Media Release
Hope Muir Unveils 2025/26 Season
Two World Premieres
One North American Premiere
The Nutcracker Celebrates 30 Years of Magic
February 19, 2025… Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, shared today the 2025/26 season, a rich selection of work that showcases the company’s distinct and enduring artistry.
“The 2025/26 season defines the incredible breadth in the dance world today, incorporating family-friendly ballets, time-honoured classics and vital contemporary work into an eclectic season that balances the thrill of discovery with the comfort of the known,” said Muir. “A highlight I’m particularly excited for is the world premiere of Procession, our first collaboration with choreographers Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber that will bring a powerful new vocabulary to our stage. I’m also thrilled to welcome back Canada’s Jera Wolfe, who will create a new work for our dancers.”
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Watch Hope Muir on the 2025/26 Season
The Fall Season opens in November with the world premiere of Procession, a new full-length contemporary work by renowned choreographic duo Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber. Trailblazing artists who are shaping contemporary movement on the international stage, Smith and Schraiber have created works for Paris Opéra Ballet, Ballet Basel and The Royal Danish Ballet, as well as for film, music videos and theatre. A co-production with The Royal Danish Ballet, Procession explores a human phenomenon present in cultures worldwide: the procession, a collective form of movement with strong aesthetic and ceremonial qualities. A groundbreaking first collaboration with the National Ballet, Procession is onstage November 1 – 8, 2025.
The Fall Season continues with acclaimed choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s The Winter’s Tale, based on Shakespeare’s late romance. A gripping story of two kingdoms fractured by jealousy and reconciled in love, The Winter’s Tale is widely hailed a modern classic and a brilliant example of ballet’s storytelling legacy reimagined for the 21st century. From the same visionary creative team behind Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and featuring a captivating original score by Joby Talbot, The Winter’s Tale is onstage November 14 – 21, 2025.
The Nutcracker, choreographed by James Kudelka, celebrates 30 years of magic! The holiday favourite has captivated Toronto audiences since 1995 and is a cherished tradition for many. The Nutcracker is also a perfect introduction to the art form and over the past three decades has served as a first experience for countless people who have gone on to be devoted ballet lovers. The Nutcracker returns for 33 shows, December 5 – 31, 2025, with a magical score by Tchaikovsky, sets and costumes from Santo Loquasto and lighting by Jennifer Tipton.
The Winter Season opens with the North American premiere of Flight Pattern, one of Crystal Pite’s most haunting works. Created for The Royal Ballet in 2017, Flight Pattern follows Pite’s previous works for the National Ballet, Emergence and Angels’ Atlas, bringing the full company together to portray the impact of the refugee crisis, with its pressing themes of displacement and resilience. Serge Lifar’s Suite en Blanc offers a striking contrast to Flight Pattern as a celebration of pure classical technique. Created for Paris Opéra Ballet in 1943, Suite en Blanc is a series of vignettes highlighting the dancers’ artistry and athleticism, building to an exquisite and exhilarating finale. The programme is onstage February 27 – March 6, 2026.
A reimagined Pinocchio by renowned director and choreographer Will Tuckett returns to the National Ballet stage March 13 – 22, 2026. Created for the National Ballet in 2017, the updated production features new live narration by actors, bringing a fresh perspective to Carlo Collodi’s classic tale through a blend of theatre and dance, with a Canadian twist. Set to original music by Paul Englishby, Pinocchio promises to enchant audiences of all ages over the March break.
In the Summer Season, Jera Wolfe, award-winning performer and Canadian creator of Métis heritage, debuts his first mainstage work for the company following his 2020 work Soul. Wolfe is quickly gaining recognition as a significant creative voice, blending contemporary movement, ballet and Indigenous forms of expression. The new work will be presented with Helen Pickett’s Emma Bovary, co-directed by James Bonas with original music by Peter Salem. Reprised with additional scenes following its 2023 debut, Emma Bovary is a riveting psychological study delving inside Gustave Flaubert’s novel to capture the title character’s yearning for a life beyond her mundane marriage. Onstage May 29 – June 4, 2026.
The 2025/26 season will conclude with Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM, a dystopian epic of annihilation and survival inspired by Margaret Atwood’s novel trilogy – Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam – and set to a sublime soundscape by the incomparable Max Richter. Created in 2022 as a co-production with The Royal Ballet, MADDADDAM is onstage June 13 – 21, 2026.
The National Ballet will make its annual tour to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa April 23 – 25, 2026 with Procession.
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
145 Queen Street West, Toronto
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Season Sponsor: BMO Financial Group
Procession is generously supported by The Producers’ Circle with additional funding by The Anna McCowan-Johnson New Creations Fund.
The Producers’ Circle (2026): John & Claudine Bailey, Indra & Rags Davloor, Laura Dinner & Richard Rooney, Gail Drummond & Bob Dorrance, Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin, 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 Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation and Alexander Younger & Sarah Richardson.
Lead philanthropic support for The Winter’s Tale is provided by Richard M. Ivey, C.C., an anonymous friend and The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation with additional support by The Producers’ Circle (2016).
The Nutcracker is made possible by generous financial support from production underwriters Sandra Pitblado, C.M. & Jim Pitblado, C.M., Lawrence & Ann Heisey and an anonymous friend of the National Ballet.
Lead philanthropic support for Flight Pattern is provided by The Gail Hutchison Fund.
Lead philanthropic support for Pinocchio is provided by The Walter Carsen New Creations Fund with additional support from an anonymous friend, Rosamond Ivey, Tim & Frances Price and The Volunteer Committee of The National Ballet of Canada with additional support by The Producers’ Circle (2017).
The new work by Jera Wolfe is generously supported by The Walter Carsen New Creations Fund.
Lead philanthropic support for Emma Bovary is provided by The Sabourin Family Foundation with additional support from The Anna McCowan-Johnson New Creations Fund and The Producers’ Circle (2024).
Lead philanthropic support for MADDADDAM is provided by The Walter Carsen New Creations Fund, Tony Arrell, C.M. & Anne Arrell, Rosamond Ivey, Tim & Frances Price and Gretchen Ross & Donald Ross, O.C. with additional support by The Gail Hutchison Fund and The Producers’ Circle (2023).
The commissioned score for MADDADDAM has been generously underwritten by Noreen Taylor, C.M. & David Staines, C.M., O.Ont.
The National Ballet of Canada gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of the Canada Council for the Arts; the Ontario Arts Council; the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council; the Government of Canada – Department of Canadian Heritage with the Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage; and the Government of Ontario with the Honourable Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming and Minister of Sport.
Spencer Hack. Photo by Karolina Kuras.
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