When we started rehearsing the Winter Season, I was originally cast as an understudy for A Man in The Four Seasons but was still given private rehearsals with Artist-in-Residence Rex Harrington. After James Kudelka, choreographer of The Four Seasons and Swan Lake, came to rehearse the company I was told that I would get one performance in the role. My heart started racing so fast as this was one of the roles I’ve always wanted to dance.

Rex gave me all the little tricks of the trade, especially with the tricky partnering. He also helped me pace myself so I wasn’t actually dead by the end of Winter.

My debut last week couldn’t have gone better. All my partners were excellent, the music was amazing to dance to and the whole experience was so heart warming and exhilarating.

When I learned I was also dancing Rothbart in Swan Lake this season, I was thrilled because I’ve never played a bad guy before. I was delighted to be given this challenge and I got a lot of great feedback from James on this role as well. He helped me really understand how he saw Rothbart and inspired me to try to bring that image to life on stage. James also gave me some room to play with, which was quite generous, so that I could make him my own character as well. Principal Artistic Coach Magdalena Popa also really helped me bring this character to life.

The sections I love the most are when Rothbart joins the ballroom scene in Act III, portraying the Surprise Ambassador. I also enjoy the transition from that to the pure evil in Act IV. Rothbart is such a great acting role and is going to be a lot of fun to dance.

[Photos: Top, Noah Long in The Four Seasons. Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann. Above, Artist of the Ballet in Swan Lake. Photo by David Cooper.]

  Spring                                                      Summer                   
  Chelsy Meiss                                   Heather Ogden       
  Corps de Ballet                                Principal Dancer      

 Autumn                                                    Winter
Jenna Savella                                   Stephanie Hutchison
Second Soloist                                  First Soloist

All of your partners are making their debuts in the role of A Man. In this role, you dance with:

Chelsy: First Soloist Patrick Lavoie. We are making our debuts together.
Heather: My fiancé, Principal Dancer Guillaume Côté.
Jenna Savella: Second Soloist Noah Long.
Stephanie Hutchison: First Soloist Patrick Lavoie.

If you could describe the emotion of the season you dance in one word, it would be:

Chelsy: Joyful
Heather: Sexy
Jenna: Compassionate
Stephanie: Melancholic

When I first watched The Four Seasons, the section I loved most was:

Chelsy: If I must choose, the Summer pas de deux was the first section I ever saw of the ballet (online). I found it absolutely electric and afterwards I got the whole ballet on DVD!

Heather: Summer pas de deux for sure. This ballet is full of great moments but when I joined the company and saw The Four Seasons for the first time, I fell in love with Summer immediately. I remember making a quiet promise to myself that I would do that role one day and now I enjoy each time I get to perform it.

Jenna: The 2nd movement of Winter. It feels like the calm before the storm and gives me a sense of nostalgia.

Stephanie: All of it. I think this work, the choreography, lighting and costumes come together in a unique and complete experience. Of course, the music is divine to begin with. 

My favourite aspect of this ballet is:

Chelsy: The collaboration of the music and the choreography, both are so true to each season. The music and movement are so expressive which not only make this ballet enjoyable for one performance but a timeless masterpiece.

Heather: I think one of the reasons The Four Seasons is a masterpiece is because of how all the aspects mesh together. The choreography is so beautiful and it sits on the music with such precision that it makes Vivaldi’s score come to life in a whole new way. The costumes are fresh, fun and lovely to dance in. I think it is everything coming together that helps to give such a nice look into the story of A Man’s life.

Jenna: Every element comes together so perfectly. It is an inspiration to watch and dance time and time again.

Stephanie: The choreography and the music; each one edifies the other. The choreography shows me more aspects in the music and the music drives the choreography. 

The Four Seasons opens tonight with A Suite of Dances and 24 Preludes by Chopin.

[Photos: Chelsy Meiss, Heather Ogden, Jenna Savella and Stephanie Hutchison. Photos by Sian Richards (top row). Artists of the Ballet in The Four Seasons. Photos by Lydia Pawelak (centre) and Bruce Zinger (above).]

“This season, I am coaching the role of A Man in James Kudelka’s The Four Seasons. It’s a role that was created on me many years ago and now I’m passing it on. I actually won a Gemini for this, so it’s a very special role for me. I was so thrilled with that. At first I thought would be really difficult but I’m really enjoying the process.” – Artist-in-Residence Rex Harrington

“Spring is where I think he discovers life as a young man and he also sees everything as wonderful… Summer is where he discovers relationships in general… Autumn is where he comes in to a point in his life where he feels that he shouldn’t push everything all the time. He just lets life happen to him. Winter feels like it’s a beautiful death and it’s a death that he actually comes to terms with.” – Principal Dancer Guillaume Côté

Watch new video!

[Photos: Top, Rex Harrington. Photo by John Lauener. Centre, Guillaume Côté. Photo by Sian Richards. Above [video link] Rex Harrington and Greta Hodgkinson. Photo by Bruce Zinger.]

Last weekend, the cast of 24 Preludes by Chopin traveled west to represent The National Ballet of Canada at the Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver, B.C. Performing alongside Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, seeing the Olympic torch and being in Vancouver when Canada won its first gold medal were all in a days work. Corps de Ballet member Christopher Stalzer blogs about the tour.

Thursday, February 11: Travel day. The airport was very busy as one might expect. After we arrived in Vancouver we headed to the hotel and I promptly fell asleep, feeling the time change.

Friday, February 12: After being woken up by the torch relay outside my window, I got ready to head to our company class, which was taught by none other than former Principal Dancer Chan Han Goh. It was very nice to see her again and catch up. After rehearsal a couple of us headed to Gastown to do a little shopping and some sightseeing. And after fighting the crowd at The Bay’s Olympic store, we headed back to the hotel to enjoy the Opening Ceremony.

Saturday, February 13: Today we took a combined class with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet. It’s always great to meet and work with new people. After a tech and dress rehearsal we were in for a busy afternoon. We went to see the Olympic flame, but unfortunately it was behind a fence and we could not really get very good pictures with it. The performance that evening went smoothly followed by a reception for the kick off for the Cultural Olympiad.

Sunday, February 14: After the second performance we bought some food and had a cookout on the rooftop of our hotel to wind down. Despite how warm it was during the day it got a little chilly at night, so we brought out the mitts and blankets to keep warm.

Monday, February 15: We traveled back to Toronto today and immediately got back into rehearsal for the Winter Mixed Programme of 24 Preludes by Chopin & A Suite of Dances & The Four Seasons which opens the Winter Season in Toronto on March 3, 2010.

[Photos: Top, Jordana Daumec and Artists of the Ballet in 24 Preludes by Chopin. Photo by Bruce Zinger. Second, the crowd outside The Bay. Third, Christopher with the Olympic flame. Fourth, breaking out the mittens and blankets on the rooftop patio. Photos courtesy of Christopher Stalzer.]

On Monday, February 8, Artistic Director Karen Kain announced The National Ballet of Canada’s 2010/11 season. Highlights of the media conference included special guest, British choreographer Wayne McGregor who spoke about the North American premiere of his work Chroma, which is set to music by The White Stripes, and a special performance by the Artists of the Ballet.

New this year, the National Ballet streamed the entire conference live online which was viewed by over 100 people. Viewers responded in real time via Twitter and Facebook, and the conference itself generated a large amount of media coverage including articles in the National Post, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and Toronto Sun.

Next season also brings the company premiere of Russian Seasons by Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky and a brand new full-length ballet, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, which will be co-produced with The Royal Ballet, (UK).

“I greatly admire these three brilliant choreographers who honour the framework of classical ballet, who don’t need to deconstruct the form completely to be interesting but who can respect tradition and still be creative,” says Ms. Kain.

Watch video of the full announcement and performances here.

[Photos: Top, Edward Watson and Alina Cojocaru of The Royal Ballet in Chroma. Photo by Johann Persson. Second, Sofiane Sylve of San Francisco Ballet in Russian Seasons. Photo by Erik Tomasson. Third, one of John Tenniel’s original woodcuts from the Alice books. Above, Wayne McGregor. Photo by Johann Persson. Alexei Ratmansky. Photo by MIRA. Christopher Wheeldon. Photo by Bruce Zinger.]

Last month, newest Principal Dancer, Jiří Jelinek, arrived in Toronto. Born in Prague, Jiří trained at the Prague Conservatory of Dance and the Hamburg Dance Centre under John Neumeier. He was a Principal Dancer with the Prague National Theatre Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet before joining The National Ballet of Canada.

Toronto audiences will get their first glimpse of Jiří’s dancing in Swan Lake, onstage March 11 – 21, 2010, but if you are interested in learning more about Jiří, have a look at some recent interviews in The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star, as well as his Q & A in the February issue of Ballet News.

Jiří is looking forward to dancing the title role in “Onegin because I’ve never danced it in North America and it’s a role I’m well-known for in Europe and Asia.”

[Photos: Above, in Onegin. Photo by Ulrich Beuttenmüller]