Hope’s Insights on The Four Seasons

I’m delighted to welcome you to our Winter Mixed Programme, showcasing two new works for The National Ballet of Canada and a timeless favourite in its anniversary year. Here’s an inside look at this eclectic offering.

The Leaves Are Fading

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of The Leaves Are Fading, a poetic late work by Antony Tudor that we last performed in 1995. Thematically, it resonates with The Four Seasons as a reflection on the cycle of life, while also representing Tudor’s wider achievement in shifting the focus of balletic storytelling inward, to emotion and psychology over external action. In The Leaves Are Fading, a woman in late summer reflects on her past and the fleeting beauty of life. It is nostalgic without being sentimental, introspective without pretense and perfectly crafted to Antonín Dvořák’s music for strings.

World Premiere: Morpheus’ Dream

I’m excited to present our first new creation from Germany’s Marco Goecke since the company acquired Spectre de la Rose in 2014. A duet, Morpheus’ Dream unfolds amidst a dance of shadow and light, exploring a relationship through the lens of nightmares and dreaming. Keith Jarrett’s piano music sets the tone, paused by a surprise vocal performance from Lady Gaga that reinforces the unpredictability of dreams.

North American Premiere: The Four Seasons

The Four Seasons marks an exciting next step in our partnership with David Dawson after the success of Anima Animus in 2023. This very special work is a sublime response to Max Richter’s reimagined score and pushes a familiar classical vocabulary to a new level. Larger in scale than Anima, with multiple solos, pas de deux and ensemble sections, it has allowed David to experience more of the company in anticipation of future commissions. I have every confidence that The Four Seasons will bring much acclaim for both our dancers and Orchestra as well as establishing itself as a firm audience favourite.

Warmly,

Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director

The Four Seasons is onstage with Morpheus’ Dream and The Leaves Are Fading February 26 – March 2

Top Photo: Hope Muir. Photo by Karolina Kuras.