About Patrons' Council
A community of generous leaders supporting a Canadian cultural treasure.
Patrons share a deep passion for great dance and are committed to supporting a vibrant cultural landscape in Canada. In getting involved with an annual gift of $2,000 or more, donors are recognized through the Patrons' Council of the National Ballet and enjoy a close relationship with the company and its artists.
Patrons' gifts are integral to the continued success of the National Ballet, totalling more than $1.6 million a year in support of the company’s general operations. In appreciation, Patrons are invited to recognition events with the dancers and offered highly personalized service, including the following:
- highly personalized service for ticketing and event RSVPs
- opportunities to meet the artists and artistic staff of the ballet
- the use of the Henry N.R. Jackman Lounge at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts during National Ballet performances
- priority subscription and performance seating
- invitations to social and educational events
- our exclusive newsletter, Preview
See photos from special Patron and Friends' Corps events.
Our Thanks to you
For a full list of Patrons' Council recognition and acknowledgement, please click here
To join the Patrons’ Council, please contact:
Lennox Toppin
Development Officer, Patrons’ Council
416 345 9686 x331
patrons@national.ballet.ca
Events
With great appreciation, The National Ballet of Canada gratefully invites donors to special events that are designed to enhance an appreciation and knowledge of our talented artists and the movement, power and passion of the art of ballet.
Upcoming Patrons’ Council Events:
Ballet Dinner: Nijinsky
March 6, 2013, 5:15 pm
Tundra
Dress Rehearsal: The Four Seasons & Emergence
March 19, 2013, 8:00 pm
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
RSVP February 11-March 8, 2013
Dancer Dialogue: The Agony & The Ecstasy
May 16, 2013, 7:00 pm
The Walter Carsen Centre for The National Ballet of Canada
Dress Rehearsal: Carmen
June 4, 2013, 8:00 pm
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
RSVP May 6-May 31, 2013
Ballet Dinner: Carmen
June 5, 2013, 5:15 pm
Tundra
Season Closing Party
June 23, 2013
Time and Location TBA
Our Donors
Doreen Stanton and Rex Harrington at the 2010 Patrons’ Council Season Closing Party. Photo by Gary Beechey.
Doreen Stanton
Patron, Subscriber, Celia Franca Society member
Doreen Stanton’s first experience watching ballet was seeing The Red Shoes, the 1948 dance film that made Moira Shearer famous. But her first experience with The National Ballet of Canada was just a coincidence.
“I worked for Bell and I took the order for the National Ballet’s first telephone,” she explains. “I was in the public office and a man came in asking for a new business telephone line. It was Celia Franca’s husband. I took the information we needed and got the ballet set up.It was the first time I heard of a new ballet company in Toronto.”
At the time, she says, there wasn’t much ballet around Toronto. “I saw the National Ballet advertised and so I went to the Eaton Auditorium a few times and enjoyed it thoroughly.”
“Ballet was a completely new thing for me,” she continues. “And I saw the National Ballet from time to time; it was the beginning of my education in dance. I kept going, on and off, until someone asked me in the late 1970s if I would like to take a subscription. And I did.”
For her, classical ballet is her passion, with Swan Lake,The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker among her favourites. “I’m hooked on the stories, for starters, but also the unbelievable movements. The grace and beauty of the dancers, plus how they get their bodies in some of those shapes, fills me with delight.”
She started donating to the National Ballet just after she started subscribing. “I started small, with donations to the Friends' Corps. But when I retired in 1984 I thought, this is my money and if I can look after it carefully, I can enjoy it! And so I joined the Patrons’ Council.”
“The National Ballet is so wonderful at making you feel like you belong,” she says. “The dancers are delightful, both on stage and off, as they are eager to talk and seem to enjoy it. Plus I love the camaraderie with the other Patrons.”
Ms. Stanton has also become a member of the Celia Franca Society. “I’ve supported the National Ballet for a long time and I would like the company to benefit long into the future as well.”
“I’ve never stopped being impressed with the dancers and the company,” she adds. “In the new house, in the last few years, even more so. The dancers are just breathtaking and I feel that this city and this country are lucky to have these wonderful performers.”