Canadian National Ballet announces 60th season, featuring a brand new Romeo and Juliet

Canadian National Ballet announces 60th season, featuring a brand new Romeo and Juliet

The National Ballet of Canada announced its new season today, which includes the world premiere of a brand new Romeo and Juliet. Directed by Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, the production was specifically commissioned for the company’s 60th anniversary season. Ratmansky’s list of accomplishments is impressive: he is a former dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the former director of Moscow’s revered Bolshoi Ballet and is currently the artist-in-residence at American Ballet Theatre. His version of Romeo and Juliet opens November 16. Also making its North American premiere is Kevin O’Day’s Hamlet.

Romeo and Juliet has been a staple for the National Ballet since John Cranko’s interpretation was added to the company’s repertoire in 1964, but the artistic director of NBC, Karen Kain, feels Ratmansky’s version offers a distinctly modern take on the classic ballet: “His aesthetic—steeped in the Russian school but open to contemporary sources—is ideal both for this work and the company, with its classical heritage and passion for the modern,” she said in a statement.

The 2011-2012 season will also feature favourites such as Wayne McGregor’s Chroma, Christmas cash-cow classic The Nutcracker, Rudolf Nureyev’s The Sleeping Beauty and The Seagull, with choreography by John Neumeier.