The National Ballet of Canada

Elite Syncopations

Overview

Kenneth MacMillan created Elite Syncopations for The Royal Ballet in 1974 during his tenure there as Artistic Director. The score features ragtime favourites by Scott Joplin and other composers of the era, played onstage by musicians participating in the dancehall scene. The choreography is flirtatious with an air of spontaneity and carries the influence of social dances of the 1920s.

Five Things to Know

1. 1The National Ballet of Canada first performed Elite Syncopations in 1978 shortly after it was created and it has been one of the most popular works in the company repertoire ever since.
    
2. 2Playful, hand-painted unitards designed by Ian Spurling add to the carnival atmosphere. Each one is unique, with some featuring arrows, buttons, stripes or stars. Spurling also designed costumes for Freddie Mercury of Queen.
    
3. 3MacMillan, who is acclaimed for the psychological depth of ballets like Manon, intended for Elite Syncopations to be light and sweet.
    
4. 4The musicians are part of the performance. A 12-piece band with piano and a conductor play on a riser at the back of the stage, fronted by footlights.
    
5. 5Elite Syncopations has the feel of a dance concert, with dancers and musicians sitting down casually to watch one another when not performing themselves.

Harrison James and Jillian Vanstone in Elite Syncopations. Photo by Karolina Kuras.

The Choreographer

Kenneth MacMillan was a leading choreographer of the 20th century. He was Artistic Director of The Royal Ballet from 1970 to 1977 and Principal Choreographer from 1977 to 1992. His ballets are renowned for their drama, character development and elegance, with major works including Romeo and Juliet, Manon and Mayerling. He was knighted in 1983.

The Composer

Born in Texas in 1867, composer and musician Scott Joplin was celebrated as “the king of ragtime,” and created multiple ragtime pieces, two operas and a ballet in his lifetime. His Maple Leaf Rag is considered a definitive expression of the genre.

 

World Premiere

Skyward by Alysa Pires

Overview

Skyward is an uplifting new work from Choreographic Associate Alysa Pires, her first main stage creation for The National Ballet of Canada. A work in four movements, it incorporates the feelings of hope and anticipation that accompanied Pires’ creative process, owing to two significant events in her life: her return to the studio after lockdown and the birth of her first child. Featuring music commissioned for the award-winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird, Skyward emphasizes upward movement and a sense of flight inspired by starlings. It’s a piece that holds special meaning for Pires and reflects our collective energy or hope to move forward.

Five Things to Know

1. 1Pires combines classical and contemporary elements in her choreography. She describes her aesthetic as “organized falling,” where one movement leads into the next with momentum.
    
2. 2Pires created two solos, In Between and in a state of vanishing, for the National Ballet’s virtual season in 2020/21. Skyward marks her long-awaited return to creating for live performance.
    
3. 3Pires was eight months pregnant when she began creating Skyward and she had a newborn baby when she finished. She has said: “Skyward evokes a sense of upward motion, of hope, of moving on. I really wanted to bottle that feeling of coming back to the studio and of this transformational moment in my life.”
    
4. 4Skyward features the music of four acclaimed American composers, all commissioned for the Chicago-based ensemble Eighth Blackbird. The composers are Nico Muhly, Robert Honstein, Bryce Dessner and David Lang.
    
5. 5The final movement of Skyward features a song called learn to fly by David Lang, which inspired Pires with images of birds. She makes greater use of the upper body than is typical for classical ballet to create the sensation of swooping and diving.

Alysa Pires in rehearsal. Photo by Karolina Kuras.

The Choreographer

Alysa Pires is an alumna of The National Ballet of Canada’s Choreographic Workshop and has created works for such companies as Ballet Kelowna, Ballet Edmonton, Ballet Jörgen, and New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute. Her company, Alysa Pires Dance Projects, made its full-length debut with Exterminating Angel at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2016.

The Composers

American composer Nico Muhly writes orchestral music, chamber music, sacred music and works for the stage, film and television. An avid collaborator, he has worked with such choreographers as Benjamin Millepied, Bobbi Jene Smith and Justin Peck, and with leading musicians such as Paul Simon. Muhly is part of the artist-run record label Bedroom Community.

Robert Honstein is a New York-based composer of orchestral, chamber and vocal music rooted in performance and personal narrative. He collaborates with leading international musicians and his work is performed by orchestras, ensembles and soloists from around the world. Honstein is a founding member of the American composer collective, Sleeping Giant.

Grammy Award-winning musician and composer Bryce Dessner is the co-founding guitarist of the acclaimed rock band, The National. Trained as a classical musician, he composes music for stage, film and the world’s leading orchestras and ensembles. Dessner is Artist-in Residence at London’s Southbank Centre and with Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.

David Lang is one of America’s most performed composers, deeply versed in the classical tradition and committed to music that resists categorization. His extensive catalogue includes opera, orchestral works, chamber and solo music that is hypnotic, emotional and urgent. His numerous honours include the Pulitzer Prize, an Academy Award and the Rome Prize.
 

World Premiere

On Solid Ground by Siphesihle November

Overview

This world premiere marks Principal Dancer Siphesihle November’s choreographic debut for the company’s main stage following the short work he created for the RBC Apprentices as part of YOU dance in the 2020/21 season. Inspired by the energy of the creative process and the music he has chosen, November explores what it means to find joy in dance and how we translate that joy, self-awareness and self-exploration of the body and spirit into something the audience can also experience. Another milestone in his rising career, On Solid Ground expresses November’s love for dance and music and the captivating energy he brings to the stage.

Five Things to Know

1. 1Artistic Director Emerita Karen Kain commissioned this work from November in 2021. He decided to pursue an abstract or plotless work that would translate the spirit or “life language” of dance into uplifting choreography.
    
2. 2The choreography incorporates the energy of the creative process, which was characterized by trust and understanding among November and the nine dancers in the cast, who are November’s colleagues.
    
3. 3November describes the movement style in this work as “uncluttered.” He says: When we strip away complexities of movement and we strip away the dressing on the steps, we get to the true essence of what the movement is. It allows us to understand the spirit of it rather than the look of it.”
    
4. 4November was inspired by the song Back To You by Benjamin Gordon, which has a poem in the middle about love and humanity. It is one in a compilation of songs that form the score.
    
5. 5The music also also features an African hymn called Lesa Wandi, sung by Choolwe Muntanga. November has said: When I heard it, it brought me back home and to why I dance and how I can marry music and dance, and what that feels like.”

Siphesihle November. Photo by Karolina Kuras.

The Choreographer

Siphesihle November was born in Zolani, South Africa and trained at Canada’s National Ballet School. He joined The National Ballet of Canada as a member of the Corps de Ballet in 2017, was promoted to First Soloist in 2020 and Principal Dancer in 2021. He won The International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize in 2019.
 

The Composers

Choolwe Laina Muntanga, 20, is a Zambian-born singer songwriter from the UK. She has since joined the Arts Educational Schools London practicing a degree in Musical Theatre. Her sound is inspired by a combination of the Seventh Day Adventist Hymns or traditional Gospel sounding vocals with her own original lyrics and style, hoping to draw listeners into the love for her culture, being Zambian and growing up in the UK, as well as her faith. She has since worked as a musician with Kennedy Muntanga Dance Theatre for the production Greater than Lion in 2021.

Benjamin Gordon, also known as Benji Boko, is a music producer, DJ, film composer and photographer based in Brighton, UK. He is a graduate of Leeds College of Music and released his debut album Beats, Treats & All Things Unique in 2011. As a DJ, he is known for his improvised “live mixing.”

Steve Mazzaro is an American composer who scores for video games, television and film. His many collaborators include Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer and he has title credits on such films as No Time To Die, The Amazing Spiderman, Dune and The Lion King.

Msaki, or Asanda Lusaseni Mvana, is a composer, producer and singer-songwriter from East London, South Africa with her own indie label, One Shushu Day Artistry. Her debut solo album Zaneliza (2016) was nominated for Best Adult Contemporary Album at the South African Music Awards.

After the Rain

Overview

Christopher Wheeldon, acclaimed choreographer of The Winter’s Tale and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, created After the Rain for New York City Ballet in 2005. A moving and poetic ballet in two parts, the first section is set to Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa and features three couples. For the second section, only one couple returns, and performs a haunting pas de deux set to Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel. This final pas de deux is often staged alone. The National Ballet will present the full work for this exciting company premiere.

Five Things to Know

1. 1The National Ballet will present the full version of After the Rain. Many companies only perform the final pas de deux as a standalone piece.
    
2. 2Wheeldon created the final pas de deux for Wendy Whelan and Jock Soto of New York City Ballet on the occasion of Soto’s retirement.
    
3. 3The pas de deux is spare yet beautiful, qualities matched by the minimal costumes. The woman wears her hair loose and dances in soft shoes. Wendy Whelan has described it in terms of stripping away all excess, “taking off the skin and bones and getting down to the spirit.”
    
4. 4Each part of After the Rain is set to a celebrated piece of music by Arvo Pärt, the first to Tabula Rasa and the second to Spiegel im Spiegel (“mirror in the mirror”), whose emotion and sensitivity the pas de deux shares.
    
5. 5Wheeldon has said the ballet was created quickly, in just three rehearsals, with little thought to the enormous impact it would have: “I didn’t quite understand as we were making it what kind of poetic moment was being created.”

Jillian Vanstone and Harrison James in After The Rain. Photo by Karolina Kuras.

The Choreographer

Christopher Wheeldon is Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet, former Resident Choreographer of New York City Ballet and a former dancer with both companies. He is now a multi-award-winning choreographer creating work internationally for ballet, theatre and film. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2016.

The Composer

Arvo Pärt is an Estonian composer who developed a musical language called “tintinnabuli” following his research into chant music. Many of his works are based on liturgical texts and prayers, with significant compositions including Credo and Tabula Rasa.

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Credits

Elite Syncopations

Choreography:
Kenneth MacMillan

Music:
Scott Joplin, Scott Hayden, Paul Pratt, Joseph F. Lamb, Max Morath, Donald Ashwander and Robert Hampton
Sunflower Slow Drag is arranged by D.S. de Lisle, edited by Gunther Schuler;
Elite Syncopations and Stop-Time Rag are arranged by George Sponhaltz;
The Cascades is arranged by E.J. stark, edited by Gunther Schuler;
Ragtime Nightingale, Bethena, Friday Night and Cataract Rag are arranged by Robert Docker;
The Golden Hours is used by arrangement with Hollis Music Inc.

Costume Design:
Ian Spurling

Lighting Design:
William Bundy

By arrangement with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Reproduced from the Benesh Notation Score by Monica Parker

Premiere: The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, London, UK, October 7, 1974The National Ballet of Canada Premiere: O’Keefe Centre (now Meridian Hall), Toronto, November 10, 1978

Skyward

Choreography:
Alysa Pires

Music:
Nico Muhly, Doublespeak 
Robert Honstein, Conduit: Pulse II
Bryce Dessner, Murder Ballades: 2. Young Emily
David Lang, These Broken Wings, Pt. 3 "Learn to Fly"

Costume Design:
Dana Osborne

Lighting Design:
Jeff Logue

Premiere: The National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, March 9, 2022

Produced and commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada.

On Solid Ground

Choreography:
Siphesihle November

Assistant to the Choreographer:
Vania Dodoo Beals

Music:
Choolwe Muntanga, Lesa Wandi
Benjamin Gordon, Back to You
Steve Mazzaro, Shoot Me and Regret
Msaki, UNdize

Costume Design:
Siphesihle November and The National Ballet of Canada Wardrobe Department,
Stacy Dimitropoulos, Wardrobe Supervisor

Lighting Design:
Jeff Logue

Premiere: The National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, March 9, 2022

Produced and commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada.

On Solid Ground is supported 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, The Thor E. and Nicole Eaton Family Charitable Foundation, Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan, Kevin Garland & Roger Garland, C.M., 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 & Joan Lozinski, The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain, C.C., Julie Medland, Sandra Pitblado & Jim Pitblado, C.M., The Harry & Lillian Seymour Family Foundation and The Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation.

After the Rain

Choreography:
Christopher Wheeldon

Music:
Arvo Pärt, Tabula Rasa (1977) (First movement - "Ludus") and Spiegel im Spiegel (1978)

Costumes:
Holly Hynes

Lighting:
Mark Stanley

Premiere: New York State Theater, New York, January 22, 2005
The National Ballet of Canada Premiere: Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, March 9, 2022