Angels' Atlas & Passion & UtopiVerse

• The impetus for Angels’ Atlas came from Crystal Pite’s partner and set designer Jay Gower Taylor who worked with lighting designer Tom Visser to develop an analog method of manipulating reflective light to create complex, painterly images. 
   
• A quote from writer and critic Max Wyman about dance greatly inspired Pite: “No other artform speaks so directly about the fragile, temporary quality of life, or about the human instinct to transcend those bonds and aim for that perfect moment of self-realization.”
   
• Pite wanted Angels’ Atlas to evoke “a fierce pulse of life.” She achieves this in part through the score, which includes electronic music by her longtime collaborator Owen Belton featuring samples of clicking sounds, voices, bells and a heartbeat.

A former dancer with Ballet British Columbia and Ballett Frankfurt under William Forsythe, Crystal Pite is now a leading contemporary choreographer. She is Associate Choreographer of Nederlands Dans Theater, Associate Dance Artist of Canada’s National Arts Centre and Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells, London. Her company, Kidd Pivot, performs her original creations around the world.

The ethereal score for Angels’ Atlas incorporates original music by Canada’s Owen Belton with two liturgical choral works composed more than 100 years apart: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Opus 41, No. 6: Cherubic Hymn and Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium, which dates to 1994. The mystical quality of these works and their connection to the body through the voice makes Angels’ Atlas what one reviewer called “a religious experience”.

Choreography:
Crystal Pite

Original Music:
Owen Belton

Additional Music:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Opus 41, No. 6:  
Cherubic Hymn
Performed by Valery Polyansky and the USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir. Courtesy of Firma Melodia Music Ltd.
Morten Lauridsen, O Magnum Mysterium
Used by Arrangement with Southern Music Pub. Co, Inc., Publisher and Copyright Holder
Performed by Polyphony conducted by Stephen Layton. Courtesy of Hyperion Records Ltd, London 

Reflective Light Backdrop Concept:
Jay Gower Taylor  

Reflective Light Backdrop Design:
Jay Gower Taylor and Tom Visser 

Lighting Design:
Tom Visser  

Costume Design:
Nancy Bryant  

Assistant to the Choreographer:
Spencer Dickhaus 

World Premiere: The National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, February 29, 2020 

Produced and commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada. 

A co-production of The National Ballet of Canada and Ballett Zürich. 

Philanthropic support for Angels’ Atlas is generously provided by An Anonymous Donor, Rosamond Ivey, Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin, The Producers’ Circle, The Volunteer Committee of The National Ballet of Canada and The Gail Hutchison Fund.  

The Producers’ Circle (2020): 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 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, Gerald Sheff & Shanitha Kachan and The Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation.

The National Ballet of Canada’s tour to Paris is presented by Productions Internationales Albert Sarfati as part of the TranscenDanses series, in collaboration with the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

• Kudelka describes Passion as having three parts: two couples and the Corps de Ballet. He developed each part in a different studio to be a complete idea, saying: “It was very important, almost necessary, that each group not know what each other group was doing, so that everyone felt they owned the floor.”
   
• The ballet’s three parts are stylistically unique and align with the structure and mood of Beethoven’s music. One couple is contemporary and the other is classical, with the former exhibiting raw desire and the other more reserved.
   
• The contemporary couple closely follows the piano and their choreography is full of tension and passion. At times they appear to stalk one another around the stage.

James Kudelka served as Resident Choreographer of The National Ballet of Canada following his nine years as Artistic Director. He creates works of incredible musicality and vision for companies internationally, from original full-length ballets to short contemporary works and remounted classics. Kudelka was Resident Choreographer of Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie from 2008 to 2020.

Movement and music are deeply intertwined in Passion, set to the First Movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Concerto for Piano in D, Op. 61a, a revised arrangement by the composer of his well-known violin concerto. As two couples perform simultaneously among the corps de ballet, the choreography illuminates the structure of Beethoven’s music while revealing the choreographer’s emotional and intellectual response to it. An unusual feature of the piece is the extended cadenza for solo piano and timpani.

Choreography:
James Kudelka

Music:
Ludwig van Beethoven, Concerto for Piano in D, Op. 61A, First Movement

Costume Design:
Denis Lavoie

Lighting Design:
Michael Mazzola

Premiere: Houston Ballet, Houston, Texas, September 5, 2013

The National Ballet of Canada Premiere: Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, November 10, 2023

Passion is generously supported by The Gail Hutchison Fund.

The National Ballet of Canada’s tour to Paris is presented by Productions Internationales Albert Sarfati as part of the TranscenDanses series, in collaboration with the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

• Hailed as the "biggest staging sustainability experiment" (My Entertainment World) on Canadian stages, Yong's 2015 piece vox:lumen partnered with the energy sector to invent several technology devices that captured and stored solar and kinetic energy that powered the the entire full-length dance production.
   
• Yong has been profiled in several documentary shorts, including the 2015 film about the creation of vox:lumen for Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage, by filmmaker Timothy Garrett.
   
• An accomplished performer, Yong and has worked with such companies as Wayne McGregor’s Random Dance, Matthew Bourne’s Adventures in Motion Pictures, Toronto Dance Theatre, Peggy Baker Dance Projects and Côté Danse, run by Principal Dancer Guillaume Côté.

William Yong is a Canadian choreographer, dancer, designer and director. Trained at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the London Contemporary Dance School, he works internationally to create technology-driven work for stage and film. Yong holds an M.A. from the University of Kent where he completed a dissertation on dance and film.

A curated selection of pieces by Benjamin Britten featuring strings was the musical impetus for William Yong’s UtopiVerse. Beginning with the first movement of Britten’s Violin Concerto, Yong chose several string quartet movements along with selections from the Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge. Canadian composer Constantine Caravassilis partners with Yong and filmmaker Thomas Payette for a multidisciplinary and futuristic experience.

Choreography:
William Yong

Music:
Benjamin Britten

Violin Concerto, Op. 15 I, Movement I - Moderato con moto - Agitato - Tempo primo (1940)*
Alla Marcia (1933)**
String Quartet in F, II. Andante (1928)**
String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94, IV. Burlesque (1975)**
Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10, II. Adagio, IX. Funeral & X. Chant (1937)* 
The Last Rose of Summer (1957)*

* By arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., publisher, and copyright owner.
** Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Company, Canadian and U.S. agent for Faber Music Ltd., London, publisher and copyright owner.

Additional Music:
Constantine Caravassilis

Set & Costume Design:
William Yong

Lighting Design:
Noah Feaver

Projection Design:
Thomas Payette / Mirari

Content Creation & Generative Design:
Hugues Kir

Metal Head Pieces Design:
Elijah Secrest

Rehearsal Director:
Stephanie Hutchison

Video Content

Director and Editor:
William Yong

Director of Photography:
Jason George

Colourist:
Oliver Salathiel

First Camera Assistant and Focus Puller:
Jurek Osterfeld

Artists featured:
Isabella Kinch and Matthieu Pagès

Grid and Gaffer:
Oscar Weinstein

Make-up and Hair Design:
Alexandre Deslauriers

Production Assistant and Director’s Assistant:
Juliette Coleman

Production Assistant:
James Kendal

World Premiere: The National Ballet of Canada, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, March 20, 2024

Produced and commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada.

William Yong would like to thank Zata Omm rehearsal assistants and collaborators: Carleen Zouboules, Willem Sadler, Katherine Semchuk, Natasha Poon Woo, Christian Lavigne, Jessica Mak, Zachary Seto, Evan Webb, Judy Luo and Caiti Carpenter.

Lead philanthropic support for UtopiVerse is provided by The Hal Jackman Foundation and The Hal Jackman Foundation Fund and an Anonymous donor with additional support from The Producers’ Circle.

The Producers’ Circle (2024): John & Claudine Bailey, 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, The Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation and Alexander Younger & Sarah Richardson.

The National Ballet of Canada’s tour to Paris is presented by Productions Internationales Albert Sarfati as part of the TranscenDanses series, in collaboration with the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.