty years as one of the principal soloists in John Neumeier´s Hamburg Ballet, Ivan Lisˇka took office as Director of the Bayerisches Staatsballett in September 1998, succeeding founder-director Konstanze Vernon. Under his guidance, the company -- formed from no less than twenty-six nationalities – has acquired a reputation as an open-minded, dedicated group of artists prepared to commit themselves to the nineteenth century classics with the same conviction they bring to more modern works. The repertoire of the Bayerisches Staatsballett comprises more than fifty ballets, including full-length ballets from the Romantic period to 19^th and 20^th-century classics, masterpieces by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Jirˇi Kylián, Hans van Manen, and Peter Martins, and works by the most important choreographers of modern dance.

The first-ever German production of La Bayadère (revised by Patrice Bart) was a first attempt to revive the complete version of a partly lost classic. It became one of the most successful classical productions in the repertoire and encouraged choreographer and ballet master Ray Barra to do the same with Raymonda, the last of Petipa’s great masterpieces. Ivan Lisˇka’s plans for the development of repertoire are ambitious, working on a balance between tradition and risk while keeping the classics in mind, Choreographer/dancer Ray Barra, declares, “I love story ballets. They give scope to the individuality of the dancer.” Barra was born in San Francisco in 1930 and excelled in John Cranko´s ballets in the roles of Romeo, Onegin and Prince Siegfried with the Stuttgart Ballet. He also tried his hand at small choreo-graphic essays. But it was only after an accident suddenly ended his dancing career that he seriously turned to choreography. He became ballet master under the direction of Kenneth MacMillan in Berlin, then with John Neumeier in Hamburg, guest choreographer and artistic director of the Ballet Nacional de España-Clásico in Madrid and finally ballet director in Berlin. In 1991 he created a revised version of Don Quixote for the Bayerisches Staatsballett and four years later he choreographed Swan Lake.

The Bayerisches Staatsballett performs Raymonda in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Thursday April 29, Friday April 30, and Saturday May 1 at 20:00. Tickets are $69, $65, $54, and $37 for adults, and $35.50, $33.50, $28, and $19.50 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