The National Ballet of Canada Announces 2014-2015 Season and Touring Schedule

Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced the 2014/15 season. The season features the Canadian premiere of The Tempest by Alexei Ratmansky and the return of Kenneth MacMillan's Manon, after an absence of 16 years. Alice's Adventures in Wonderlandby Christopher Wheeldon and Nijinsky by John Neumeier are back due to popular demand and Principal Dancer and Choreographic Associate Guillaume Côté will create a new work. The 2014/15 season will continue the company's touring activity with performances in Los Angeles and Ottawa.

"The National Ballet of Canada has always taken special pride in its ability - and willingness - to embrace and engage with many different kinds of dance, from the traditional classical canon to works of experimental urgency," says Ms. Kain. "The 2014/15 season is an especially rich demonstration of our company's range and commitment to a diverse and challenging repertoire and is a testament to the National Ballet's openness and commitment to the many varieties of classical dance."

The National Ballet of Canada will return to The Music Center in Los Angeles with Romeo and Juliet byAlexei Ratmansky, July 10 - 13, 2014. This is the National Ballet's second engagement at the prestigious Music Center. The company first toured to The Music Center in 2012 with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The National Ballet will tour the acclaimed production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for an expanded six performance run to Canada's National Arts Centre in Ottawa April 9 - 12, 2015, where the company has toured annually since 1969.

The Fall Season in Toronto will begin with Kenneth MacMillan's Manon, November 8 - 16, 2014. Not performed since 1998, Manon, is one of MacMillan's - and modern ballet's - most dramatically powerful works.

The Fall Season continues with Nijinsky by John Neumeier, back by popular demand. Hailed as "a triumph of dramatic intensity" by the Toronto Star and "a jewel in the crown for the National" by The Globe and Mail,Nijinsky was a great success when it made its Canadian premiere in 2013. The National Ballet is the only company outside of The Hamburg Ballet to have performed Nijinsky, which runs November 22 - 30, 2014.

The Holiday Season features the perennial favourite, The Nutcracker by James Kudelka, December 13, 2014 - January 3, 2015.

The Winter Season opens with ... black night's bright day ... by James Kudelka, which was created as part of the Innovation programme in 2013. It will be presented with Chroma by Wayne McGregor, an audience favourite, March 4 - 8, 2015.

Following the winter mixed programme is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Christopher Wheeldon,March 14 - 29, 2015. The Eleventh International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize will round out the Winter Season on March 24, 2015.

The Summer Season features Being and Nothingness by Guillaume Côté, a four-part reflection in dance set to music by Philip Glass, May 30 - June 7, 2015. Being and Nothingness (Part 1) was presented as part of Innovation in 2013 and praised by audiences and critics alike. It is presented with the Canadian premiere of The Tempest by Alexei Ratmansky, an elegant and beautifully condensed evocation of the Shakespeare play, set to music by Sibelius and sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto. The Tempest is a co-production of the National Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.

The 2014/15 season concludes with The Sleeping Beauty by Rudolf Nureyev, a ballet that epitomizes, perhaps better than any other, the meaning of classical ballet. Staged by Karen Kain and refurbished and restored to its original splendor, The Sleeping Beauty runs June 10 - 14, 2015.

A complete list of performance dates can be found below:

Fall Season
Manon
November 8 - 16, 2014

Nijinsky
November 22 - 30, 2014

Holiday Season
The Nutcracker
December 13, 2014 - January 3, 2015

Winter Season
... black night's bright day ... & Chroma
March 4 - 8, 2015

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
March 14 - 29, 2015

The Eleventh International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize
March 24, 2015

Summer Season
Being and Nothingness† & The Tempest*
May 30 - June 7, 2015

The Sleeping Beauty
June 10 - 14, 2015

Gala
June 17, 2015

Touring
Romeo and Juliet
July 10 - 13, 2014, The Music Center, Los Angeles

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
April 9 - 12, 2015, Canada's National Arts Centre, Ottawa