Excerpts from Sharp Magazine
The National Ballet of Canada’s David Dawson On Why Modern Dance Matters
By Cormac Newman
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Spencer Hack and Calley Skalnik in The Four Seasons. Photo by Karolina Kuras.
Congratulations on being named Resident Choreographer at the National Ballet of Canada. How would you describe the creative atmosphere here in Toronto?
Thank you so much! It was a wonderful and unexpected surprise when Hope Muir invited me to become Resident Choreographer for The National Ballet of Canada. I am deeply proud, grateful, and honoured to be part of this incredible company in Toronto. Through the stagings of Anima Animus and The Four Seasons, we have built a very strong artistic relationship, and this felt like a natural next step. Hope’s faith in my vision of dance continues to support and inspire my creativity.
For me, the company is a safe haven, a home where I hope to develop new layers of artistry and creative impulse. I am excited to begin this new chapter and to see what we can achieve together in the years to come.
You’re developing a full-length work for the 75th season of the National Ballet of Canada. What can you share about your creative direction for the upcoming project?
For my first creation with The National Ballet of Canada, I wanted to return to my original intentions as a choreographer — and to begin again. At the moment, we are in the process of developing a trilogy of new works all connected by the universal themes of birth, love, and metamorphosis. I see dance as a way to imagine new worlds, dreamscapes, or fragments of memory — showing us who we are or who we can be. It will be a work about dance and its profound relationship with music, and what that connection can reveal. A contemporary portrait of The National Ballet of Canada as it stands today, while looking toward the future.
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Monika Haczkiewicz and Jason Ferro in rehearsal for Anima Animus. Photo by Karolina Kuras.
As a choreographer, how do you adapt the classical elements of ballet for a contemporary audience?
I have lived my whole life with classical ballet as my first point of departure — my primary voice. For me, it is like breathing, like speaking a language. I think of my choreography as movement paintings, as an architecture of body, space, and time. What I create grows out of my knowledge and experience with this craft, from my visions and imagination. It is a belief — a philosophy in motion, an expression of my inner world.
In the past, you’ve said, “Ballet is a language, and it is how you speak it that is so important.” How would you describe your choreographic voice?
Every artist has their choices to make when creating. The craft itself is the language, but how you use it makes the ultimate difference. It is very personal. It is all about choices. I try not to prescribe how people should experience what they see, or how they should watch my work. I can say that I find myself drawn to a sense of beauty, of physical poetry, and with each creation, I continue a search for an aesthetic signature that is always changing and growing. The more connected I am to my inner voice, the purer the result feels on stage. I am constantly looking for new ways to express my truth.
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Genevieve Penn Nabity, Spencer Hack and Ben Rudisin in Anima Animus. Photo by Karolina Kuras.
Top Photo: David Dawson. Photo by Karolina Kuras.