Anima Animus
& Alleged Dances
& Symphony in C
Anima Animus
& Alleged Dances
& Symphony in C
British choreographer David Dawson created Anima Animus for San Francisco Ballet’s Unbound Festival of new work in 2018. An instant success, it has since toured throughout the US and to the UK. The ballet explores the fluid space between extremes and opposites and particularly Carl Jung’s gendering of the collective unconscious as anima and animus, which it disrupts. Anima Animus is a high-octane work favouring speed and precision that sets the dancers powering across the stage to Ezio Bosso’s Violin Concerto No. 1, music that is also filled with contrasts.
Read: David Dawson on Anima Animus
"In Anima Animus we are looking at the idea of opposition, between unity and individualism, form and emotion, or architecture and humanity."
David Dawson is Associate Artist at Dutch National Ballet, Associate Choreographer Semperoper Ballett and a prolific international dancemaker. David's work is in the repertories of many companies including Teatro alla Scalla, Mariinsky Ballet, The Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and Royal Swedish Ballet. Among his works are full-length productions of Tristan + Isolde, Swan Lake and Giselle. Other significant works include Voices, The Four Seasons, Citizen Nowhere and A Million Kisses to My Skin. Among his many honours are the Prix Benois de la Danse, a Choo San Goh Award and the prestigious Golden Mask Award.
Ezio Bosso was an Italian composer, conductor, pianist and double bass player. He performed with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and worked extensively in film and theatre, composing numerous operas, symphonies, concertos, quartets, piano trios and sonatas.
“High energy work out danced with speed, skill and great commitment…thrilling” – DanceTabs
“Anima Animus is very impressive to watch – it’s amazing what dancers can do with their bodies at that speed” – San Francisco Chronicle
“The result is a kinetic work with costumes in black and white mirror imaged for the two genders. The women have a romp with animus, roaring onto the stage throughout with arms stretched upwards and dominating the virtuoso lifts and spins.” – Critical Dance
Princess Grace Award-winning artist Rena Butler, a rising star in contemporary choreography, creates her first work for The National Ballet of Canada. Butler’s piece works in dialogue with the music of influential American composer John Adams – John’s Book of Alleged Dances – a set of “dances” for string quartet and piano sounds that can be played in any order. Evoking themes of memory and identity, Butler’s choreographic vignettes change order with the music for a total of three possible chronologies, giving the piece an organic quality and sense of resistance to being fixed.
Read: Rena Butler on Alleged Dances
"My piece explores a series of personal recollections of events and the repeated action of attempting to control, maintain, restructure and dismantle them."
Dancer and choreographer Rena Butler was the first Choreographic Associate at Gibney Company in New York City, a position she held from September 2020 to June 2022. She has created new work for such companies as Ballet X, Boston Dance Theater, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and San Francisco Opera and in 2019, she won the prestigious Princess Grace Award for Choreography.
Composer, conductor, and creative thinker - John Adams occupies a unique position in the world of American music. His works stand out for their depth of expression, brilliance of sound and the humanist nature of their themes. Among his best known works are several of the most performed classical pieces today, including Harmonielehre, Shaker Loops and Short Ride in a Fast Machine as well as his stage works Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer, El Niño, and Doctor Atomic.
“Taps into the potential of movement, creativity, and performance to effect social change and personal transformation.” – Broadway World
“Inspires dancing that the performers seem to relish, dancing that makes you want to move.” – The New York Times
“Hugely successful.” – Chicago Sun Times
George Balanchine created Symphony in C for Paris Opéra Ballet in 1947 as a virtuosic display of musicality and classical technique. In true Balanchine fashion, the choreography embodies the music with wonderful sensitivity and flair, paying homage to Georges Bizet’s Symphony in C Major with four brilliantly constructed movements. Each movement has a principal couple, two secondary couples and a Corps de Ballet in pristine white tutus, with the entire cast of over 50 dancers uniting for a fast-paced finale.
Born in St. Petersburg, George Balanchine, co-founder and director of New York City Ballet, was one of the most renowned and prolific choreographers of the 20th century. He is credited with revolutionizing the look of classical ballet for a new era in works of unprecedented musicality and aesthetic brilliance.
A child prodigy, Georges Bizet became one of the great French composers of the Romantic Era. He studied at the Paris Conservatory of Music and, at 17, composed his famous Symphony in C Major. He works include the operetta Le Docteur Miracle and the operas La Jolie Fille de Perth and Carmen, his best-known work.
“This is Balanchine at his icy best, as he fills the stage with layer after layer of classical movement and geometric form until it finally creates a critical mass that is nothing short of breathtaking.” – Toronto Sun
“Don’t walk, run to see Balanchine’s magic.” – The Globe and Mail
“The fire and ice of Balanchine is something no serious dance lover should miss.” – The Hamilton Spectator
Harrison James, Ben Rudisin, Spencer Hack, Naoya Ebe
Jeannine Haller, Koto Ishihara, Monika Haczkiewicz, Clare Peterson
(March 23 at 2:00 pm, 7:30 pm)
Keaton Leier, Christopher Gerty, Kota Sato, Isaac Wright
McKhayla Pettingill, Jenna Savella, Shaelynn Estrada, Selene Guerrero-Trujillo
(March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Jack Bertinshaw, Hannah Galway, Peng-Fei Jiang, Arielle Miralles, Siphesihle November, Noah Parets, Tina Pereira, Alexander Skinner, Tene Ward
(March 3, 23 at 7:30 pm/March 5, 23 at 2:00 pm)
Jordana Daumec, Jason Ferro, Albjon Gjorllaku, Josh Hall, Emma Ouellet, Tina Pereira, David Preciado, Teagan Richman-Taylor, Tene Ward
(March 4 at 2:00 pm/March 22 at 7:30 pm)
First Movement: Allegro Vivo
Koto Ishihara, Harrison James (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm)
Calley Skalnik, Guillaume Côté (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Calley Skalnik (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Selene Guerrero-Trujillo (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Christopher Gerty (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Isaac Wright (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Jeannine Haller
Peng-Fei Jiang (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Kota Sato (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Second Movement: Adagio
Genevieve Penn Nabity, Ben Rudisin (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm)
Tina Pereira, Christopher Gerty (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Chelsy Meiss (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Miyoko Koyasu (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Trygve Cumpston (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Jack Bertinshaw (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Tanya Howard (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Ayano Haneishi (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Kota Sato (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Teagan Richman-Taylor (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Third Movement: Allegro Vivace
Jenna Savella, Naoya Ebe (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm)
Koto Ishihara, Siphesihle November (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Alexandra MacDonald (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Monika Haczkiewicz (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Jack Bertinshaw (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Larkin Miller (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Kathryn Hosier (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Jordana Daumec (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Isaac Wright (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Josh Hall (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Fourth Movement: Allegro Vivace
Tina Pereira, Guillaume Côté (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm)
Chelsy Meiss, Spencer Hack (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Jordana Daumec (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Tirion Law (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Noah Parets (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Jason Ferro (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Hannah Galway (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Brenna Flaherty (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
David Preciado (March 3, 4, 23 at 7:30 pm), Alexander Skinner (March 4, 5, 23 at 2:00 pm/ March 22 at 7:30 pm)
Anima Animus
Choreography:
David Dawson
Staged by:
Rebecca Gladstone and Christiane Marchant
Music:
Ezio Bosso, Violin Concerto No. 1, EsoConcerto (2017)
Aaron Schwebel, violin
Set Design:
John Otto
Costume Design:
Yumiko Takeshima
Lighting Design:
James F. Ingalls
World Premiere: San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco, California, April 21, 2018
The National Ballet of Canada Premiere: Four Seasons Centre for Performing Arts, Toronto, March 3, 2023
Alleged Dances
Choreography:
Rena Butler
Music:
John Adams, John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994)
By arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, INC., publisher and copyright owner
Aaron Schwebel, violin
Jamie Kruspe, violin
Joshua Greenlaw, viola
Olga Laktionova, cello
Costume Design:
Hogan McLaughlin
Lighting Design:
Jeff Logue
World Premiere: The National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for Performing Arts, Toronto, March 3, 2023
Produced and commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada.
Lead philanthropic support for Alleged Dances is provided by an Anonymous Donor, with additional support provided by The Producers’ Circle.
The Producers’ Circle: Gail & Mark Appel, John & Claudine Bailey, Inger Bartlett & Marshal Stearns, Laura Dinner & Richard Rooney, Gail Drummond & Bob Dorrance, Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin, The William & Nona Heaslip Foundation, Anna McCowan-Johnson & Donald K. Johnson, O.C., Judy Korthals & Peter Irwin, Mona & Harvey Levenstein, Jerry Lozinski, O.C. & Joan Lozinski, O.C., The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain, C.C., Julie Medland, Sandra Pitblado, C.M & Jim Pitblado, C.M., The Harry & Lillian Seymour Family Foundation and The Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation.
Symphony in C
Choreographer:
George Balanchine© The School of American Ballet
Staged by:
Joysanne Sidimus and Colleen Neary
Music:
Georges Bizet
Costume Design:
Karinska
Lighting Design:
Ronald Bates
Premiere: Paris Opéra Ballet, Théâtre National de l'Opéra, Paris, France, July 28, 1947
The National Ballet of Canada Premiere: O’Keefe Centre (now Meridian Hall), Toronto, November 14, 1984
Symphony in C is a gift from The Volunteer Committee, The National Ballet of Canada.
The National Ballet of Canada gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the following:
Proof of vaccination is no longer required at The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
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